Author: Tommy Hancock

FERGUSON TAKES ON ‘PROHIBITION’- AN ALL PULP GUEST REVIEW!

  • News
  • December 26, 2012

ALL PULP REVIEWS- by Ron Fortier
PROHIBITION
By Terrence McCauley
Airship 27 Productions
181 Pages
Guest Reviewer – Derrick Fergusson
I’m going to get to talking about PROHIBITION in a bit, I promise. But first, I gotta relate a little story that will assist me in making my opening point. Okay? Thank you for your patience and sit back. Here it goes:
Couple of weeks ago I’m having a Skype conversation with a gentleman who is incensed that I don’t like “Hobo With A Shotgun.” It’s a perfect modern grindhouse movie he insists. No, I politely disagree. “Planet Terror” is a a perfect modern grindhouse movie. The gentleman spends the next two minutes expressing his opinion that whatever it is I allegedly use for thinking must be composed of excrement and another minute telling me that “Planet Terror” is garbage and why on Earth do I think it’s the better movie.
“Because,” says I, “Robert Rodriguez knows what grindhouse is. The guys who made ‘Hobo With A Shotgun’ just think they know what grindhouse is.”
Which finally brings me to PROHIBITION by Terrence McCauley. We’ve got a lot of New Pulp writers who think they know what a 1930’s gangster story is. But Terrence McCauley knows what a 1930’s gangster story. Man, does he ever.
We’re in New York, 1930. The town is run by Archie Doyle, the city’s most powerful gangster who is more like the monarch of an unruly kingdom. And there’s somebody out there looking to take his crown. Archie’s got an ambitious plan in mind that will give him more power than he’s ever dreamed of before. But he’s got to stay alive long enough to see that plan through. That’s where his chief enforcer Terry Quinn comes in. Terry’s an ex-boxer and the toughest mug on two legs. But finding out who’s trying to start a bloody gang war between Archie Doyle and his main rival, Howard Rothman is going to take more than just being tough. Quinn is going to have to rely on his street smarts and think his way through this. Of course, shooting and slugging his way to the guilty party helps an awful lot, too.
PROHIBITION has a lot going for it, mainly that McCauley isn’t afraid to write characters who aren’t likeable at all. But that’s okay with me. As long as I know why the characters are doing what they’re doing and understand their motivations, I’m cool. McCauley is writing about people who have chosen a dark, dangerous and violent life and he stays true to that. That’s not to say he doesn’t find the humanity in them. He does. It’s just a humanity that manifests itself within the terms and parameters of the concrete jungle his characters have chosen to inhabit for whatever reasons people have to live a life of crime. This wasn’t an easy period in American history to live in and people had to make hard choices. The characters in PROHIBITION have to make the hardest choices of all since the wrong one can get them killed.
A lot of New Pulp writers figure that to write a 1930’s gangster story you just have to have pseudo-tough talking wanna-be’s sounding more like Slip Mahoney than real gangsters run around shooting Tommy guns. McCauley understands that the most successful gangsters of that era ran their organizations like businesses. The business just happens to be crime is all. Violence wasn’t their first resort to solve every problem. It was just as useful and as profitable to know when notto use violence as it was to know when to use it.
I appreciated the smartness of these characters. The way they talk to each other, maneuvering to gain an edge through words makes for some really solid dialog. The relationship between Archie Doyle and Terry Quinn reminds me a lot of the relationship between the Albert Finney/Gabriel Byrne characters from “Miller’s Crossing.” Imagine if Gabriel Byrne’s character was an authentic badass who knew how to fight instead of getting his ass kicked all the time and you’ll get what I mean. Terry Quinn is a guy who knows how to work the angles and his navigation through this gleefully violent story is an enjoyable one to read.
And like any good gangster story, McCauley doesn’t skimp on the sex and violence. If you want cute gangsters who pal around and crack jokes then go watch “Johnny Dangerously” because you’re not going to find that in PROHIBITION. I appreciated the tough, hard story McCauley is telling and the even tougher, harder characters who speak and talk pretty much the way I expect gangsters of that era to behave.
I’m sure that there are some who are going to be uncomfortable or even turned off by the language and that there isn’t really an ‘heroic’ character to root for. Terry Quinn is a killer and extraordinarily violent man who doesn’t make apologies for how he lives his life. Most readers like to have a lead character to root for and while Terry’s misplaced sense of honor and loyalty lifts him a notch above most of the other characters in the book that doesn’t mean he’s anywhere near being on the side of the angels. But it’s precisely because of that misplaced honor and loyalty that makes him such an enjoyable protagonist to read about.
And I can’t wrap up this review without mentioning the wonderful illustrations by Rob Moran which do an excellent job of capturing the mood and feel of the story. I’m willing to bet next month’s rent that Rob Moran has seen a lot of those great classic Warner Brothers black-and-white gangster epics of the 30’s and 40’s as that’s the feeling I got from his illustrations.
So should you read PROHIBITION? Absolutely. It’s not only a terrific way to spend a couple of quality reading hours, it’s also an important book in the evolution of New Pulp. It’s exciting to see books like this that adds another genre to expand what New Pulp is and can be. The bread-and-butter of New Pulp are the masked avengers, the jungle lords and the scientific adventurers, sure. But there’s plenty of room for sports stories, romance, westerns and private eyes. And in the last couple of years we’ve seen those. Hard-boiled crime stories are just as much a Classic Pulp tradition and I’m delighted to see it being continued and represented in New Pulp. Most definitely put PROHIBITION on your Must Read List. 

