Sometimes it’s all too personal.Or so Chicago based private eye, Nathan Heller discovers when he’s asked by his friend, Hollywood sex symbol and superstar Marilyn Monroe to help her in her battle with Twentieth Century Fox. The year is 1962 and the famous blond is in a contractual contest with the studio that is facing financial ruins. When the entire energies of the studio’s marketing staff begin attacking her reputation and credibility, Marilyn retaliates.Fearing the contest will end in court, she asks Heller to tap her phones thus providing her with physical evidence to present a judge. Heller, now in his mid-50s and a highly successful entrepreneur with offices in New York, Chicago and Hollywood, gladly accepts the job unaware his client is deeply embroiled in a sex scandal that could rip the country apart.
Heller soon learns that Marilyn’s sexual escapades with Jack and Bobby Kennedy have attracted a hive of dangerous bees to include the C.I.A., FBI, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa and underworld figure Sam Giancana. All of them have a vested interest in keeping the blond bombshell quiet.When she dies only a few months later of a drug overdose, the usually unflappable Heller is shocked by the inept police investigation that follows. It reeks of a cover up and Heller is convinced the depressed film actress was murdered.Now comes the tough part, proving it.
“Bye Bye, Baby,” is the fifteenth Nate Heller mystery, Collins’ longest running series and his most acclaimed.So meticulous is the research that goes into each book, one gets both a fast paced thriller and a history at the same time.Talk about more bang for your bucks.Throughout the series, Heller has crossed paths with such personalities as Orson Welles, Frank Nitti, Sally Rand and Charles Lindberg.He’s very much the detective version of a Forrest Gump.Yet in all these past cases, he has never been more human or vulnerable.This is due in large part to the events taking place in a time writer Collins is personally familiar with and it is that intimate connection that infuses itself into the character’s perceptions.
Norma Jean Baker, born June 1st, 1926, came to Hollywood as a model and became Marilyn Monroe.She landed her first film contract in 1946 and went on to become the most popular screen sex goddess since Jean Harlow.By 1953, she had progressed to leading roles and shaken off her “dumb blonde” image, winning the coveted Golden Globe Award in 1959 for her role in “Some Like It Hot.”The true circumstances of her death sparked an avalanche of conspiracy theories still bandied about today.
Collins’ genius is taking the dozens of convoluted records and few remaining pieces of evidence to describe one possible scenario on how Marilyn was murdered.In the end the story is a gut wrenching tragedy and perhaps Collin’s finest book ever.It is one this reviewer was emotionally involved with from beginning to end.I can remember all too easily being a fifteen year old fan when Marilyn Monroe died and the sadness I felt.You see, Max, I loved her too.
With the announcement of Lance Star: Sky Ranger joining the iPulp Fiction Library, we wanted to introduce readers to some of the Honorary Sky Rangers involved with making these stories happen. Next up is Lance star: Sky Ranger Author Frank Dirscherl.
LSSR: Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you and your work?
FD: I’m a 38 year old librarian, live in Australia and have been writing off and on my whole life, professionally for about 10 or so years now. I’ve mainly been writing the adventures of my modern day pulp paradin, The Wraith, in both comic book and prose form, but I’ve worked on some other projects as well. My two websites contain further information and links to buy my work – http://www.trinitycomics.com/ and http://www.frankdirscherl.com/.
Attack of the Bird Man Now Available.
LSSR: How did you become involved with the Lance Star: Sky Ranger series?
FD: I don’t quite recall how I was introduced to Mr Ron Fortier online, but ultimately, he invited me to contribute to this, and other works, from his publishing venture Airship 27, and I eagerly signed up. I only wish I’d have had the time to contribute more than I thus far have, but there will be more from me coming, rest assured. Pulp storytelling is my absolute favorite, and the more I can contribute to this genre, the better.
LSSR: Who is Lance Star? What makes pulp characters like Lance and the Sky Rangers appeal to you as a writer and a reader?
