Phantom Wedding

W.E.D. Ross, who wrote many gothic-romance and suspense paperbacks, wrote Phantom Wedding in 1976. It was published by Popular Library under the author's pseudonym of Marilyn Ross. Matching the book's ghostly title (and Charles Copeland cover) is the front page invitation, “Was she in love with a man or a ghost?”

The book starts with a three-paragraph opener that sort of dooms this book from the start. Ross and an inattentive editor gives away the book's main plot and the identity of its most mysterious characters. I'll spare you a spoiler here and urge you to not only skim over this opener, just also skip this entire book. 

Iris is a 23-year old blonde and attractive woman on vacation in Sarasota, Florida. She has an insurance job in New York, but recently inherited money from a relative that spurred her into vacation mode. The two most important aspects of the gothic paperback trope work here – an inheritance and the “stranger in a strange land” aspect, albeit Florida really isn't as strange as some fog-swept moor. But Ross does add a bit of atmosphere in the opening chapter as Iris befriends a mysterious gentleman in a bar one rainy night. The two hit it off and meet for lunch the next day. It is here that the man of mystery, Nick, proposes to Iris. She says yes, and the two are off to a Phantom Wedding.

Nick takes Iris to an old church that he remembers from his childhood. When Iris arrives, she finds the church badly in need of repair. Further, the only attendants at the wedding are two of Nick's friends, an equally strange duo that are disfigured and somber. Is everyone in this wedding really dead? That's the illusion the author creates, and it works really well early on.

After this freakish wedding, Nick takes Iris to his friend's large seaside house (another trope) where he simply disappears. Iris wanders around the house and island searching for her dearly departed husband. When she hitches a ride to town, she discovers that Nick is dead (supposedly) and the two guests at the wedding died in a plane crash. What is going on here?

Unfortunately, Ross absolutely makes a mess with the rest of the novel. It is a senseless plot with so many convoluted twists and turns that it is nearly illegible. Iris, who has a job, acquires a job as a model for a rambunctious advertising guy, who, of course, falls in love with her. She also gains employment at a local resort as a server. This makes total sense, right? Who doesn't want to inherit money and then embark on a vacation from one job to work two more? There's an absolute mess of Nick's possible criminality involving his dead wife, a murderous half-brother, and the idea that he's really alive after stumbling around for months with amnesia. 

If you love ridiculous soap opera plots of lookalikes, red herrings, sham weddings, affairs, and really stupid characters behaving in preposterous ways, then Phantom Wedding is your paperback Shangri-la. Otherwise, stay away from this steaming turd of a book. W.E.D. Ross is a bit of a hack, but he typically isn't this bad. So far, Phantom Wedding is the dusty basement of his literary work. Avoid this place at all costs. It's the Hall of Shame.

Note - You can watch my video review of this book with Nick Anderson at the Book Graveyard HERE.

Conan - Conan the Wanderer

Conan the Wanderer was first published by Lancer Books in 1968. The painted cover was created by John Duillo, who also created the cover for Conan of the Isles (bearded Conan!) and Conan the Freebooter (Conan is Tarzan!). The later Ace edition of the novel features a superior cover painted by Boris Vallejo. 

This collection is an odd one, featuring just four stories, one being the novella “The Flame Knife”, written by L. Sprague de Camp from a Robert E. Howard manuscript. It features two sole REH stories, “The Devil in Iron” and “Shadows in Zamboula”. The other story, “Black Tears”, is an original authored by both L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. 

The typical introduction by L. Sprague de Camp features the obligatory map and a history of the stories involved. He makes note that “The Flame Knife” was originally a 42,000-word novella of adventure in Afghanistan titled “Three-Bladed Doom”. The story failed to sell, so Howard shortened it to 24,000 words to no avail. de Camp also provides examples of heroic fantasy, citing works like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Fletcher Pratt's The Well of the Unicorn, and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. The introduction concludes with a brief bio of the Conan character.

“Black Tears” is the first story in the collection (full review HERE). This is penned by de Camp and Carter, and later was adapted by Roy Thomas and Ernie Chan for The Savage Sword of Conan #38. Additionally, the story is included in the Orbit Books omnibus The Conan Chronicles 2. “Black Tears” picks up after the events in “A Witch Shall Be Born”. Conan is the chief of the Zaugir, an outlaw band of Kozak horsemen. In a setup, a blood brother of the former Zuagir leader sells Conan out to the rival Turanians, who ambush the group. After the battle, Conan is drugged by the Zuagir and left to die in the desert. He eventually finds a city called Akhlat the Accursed. There's an old prophecy that a man will come to town and liberate the city from a vampiric force. 

Parts of this story reminded me of Robert E. Howard's “The Scarlet Citadel”, especially the inevitable boss fight in the city's underground tunnels. The stone statue part of the story was reminiscent of “Shadows in the Moonlight”, with a little bit of “Red Nails” thrown in with the inner-city stuff. I really enjoyed the story and found it to be a perfect companion to “A Witch Shall Be Born”. The descriptions of mountains, tunnels, and the “beast” were executed very well. I know some Conan fans really don't like Carter or de Camp's pastiche style, but as I've stated in numerous reviews, I find their work to be mostly enjoyable.  

Howard's “Shadows in Zamboula” is next (full review HERE). This was originally published by Weird Tales in November 1935 as “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula”. The story was later republished in the Gnome Press collection Conan the Barbarian. It was adapted into comics for Savage Sword of Conan #14. It is a simple formula with Conan investigating a town's mystery, this one being a mysterious inn owned by a man named Aram Baksh. Conan voluntarily checks in at the inn and discovers the secret of the old inn – the guests are on the menu for flesh-eating cannibals! Howard's writing is rich on atmosphere, violence, and Lovecraftish imagery. The theme of Conan accepting a challenge always includes a twist, and this one was no different. This was a fantastic story.

Next is another of Howard's stories, “The Devil in Iron” (reviewed HERE). This first appeared in the August 1934 issue of Weird Tales and was adapted to comics for the October 1976 issue of The Savage Sword of Conan. Like many of these Conan stories, this one features a setup as Conan is lured to an abandoned island by Turan's king. The bait is a young woman, the trap is a giant! Along with the monster and the maiden is a raiding party led by the king's henchman, Agha. The giant's colossal nature and threat didn't affect me much, and the overall adventure left something to be desired. I didn't care for this story that much.