Day Six of Pro Se’s Adventures of Nicholas Saint Now Available!

  • News
  • December 24, 2012

Pro Se Productions releases the sixth part of THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT, its ongoing serialized novella, for your reading pleasure!
As Jack fights on in Ohio, step back a few hours and follow Nicholas Saint as he makes his way to Caruthersville…and recalls just why this little Ohio burg is the town that hates Christmas!

 

http://pulpmachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-adventures-of-nicholas-saint-part.html 

PART FIVE OF THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT NOW LIVE FROM PRO SE!

  • News
  • December 23, 2012

The Fifth Installment of the ongoing serialization of Tommy Hancock’s THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT is now live at www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com!
Jack Frost finds himself confronted with a town full of people out for his blood and faces the fact that all he may be able to do is ‘Run, Jack, Run!’
Logo by Perry Constantine

THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT CONTINUE AT PRO SE-FOR FREE!

  • News
  • December 22, 2012

Continuing its serialization of Tommy Hancock’s THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT featuring Santa Claus and company viewed through a Pulpy prism, Pro Se Productions proudly presents Day 4 of this novella, featuring stunning art work by David L. Russell at http://pulpmachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-adventures-of-nicholas-saint-day-4.html!  And remember, catch up on all previous chapters at http://pulpmachine.blogspot.com/p/the-adventures-of-nicholas-saint-free.html

DAY FOUR features CHAPTER THREE- FIRST, FROST!

Logo by Perry Constantine

FORTIER TAKES ON ‘ARCHIE MEETS NERO WOLFE’!

  • News
  • December 21, 2012

ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier

ARCHIE MEETS NERO WOLFE
By Robert Goldsborough
A Mysteriouspress.com Book
221 pages
If you are a lover of books, then the passing of a favorite writer brings on a great deal of sadness; especially if that writer had been the author of a well loved series.  Such was the case for thousands of mystery lovers when Rex Stout passed away in 1975.  For all intents and purposes this also brought about the demise of his beloved characters, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.
The following eleven years saw most of Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries reprinted countless times in various editions; all of them treasured by his fans.  Still the thrill of joining these familiar figures on new cases seemed to be a lost cause.  Then, in 1994, journalist Robert Goldsborough wrote “Murder in E Minor,” a brand new Nero Wolfe mystery much to the delight of the majority of Stout fans.  Note, I say majority.  In matters such as these, there will always be the vocal purists who see new stories as sacrilegious and prefer such fictional heroes end their careers with the death of their creators.  We are clearly not of that attitude.  We thoroughly enjoyed Goldsborough’s efforts and felt he had captured Archie’s voice perfectly.  He would go on to write six additional titles in the series ending them in 1994 with “The Missing Chapter.” 
At which point, annoyed by the criticism of that minority we mentioned, Goldsborough went on to create his own original mystery series featuring a Chicago reporter of the past named Snap Malek.  Several of these have won prestigious genre literary awards.  Still, when looking at our Nero Wolfe titles on our bookshelf, we regularly hoped that some day he would return to that familiar brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street in which dwells the rotund detective and his handsome legman, Archie Goodwin.  That he has done so in such a spectacular fashion is a cause for unabashed celebration.
Not only has Goldsborough answered our pleas, but he has gone beyond our wildest dreams in offering up the story Rex Stout never did; the tale of Archie’s first meeting with Nero Wolfe.  Painstakingly culling through Stout’s canon, Goldsborough took the slim nuggets seeded throughout the dozens of books and short stories and meticulously put them together in a working timeline.  From these morsels he then went on to craft a truly complete and traditional Nero Wolfe mystery only with a major difference; we finally are allowed to witness the first ever meeting between these two remarkable characters. Let us assure you, it was worth the wait.  Reading “Archie Meets Nero Wolfe,” had us remembering our teenage high school days when we first picked up our first Wolfe paperback.  This book is in essence a joyous family reunion.
It should be noted that the very first Nero Wolfe mystery, “Fer-De-Lance,” appeared in 1934 during the days of the Great Depression.  Goldsborough deftly sets his story in the same era wonderfully researching his background for authentic slang, clothing, automobiles and the city itself so the reader is transported back into that time. 
Now the book’s actual mystery plot resolves around a rich hotelier’s eight year old son being kidnapped.  The man hires the famous Nero Wolfe to save the boy.  Wolfe, as is his habit, then recruits his regular group of private investigators; all of whom are quite familiar to any fan of the series.  Only this time there’s a new face in the crowd, an eager beaver fresh of the bus from Ohio who has connected himself with operative Del Bascomb.  His name is Archie Goodwin and he is very, very eager to show Wolfe how capable he is.  As ever Goldsborough delivers a true by-the-rules puzzle astute readers will relish in trying to solve before Wolfe’s traditional in-house gathering at the finale.  But the true heart of this book is the fun in watching a young, brash, would be private-eye encounter the man who is going to be his mentor and closest friend.  Goldsborough again captures Archie’s voice brilliantly and in doing so takes us on the ride we’ve all been waiting for a long, long time.
Mystery fans, if you or a loved one is a Nero Wolfe fan, you could not give them a better Christmas gift this year than, “Archie Meets Nero Wolfe.”  Then watch the smiles on their faces when they unwrap this truly great book.  Tell them Santa sent you.