FD: Lance Star is an aviator adventurer who surrounds himself with a team of fellow enthusiasts and who end up fighting crime and seeking adventure the world over. I think characters such as Doc Savage and even Indiana Jones are probably of a similar ilk to Lance. What I love about all such pulp novel characters is that their stories are, for mine, true adventures. When coming to the end of such a story, one gets the feeling you’ve been on a real ride, unlike any other in fiction. The adventures are often fast-paced and even, at times, feverish and melodramatic—the characters go through so much in the course of their adventure, and I love that. Above all else, I’m a reader of the genre, so that makes it all the more special to also be a writer of such stories. I feel privileged to be able to contribute in some small way to the genre.
The Wraith: Valley of Evil
LSSR: Digital content has changed the publishing landscape. As a creator, what excites you about digital content? As a reader?
FD: What excites me is that all our work can now be accessed by as wide a range of readers as possible. Never before has the work of all authors been as easily accessible as they are now with the ‘digital revolution’. This can only be of benefit to all creators. For just a few dollars—often as low as two or three—a reader can download a book and have it instantly available to read on their e-reader. I myself own a Kindle, and it’s an amazing tool.
LSSR: Your Lance Star: Sky Ranger story, “Attack Of The Birdman” is currently available in print, as an eBook, and soon to be released individually at iPulp Fiction. What can you tell us about this story? (plug it, tease it)
FD: I was somewhat inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds, but also by an incident which happened while I was pondering my Lance Star story. On that day, I looked outside my (then) home and saw dozens of birds congregated on a power line that weren’t there moments earlier. That really gave me the spark of an idea as to where to take my story. But, what if a master criminal was behind the appearance of the birds. What if he was controlling them, using them to further his own nefarious plans? And, what if he was possibly not even human? Once I’d established that, a Birdman threatening the country, everything flowed easily from there. It turned into a rollicking adventure, one which links very well into the established Lance Star mythos, and I think is one of the best stories I’ve thus far written.
The Wraith: Cult of the Damned
LSSR: Any upcoming projects you would like to plug?
FD: My latest novel in The Wraith Adventures series, Cry of the Werewolf, will be out either later this year or early next year, and I’m very excited about that. The Wraith is truly out of his comfort zone in this one as he vacations with his girlfriend in the countryside and battles with werewolves, a Satanic cult and much more. I’ve also just completed my Wraith short story, titled Sundown, for the upcoming Airship 27 Wraith anthology and another Wraith short story, Zombies Attack!, for an anthology titled Superheroes vs. Zombies (from Coscom Entertainment). More short stories to come, and readers can always access the various comic books I’ve also written and published from my aforementioned websites.
With the announcement of Lance Star: Sky Ranger joining the iPulp Fiction Library, we wanted to introduce readers to some of the Honorary Sky Rangers involved with making these stories happen. Next up is Lance star: Sky Ranger Publisher Ron Fortier.
LSSR: Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you, your work, and Airship 27 Productions?
RF: Okay, Reader’s Digest version here. Been writing professionally for past thirty-five years, mostly comics and now pulps. Folks can visit my website (www.airship27.com) to see what I’m up to on a weekly basis and learn more about Airship 27 Productions etc.
Airship 27 Productions
LSSR: How did you become involved with the Lance Star: Sky Ranger series?
RF: Having been a fan of the old pulp aviation heroes, we wanted to do our own series and Lance Star was the answer. He and his Star Rangers are classic aviation heroes with tons of adventures to tell.
LSSR: Who is Lance Star? What makes pulp characters like Lance and the Sky Rangers appeal to you as a writer, a reader, and a publisher?
Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 1
RF: Lance Star is an flying adventurer and veteran of World War One. He and his crew travel the globe of the 1930s and setting them against this ear as historical background is always fun.
LSSR: Digital content has changed the publishing landscape. As a creator and publisher, what excites you about digital content? As a reader?