"The Flame Knife" finishes the collection (full review HERE). As I mentioned earlier, this was originally a manuscript titled “Three-Bladed Doom” featuring an Afghanistan adventure. The original hero was Howard's lovable El Borak. There are two versions of this story, one printed in REH Lone Star Fictioneer in 1976 and another in the Zebra paperback Three-Bladed Doom in 1977. Both of these versions feature an ending rewritten by Byron Roark. de Camp decided to take Howard's original work and modify it to fit as a Conan-led story titled “The Flame Knife”. This was originally published in Tales of Conan in 1955. The novella was also published as its own book in 1981 by Ace. It was adapted into comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #31-32. 

In de Camp's novels and stories, Conan is a cookie-cutter hero who personifies all that is good. The bad guys are carbon-copy bad. Conan's characteristics are much different than Howard's more nihilistic approach. That difference in style and characterization weighs down “The Flame Knife”.

Conan is instructed by the king of Iranistan to lead a team of men to hunt and kill a bandit named Balash. The problem is that Conan is friends with the bandit, so he leads his team to warn Balash of the king's pursuit. There's a bloated, convoluted backstory on the Hidden Ones cult and how they feel Conan is instrumental in their affairs. They soon create an army and hunt Conan. 

This story, albeit an average read, feels like something Steve Perry would dredge up as a Tor full-length. Conan fights a giant snow-ape (depicted by Sanjulian on the Ace paperback cover) and ends a longtime rivalry with a foe that was originally introduced in “A Witch Shall Be Born”. Those are the real highlights of the novella, along with the conventional swordplay, typical crazy cults, cave creatures, and prison escapes. 

Overall, this is a really enjoyable collection of Conan adventures, highlighted by “Black Tears” and “Shadows in Zamboula”. If anything, these old Lancer and Ace paperback collections are worth having in any book collection. I see them often in used bookstores, and they make great travel companions for a quick read on the go. Get a copy of the book HERE.

Coffin Moon

Keith Rosson won the Shirley Jackson Award for his story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. His stories have appeared in Nightmare, Cream City, and the Southwest Review. He's received praise and critical acclaim for his full-length horror novels The Devil by Name, Fever House, and Road Seven. His newest novel is the 2025 hardcover Coffin Moon, published by Random House. 

Coffin Moon, set in 1975, features protagonist Duane Minor, a man rebuilding his life after returning home with PTSD from the Vietnam War. He is a recovering alcoholic and works as a bartender in his wife’s family's bar. Duane and his wife Heidi are raising their teenage niece Julia, who has emotional scars of her own from her troubled past. The makeshift family is fighting and striving for stability and peace. 

While working at the bar, Duane encounters a dark and malignant force named John Varley, who tears at the threadbare fabric holding together all that he loves. Duane is then thrust into a depressive and alcohol induced state while Julia seethes with a need for revenge. 

The two embark on a journey of hide-and-seek with Varley, a vampire criminal with a trail of bodies and a bloody history. The duo becomes entangled in a supernatural world that tests loyalty and the love of family. The desire for vengeance takes Duane and Julia from Portland, Oregon, across the highways to North Dakota. The brutality and body counts rise while Varley grapples with loss of his own, his humanity, or what little remains. The three are saturated with a grief that is palpable and a need to avenge that is all-consuming. 

Coffin Moon is an emotional and visceral vampire tale with memorable characters that are well-developed. Rosson’s telling of the vampire story is not simply a horror offering but a homogeneous blend of gore-soaked revenge laced with heartache and loss. Duane, Julia and Varley share their tales through their perspective, which makes the past events more dynamic. I was glued to the story and Rosson's central question – once our humanity is lost, can it be reclaimed and at what cost? 

Get Coffin Moon HERE.

Survivor Song

Paul Tremblay's horror novel Survivor Song was published in 2020 by William Morrow in hardcover and Titan in paperback. While the book has a COVID-19 feel to it, matching the intense year of publication, the author actually wrote the book two years prior, in 2018. It proved to be a timely publication.

The book takes place in Massachusetts as a new strain of rabies begins affecting the population. The illness prompts the infected to rage, battle, bite, and create overwhelming chaos. Think 28 Days Later on a state level. This is the early wave of the attacks, with many first response workers, facilities, and government agencies unprepared for the pandemic. 

As the novel begins, readers are introduced to Natalie, a pregnant woman living in suburbia with her husband. In this opening nightmare, Natalie's husband is murdered by an infected man, and in the attack, she is bitten. There's a sense of urgency for Natalie to get to a hospital for a vaccination, yet the chaos on the streets and highways makes travel difficult.

Natalie's friend, the protagonist of Tremblay's narrative, is a British pediatrician nicknamed Rams. The two were college roommates and live in the same area. Rams comes to Natalie's aid, and the two begin a perilous quest to overcome countless obstacles, bureaucracy, and waves of infected as they race against time to vaccinate Natalie at a functioning hospital.

At 320 pages, I felt that Survivor Song should have felt a bit more epic. It was my misunderstanding that this novel was a road trip journey, encompassing more landscapes and places as the two “survivors” travel from place to place for shelter. Instead, this is more of a confined road trip, featuring many scenes inside of doctors' offices and hospitals, albeit in a frenzied, panic-fused pace. I think the element of a long road trip ripe with danger would have been more appealing to me, as David Moody, Robert McCammon, and Brian Keene have proven in their more enjoyable post-apocalyptic novels. 

I enjoyed the Rams character immensely, but felt Natalie was a weak link in the story. Her characterization was annoying, with her heightened demands for more urgent care a repetitive cycle that wore itself thin as the book continued. Yet, the star of the show is really the situation – average people placed in extreme circumstances. There were moments of sheer horror, dread, and doom, all placed periodically between passages of subdued dialogue. The book's finale is worth the price of admission and will stay with me for ages. 

Survivor Song is an enjoyable, post-apocalyptic-styled novel that reminds us all just how close we came to annihilation. Get the book HERE.

Harry Bosch #01 - The Black Echo

Michael Connelly graduated from the University of Florida in 1980 and became a journalist. He placed as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, which earned him a position with the Los Angeles Times as a crime reporter. After seeing Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, based on Raymond Chandler's novel, Connelly pursued mystery writing. His first novel, The Black Echo, was published by Little, Brown in 1992, and won an Edgar as Best First Novel.

