New Pulp Author Joel Jenkins shares his latest release from Pulp Work Press, Weird Worlds, with The Book Cave’s Ric Croxton, who discovers a familiar name in one of the stories.
Listen to The Book Cave Episode 241: Weird Worlds of Joel Jenkins here.
Pulp Publisher, Open Road Media has announced plans to release digital editions of stories from Black Mask, beginning with Jerry Tracy, Celebrity Reporter by Theodore A. Tinsley.
Black Mask magazine, launched in 1920, built its reputation on fostering, and later inspiring, some of mystery’s most beloved hardboiled writers, including Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Carroll John Daly, Theodore A. Tinsley, and Paul Cain.
These tough, grim, but ultimately noble stories of private eyes and crooks represent an extremely powerful slice of American fiction. Mysteriouspress.com/Open Road Media is thrilled to announce that Black Mask stories will be available in digital format beginning August 27, 2013.
Paying homage to the original magazine, stories will be released monthly, commencing with works by Black Mask masters Norbert Davis, Steve Fisher, and Paul Cain, as well as an omnibus of stories by Theodore A. Tinsley, Jerry Tracy, Celebrity Reporter. All works feature new cover art, as well as brand-new introductions.
The Jerry Tracy, Celebrity Reporter collection features every Jerry Tracy story ever published in Black Mask, and is an invaluable compendium of one of early noir’s most original heroes.
About Jerry Tracy, Celebrity Reporter:
Manhattan’s sharpest gossip columnist tangles with brawlers, triggermen, and dames
The most important people in the world come to Broadway—to eat in restaurants, dance in nightclubs, and die in rain-slicked back alleys. Whatever the big names are doing, Jerry Tracy hears about it—and tells the world in his infamous Daily Planet column. As quick with his typewriter as he is with a .45, Tracy can break a nose as easily as he breaks a news story. But beneath his hard exterior, this columnist has a kind heart, and a sense of justice that will make him do crazy things for a woman in trouble, or a friend with a murder rap hanging over his head.
Featuring every Jerry Tracy story ever published in Black Mask, this collection is an invaluable compendium of one of early noir’s most original heroes. Written in machine gun prose that would make Damon Runyon proud, these stories describe a man whose words are tough—and whose fists are even tougher.
About the Author: Theodore A. Tinsley (1894–1979) was a prolific noir author who wrote for all of the prominent pulp magazines, including Black Mask, Munsey’s Magazine, All Detective Magazine, and Action Stories. His best-known creations are Carrie Cashin, a private eye who became pulp fiction’s most popular female character, and Jerry Tracy, a gossip reporter with a nose for sniffing out murders.
The other authors/stories launching that day are “You’ll Always Remember Me” by Steve Fisher, “Red Goose” by Norbert Davis, and “Pigeon Blood” by Paul Cain.
Learn more about Open Road Media here.
The Book Cave’s Art Sippo recorded Ed Hulse’s panel on Pulps in Hollywood at the 2013 PulpFest Convention.
You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 17: PulpFest 2013 Ed Hulse here.
About From Pulp Page to Silver Screen:
Blood ‘n’ Thunder editor Ed Hulse explores the pulp-to-movie connection in his PulpFest presentation Hollywood and the Hero Pulps, one of several pre-convention programs scheduled for Thursday, July 25th, at 9 PM.
Motion-picture incarnations of pulp magazine protagonists date back to the medium’s earliest days. Moviegoers of the nickelodeon era—the pre-World War I years—were treated to
cinematic adaptations of Short Stories’ Hamilton Cleek and The Popular Magazine’s Terrence O’Rourke, among others. Tom Mix became the industry’s top Western star on the strength of his 1920 portrayal of Max Brand’s Whistlin’ Dan Barry. And master detective Nick Carter, who successfully made the transition from dime novel to pulp magazine, appeared on screens both in the U.S. and overseas in several sets of short subjects produced between 1908 and 1927.
With the coming of talkies and the emergence of Hollywood as the world’s filmmaking capital, pulp fiction became an even more frequent source of story material. Hundreds of movies released during the Thirties, Forties and Fifties—feature films and short subjects alike—were made from yarns originally printed in rough-paper periodicals.