RF: Obviously the ability to get our books out to a much larger audience, folks who own Kindles and Nooks, is the biggest attractions. We want lots of people to have the fun of reading our books and the digital market has opened that possibility far beyond our wildest dreams.
Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 2
LSSR: Airship 27 currently has two Lance Star: Sky Ranger anthologies in print and available as eBooks with several of those stories soon to be released individually at iPulp Fiction. What’s next for these pulp heroes?
RF: Simply more of the same. We have a third Lance Star anthology in production and hope to follow it up with his first ever full blown novel.
And I’m told there are more shot comics in the works. We plan on keeping Lance and the Sky Rangers flying high for a long time to come.
Damballa
LSSR: Any upcoming projects you would like to plug?
RF: Airship 27 Production just released its third SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE anthology and will soon be releasing the first ever African American 1930s avenger, DAMBALLA by novelist, Charles Saunders. It’s a book we’re damn proud of.
With the announcement of Lance Star: Sky Ranger joining the iPulp Fiction Library, we wanted to introduce readers to some of the Honorary Sky Rangers involved with making these stories happen. Next up is Lance star: Sky Ranger Author Bill Spangler.
LSSR: Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you and your work?
BS: I’ve been selling fiction for a number of years now. Primarily my work has appeared in comic books, but I’ve been selling prose short stories—such as “Talons Of the Red Condors”—too. My most recent credits are a graphic novel based on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, the classic sf TV series from the 1950s, and “Mutual Assured Destruction,” a prose story featuring the Green Hornet. The latter is in the first volume of The Green Hornet Chronicles, published by Moonstone Books.
The Green Hornet Chronicles
You can order either of those through your local comics shop, or through Amazon.
My comic book work also includes The Argonauts, a pulp-adventure series in the tradition of Doc Savage and Buckaroo Banzai, and several series based on the animated TV show Robotech. Frankly, the best place to find them is probably in the three-for-a-dollar box at your local comics shop.
LSSR: How did you become involved with the Lance Star: Sky Ranger series?
BS: I wish I had an interesting story to tell you here, but the truth is I just don’t. Ron Fortier graciously asked me to participate, and I said, “Sure!” Ron and I have been corresponding since the late 1980s or the early ‘90s—you know, back when you actually sent paper letters to people—but, now that I think about it, I don’t think we’ve actually been in the same room together more than two or three times.
Talons Of The Red Condors
LSSR: Who is Lance Star? What makes pulp characters like Lance and the Sky Rangers appeal to you as a writer and a reader?
BS: Lance is an inventor, a pilot and an adventurer. From time to time, he and his team help out the government. You could say he’s part Doc Savage, part Indiana Jones and part Blackhawk. When I wrote “Talons,” I started to visualize Lance as a young Jimmy Stewart…or, his modern analog, Tom Hanks. He’s smart and competent, but a bit of a dreamer.
Personally, I’ve always found that to be an appealing mix. Some of my favorite characters fall into that tradition, like Tom Swift Jr., for instance, and the Tracy family from the Thunderbirds TV show. And I think some of the exotic airplanes in these stories are the ancestors of the gadgetry and vehicles in anime.
LSSR: Digital content has changed the publishing landscape. As a creator, what excites you about digital content? As a reader?
BS: I’m hoping that the minimal overhead of doing digital books will encourage publishers to take chances on stories and authors that you don’t see often in the big book store chains. With a little luck, publishers will be more willing to give authors the time to develop an audience or not demand that every title make Steven-King level profits. I guess that applies to me both as a creator and a reader because, in general, the stuff I want to write is the stuff I want to read.
Lance Star: Sky Ranger
LSSR: Your Lance Star: Sky Ranger story, “Talons Of The Red Condors” is currently available in print, as an eBook, and soon to be released individually at iPulp Fiction. What can you tell us about this story?
BS: Basically, I started out with the idea of wanting to do a big springboard, a big McGuffin, and I wanted to set it in a foreign country. So, “Talons” is set in Panama, and the bad guys perform an audacious…well, let’s call it a hijacking. There’s a lost city and a woman who changes sides during the course of the story, along with some other pulp riffs. I had a lot of fun researching it, and a lot of fun writing it.