The Black Echo introduces Connelly's beloved character Harry Bosch, a Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective. The character has appeared in 24 of Connelly's novels and spawned an Amazon Prime series that ran seven seasons. As of the time of this writing, a prequel series is set to air on MGM+. 

Bosch served as a tunnel rat in the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. This fact is prevalent throughout the novel, as Bosch realizes his newest homicide case involves Billy Meadows, a former member of Bosch's military unit. Bosch had helped Billy with substance abuse and housing. Bosch arrives at the scene of the crime to find Billy's corpse stuffed in a tunnel. His department suggests Billy's death is just drug-related, but Bosch, like any good paperback detective, suspects there's more to the story.

Like any good series opener, Connelly provides a detailed history of his lead character, delving into Bosch's upbringing, his military service, and the most recent abrasion with the department, a conflict that demoted the detective from Robbery-Homicide Division to Hollywood Division's homicide bureau. With this demotion comes the obligatory disgruntlement with authority, and a new resolve that pushes the character into every crevice of the case. Bosch's upheaval with the department's Internal Affairs is a prominent portion of the book's plot.

Billy's murder investigation leads Bosch to team with an FBI agent named Wish. The two form a working relationship that conflicts with another federal agent, Rourke, who is a suspect with ties to both Billy and expatriates from the Vietnam War. Bosch and Wish extend their working relationship into an intimate affair, which adds a unique complexity by the book's finale.

The Black Echo didn't knock my socks off. At 375 pages, the book proved to be a slow burn with lots of dialogue between characters. Nearly the first 100 pages is simply Billy's body being discovered and Bosch being introduced to the case. There are long, plodding pages of Wish's backstory and the typical day-to-day routine of the investigation. It's an intriguing case, and the various threads of the plot took me where I needed to go, but the journey just seemed overstated. By 1992, the 180-page fast-paced detective yarns had doubled to pad the pages, which bogged down what would otherwise have been a mesmerizing read. The Black Echo is good, not great.

Get the book HERE.

Red Mist

Red Mist was published in paperback in April 1989 by Popular Library. The cover, featuring model Steve Holland, was created by Ben Perini. My efforts to determine a biography of author Michael O'Toole failed to produce any results. Further, the book doesn't present any information on the author. Your guess on who he is as good as mine.

This police procedural is set in Los Angeles. Vic Perry is a Raiders fan, a wealthy day trader, a womanizer, and a serial killer. Through 268 pages, Perry prowls the city for victims, often led by his hot temper and infatuation with power. He kills victims by shooting them point blank, often in the face, with a .38 Smith & Wesson, a gun that O'Toole sometimes foolishly refers to as a magnum. After several kills, Perry's onslaught attracts the attention of two LAPD detectives, Tony and Frank.

Through the book's opening chapters, readers ride in Perry's maniacal headspace, experiencing every detail from lust to rage. O'Toole develops a relationship between Perry and a local sexy barmaid named Andy. The two engage in pornographic sex on-page, similar to the graphic scenes found in adult westerns. In fact, the author injects sex in most of Perry's ambition, going as far as having one victim perform oral sex on Perry before the madman blows her chin off (with the revolver). 

When Tony is murdered by Perry, Frank begins an investigation into his partner's murder, tying it into the rampage shootings around the city linked to the same shooter. There's a surprise thrown in with Frank's wife that leads the police officer into some really dark places while hunting the serial shooter. 

Red Mist is far from a masterpiece, but was just engaging enough to keep the pages flipping. I enjoyed Frank's character and the ruthless aggression O'Toole injected with this radical villain. Whether or not the graphic sex and gore is too much is in the eye of the beholder. I thought it was borderline indulgent, but it never erased the plot. There were reasons for everything, which sometimes just all adds up at the end. Red Mist is an entertaining, recommended read. Get it HERE.

Dirk Pitt #01 - Pacific Vortex

Despite having five series installments ahead of it, Pacific Vortex! is still considered the first of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels. The book was first published in 1983, six years after The Mediterranean Caper (aka Mayday). Yet, in that book, there are some enticing references to a prior underwater Pitt adventure. After 1981's Night Probe!, Cussler decided to write the events mentioned in The Mediterranean Caper and bring readers up to speed on Pitt's first grandiose adventure, Pacific Vortex!.

The novel begins with an unusual event affecting a U.S. submarine called Starbuck. The vessel goes missing in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii. After an extensive search, the Navy can't determine the whereabouts or fate of Starbuck. The loss is chalked up to a mysterious vortex that has plagued over 30 ships since 1956. But, leave it to Pitt to get to the bottom of it – the ocean.

After recovering notes written by Starbuck's commanding officer, Pitt reports to NUMA and undertakes a rescue mission to recover the vessel and any crewmen still alive. Pitt learns of a mythical island north of the Hawaiian Islands that disappeared ages ago, similar to the fate of Atlantis. With aid, Pitt finds the specific place to search and, within days, is on board Starbuck. But what he finds is something of a misnomer - an underwater city functioning as a type of above-ground prepper fortress.

Cussler's novel places Pitt in all of the usual situations, speeding vehicles, volcanoes, swanky dinners, torture chambers, and aboard both ancient ships and technological modern marvels. The scenes in which Pitt investigates Starbuck felt like something out of a horror movie. The isolated tomb-like vessel eerily sitting in the ocean's junkyard was written with a sense of atmosphere, lulling me into a false security before all Hell broke loose. The mystery behind the crew's disappearance, the horrific nature of the commanding officer's notes, and the idea of something unnatural – supernatural – occurring were all so captivating.

This book has a huge impact on Pitt's future, mainly a short-lived love interest with a woman named Summer, that will produce some surprising results later. Pacific Vortex! may be most remembered by fans for that part of the series through-story. But, this is a fun, pulpy romp that reminded me of a typical Doc Savage novel – the flight towards fear, mystery, and thrilling adventure. Recommended!

Get the book HERE.

Polybius

According to Amazon, Collin Armstrong has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade, developing, writing, and producing material for outlets including 20th Century Fox, Discovery, and the LA Times Studios. His first publication, Polybius, has just been released by Gallery Books and touted by horror heavyweights like Richard Chizmar and Ronald Malfi. Searching for nostalgic small-town horror, I threw my change in for a delightful turn at Polybius. 