As Blood ‘n’ Thunder readers know, Ed is the leading authority on pulp-related movies, having researched and written about them for decades. His PulpFest presentation will touch on many, but concentrate on those adapted from hero pulps, with special emphasis on such serials as The Spider’s Web (1938), The Shadow (1940), and The Spider Returns (1941). He’ll present little-known, behind-the-scenes info gleaned in part from his own interviews with people who worked on these episodic epics, including Victor Jory (who played the serial Shadow) and Iris Meredith (who played Nita in The Spider’s Web). Ed will address the rumor that Columbia Pictures planned a G-8 and His Battle Aces serial for 1939 release, and he’ll also report what little is known about the proposed Republic chapter plays that would have featured Doc Savage and Nick Carter.
This program, leading into the screening of Chapters One through Five of The Spider’s Web, promises to get PulpFest’s 2013 hero-pulp tribute off to a fascinating start.
Kenneth Duncan as Ram Singh reads an issue of The Spider in this publicity photo for the 1938 Columbia Pictures movie serial, The Spider’s Web.
You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 17: PulpFest 2013 Ed Hulse here.
Pulp Publisher Altus Press has released The Collected Tales of Sangroo the Sun-God by J. Irving Crump. This collection is now available in paperback and hardcover or from Mike Chomko Books.
About The Collected Tales of Sangroo the Sun-God:
The Lost Series Returns to Print! Appearing for only two stories in Clatyon Publication’s ultra-rare Jungle Stories and written by J. Irving Crump (writter of the Og series), Sangroo was among the most interesting of the Tarzan clones.
Never before reprinted, these stories have now returned to print after 80 years.
218 pages, approx. 6″x9″
Printed Books:
Order the paperback from Amazon: $14.95
Order the limited edition hardcover: $29.95 (only 100 made)
Also available here.
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| Cover Art: Amar Djouad |
New Pulp Publisher Black Coat Press has released SHADOWS OF THE OPERA: RETRIBUTION IN BLOOD by Rick Lai.
“We are the Acolytes of the Shadows! We are the dispensers of justice! We are the punishers of the guilty! We are the executioners of the sinful!”
About Shadows of The Opera: Retribution In Blood:
“The Revenant’s bounty shall be paid by me personally. The Revenant’s killer must present her head to me.” Such was the decree of Colonel Bozzo-Corona, all-powerful master of the Black Coats. For years, the female vigilante had used the methods of her late mentor, the mysterious Phantom of the Opera, to foil the schemes of that sinister criminal conspiracy. Now they, in turn, marshal their forces in a vast venture to strike back at their enemy and gain mastery of Europe.
They create their ultimate assassin, a true Lord of Terror. They forge an alliance with the diabolical, green-eyed mandarin who dominates the Asian underworld. And, finally, a new Countess Cagliostro emerges from their midst as a seductive siren who shall control the destinies of all the great men of France.
As the Revenant and her Acolytes of the Shadows combat these threats, an even more dangerous force interferes in the form of an ageless witch from Martinique!
“Rick Lai’s most obvious gift lies in his ability not only to envision obscure connections between diverse works of fiction, but to embellish those connections and weave a tapestry that proves enthralling as a literary work able to stand independent of the celebrated originals.” — William Patrick Maynard (author of The Terror of Fu Manchu).
Contents:
Introduction by William Patrick Maynard
Legacy of the Phantom
The Fire Eater
The Heir of Pistolet
The Face of Fu Hsi
A Bullet for the Colonel
Ruination
The Brigand Princess
The Werewolf’s Daughter
Dance on My Grave
Afterword
Cast of Characters
US$22.95/GBP 14.99
6×9 tpb, 276 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-61227-188-0
Learn more about Rick Lai’s Shadows of The Opera: Retribution In Blood here.
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| Cover Art: Mark Sparacio |
New Pulp Author/Publisher Ron Fortier returns with another Pulp Fiction Review. This time out Ron takes a look at The Scarlett Jaguar by New Pulp Author Win Scott Eckert.