Release schedule for Lance Star: Sky Ranger tales on iPulp: 06/17: Lance Star: Sky Ranger – Vol.1 #1: Attack of the Bird Man by Frank Dirsherl (now available) 07/07: Lance Star: Sky Ranger – Vol.1 #2: Where the Sea Meets the Sky by Bobby Nash 07/27: Lance Star: Sky Ranger – Vol.1 #3: Talons of the Red Condors by Bill Spangler
Pulp 2.0 Press Acquires Publishing Rights to Big Bang Universe
Pulp Publisher to reprint classic Big Bang Comics as Collector’s Volumes
Los Angeles, CA – Pulp 2.0 Press CEO Bill Cunningham today announced that the company has acquired the publishing and media licensing rights to the library of work by creators Gary Carlson and Chris Ecker under their Big Bang Comics imprint. This deal signals another expansion for the company’s library of graphic novels. “I’ve always loved the history and the classic sensibility of the Big Bang Comics characters like Knight Watchman, Ultiman,Thunder Girl and others that Gary and Chris have created. I’m very pleased we have a chance to bring their work and the work of celebrated giants like Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, Shelly Moldoff, and Marty Nodell out in collector’s editions that capture that four color fun we all enjoyed when we were kids.”
The company plans to issue their editions as showcases to each individual Big Bang Comics character by collecting all of that character’s work under one cover, and adding historical reference, essays and rare, behind-the-scenes photos, sketches, covers, and memorabilia. Formerly published by Image comics, Big Bang made a reputation for itself as the place where comics were fun again by creating the classic comics work of BB giants like Tom King and Jack Kingler. “Big Bang Comics is an example of the kind of of fun we want to inject back into book publishing,” said Cunningham. “I grew up reading books like The Great Comic Book Heroes and Batman: From the 30’s to the 70’s. Each Big Bang character deserves the same sort of presentation so fans old and new can read and appreciate both the comics and the history behind the company just like I did.”
“Big Bang Comics began in 1992 when Chris Ecker told me that he was tired of comic book publishers and art directors telling him that he drew like an “old guy” and that he was going to sit down and draw an old style comic book story and that I was going to write it. We talked his ideaover at a small comic convention in Elgin, Illinois where we both lived. Then we got Gary Reed at Caliber Press involved as our first publisher and the rest is history. With Big Bang I got to write stories about the characters I had loved and even got to work with some of my favorite creators: Shelly Moldoff, Mart Nodell, Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson (they even signed it “Swanderson”!), Dave Cockrum and Rich Buckler,” said Big Bang Creator Gary Carlson.
Big Bang Co-Creator Chris Ecker adds, “If the Golden Age and Silver Age creators had the opportunity to see their work available on “space aged” digital devices (like, say a Kindle or Nook), they’d have jumped at it. With Pulp2.0, we’re able to do things with our “vintage” comic universe that they could only dream–and write or draw–about. I also think there’s an untapped group of potential fans that aren’t familiar with Big Bang out there, and the digital and print on demand capabilities that our Pulp 2.0 partnership presents will allow them total access. “
Individual editions in Pulp 2.0’s Big Bang Comics Collector’s series will be announced as they become available. The first editions are scheduled for 2nd quarter 2012. For more information on Big Bang go to: www.bigbangcomics.com
About Pulp 2.0:
Pulp 2.0 is a publishing and media company that creates and distributes quality pulp entertainment media in every manner possible for its audience all over the world to enjoy. The company licenses, redesigns and republishes classic pulp, exploitation paperbacks and magazines through a variety of print and digital media; breathing new life into many of these ‘lost’ properties.