There was an urban myth circulating in the 1980s and 1990s about the U.S. government secretly working on a video game that would infiltrate the minds of the unsuspecting public. It was rumored to be a type of spy-craft where the game would read the player's thoughts and send subliminal messages to control the operator. Armstrong runs with this concept to bring Polybius to the good citizens of the fictional seaside town of Tasker Bay.

In the book's opening chapter, a liquidation firm is sent to clean out an office building. Inside, behind a discreet locked door, they find an unmarked arcade machine. Later, they sell it an auction and it ends up in Tasker Bay's arcade. Anyone that plays the mysterious game seems to experience hallucinations, murderous thoughts, and a tendency to mutilate people and animals. 

Armstrong introduces readers to a handful of important characters that must stop the town's decline into depravity and ruin. Andi is a young whiz-girl who works at the local arcade. Her friend, and later love interest, is Ro, the sheriff's son. Together, they must determine the game's origin, the secret behind the game's deadly messages, and, as tradition serves, convince the town's law enforcement that something unusual or supernatural is happening.

Polybius walks a balance beam of horror and science-fiction while marinating in 1970s/80s nostalgia. Think The Crazies, The Wizard, Wargames, and Deadly Friend blended with Stranger Things. At the root of the novel is a small-town mystery as the sheriff and town doctor dig into the root causes of the homicidal rage, while the kids embark on their own quest to discover the manufacturer. There are also some interesting tidbits about game coding back then, the brink of the internet (Usenet), and early psych ops. 

There's nothing to dislike about Polybius. While it doesn't break any new ground, the novel's character development, small-town charm, and rich nostalgia are worth the price of admission. You could do far worse. Polybius is an easy recommendation. Get it HERE.

Stick #01 - Swag

After reading many of Elmore Leonard's early crime-fiction novels, like The Big Bounce (1969) and Mr. Majestyk (1974), I was anxious to try another of his “prime” efforts. I settled on 1976's Swag, first published in paperback as Ryan's Rules. The novel is the first of two books Leonard wrote about a lifetime criminal named Ernest Stickley Jr. The character would appear again in 1983's Stick, a novel that was later adapted into an ill-conceived film of the same name starring and directed by Burt Reynolds. 

Swag begins by introducing readers to a used car salesman named Frank Ryan. Ryan is unmarried, divorced twice, and is generally just scraping to make ends meet. His life is impacted in a drastic way when Stick arrives to nonchalantly steal one of Ryan's cars. Later, after Stick's capture, Ryan is brought in to testify for the prosecution. Surprisingly, he tells the court it wasn't Stick that stole the car. Naturally, with no other evidence and no supporting witness testimony, Stick walks. That's when Ryan reaches out to him.

Ryan explains he has these ten rules of life and invites Stick to join him in a criminal undertaking. Stick, fresh off a divorce in Florida, sizes up Ryan and deems him worthy of a partnership. The two then embark on a sizable streak of robbing liquor shops, gas stations, and grocery stores.

The book's first act is hilarious as the two engage in twisted conversations about women, prior jobs, marriages, and their bumbling criminal career. There are a couple of unforgettable scenes, notably a laugh-out-loud moment when Ryan rings up a customer's groceries while Stick forces the manager to open up the safe. There's an exchange over an expired coupon that had me in tears. Equally as funny is the two robbing an inept robber while planning a hold-up. Brilliant!

However, Leonard really delves into the sexual escapades of the duo throughout the book's dull second act. These chapters plod along as the two engage with their neighbors in a posh apartment building. Here the two meet, and hook up with a prostitute, two models, a school teacher, etc. There are pool parties, social gatherings, lots of drinking, and tepid sex to plunge the book into a literary rut. There are just a few highlights in the second act. This entire apartment community and pool party vibe is similar to Ovid Demaris's 1960 Fawcett Gold Medal novel The Enforcer, a book where 127 pages are wasted on characters trying to get laid. 

Thankfully, Leonard roars back in the third act and strings together something similar to Jim Thompson crossed with Lionel White. The two beef up their game with a planned department store heist to score nearly $100K. To knock it off, they partner with a charismatic African American bar owner and drug dealer named Sportree. Like most heists, the plot builds with the execution and getaway, then dissolves as these nefarious characters turn on each other. 

If Leonard had cut back the second act and trimmed the book to 180 pages, I think Swag is a masterpiece. The second act's inability to capture the criminal aspect took me out completely. Despite its shortcomings, Swag is still a damn fine crime novel and a hilarious take on criminality in general. I'm looking forward to the book's sequel. Stay tuned!

Get Swag HERE.

Paperback Warrior - Conversations

Welcome to my newest collaboration with Nick at The Book Graveyard. On this episode, we continue our "Guide to Gothics" discussions by reviewing a 1976 paperback by William Ross titled Phantom Wedding. In this analysis, we discuss William Ross's career, his contributions to the vampire-themed Dark Shadows series, and how he stacks up in terms of other gothic paperback writers. You can stream the video version of this episode HERE or stream the audio on any podcasting platform or below:

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

Keller #01 - Hitman

Lawrence Block began a series of hitman novels in 1998 with Hit Man, the first of six books featuring John Keller, a lonely assassin living in New York. Along with the books (all titles containing the word “Hit”), there are a number of short stories and novellas featuring the character.

In Hit Man, Block presents Keller in a unique episodic formula. Each chapter is a new assignment for the character, taking him to American cities and small towns, hunting his prey for a mysterious boss in White Plains, New York. Each chapter can theoretically be a stand-alone short story, as these narratives aren't immediately relevant to each other. However, in order, the reader can sort of grow with Keller as he embarks on a short-lived relationship with a young woman, acquires a dog, shops for real estate, and invests in a stamp-collecting hobby.

The chapters aren't explicitly violent, with most of the killing scenes being very abbreviated or occurring off-page. The setup places the character in the moment, living in the target's peripheral in the days and hours leading up to the execution. Sometimes Keller befriends the target while speculating on the best ways to knock him or her off. In other chapters, Keller methodically plans a surprise hit or becomes involved emotionally with the target's friend or family. It's all a ruse to get the guard down, but that's the real charm of these stories. It is the ability for Keller to nonchalantly go about the killing business.

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments throughout Hit Man, including Keller calling his home's answering machine to talk with his dog. Another time, he confesses his childhood to a shrink who he must kill. Block adds in some social commentary fitting to Keller's surroundings, allowing readers to live vicariously through this unusual profession of judgment and execution. I also appreciated Block poking a bit of fun at the pulp-paperback market, especially the western formula.