OLD TIME RADIO! AUDIOBOOKS! PULP! EBOOKS! THE LAST RADIO ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER OF 2012!

  • News
  • December 21, 2012

 
December 21, 2012
 
Merry Christmas from Radio Archives!
 
 
Be sure to get those last minute gift ideas for the Radio and Pulp fans on your Christmas list from Radio Archives with Priority Mail. With Lightning Fast Service, your order placed by 7:30 p.m. Eastern time will be shipped the same day you order!
 
The Lightning Fast Service graphic on the Home Page of RadioArchives.com will be updated everyday in Real Time so that you will know when your order will arrive!
 

Gift Certificates
 
Give the gift of great entertainment with a gift certificate from Radio Archives!  Available in any amount you choose, it’s always a welcome gift for anyone who loves classic radio entertainment or the thrilling adventures of Doc Savage and The Shadow.
 
 
Gift certificates are available to be sent via e-mail or standard First Class postage – your choice – and, what’s more, you can choose multiple recipients all at the same time. Imagine having all of your shopping done all at once…with just a few clicks!
 
To order, simply add a gift certificate to your cart, just as you would any other product. Once you have done so, you’ll be able to choose the exact amount, as well as choose other ways in which you can personalize your gift.

 
 
 

Whistles, hissing steam escaping from smoke stacks, other train sounds all accompanying announcer Marvin Miller’s “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Railroad Hour!” This opening line heralded the beginning of each episode of one of the most beloved, often sought after music programs of the golden age of radio! You can enjoy the same ride now on The Railroad Hour, Volume 4!
 
The Railroad Hour presented abridged versions of some of the most popular and beloved musicals and operettas of all time. In these lush and tuneful half-hours, star and leading man Gordon MacRae was joined by a host of leading ladies – including MGM and Warner Brothers vocalist Lucille Norman, Metropolitan Opera stars Dorothy Kirsten and Nadine Conner, and many more. In his role as host and leading man, MacRae generally narrated the programs, giving listeners the basic structure of the plot as the show went along.
 
The job of adapting massive musicals and full-scale operettas into a forty five minute format fell to Jean Holloway and the writing team of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The rich, room-filling music was provided by maestro Carmen Dragon, an arranger/conductor with vast musical experience in both radio and motion pictures, and the dozen or so members of the Norman Luboff choir.
 
If you love Broadway musicals, romantic operettas, or the popular songs of the mid-20th century, you’ll love The Railroad Hour, Volume 4, episodes from the initial run of this classic beloved program, presented in Sparkling audio quality. Six hours. $17.98 Audio CDs / $8.99 Download.
 
Radio Archives had a tremendous year in 2012, creating almost 250 new products. To celebrate, we are offering you a number of our most popular products at Half Price.
 
 
Escape, a dramatic anthology series, concentrated primarily on tales of high adventure based on works by esteemed authors like Rudyard Kipling, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and H.G. Wells. Though it may not have received the attention lavished on other more well-known series, from 1947 to 1954, it managed to transcend its mostly network-sustained origins to provide top-quality entertainment, relying on outstanding performers like Elliott Lewis, Jeanette Nolan, and Hans Conried, as well as distinguished veterans like William N. Robson and Norman MacDonnell to oversee the production and direction. Week in and week out, Escape demonstrated that it was truly an outstanding and memorable show…even if it was lacking the Hollywood stars that attracted big-money sponsorship. Regular Price $29.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $14.99 Audio CDs / $7.49 Download.
 
 
 
Screen legend Harold Lloyd hosts The Old Gold Comedy Theatre, a 1944/45 NBC anthology series featuring some of the top names in film and radio. Presenting half-hour versions of popular film comedies in much the same way that The Lux Radio Theater did with drama, this delightful and star-studded series was long considered a “lost show” until an almost complete set of recordings was found in Lloyd’s basement – recordings that have now been restored to sparkling audio fidelity by Radio Archives. The result is ten full hours of sparkling star-studded entertainment. Regular Price $29.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $14.99 Audio CDs / $7.49 Download.
 
 
 
 
 
Give yourself the gift of a true Christmas Classic and make it your own holiday tradition! A 26 episode adventure, The  Complete Cinnamon Bear relates the adventures of Judy and Jimmy, The Barton Twins, in Maybeland. On a hunt for the silver star to top their tree, the twins meet Paddy O’Cinnamon, theCinnamon Bear.  In pursuit of the Crazy Quilt dragon that stole the star, listeners follow Paddy and the Twins on wonderfully fantastic journeys as they meet such memorable characters as Captain Tin Top, Fraidy Cat, Mr. Presto, and even Santa Claus himself! The show even includes eleven original holiday songs written exclusively for the program! The Complete Cinnamon Bear appeals to listeners of all ages, sparking nostalgia of a simpler time for some, carrying hints of childhood stories for others.  For all, The Complete Cinnamon Bear is a must have this holiday season! Regular Price $20.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $10.49 Audio CDs / $5.24 Download.
 