The company also creates new pulp entertainment for its target audience including the original vampire blaxploitation novel Brother Blood by Donald F. Glut, the internet radio adventure serial “The Murder Legion Strikes at Midnight” (produced in association with Toronto’s Decoder Ring Theater), and the tribute to legendary radio adventure historian Jim Harmon, Radio Western Adventures that features a lost western tale by Doc Savage creator Lester Dent. In addition, the company is developing the re-release of Glut’s widely acclaimed horror-adventure book series The New Adventures of Frankenstein in collectible editions for print and digital. For more information go to: www.pulp2ohpress.com
ALL PULP wishes everyone who celebrates July 4th or any day of freedome a HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY and specifically thanks each and every man and woman who ever wore a uniform, stood against tyranny, and/or fought for the right that every American has to be free today! Enjoy your families, fellowship, and your freedom, not just today, but every single moment. Happy 4th of July from ALL PULP!
It’s a Download Bonanza at RadioArchives.com! * New Downloads: The Lost Episodes of Fibber McGee and Molly * Python Isle: Reviews Are Coming In * New in Pulp Fiction * Who Knows What Evil… * New: Classic Whodunits with Sherlock Holmes New Downloads: The Lost Episodes of Fibber McGee and MollyFor over two decades, whenever the front doorbell rang at 79 Wistful Vista, millions of radio listeners could be sure that laughter was soon going to follow. For behind that door lived a memorable couple whose misadventures entertained audiences both young and old for more than twenty years.
Fibber McGee and Molly were an institution on radio, bringing us belly laughs thru the dark days of the Great Depression, the challenging years of World War II, and well into the prosperity of the 1950s. And now, thanks to a new series of Digital Downloads from RadioArchives.com, you can enjoy hour after hour of smiles and chuckles with the irrepressible Fibber, sweet and patient Molly, and all of their bizarre neighbors – including Wallace Wimple, the Old Timer, and McGee’s friend and sometimes nemesis Doc Gamble. With the discovery of literally hundreds of long-lost NBC master recordings, RadioArchives.com has brought you twelve collections of “The Fibber McGee and Molly Show” on audio compact discs. Now all of these great sets can also be purchased as Digital Downloads – and at a price considerably lower than the comparable CD set! Just visit RadioArchives.com today and browse our new Digital Downloads section, where you’ll find Fibber and Molly, “The Lux Radio Theater”, Orson Welles in “The Lives of Harry Lime”, and many other radio and audiobook favorites. Place your order, download your sets, and in just minutes you’ll be enjoying some great audio entertainment.
Digital Downloads from RadioArchives.com come to you as high bitrate MP3 files to ensure that you’ll enjoy the same sparkling audio fidelity as in our CD sets. You can play them on your computer, on most mobile phones, or on your favorite portable device – and, whether you live in Seattle, Stockholm, or San Juan, each downloadable collection is available worldwide with immediate delivery and NO postal charges to pay!
So stop by RadioArchives.com today and enjoy our new and ever-expanding array of Digital Downloads – and watch out for that closet door!
Python Isle: Reviews Are Coming InAt Radio Archives, we always like to please our customers. But we’ve truly been overwhelmed by the compliments we’re receiving about “Python Isle”, the Doc Savage adventure that introduces our new line of pulp audiobooks!
Dale from Littleton, Colorado writes: Absolutely fantastic! The narrator did all kinds of different voices for all the characters and kept everything very well paced. All audiobooks should be like this one.
Larry Scheflin writes: I’ve been listening to “Python Isle” and I must say that Michael McConnohie has done an excellent job. His voice characterizations are a joy. Kudos to all and thanks for a wonderful listening experience.
From the All Pulp Blog, reviewer Tommy Hancock writes: “Python Isle” is the stuff pulp dreams are made of. From fistfights and gun battles to harrowing chases in various locales all the way to an epic conflict aboard a zeppelin, “Python Isle” delivers all the thrills and chills anyone could want. It’s more than a treat, better than a nice surprise. It is simply New Pulp storytelling at its best.