Hit Man is funny, smart, and entertaining. You need to read this book. Get it HERE.

Heller with a Gun

Heller with a Gun was just Louis L'Amour's 11th novel. It was originally published in April 1955 by Fawcett Gold Medal (#478) with a cover by Walter Baumhofer. It was reprinted again by Gold Medal in 1958 (#728) with the same cover art, and then the publisher reprinted a 1960 edition with a movie cover to pair with the simultaneous film adaptation, Heller in Pink Tights. The book has been reprinted countless times through the years, but my favorite might be Ron Lesser's 1966 painted cover featuring Steve Holland (Gold Medal #k1731). 

Oddly, there is no one named Heller in the novel. My guess is that the book may have been titled “Hell with a Gun”, and the publisher changed the title at the last minute. It isn't clear to me, and I was unable to locate an answer online. Instead of a hero named Heller, readers are introduced to a quiet, fast-draw Civil War veteran named King Mabry. After the war, Mabry attempted to find an honest living with a rope and saddle. However, due to his quick hands and steady aim, his skill set became attractive to ranchers defending their brand from rustlers. Mabry doesn't want the gun life, but his reputation leads him into more and more trouble. 

As the book begins, readers meet Mabry in the dead of winter. The frosty snow is piled high, and the frigid temperature is 40 below. Mabry is on the move to deliver cash back to a rancher. Yet, from some off-page history, an assassin is lying in wait to shoot Mabry down. None of that history is important as Mabry shoots the assassin and then carries him to an outpost to lie up and heal. 

At the outpost, Mabry collides with the novel's central plot. A traveling entertainment troupe that needs passage to Wyoming. The problem lies in unfamiliar trails, the intense weather, and the fact that the group includes three women – this is the 1800s and women are considered fragile. The group's leader, Tom Healy, hires a bad man named Barker (every Barker in westerns is a villain) to lead them on this perilous journey. The problem is that Barker and a couple of his companions plan to lead the group into the wilderness to be robbed. That's where Mabry comes in. He stealthily follows the group, anticipating Barker's plan.

This is an odd L'Amour book. The novel's first half is impressive, mostly with the survival yarn aspect of the plot – dead of winter, snowfall, wilderness, and the impending heist. There are a number of side stories introduced that enhance the isolation. One is Barker's hired assassin hunting Mabry, an enticing side quest that ends too quickly. Another is the trio of women fortified in the wagon while shooting at Barker and his men. This is a home invasion sort of trope that was just thrilling. However, just when things are cooking, the second half descends into this strange love story as Mabry pines over one of the traveling actresses, a bland character named Janice. There is also a younger woman named Dodie who is equally pining for Mabry. This romantic angle is the basis of the film adaptation.

The novel's third act is brimming over with lightning-fast action that becomes cinematic in presentation. Sioux renegade warriors are attacking Mabry and Healy, the inevitable showdown between Mabry and Barker, and a cat-and-mouse chase through the forest and wilderness hideaway. If L'Amour could have spruced up the book's second half, then Heller with a Gun would be a bona fide classic. Somehow, he just slipped up in the middle, which pushes this western a little further down on the author's must-read list. 

Get Heller with a Gun HERE.

Dark Shadows #04 - The Mystery of Collinwood

William Ross, using the name Marilyn Ross, authored 33 paperbacks that serve as television tie-ins to the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows. Although the novels feature many of the same characters as the show, Ross's universe and continuity are much different. Living in Canada, Ross didn't have access to the show or scripts, so he used his own imagination and loose production notes to create his version of Dark Shadows. While the atmosphere and aura of Collinsport exist, these novels should be viewed as separate property.

I've mostly enjoyed the three series installments I've read, but fatigue may be setting in. Ross's fourth entry, The Mystery of Collinwood, arrived via Paperback Library in 1968. The book has been republished since then in modern trade and as an audiobook. 

In this novel, Victoria Winters and her employers, Roger and Elizabeth, are greeted by a new guest who has arrived at the family's enormous mansion. The man calls himself Professor Mark Veno, and he introduces his daughter, Linda, to Victoria. Oddly, Victoria discovers that Veno is actually Roger and Elizabeth's brother Mark Collins, a sort of estranged brother who still has ownership in the family estate. He arrives every few years and makes himself at home despite the family's reluctance to accept his vaudeville lifestyle. Victoria accepts Linda's friendship, yet becomes weary of the girl's longing to marry Ernest. In prior novels, Victoria and Ernest have developed a loving relationship that is strained by Ernest's travel schedule. He is a musician in Europe and remains absent from Victoria's life the majority of the time. However, in Europe, Ernest and Linda have become fond of each other. 

Mark Collins introduces Victoria to an old seaside legend concerning the Phantom Mariner, an avenging dead sailor that returns to the mansion searching for his lost love (or something). Victoria soon finds herself afraid of this Phantom Mariner after nearly dying in various accidents around the house. That is where this book dies. It may also be where my respect for Ross as a writer declines. 

Ross authored over 350 novels and nearly 600 short stories. I've read a lot of them and have typically always enjoyed his writing. However, I've read rumblings online that Ross copied entire sections of his own books and repurposed them in other novels. I've often kept an eye out for recycling and may have found an example of this. 

In Ross's 1966 novel Phantom Manor (the title coincidentally similar to “Phantom Mariner”), there's a chapter where the main character is nearly killed in the mansion's wine cellar by a figure she can't identify. In this novel, Victoria experiences the same thing in the wine cellar – an attack by a figure she can't identify. But wait...there's more! 

This entire scene happens to Victoria in the first Dark Shadows book, an attack in the cellar. Coincidentally, that novel was published the same year that Phantom Manor was published - 1966. He's effectively used the same scene in at least three books. To add lime juice to the wound, Ross doesn't even acknowledge that Victoria was attacked in the wine cellar previously. He just sends her down there in this book as if the whole thing is completely safe. If she had been attacked by an unseen assailant in the wine cellar before, why would she go there again? It is senseless.