 
 
 
Whether you remember the big band era yourself or simply appreciate the timeless music of the war years and beyond, you’ll find many treasures in this second collection from Radio Archives, featuring twenty of the top bands and musical groups of the era in twenty half-hour live remote broadcasts dating from 1944 to 1950. In addition to performances by orchestras that are still well remembered today, the set also features broadcasts by several lesser-known but equally talented ensembles, all performing live and in-person from some of the top ballrooms and night spots of the era. Regular Price $29.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $14.99 Audio CDs / $7.49 Download.
 
 
 
 
Created and produced by the Australian-based George Edwards Productions, The Adventures of Marco Polo relates the remarkable journey which Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle took to Persia and China in the late 1200s. These Venetian businessmen risked their very lives to establish trade relations with countries that, at the time, were thought to be uncivilized, dangerous, and possibly deadly. Their treacherous journey, as well as the riches, action, and intrigue they found when they arrived in the Far East, makes for thrilling and adventurous entertainment. This six-CD set offers the first twenty-five broadcasts of this fifty-two episode series; the remaining programs can be found in Volume 2. Regular Price $17.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $8.99 Audio CDs / $4.49 Download.
 
 
 
 

Space Patrol outlines the exploits of Commander Buzz Corey (Ed Kemmer), head of a 30th-century police-keeping force operating from the planet Terra. Assisting Corey is his youthful sidekick Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborne), as well as Major “Robbie” Robertson (Ken Meyer), Dr. Van Meter (Rudolph Anders) and Carol Karlyle (Virginia Hewett). Corey’s struggle to maintain law and order is frequently hampered by the villainous likes of Mister Proteus (Marvin Miller), Agent X (Norman Jolley), and Prince Baccaretti (Bela Kovacs). This collection offers you ten fun-filled hours of gee-whiz intergalactic action, featuring a wide range of special premium offers “just for sending in those box tops from Ralston cereals”.  Regular Price $29.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $14.99 Audio CDs / $7.49 Download.

 
 
 
 
Read by Richard Epcar
 

Before James Bond was ever imagined, Jimmy Christopher was the bravest, boldest and best-equipped secret agent any nation ever had!
 
From out of the pages of Operator #5 magazine steps a dramatic hero who pits himself against threats to national security from all origins. Whether it’s subversive internal menace, or a full-scale invasion from an enemy land, James Christopher stood ready and resolute to defeat it.
 
In 1934, with Hitler consolidating power in Germany and the Japanese Empire on the rise in Asia, young pulp publisher Harry Steeger decided that the American public was ready for a magazine chronicling the exploits of an undercover agent dedicated to defending the United States from foreign aggressors. With his editors, Steeger came up with a title, Secret Service Operator #5, and a cover depicting a masked terrorist fleeing an exploding White House. Over this loomed the resourceful hero, blazing away with a .45 automatic. His job: to defeat a new invasion of the United States—every month!
 
James Christopher did not technically belong to the U. S. Secret Service. He was a top agent for an America’s unnamed Intelligence Service. It was in his blood. His father, John Christopher, retired from the same agency years before. Answerable only to his superior, Z-7, and carrying a letter from the President of the United States identifying him as Operator #5, Jimmy Christopher played for keeps. He carried a rapier sewn into his belt, and in a golden skull hanging from his watch-chain was a reservoir of poison to be taken in the event of capture.
 
Aided by a small group of trusted assistants, ranging from his twin sister Nan to scrappy street urchin Tim Donovan, Jimmy Christopher was a one-man defense force. Proud and patriotic, expert marksman and swordsman, he was the best America has to offer in a time of severe trial.
 
Originally written by master pulpsmith Frederick C. Davis, theOperator #5 series was a clear forerunner of the spy and espionage genre, which exploded in the 1960s when President John F. Kennedy happened remark that he enjoyed reading Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. The first Bond film, Dr. No, was released in 1962. Soon, America was surrounded by spies. The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Our Man Flint,and Nick Carter, Killmaster were just a few of the most prolific. Jimmy Christopher was on the job a generation before them all, blazing the espionage trail, and keeping America safe from fascism and other wicked isms.
 
Unseen, impregnable, the strange war engine of a foreign power hovered over America, waiting the fatal moment to hurl death upon a thousand cities and towns. Foredoomed to destruction and desolation before the ravaging hordes of the Yellow Empire, bleak despair gripped the nation’s millions. And then men held their breath in agonizing hope — as Operator #5, single-handed, seized the last grim chance to save the United States!
 
Into this unprecedented crisis plunged Jimmy Christopher. Only one man, but a man who embodied the American spirit—and stands prepared to perish to protect his country.
 
This Total Pulp Experience audiobook contains all three stories from the second issue issue of Operator #5 Magazine, May 1934. Read by Richard Epcar. 6 hours. $23.98 Audio CDs / $11.99 Download.
 
 
Put the chilling in your Christmas with Terror Tales, Volume 1! Featuring seven stories from the original run of the classic weird menace magazine, this audiobook will give you goosebumps and have you leaving the light on at night! In Paul Ernst’s horrific The Mummy Maker, an innocent woman faces the fearsome fate of being mummified alive! Norvell Page’s disquieting Accursed Thirst takes us into the dark mind of a vampire—or is it a werewolf? Terror and horror compete for supremacy in Frederick C. Davis deeply disturbing Dig Deep the Graves! These and four more horror classics are read by Joey D’Auria and Michael C. Gwynne. Terror Tales is a guaranteed fright for sure! Regular Price $27.98 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $13.99 Audio CDs / $6.99 Download.
 