THE SCARLET JAGUAR
By Win Scott Eckert
Meteor House
136 pages
Graced by a sensational, totally pulpish cover by Mark Sparacio, this little novella chronicles the second action packed adventure of Doc Savage’s daughter, Pat. Well, not exactly Doc as created by pulp master Lester Dent, but rather his Wold Newton clone as envisioned by the late sci-fi author, Philip Jose Farmer.
For the uninitiated, Farmer postulated this fantastic idea that all the famous heroes and villains of the 19th and 20th Centuries for related by blood tracing their common ancestry to a dozen English men and women who had become exposed to a strange meteor’s radiation when it crashed by their carriages in a place called Wold Newton. From that beginning these men and women became the originators of incredible heroes to include Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, the Shadow and the Spider, Captain Nemo, the Avenger, Phineas Fogg and the list goes on and on and on. Well, you get the idea.
Whereas most of these fictional personages were licensed properties, Farmer could not use them in his fiction. He solved this problem by giving them different names while clearly describing them so as to be recognized by readers. Thus Doc Savage in the Wold Newton universe became Doc Wildman; he married and had a daughter named Pat. Farmer had begun to write a Pat Wildman novel, “The Evil of Pemberley House,” but passed away before completing it. That task was left to his loyal and talented protégé, Win Scott Eckert. That book met with both public and critical success. Now Eckert takes over the reins with this new tale and Pat Wildman couldn’t be in more capable hands.
Looking like a very alluring female version of her famous father, complete with a near perfect physique of a bronze hue and gold-flecked eyes, Pat and her British partner, Peter Parker own and manage Empire State Investigations using her inherited Pemberley Mansion as their headquarters. Soon after a very distraught young woman arrives on their doorstep asking their aid in finding her missing father, a British envoy to a small South American country, they are attacked by a bizarre menace that turns people into red glass and then shatters them. Soon Pat, Peter and their client are winging their way to upstate New York where she plans on arming herself with some of her father’s powerful weapons before moving on to their final destination, the country known as Xibum.
No sooner do they land in the states then they are set upon by mercenary killers working for a twisted villain known as the Scarlett Jaguar. Pat soon discovers this fiend has threatened to destroy the Panama Canal with his mysterious ray unless the entire country of Xibum is ceded to him by the British government. Now their quest to find the missing dignitary becomes a deadly race against time. Once in Xibum, Pat begins to learn long lost secrets of her renowned sire’s past adventures. But can she take on his heroic legacy and save the day?
Eckert skillfully whips up a truly fun tale that blends both the sensibilities of classic pulp fare with some wonderful seventies James Bond touches that the savvy reader will recognize instantly. It’s a heady mash-up that works extremely well. “The Scarlett Jaguar” is a terrific new pulp actioner you do not want to miss.
Fight Card Books’ latest, Can’t Miss Contender by Kevin Michaels writing as Jack Tunney is now available as an ebook at Amazon.
Press Release:
AVAILABLE NOW ~ FIGHT CARD: CAN’T MISS CONTENDER
Our latest entry Fight Card: Can’t Miss Contender is now available on Amazon. Behind our Jack Tunney pseudonym this month is Kevin Michaels. Fight Card: Can’t Miss Contender is Kevin’s second Fight Card fisticuff. This puts him in good company with David Foster and Eric Beetner, who have both written two epic punch-ups in the Fight Card series.
While Fight Card: Can’t Miss Contender is not a direct sequel to Kevin’s Fight Card: Hard Road, there is some minor character crossover.
FIGHT CARD: CAN’T MISS CONTENDER
St. Louis, Missouri, 1958
Billy Flood was the kind of boxer who had ‘can’t miss’ written all over him. He had the tools and talent to make him a middleweight champion. But a few wrong turns changed everything. Now, after a hard three year stretch inside the Missouri State Penitentiary, Billy is determined to get back in the ring and punch his way to the top. But, while other fighters his age have risen through the ranks, Billy is back where he started – fighting palookas, catchers, and tomato cans.
With his past on his heels and his future filled with obstacles, Billy finds himself backed into a corner by false friends and an unscrupulous promoter. He may get his shot at becoming a contender, but will it cost him his future? Can’t Miss Contender is another hard punching Fight Card tale…
August will see the debut of both Fight Card: Barefoot Bones from Bobby Nash and our first Fight Card Romance from Carol Malone, Fight Card Romance: Ladies Night. On the horizon are Fight Card: Union Of The Snakes from Anthony Venutolo, Fight Card: Fight River from Tommy Hancock, and Fight Card: Sherlock Holmes from Andrew Salmon.