Ross uses all of the familiar tropes in this book that he uses in all of the Dark Shadows books thus far. You can trade out the Phantom Mariner for a dead lover (Dark Shadows #1), a dead woman who jumped from a cliff (Dark Shadows #2), or another dead lover (Dark Shadows #3). You can trade the Phantom Mariner for a rumored ghost haunting in Secret of Mallet Castle, a suspicious, deadly husband in Dark of the Moon, or the hooded, weird neighbor in Dark Legend. All of these books feature the vulnerable beauty being attacked through 180 pages by a mythical villain haunting the house and family. 

The question I ask myself is, why continue to read these books? Why read Ross? I honestly don't have an answer other than I just enjoy finding myself in a large rural mansion for a few hours. The winding stairways, the endless halls, and the multitude of mysterious rooms and basements are pure escapism. I realize Ross is a hack and made a living rewriting the same book. Many of these gothic suspense and romance writers did the same thing. But, there's just something about that mansion, isn't there?

The Mystery of Collinwood may be the worst of the Dark Shadows books so far. The plot is recycled nonsense with the obligatory costume ball, mysterious guests, and Victoria's bafflement at who could be attacking her. To add insult to injury, Roger and Elizabeth still question Victoria's sanity even after all of these attacks have proven to be a legitimate killer in the house. One would think they would just take her word for it. 

One or two more books to get through before the vampire arrives. I'll be tired and worn out by the time he pops the fangs and gets to business.

Get The Mystery of Collinwood HERE

Exiles

Andrew Pyper (1968-2025) received a B.A. And M.A. in English Literature from McGill University and earned a law degree from the University of Toronto. Instead of pursuing a career as an attorney, Pyper became a full-time novelist, writing 15 novels including, The Demonologist, a 2013 novel that won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel. As Mason Coile, Pyper wrote two darker science-fiction titles, William (2024) and Exiles (2025), the latter of which he wrote while battling terminal cancer. Pyper passed away on January 3rd, less than four months after Exiles release date. 

As Coile, Pyper took on a type of gritty, horror-related storyteller role, evident in his cutting-edge AI haunted house novel William. While Exiles isn't a sequel to the book, it still serves as a sort of literary sibling. Both books contain plots in which everyday people are trapped in structures with an evolved homicidal AI. Granted, there are a lot of AI-related films and movies, so the plot isn't necessarily innovative or unique. But Pyper could write well, and his prose is easy to devour, making Exiles a book I was really looking forward to. Be careful what you wish for. 

Exiles stars three astronauts – Blake, Kang, and protagonist Dana – on mankind's first landing on Mars. Their trip, seven months in hibernation aboard a spaceship, is closely monitored by millions of personnel to achieve success. Before the three arrive, a grandiose mission was launched with an assemblage of rovers and worker bots building  Citadel, a cross-shaped facility where the three astronauts will live while preparing humans for future missions to the red planet. The mission is for these three to land their pod, make a short journey to the facility, meet the trio of worker bots, and begin a two-to-three year study and preparation event. However, these sorts of things never go as planned in survival horror.

After a roller coaster landing, the three make it to Citadel and discover two worker bots that have begun to achieve a type of false humanity. These bots have assigned themselves genders, express emotional feelings, and seemingly want to return to Earth. The astronauts are equally shocked and perplexed by the bots' ability (or inability) to become “human”. But the bots, who call themselves Shay and Wes, are also afraid of what is outside the facility. Their description of an alien creature is terrifying to the crew. But, as things get weird – and then weirder – it seems as though the third worker bot might be a homicidal maniac, a crazed machine called Alex. This plot device transforms Exiles into a locked-room mystery set aboard this space facility. 

While this story sounds great, Pyper's characters are irritating. These three were picked as the best of the best, the ultimate representation of Earth transported to Mars. Yet they behave in obnoxious ways, curse every piece of dialogue, and behave like teenagers despite their stellar technical education. Dana is the worst of the trio, and unfortunately the reader rides in her mind and experiences her conscious thoughts. Pyper tries to make the book more dynamic by revealing pieces of Dana's childhood and a mystery involving her mother, but it just never worked for me. Also, the whole concept doesn't provide any answers to the AI problem, just more examples of machined intelligence gone wild. Lots of media positions the problem, but I need author commentary on how to fix the problem (besides crushing the mad robot in a pit). 

Exiles is an okay novel that could have been something special. Instead, poor characters, a bland second act, and the isolation all combine to make the novel one long snooze fest. Your mileage may vary, proceed at your own risk.

Get the book HERE.

Cry for the Strangers

There is a scene near the end of Cry for the Strangers in which John Saul describes his book perfectly. One character is saying to the other, “And I'll tell you something else – I don't think he's ever going to make sense out of this mess. I'm not sure there is any sense.” Interestingly enough, the characters seem to be having a discussion about their creator, John Saul himself. They are accurate in their assessment. Nothing in this book makes any sense because I'm positive the author himself has no idea what the book is about. 

Cry for the Strangers may be John Saul's most notable book. It was published in 1979 by Dell, reached bestseller status with the rest of his bibliography, and was adapted into a CBS movie-of-the-week starring Patrick Duffy and Brian Keith. It's a familiar formula for Saul, the one where the town's outsiders stumble upon a wicked secret preserved for generations. Small town horror is easy genre fodder as it creates an introduction to the town through the eyes of its newest resident. The readers can simultaneously experience the welcome along with the main character. Both are new in town, making it an easy story to delve into. Saul used this plot device for over three decades of horror superstardom. But the problem is, he fails to actually disclose the town's deep, dark secret. Instead, he meanders around it for 418 pages – the exact length of the book – leaving more questions than answers.

The book focuses on the newest two couples that have temporarily moved to Clark's Harbor, a New England-styled town on the California coast. For Brad and Elaine, it is a chance for both of them to pursue their personal goals, which include Brad's book about the body's bio-rhythms. For Rebecca and Glenn, the opportunity to raise their children on the rocky beach while establishing an art store. However, Clark's Harbor doesn't like strangers. Their leader, Police Chief Waylin, is dead set against any newcomers taking up residence in the town. But, despite warnings and threats of physical violence, both couples feel that Clark's Harbor is a place worth fighting for. Saul never bothers to explain what's so special about the town beyond sand and ocean.

Through 418 painful pages, readers experience moving, building store shelves, cooking, cleaning, and other daily routines that pad the page. The horror, if there is any, consists of a man drowning, a woman found hanged to death, a shipwreck, and a main character's death by broken neck. Beyond that...nothing. There's no real explanation for any of it other than some poppycock about storms and bio-rhythm that causes one resident to become homicidal. Nothing else is ever explained. Instead, the author just rests on writing pages upon pages of pointless dialogue and a recycling of the book's main chapter sparks – the two kids running on the beach at night and their parents asking where they are.