Great Audiobooks for Christmas
 
Captain Future The Space Emperor – Thrill to the debut adventure of the Doc Savage of the Future!  Written by Edmond Hamilton, Captain Future and the Space Emperor is a wild adventure spanning from Jupiter to the Moon.  Armed with a proton pistol and accompanied by three nonhuman companions, Captain Future made the spaceways of the far flung 1990s safe flying around in the Comet! Read by Joey D’Auria! 6 Hours of Science Fiction Adventure. 6 hours. $23.98 Audio CDs /  $11.99 Download.
 

The Green Lama The Case of the Crimson Hand – One of the most unique and popular pulp characters ever created, Kendall Foster Crossen’s Green Lamafights once!  Created to compete with The Shadow, The Green Lama was Jethro Dumont, a millionaire who had gone to Tibet to become a lama and returned to America to fight crime! Surrounding himself with a team of companions, The Green Lama sets off on his first two adventures in this Audiobook, voiced by noted voice actor Michael McConnohie!  Thrill to the inaugural exploits of The Green Lama! 6 hours. $23.98 Audio CDs / $11.99 Download.
 
Dan Fowler: G-Man Snatch! – Pulp’s classic two fisted government agent fights crime in this wonderfully produced audiobook!  From an era when the real life FBI was tackling crime head and hands on throughout America comes Dan Fowler, a young but hardened agent schooled in the scientific methods of the FBI, but also able to hold his own in a bloody shootout! Listen as actor Richard Epcar breathes ruggedness and determination into every word as Fowler jumps in fists raised and guns blazing to deal with kidnappers and criminals! 5 hours. $19.98 Audio CDs / $9.99 Download.

The Spider The Prince of the Red Looters – A foe truly worthy of the Spider invites the Master of Men into his parlor in this pulp thriller! The Fly challenges Norvell W. Page’s iconic hero at every twist and turn in this riveting tale! And the challenge issued is one the Spider is only too glad to take up, a fight to the death! This audiobook, produced by Roger Rittner and wonderfully voiced by Nick Santa Mariaand Robin Riker, comes complete with a full period musical score and sound effects! 6 hours $23.98 Audio CDs / $11.99 Download.
 

 

The best of timeless Pulp now available as cutting edge eBooks! Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings the greatest heroes, awesome action, and two fisted thrills to your eReader! Presenting Pulp Icons such as the Spider and Operator #5 as well as wonderfully obscure characters like the Octopus and more, Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings you the best of yesterday’s Pulp today!
 
Over the Capitol hung that suicide Senator’s warning of destruction and anarchy to come when he was gone — of a fair land of freemen to suffer shame and degradation, a nation to be torn apart by the hounds of hell! Upon the very Senate doors hammered those yogi-mesmerized mobs who sought to make a mad man America’s ruler. And Richard Wentworth, whose eyes had gazed upon a written message from the honored dead, must don the Spider’s cloak of darkness to fight off these Storm Troops of Satan who would not rest content until Washington was a bloody shambles and the Chief Executive, himself, hung from a lonely gallows! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine.
 

America’s greatest metropolis struggled hopelessly in the toils of starvation — victim of the world’s most unscrupulous impostor — a criminal red Spider whose underworld cohorts had slashed the city’s life-giving arteries and established a bloody rule! While hollow-cheeked Famine left its ghastly imprint upon whimpering, peaked-faced little children, Richard Wentworth, in the real Spider’s eerie guise, took up their desperate cause — to wage death-battle against his most terrible foe — a crime-master who had cut the very throat of civilization in order to rear an evil empire on its white, picked bones! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. As a special bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of eBooks.

 

From the fleshpots of Asia they came — mailed warriors led by a brawny coolie emperor — a savage army against which no force could stand! Veteran military leaders turned craven before that dread new foe. Famous regiments broke, retreated, surrendered shamefully. Our navy was lost. The United States was waging two wars — and losing both!… Jimmy Christopher — Ace of the Intelligence — faces the supreme test of his career. Can he save America when all other commanders have furled their colors in dishonorable defeat? Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. As a special bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of eBooks.

 
Terror Tales John H. Knox

In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Terror Tales magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Terror Tales magazine, all written by John H. Knox, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.
 

Against a strange murder-master who held first a neighborhood, then a city, and then an entire, powerful nation in an icy paralyzing grip of fear, Captain Zero must wage a grim final battle — with only the guns of a small midnight patrol, that would seek him for a target at the first crimson streak of dawn!

 
All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats for the ultimate in compatibility. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBook to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
 
Find these legendary Pulp tales and more in Will Murray’s Pulp Classics, now available in the Kindle store, Barnes and Noble Nook store, and RadioArchives.com! Search for RadioArchives.com in iTunes where over 100 eBooks and growing everyday are available.
 
 


by Marian O’Hearn
Get a taste of Romance in the Old West in Rangeland Romances #1.  One of the most popular genres of the Pulp era, the western romance appealed to men and women alike, combining the draw of love and drama with the six-gun.  In Another Girl’s Brand, cowboy Quent finds himself torn between two passionate women, pants wearing beauty Trudy offering him a business partnership and exotic and flirtacious Grace who he wants to take away from the roughneck mining town! Presented in a beautifully formatted eBook for easy reading, this tale of love and action on the frontier is a must have this Holiday Season! Regular price $0.99. Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $0.49.
 