If you thrill to the excitement and suspense that only a great adventure story can provide, you’ll want to visit RadioArchives.com today and pick up your copy of “Python Isle”. Written by Will Murray and directed and produced by Roger Rittner – the same team that brought you “The Adventures of Doc Savage” radio series – this eight hour collection also features two exclusive and newly recorded interviews with the author and striking cover art by Joe DeVito. Priced at just $25.98 for the 8-CD set or $17.98 for the Digital Download, this action-packed tale is one we know you’ll want to share with your entire family. And, next month, be sure to watch this newsletter for our next exciting audiobook, in which the Man of Bronze faces one of his most challenging foes: the mysterious White Eyes! New in Pulp FictionDuring the 1930s, both kids and grown-ups alike would often rush to their favorite newsstands to anxiously await the delivery of the latest magazines featuring their three favorite adventure heroes: Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Spider! Now RadioArchives.com offers you a series of double-novel reprints featuring the timeless stories of these crime fighting icons, all featuring full-color covers and many special features! The new arrivals include:
“The Shadow, Volume 50”, priced at just $14.95, an extra-length special issue showcasing three of the Dark Knight’s most thrilling stories: “The Man from Shanghai”, “The Golden Dog Murders”, and “Jabberwocky Thrust”. Then, in “Doc Savage, Volume 45”, priced at just $14.95, The Man of Bronze returns in two of his most engrossing adventures: “Merchants of Disaster” & “Measures for a Coffin”. Finally, The Spider – pulp fiction’s legendary Master of Men – returns in two thrill-packed adventures, combined into one volume for the low price of just $14.95: “Slaves of the Dragon” and “The Spider and his Hobo Army”.
Often neglected and unrecognized in their own time, the stories of these three influential superheroes are now seen as classics of popular culture. If you love pulp fiction – or if you’re just discovering it for the first time – be sure to visit RadioArchives.com today and order copies of these and our other classic pulp fiction titles for your personal library.
Who Knows What Evil…“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow Knows!”…and so does John Olsen, whose insightful reviews share the web pages for every double-novel Shadow reprint offered by RadioArchives.com. John is the only fellow we know who has read, re-read, and re-re-read every adventure of this crime fighting foe of the underworld – all 325 of them – and, thanks to his generosity, he regularly shares his thoughts and opinions about the novels of the Knight of Darkness with the visitors to RadioArchives.com.
If you share John’s love of The Shadow, you may or may not share his opinions, but you’re sure to agree that he knows his subject and writes about it very well. If you’re only casually acquainted with this iconic vigilante of justice, we know you’ll appreciate John’s insightful reviews of his many adventures. And if you’ve never read a Shadow novel – well, there’s no one like John Olsen to entice you to get started right away!
So the next time you come to RadioArchives.com for entertainment, visit the Pulp Fiction section and read a few of John Olsen’s reviews. If you’re like us, we bet you’ll soon be just as big of a fan of The Shadow as he is – and understand completely that “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay! The Shadow Knows!”
New: Classic Whodunits with Sherlock HolmesIn the annals of detective fiction, there are many investigators who could lay claim to legendary status. But, for many, the most famous, the most unique, and the most emulated would be the pipe smoking, violin playing, and deer-stalker clad gentleman known as Sherlock Holmes.
Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes and his faithful friend and companion Doctor Watson have been a significant part of popular culture ever since their adventures first appeared in the Strand Magazine in 1887. In the years that have followed, Holmes and Watson have made their way to the stage, the movies, television, and even graphic novels – but, for fans of classic radio, “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” remains among the best interpretations of these two unforgettable characters and their often baffling cases.
The two actors most associated with the roles during radio’s Golden Age were, of course, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. But Rathbone’s departure from the series in 1946 resulted in another actor taking on the part: Tom Conway, the suave and handsome leading man who had recently been seen as The Falcon in the popular RKO movie series. Though long-time fans were understandably dubious of the change, Conway’s talents fit the role like a glove and he, along with Nigel Bruce, continued to broadcast the series from Hollywood for another successful season.