Cry for the Strangers is Hall of Shame material. The only crying is the after-effect of reading this boring pile of nonsense and realizing you've lost 12 hours of reading time. Stay away, for God's sake, just stay away from this clutter.

Spenser #04 - Promised Land

The fourth Spenser novel, Promised Land, was a real turning point in the series. The book, authored by Robert B. Parker, was published in 1976 by Houghton Mifflin in hardcover and in 1978 as a paperback by Dell. The novel won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1977, one of two that Parker would earn over his career (the other being a Grand Master in 2002). However, despite those lofty achievements, the book is probably best remembered as “the one where Hawk appears”. Or, maybe, the one where Susan tells Spenser, “I love you”. 

The book begins with Spenser relocating his private-eye office from a disreputable part of Boston to a more renowned section of the city. Susan is there helping him spruce up the place when a potential client walks in, a real estate developer from Cape Cod named Harvey. He wants to hire Spenser ($100 a day plus expenses) to track down his wife, a woman named Pamela, that has skipped out on him and their kids. Spenser needs a new client and takes the case. But it won't be an easy one.

When Spenser arrives at Harvey's home he is surprised to find an old acquaintance there named Hawk. Spenser explains that he and Hawk both spent time in the boxing circuit. While they aren't friends, they have known of each other for decades. Spenser also knows Hawk works as a lethal enforcer and that he could be working for a local loan shark named King Powers. When Spenser presses Harvey on clues to where his wife might be, he also indulges in a few questions about Harvey's relationship with Hawk. Spenser feels that Harvey is in deep debt with Powers, and Hawk was at the family home roughing him up to get the repayment. That's part of the core mystery of Promised Land and it also ties into the book's fitting title. 

Parker is such a fluid and descriptive writer. I could read about what Spenser is eating, driving, reading, and cooking, and it doesn't even have to involve a mystery. That is how great Parker's style is: his breezy ability to just write life's circumstances and somehow magically make it interesting. His prose is conversational and allows readers to live within the detective's mind – often solving the crime or simply planning the next meal. Regardless, it is compelling enough to keep flipping the pages, a craft lost on so many authors that are jagged and meddlesome with their wordcraft.

Spenser's case involves gun running, nefarious women, mean men, and other underbelly criminal enterprises that keep Promised Land on the right path as a glorious crime-fiction novel. However, Parker has a lot to say about marriage in the book. That's the central concept, the one that underlines every character and situation. Harvey and Pamela's marriage is in a state of crisis, but there's also a delicious awakening of Susan that drives home her ability to love Spenser – the dangerous hero with a gun. Parker's commentary is on enduring love, budding romance, and the life cycle of raising a home and a family. It's a surprising and unexpected thing to find in a crime-fiction novel – the art of love, the ability to grow and sustain in a relationship, and the inevitable burnout when finance and stress scar marriage.

Promised Land is really something special. Pick up a copy HERE.

The Housemaid

Freida McFadden (a pseudonym for a medical doctor) is a prolific, sharp-eyed writer with a gift for pacing and psychological pressure. Her most successful novel is The Housemaid from 2022, a lean domestic thriller that reads like it was engineered for a single sitting. It’s no surprise the novel has already crossed over into pop-culture territory with a successful film adaptation.

What McFadden understands—deeply—is that the best suspense doesn’t come from explosions or elaborate conspiracies. It comes from people, trapped in close quarters, making bad decisions for understandable reasons. A pretty female ex-con is hired by a snobby, dysfunctional Long Island family to be a live-in housekeeper. The Man of the House is handsome and charming, and you know where this is headed…or do you?

The domestic sexual tension recalled a gender-swapped Orrie Hitt, the mid-century paperback master who specialized in fatal attraction crime stories replete with class anxiety, and characters who think they’re in control right up until they aren’t. Something is amiss in this household with the charming dad, his bitchy wife, and their bratty kid. You’ll never guess what’s actually occurring.

The first-person prose is clean, unshowy, and ruthlessly efficient exactly what you want in a suspense novel. The story moves forward with the confidence of a writer who knows she has you with chapter-ending cliffhangers and a major curve-ball twist that makes you rethink everything you’ve read thus far.

The Housemaid is the kind of book that sneaks up on you, smiles politely, and then refuses to let go. It’s hard to put down, and you’ll burn a lot of calories deciding which characters to like or hate. The novel walks a tightrope between psychological dread and page-turning fun, never tipping into pretension or camp. It’s smart without being smug, dark without being cruel, and relentlessly readable. Like the best mass-market suspense of the past, it respects the reader’s intelligence while still delivering the goods.

Bottom line: The Housemaid is a modern paperback thriller with vintage instincts—fast, sharp, and unsettling in all the right ways. Fans of classic psychological noir, especially readers who appreciate the domestic menace and sexual tension found in Orrie Hitt’s work, will feel right at home here.

And if you finish the last page wanting more, you’re in luck: the story continues in two sequels, expanding the world McFadden so efficiently sets in motion.

Get the book HERE.

Conan - Conan and the Spider God

L. Sprague de Camp collaborated with Lin Carter and Bjorn Nybert to author several Conan stories. However, he only attempted one solo Conan effort, the 1980 Bantam paperback Conan and the Spider God. The novel was also published in hardcover in 1984 by Robert Hale, and reprinted twice by Ace, once in 1989 and again in 1991. Tor also published the book as a hardcover and paperback, and collected it as part of Sagas of Conan in 2004. The novel was adapted into comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #207-210 in 1993.

In the book's first few chapters, Conan is on the fugitive trail after slaying a fellow officer in the Turanian military - over a girl, of course. His quest to flee his pursuers places him on wacky adventures that essentially just fill paperback pages until de Camp settles on an actual plot. In these pages, Conan fights a swamp cat, rescues an old lady from a burning stake, and meets a blind man who utters some prophetic nonsense. The most interesting of these side quests is Conan's night with mysterious Zamorian merchants. It is in their camp that Conan discovers the men have captured King Yildiz's favorite wife, although at the time, he thinks she is just a mysterious female traveler. 