FREE Spider eBook!

Receive an exciting original Spider adventure FREE! Part of the Will Murray Pulp Classics line, The Spider #11, Prince of the Red Looters first saw print in 1934 and features his momentous battle with The Fly and his armies of crazed criminal killers.
 
For those who have been unsure about digging into the wonderful world of pulps, this is a perfect chance to give one of these fantastic yarns a real test run. With a full introduction to the Spider written by famed pulp historian and author Will Murray, The Spider #11 was written by one of pulp’s most respected authors, Norvell W. Page. Writing as Grant Stockbridge, Page’s stories included some of the most bizarre and fun takes on heroes and crime fighting in the history of escapist fiction.
 
Even today Page’s scenarios and his edge-of-the-seat writing style are still thrilling both new and old fans everywhere. For those who have never read one of these rollercoaster adventures, you are in for a thrill. If you already know how much fun a classic pulp is, make sure you get a copy of this classic.
 
See what the Total Pulp Experience is for yourself. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine.
 
Send an eMail to eBooks@RadioArchives.com and start reading your FREE copy of  the Spider #11 within seconds! Experience The Best Pulps the Past has to offer in the most modern way possible!
 

One of the top crime-fighters from the golden age of pulp fiction, the Spider returns in two thrill-packed adventures by Norvell W. Page writing as Grant Stockbridge. First, in The Spider and the Jewels Of Hell (1940), Tough, dauntless miners, accustomed to hardship and danger, paled in helpless terror as their homes were destroyed, their loved ones slaughtered! No one was safe, above ground or below, when The Killer walked among them. Only the Spider dared challenge the strangle-hold of fear that held an entire town in its deadly grip! Then, in Recruit For the Spider Legion (1943), Staunch supporter of justice and champion of the law Stanley Kirkpatrick, finds himself about to gain unexpected insights into the workings of the system when he himself is faced with the electric chair! Can the very man who has forever branded the Spider a criminal for his vigilante efforts join with his old enemy to battle the forces of Kali? These two exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading and feature both of the original full color covers as well as interior illustrations that accompany each story. Buy it today for $14.95!
 
 

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The Master of Darkness investigates baffling mysteries in two classic pulp thrillers by Walter B. Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, a hidden “Death Clue” secreted by Joe Cardona prevents the Master of Darkness from stopping serial murders! Then, guised as Kent Allard and Lamont Cranston, The Shadow travels from Mexico City to New Orleans to defeat an Aztec murder cult devoted to “Xitli, God of Fire.” This instant collector’s item showcases the original pulp covers by George Rozen and Graves Gladney plus the classic interior illustrations by Tom Lovell and Earl Mayan, with historical commentary by pulp historian Will Murray. Buy it today for $14.95.

 
The pulp era’s greatest superman returns in three exotic tales by William Bogart and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, a glowing scarab from “The Awful Dynasty” brings horrific deaths to financiers while a priceless scroll sends Doc and Patricia Savage to Egypt in search of the lost secret of the pyramid of Cheops! Then, the deadly mystery of “The Angry Canary” leads Doc and his aides to India. Finally, Monk Mayfair encounters “The Swooning Lady” during a trek through Central Park, in a tale newly illustrated by Dick Tracy’s Joe Staton! This triple-novel collector’s edition features both original color pulp covers by Emery Clarke, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of ten Doc Savage novels. Buy it today for $14.95.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richard Wentworth, the Spider, swings into Pulpy action once more in The Spider #21 – #24 Double Novel reprints. Race alongside the Master of Men and his beloved Nita Van Sloan and trusted companions Ram Singh and Jackson as they risk life, limb, and sanity to keep New York safe from madmen and lunatics! Find out why the Spider is considered one of the top three classic Pulp characters still today! Each reprint contains two exciting pulp adventures that have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading and feature both of the original full color covers as well as interior illustrations that accompany each story. The Spider Volumes #21 to #24, regular price $14.95 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $7.47.

 
The Man of Bronze leaves his mark on Pulp once again in classic stories reprinted in Doc Savage from Radio Archives! Follow Doc and his trusted friends and aides –  Monk, Ham, Long Tom, Renny, and Johnny – as they take on supervillains, would be tyrants, and strange villains of all kinds! Read Lester Dent at his best as Doc uses both brain and brawn to fight for justice and save the world once more! Each reprint contains two full-length Pulp novels reformatted for easy reading and also includes articles, illustrations, and other Doc related information to make the experience more exciting! Doc Savage Volumes #14 Bama, #17 Bama, #22, #22 Bama and #23, regular price $12.95 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $6.47.

 
Find out Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men inThe Shadow #21 and #24 from Radio Archives! These classic tales beautifully reprinted and formatted for easy reading feature Pulp’s most mysterious hero as created by Walter Gibson. Each reprint features two full length Shadow Pulp novels as well as original covers and a multitude of extra material for the true fan! Follow The Shadow and his team of agents as they delve into the darkness of the city and fight the evil that hides in the night! Who is The Shadow? Wealthy playboy Lamont Cranston? Pilot Kent Allard? Or someone else! Join the mystery with The Shadow Volumes #21 and #24, regular price $12.95 – Christmas Special priced until January 3rd for $6.47!
 