Learn more about Fight Card Books here.
The Book Cave’s Art Sippo recorded Rick Lai’s Fu Manchu panel at the 2013 PulpFest Convention.
You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 16- PulpFest 2013 Rick Lai here.
About The Pulps After Fu Manchu:
Wu Fang 36-03“Tall, thin with lizard-green eyes, yellow robe and black cap embroidered with coral bead, Fu Manchu was the very picture of warped genius. Such unusual potions as spiders, scorpions and plague-carrying tsetse flies were just part of Fu’s prescription to foreshorten the white race’s actuarial expectations. Master of super science and creative toxicology, he . . . was the Yellow Peril.”
Although it is believed that Kaiser Wilhelm coined the term “Yellow Peril,” it was Sax Rohmer who profited most from the idea, largely through the villainous Dr. Fu Manchu. Little wonder that countless pulp writers, from Walter B. Gibson and Norvell W. Page to Robert E. Howard and George Worts, turned to the devil doctor to find inspiration for their lurid pulp tales.
To begin PulpFest‘s celebration of the 100th anniversary of Sax Rohmer’s infamous creation, Rick Lai looks at “The Pulp Descendents of Fu Manchu,” beginning at 8 PM on Thursday, July 25th in the Fairfield Room located on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency Columbus. Rick will discuss the influence of Sax Rohmer’s devil doctor on the pulps with a look at villains such as Wu Fang, Shiwan Khan, The Blue Scorpion from Peter the Brazen, and Robert E. Howard’s Skullface and Erlik Khan.
Best known for his articles expanding on Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe concepts, recently collected by Altus Press as Rick Lai’s Secret Histories: Daring Adventurers, Rick Lai’s Secret Histories: Criminal Masterminds, Chronology of Shadows: A Timeline of The Shadow’s Exploits and The Revised Complete Chronology of Bronze, Rick lives in New York. His short fiction has been collected in Shadows of the Opera (Wild Cat Books, 2011) and two upcoming Black Coat Press collections to be printed this year–Shadows of the Opera: Retribution in Blood and Sisters of the Shadows: The Cagliostro Curse.
You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 16- PulpFest 2013 Rick Lai here.
Visit The Book Cave here.
Best-selling author, Mel Odom chronicles the latest adventure of The Dead Man as Crucible of Fire ebook adventure is released.
About The Dead Man: Crucible of Fire–
Matt Cahill was an ordinary man leading a simple life until a shocking accident changed everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld that exists within our own. Now he’s on a dangerous quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become…and engaged in an epic battle to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.
Matt Cahill is part of a team of smokejumpers who are dropped into the heart of a raging forest fire that is fueled by a flamethrower wielding madman under the sway of Mr. Dark. Almost every living thing in this hellacious inferno, including Matt’s fellow firefighters, are falling prey to Mr. Dark’s evil touch and bowing to his furious command: Kill the Dead Man!
The Dead Man series created by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin.
Learn more about The Dead Man here and here and is available for purchase here.
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| Vol. 1 still available |
New Pulp Publisher, Warren Murphy Media has announced that volume 2 of the Legacy Book Series will be released this week.
From the Legacy Book Series Facebook page:
It’s time to start saving those nickels and dimes, Stone and Freya fans, cause the second book in the Legacy series will be available for purchase July 31st.
That’s the Amazon paperback version only. eBooks and other channels will follow a few days afterwards!
Here is the inside front cover teaser scene!
A video appeared on the screen, taken from a surveillance camera in a nightclub. Despite the erratic lighting, a woman in a torn dress instantly stood out to Freya as a threat. She knew that the woman was not there to dance — she was there to kill.
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| Available July 31 |
“That woman is dangerous,” Freya said. “She’s looking for someone.”
The screen changed back to a close-up of the killer’s face, taken as she turned her head. Though the image was grainy, Freya could see that she was not smiling, as she had originally thought.
She was yawning.
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