Eventually, Conan arrives in Yezud and is still being pursued by Turanian guards. It is here that the book settles into a long, boring narrative as the titular hero becomes a blacksmith, romances a woman named Rubadeh, and learns that the town's priests are divided, one half serving the King and the others serving a spider god named Zath. Conan is intrigued by the division and learns that Zath is really a giant statue of a spider, complete with gemstones representing the deity's eyes. Conan also learns that King Yildiz's wife is being held captive in a tower there guarded by a tiger. His quest is to continue infiltrating the city's political and military circumference, steal the gemstones, rescue the wife, and ride into peace and tranquility with the love of his life Rubadeh.

Obviously, there are only two real reasons to read or own de Camp's critically-panned pile of trash – Bob Larkin's Bantam paperback cover and the idea that Conan fights a large spider. Beyond those two things, the book is completely worthless (as much as it pains me to call a book disposable). This isn't Robert E. Howard's Conan. It isn't even a worthy Marvel interpretation that dominates the Tor paperback line. Instead, de Camp is making up his own version of Conan, one that cries, pines for love, debates becoming married, and is submissive to authority. This is a mere shell of Howard's nihilistic pulp hero. 

If his sympathetic and deranged take on Conan's character isn't insulting enough, de Camp even borrows entire scenes from Howard's work. In the setup to the book's finale, Conan provides spoiled meat to the tiger prowling around the base of the tower. Once the tiger “dies”, Conan scales the tower, gets the wife, and comes down only to be surprised that the tiger isn't dead. He kills it with his sword and continues on. This is from The Tower of the Elephant, in which Conan's ally Taurus blows magic lotus dust on a lion prowling the base of a tower. Conan eventually comes down from the tower and is surprised to find there is another lion there that he must kill with his sword. Same thing. The book is riddled with this stuff.

Conan and the Spider God is a boring, uninspired novel that rests securely in the basement of Conan literature. It can't possibly get any worse than this, thus earning my not-so-coveted ranking as a Hall of Shame member.

To the Dark Tower

It has taken me about six years to revisit Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994). My last experience with him, 1970s Monster From Out of Time, was unpleasant despite Frank Frazetta's promising paperback cover. Long is probably best remembered as a Lovecraft Circle member, sitting alongside other contemporary Weird Tales contributors like Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, and Robert E. Howard. As part of Nick Anderson's Book Graveyard YouTube show, The Guide to Gothics, I teamed up with the host and Liminal Spaces show host Chris to discuss Long's gothic paperback, To the Dark Tower (watch HERE). It was published in 1969 by both Lancer and Magnum using Long's pseudonym of Lyda Belknap Long. Humorously, the author adds at the beginning of the book, “To the untiring help and teachings of my husband, Frank Belknap Long.” I see what you did there.

The book stars a woman named Joan, an architect who recently encountered a dark supernatural force in the Pyrenees mountains. At least she thinks she did, and her life has been plagued with visions and nightmares since then. Her lover, Dr. Allen, has invited her to his rural Kentucky home so she can talk with mental health professionals about her experiences. Joan is appreciative of the gesture, but mainly just wants to get laid.

Before Joan's introduction, Long features a young disabled man named Willie witnessing some secret meeting of witches. He later finds a voodoo doll showing Joan's face before he is murdered. Two travelers in the area experience car trouble and make their way through the forest, and discover more crazy shenanigans. When they report their account to the local police, they are killed and buried in the woods. 

To the Dark Tower then shapes up to be a wild folk horror novel where the locals all worship the Devil and kill outsiders. Remember, this is just two years after Rosemary's Baby and the start of Satanic Panic. Books like Thomas Tryon's The Other and Harvest Home were around the corner, along with William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist. At least that was the idea, I think, disguised as a much safer gothic-romance or suspense book by the publisher. Unfortunately, as good as the setup is, Long fails to deliver a quality novel.

After a great beginning, Long delivers 40-50 pages of dialogue (in one room!) as the sheriff, Dr. Allen, and Joan all discuss various topics surrounding her experience in the forest, Europe, and meeting Dr. Allen's sister Helen. This is a long-winded, painful literary exercise that made me consider finishing the book, abandoning it, or simply skipping this ridiculous page padding. I skipped whole pages of this nonsense, only to find the end was nothing short of abysmal. In the finale, the author has characters reiterate what I had already read. This is a rookie mistake, not something a veteran author should be making.

To the Dark Tower is an unpleasant mess that could had the makeup of being a folk horror cornerstone. Proceed with caution; don't get this book. If you have to own it, at least throw a few cents my way by getting it HERE.

The Mystery of Sebastian Island

Oklahoma native Margaret Goff Clark (1913-2003) authored over 200 short stories, 35 one-act plays, and 24 novels, including fiction and biographies. She received her education at State Teachers College in Buffalo, New York, and then became a school teacher for five years. Her first book, The Mystery of Seneca Hill, was published in 1961, kick-starting a productive writing career focused on juvenile and young adult fiction. I love a good story, no matter the age group, genre, or ingredients. I picked up her 168-page young adult novel, The Mystery of Sebastian Island, published by Dodd, Meade, & Company in 1976.

The book's protagonist is Dena, a teenager who lives on Sebastian Island, a rural island off the coast of Maine. Eight years earlier, Dena's father died in a boating accident while fishing for lobsters. Dena spends most of her life on the island, but lives on the coast at a boarding school during the winter. As the book begins, Dena is returning home after a school break. She's anxious to see her mother, but still hasn't adjusted to her mother's new husband, a man named Paul.

Dena's return to the island involves a mystery plaguing the residents. Boats are missing, lobster traps are vanishing, and strangers have been spotted (everyone knows everyone here). There's a mystery involving Paul's charting of ships, his whereabouts during the day, and his relationship with the strangers on the island. Dena experiences a home-invasion attempt, which propels her further into the mystery.

Surprisingly, The Mystery of Sebastian Island evolves into a crime fiction novel as Dena, with her best friend, discovers heroin traffickers using the island as a shipping and receiving center. There's very little in the way of violence or gunplay, but there is a sense of adventure and escapism when the story elevates into a nautical fiction finale. The story's most engaging aspect is the character of Paul and whether Dena's mother has married a criminal or an undercover agent. 

The Mystery of Sebastian Island was a fun hour of escapism, and Clark injects a lot of atmosphere and life into these islanders. I enjoyed the book, but keep your expectations in check. Get it HERE.