 

The shattering sequel to Fortress of Solitude.
 
The Doc Savage exploit that went untold for 74 years—Death’s Dark Domain!
 
In the aftermath of the evil John Sunlight’s pillaging of the secret Fortress of Solitude, a dreadful super-weapon has fallen the hands of a Balkan dictator intent upon seizing control of the vampire-haunted zone of desolation known as Ultra-Stygia. War is imminent. Monsters are loose in the disputed region. A strange darkness falls over the sinister landscape. Only Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze, understands the terrible threat to humanity. And only he can prevent the terror from spreading…
 
There are unknown Things prowling the darkest patch of land on the planet. Haunted by creatures that might have emerged from the Hell’s lowest regions, ancient Ultra-Stygia has turned into a cauldron of conflict between rival countries. Monster bats careen through the night sky. Invisible Cyclopes patrol the scorched battleground. And a power beyond understanding robs men of their vision.
 
Can the 20th century’s premier scientist and superman untangle this Gordian knot of carnage before neighboring nations are drawn into an apocalyptic new world war? Or will the Man of Bronze succumb to an unstoppable power he himself has unleashed upon mankind?
 
From the frozen Arctic to the war-torn Balkans, Doc Savage and his fighting five follow a winding trail of terror to a blood-freezing climax.
 
Death’s Dark Domain features a fantastic cover painted by Joe DeVito! Buy it today for only $24.95 from Radio Archives.
 

Back in print after 20 years! The rare Lester Dent-Will Murray collaboration resurrecting the original pulp superman…
 
Also available is the first Altus Press edition of Will Murray’s 1993 Doc Savage adventure, The Forgotten Realm. Deep in the heart of the African Congo lies a secret unsuspected for thousands of years. Doc Savage and his men embark on a quest to discover the secret of the strange individual known only as X Man, X for unknown. Before they come to the end of the trail, they find themselves fighting for their lives like gladiators of old!
 
No one knows who—or what—the strange being who calls himself “X Man” truly is. He was found wandering the ruins of a crumbling Roman fort, dressed in a toga, speaking classical Latin—and clutching a handful of unearthly black seeds.
 
Declared insane, the X Man patiently tends his weird plants until the day, impelled by a nameless terror, he flees Wyndmoor Asylum to unleash a cyclone of violence that is destined to suck the mighty Man of Bronze into the blackest, most unbelievable mystery of his entire career. For far from Scotland lies a domain of death unknown to the world and called by the ancient Latin name of Novum Eboracum—New York!
 
From the wild Scottish moors to the unexplored heart of darkest Africa, Doc Savage and his indomitable men embarked upon a desperate quest for the Forgotten Realm….
 
The Forgotten Realm features a spectacular cover painted by Joe DeVito! Buy it today for only $24.95 from Radio Archives.
 
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I have been a customer of Radio Archives for years, and as such, I saved your newsletters. I will say that what I have been able to purchase from you has been extraordinary. You are doing a great service to those of us who appreciate OTR. Keep up the good work!
 
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Got my order in the mail today. Thanks for the fast service and the nice extras. Have a great Christmas holiday!
 
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email toService@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
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PRO SE PRESENTS- THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT PART 3 AND COVER IMAGE-FOR FREE!

  • News
  • December 20, 2012

Pro Se Productions releases today the third part of its serialized Holiday actioner, THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT!  Also released today is the cover image for the serialization as well as for the novella when collected for print! The painting depicting Nicholas Saint facing grasping attackers head on was created by New Pulp artist David L. Russell and will be featured on all future installments of the Saint novella!   The link to Part 3 is http://pulpmachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-adventures-of-nicholas-saint-day.html! Happy Two Fisted Holidays from Pro Se Productions!

THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT-DAY 2-FOR FREE FROM PRO SE!

  • News
  • December 19, 2012

THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT, Tommy Hancock’s Pulp interpretation of Santa Claus and much to do with him, continue at http://pulpmachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-adventures-of-nicholas-saint-day-2.html for you to read for free!

Discover hidden wonders at the top of the world in Part 2 of the Adventures of Nicholas Saint and get the first peek at the man we all think we know as Santa!

And remember, click http://www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com/p/the-adventures-of-nicholas-saint-free.html to keep up with previous chapters!

Designed by Perry Constantine

PRO SE GIVES YOU THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON-FOR FREE!

  • News
  • December 18, 2012

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of New Pulp and Heroic Fiction, announces the release of a FREE online novella featuring a character that debuted from Pro Se in December 2011.

The Adventures of Nicholas Saint, created and written by Tommy Hancock, first appeared as a novella preview in Pro Se Presents #5 (December 2011).  This story takes the legend of Santa Claus and puts a decidedly Pulpy twist on the entire concept.   A long lived pioneer of many disciplines, most notably genetic science, Nicholas Saint protects the world from his outpost hidden on top of the globe.  Known as Santa Claus to generations- how this came about is as yet an untold story, but one Hancock insists will be shared-Saint uses that identity to not only spread charity once a year, but to defend the world from mad scientists, strange villains, eager despots and most notably, the most evil malevolence in the world, one that children all over the world know and adore.