In “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1”, RadioArchives.com brings you ten exciting and fully restored episodes from this little-known chapter in the life of the World’s Greatest Consulting Detective, just as originally aired in 1946 and starring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce. Priced at just $14.98 for the five audio CD set, or $9.98 for the digital download, this collection also features original cover art by Timothy Lantz. Visit RadioArchives.com and add Sherlock Holmes to your personal library of mystery favorites right away!
(Note for long-time customers: this 5-hour collection is a repackaged re-release of the first half of a 10-CD set which we previously offered in our catalog. In addition to new cover art, all of the shows in this collection have been newly restored from the original masters to ensure outstanding audio fidelity.) We’d love to hear from you!Send an e-mail to Service@RadioArchives.com or call us toll free at 800-886-0551 with your comments, questions, or suggestions. Listen to this Newsletter!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy this newsletter as an Audio Podcast! Click anywhere in the colorful banner at the top and you’ll automatically hear the Radio Archives Newsletter, enhanced with narration, music, and clips from our latest collections! This audio version of our regular newsletter is a pleasant and convenient way to hear all about our latest products, as well as the newest pulp fiction reprints, special offers, and much, much more!
The releases we’ve described in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s pulp fiction classics, our new line of audiobooks, colorful and exciting items from Moonstone, timeless movies and television shows on DVD, or the over 150 compact disc collections and downloads containing thousands of sparkling and fully restored classic radio shows, we hope you’ll make RadioArchives.com your source for the best in timeless entertainment.
White Rocket Books is proud to announce the publication of the sixth novel in the critically acclaimed Sentinels Saga from Van Allen Plexico: STELLARAX!
The situation is dire. Four vast and powerful cosmic entities stand poised to destroy the Earth, while the spaceborne nano-virus called the Blight turns everyone–human and alien–into mindless zombies.
With the mighty Ultraa near death and powerful Vanadium a captive of the enemy, Lyn Li and Esro Brachis have no other choice. They must lead a ragtag group of heroes and villains on a desperate mission. If they’re going out, they’re going out with a bang. It’s one last hurrah– before the end of the world!
Filled with action and adventure, SENTINELS: STELLARAX sees our heroes through their greatest challenges ever–and no one is the same afterward.
With five full-page illustrations by Chris Kohler. (Trade paperback edition.)
Says Plexico: “This volume brings to a climax the world-shaking events that have been building from the very start. Readers have patiently awaited the answers to a number of burning questions about the heroes and their predicaments, and a whole lot of answers are to be found in this book. Keen-eyed readers will spot connections that go back as far as the first chapter of the first volume as everything comes together for the big finish of the “Rivals”story arc. It’s the biggest and most ambitious volume yet and I’m confident longtime and new Sentinels readers will love it. Add in Chris’s awesome artwork in the paperback version and you can’t possibly go wrong.”
In addition, White Rocket is pleased to announce that–for the first time ever–all six SENTINELS novels are available for the Kindle, as well as in Epub format for Nook and other e-readers, at the low price of only $2.99 each!
CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE SENTINELS SAGA:
“Nobody – not even Abnett and Lanning – is doing cosmic superheroes as well as Van Allen Plexico is doing them. Period.” –Barry Reese, award-winning creator of The Rook
“Wow does the fun come across to the lucky readers.” –Ron Fortier, Pulp Fiction Reviews
“You’ll find the spirit of Stan Lee’s characters and Roy Thomas’s plots living and breathing in Plexico’s writing.” –OnceUponAGeek.com
“Excellent reads.” –Ric Croxton, The Book Cave
“I was enthralled. I enjoyed them all and still want more. –Mark Haleuga, Gotham Pulp Collectors Club
SENTINELS: STELLARAX by Van Allen Plexico published June 2011 by White Rocket Books $15.95 paperback; $2.99 Kindle ISBN 978-0984139248
Will Murray, Roger Ritner and Michael McConnohie join the Book Cave crew to discuss Python Isle and future audio books. Will Murray – www.adventuresinbronze.com On Facebook: The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage. Radioarchives.com Michael McConnohie
You realize there are books reviewers are predisposed to like by the title alone.When the good folks at the New York Journal of Books offered to send me this book, it was because I’d already reviewed an earlier book by the same author and liked it a great deal.But being brutally honest here, I’d forgotten what that title was until they showed me the cover image to “Blood of the Reich.”Ah, yes, William Dietrich, I thought, the fellow who created that Revolutionary version of Indiana Jones in his first book, “Napoleon’s Hero.”Yes, I had enjoyed that historical romp and was curious as to what this new stand alone offering might contain in the way of a fun reading experience.