“There are,” Hancock states, “many a riff on Santa and his elves, Mrs. Claus, and so on.   I’ve always wondered, though, what Santa would look like if he were Pulped up and, as much as possible with such a story, he and his were brought into a more realistic setting-as realistic as the world of Hero Pulps can get and still preserve the essence of the legend, anyway.  Everything that we know to be Santa-and even things that we have forgotten that relate to the legend-are built into Nicholas Saint.  The chance to play, also, with another legendary pantheon of sorts- the bad guys of the tale- is a hoot, too.  I think Pulp fans will find much they like within ‘The Adventures of Nicholas Saint’ and we at Pro Se are more than glad to share it with them.”

The debut novella finds Saint and his companions drawn to a small Ohio town, one that ten years earlier was the scene of tragedy and Saint’s greatest personal failure.  Now, seemingly with a second chance, Saint returns to put right what was made wrong before, only to learn that horror and evil he thought vanquished may likely be alive and well and thirsty for his blood.

At least 2,000 words of the novella will be posted at www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com from 12/18/12 through 12/31/12.   Early in 2013, the novella will be collected into a print volume with new material added and published by Pro Se Productions with a newly rendered cover by David L. Russell (A cover that will debut this week on www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com).  As new chapters are posted, the previous chapters will be posted on the NICHOLAS SAINT page at www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com so it can be read from beginning to end as it is posted!

Featuring the cover of Pro Se Presents #5 designed and created by Sean E. Ali, Pro Se Productions gives you- THE ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS SAINT at www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com!

Logo Designed by Perry Constantine

FORTIER TAKES ON ‘THE EXECUTIONER: BORDER OFFENSIVE!’

  • News
  • December 16, 2012

ALL PULP REVIEWS- By Ron Fortier

THE EXECUTIONER

Border Offensive
By Joshua Reynolds (really)
Gold Eagle
187 pages
We were discharged from the U.S. Army and returned civilian life upon our return home from Vietnam in the summer of 1968.  Sometime shortly after that major life change, we picked up a paperback book from a new publisher called Gold Eagle; the book was “Mack Bolan – The Excutioner” and the author was Don Pendleton.  It told the story of a Vietnam veteran who comes home to Massachusetts to bury his family, all dead because of the local Mafia which the police cannot bring to justice because of lack of evidence.
Incensed that while he was fighting for his country in a foreign land, his own loved ones were being victimized back home, Bolan realizes he’s been fighting the wrong war.  He goes AWOL, arms himself and retaliates against the local mobsters responsible for killing his family. By the book’s end he is a fugitive on the run but oddly content with his new role; that of an avenging angel who will take on the mob with no regards to his own safety.  He will become their Executioner and do what the law cannot; mete out justice.
It was heady stuff but even to a twenty-one year old reader, it was also very familiar.  Having learned about pulp fiction and their history over the years, it was all too easy to recognize this new paperback series was in fact a brand new attempt at mass market pulp fiction and in his own way, Mack Bolan, had become the Shadow of our times.  Confirmation of that theory quickly followed when Gold Eagle not only began issuing new Bolan adventures monthly but also debut another series about a secret agent trained in martial arts called The Destroyer by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir.  Just like that these two on-going action packed series launched an entire two version of American paperback pulps that would flourish throughout the 1970s.  Within months other paperback companies were putting forth their own wild and wooly series from the Black Samurai, to the Lone Wolf, the Chameleon and the Baroness to name on a very few.  By the end of that decade there were dozens of these on the bookstore racks.
Of course Pendleton, being only human after all, couldn’t possibly keep churning out book after book after book. Thus the editors of Gold Eagle adopted another practice of the old pulps; they hired ghost writers to produce books all under Pendleton’s name. As this became the norm, even after his death, the true author was given their due credit on the indicia page with the phrase, “Special thanks and acknowledgement to John Smith for his contributions to this work.”  Over the past forty years dozens of authors have found their name in this sentence.  Which brings us to this latest Executioner adventure and its author, new pulp writer Joshua Reynolds.
Being familiar with Reynolds’ work on reviving classic pulp characters ala Jim Anthony Super Detective and Dan Fowler G-Man, we decided it was time to revisit Mack Bolan after almost twenty years and see if anything had changed in the set formula of the books. Happily the tried and true elements were still there; tons of violent action with a stalwart hero who preserves despite all manner of physical duress.  Reynolds easily slips on the Executioner styling opening the book with Bolan in Mexico having just destroyed a drug cartel’s money making poppy fields.  On his way back to the states, he runs afoul of a group of Texas coyotes; men who smuggle illegal Mexican immigrants across the border for cash.  Knowing these characters to be merciless thugs, Bolan opts to investigate the situation and inadvertently interferes with an undercover border agent’s plan to bring down the two sadistic brothers running the operation.
Then Bolan and his new ally discover the coyotes are working for an al Qaeda agent named Turiq Ibn Tumart who plans on infiltrating the ranks of the poor Mexican workers with one hundred al Qaeda terrorists and in this manner smuggle them into the U.S. to wreak whatever murder and destruction they can perpetrate on unsuspecting American cities.  Now it’s up to Bolan and the young agent to find a way to stop this deadly convoy and destroy both the coyotes and their fanatical Jadhists allies.
“The Executioner – Border Offensive,” is an excellent addition to this long running series and kudos to Reynolds for this gritty, fast paced new chapter in the on-going war against evil by the one and only Mack Bolan.  Pick it up, pulp fans, you won’t be disappointed.

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