Once I read the marketing copy, I was hooked.Nazis scientists racing to Tibet in hopes of finding a hidden mystical power in the lost city of Shambhala.These plot elements scream pulp pleasure and I knew immediately this was my kind of book.Dietrich’s background as a naturalist and historian allow him to create outlandish plots against authentic, real world settings and it is that richness of historical data that catapults “Blood of the Reich” into action from page one.
In 1938 Kurt Raeder, a German archeologist, is given an assignment by Hitler’s personal advisor, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler.Raeder and a handful of loyal Nazis scientists are to travel to Tibet, seek out the lost city of Shambhala and there retrieve an ancient power known as Vril.Himmler and the members of the arcane Thule Society believe this Vril could tip the balance of the coming war in Germany’s favor and fulfill Hitler’s mad dreams of a Third Reich world conquest.
Raeder is an intellectual sadist and the temptation to achieve personal glory, maybe even immortality, through the success of such an undertaking is much too great for him to resist.And so the mission is launched.At the same time, American intelligence agencies discover Raeder’s purpose and recruit their own academic agent, zoologist Benjamin Hood, to go after the Nazis and beat them at their own game.Failing that, he is to sabotage their efforts and assure Vril never becomes a German weapon.
Now this rollicking race across the world is exciting enough but Deitrich ups the ante by creating a second storyline; this one taking place today.Rominy Pickett is a computer publicist living in Seattle when she is kidnapped by a mysterious, handsome journalist, who claims her life is in danger from Neo-Nazis.They believe her to be the great granddaughter of Benjamin Hood.These want-to-be Nazis have uncovered the records of Raeder’s Tibetan mission and hope Rominy will lead them to rediscover what was found in those rugged mountains back in 1938.Thus is a smart, witty, normal young woman suddenly hurled head first into a life-or-death race around the globe accompanied by a charismatic stranger who appears to be a physical embodiment of all her romantic fantasies.But is he really her knight-in-shining armor or someone with ulterior motives using her to achieve his own dark agenda?
“Blood of the Reich” is a barn-storming novel that sets its sights high and never fails to deliver on them.My singular criticism is that the convoluted mystery of Rominy’s past and her evolution from frightened victim to pistol toting survivalist challenged even my willing suspension of disbelief.Deitrich’s prose is much more accomplished when dealing with the 30s whereas his modern sequences aren’t as assured.Still, this book has so much pulp goodness within its pages, I can’t help but recommend it enthusiastically.It would make one hell of a great film.
For over two decades, whenever the front doorbell rang at 79 Wistful Vista, millions of radio listeners could be sure that laughter was soon going to follow. For behind that door lived a memorable couple whose misadventures entertained audiences both young and old for more than twenty years.
Larry Scheflin writes: 
During the 1930s, both kids and grown-ups alike would often rush to their favorite newsstands to anxiously await the delivery of the latest magazines featuring their three favorite adventure heroes: Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Spider! Now 
In the annals of detective fiction, there are many investigators who could lay claim to legendary status. But, for many, the most famous, the most unique, and the most emulated would be the pipe smoking, violin playing, and deer-stalker clad gentleman known as Sherlock Holmes.
Listen to this Newsletter! 
