Ingram

Louis C.K. is one of America’s top stand-up comics, so it came as a surprise when he released Ingram, a literary historical novel inspired by the work of William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell and John Steinbeck. 

Our narrator is Ingram, a young boy (age likely under 10) living in abject parental neglect in rural Texas during what is likely the Great Depression (the exact era is never disclosed). His parents treat him like a piece of livestock. No school. No love or care. He sleeps on a blanket in the shed of his father’s unproductive farm. His parents taught him nothing about the world and barely acknowledged his existence. 

The imminent foreclosure of the farm and the separation of Ingram’s parents find the boy cast onto the dusty road to fend for himself in a world where he knows less than nothing about being human, much less independent. Battling ignorance and starvation in the early chapters, the reader is left wondering how little Ingram will survive. 

Much of the novel is a “fish out of water” story about Ingram learning about basics (“if you don’t drink water daily, you’ll die) as if he were an alien trying to assimilate among earthlings. His travel-by-foot adventure reminded me of a tragic Huckleberry Finn, but instead of a trusty slave, Ingram is mostly alone - relying on the kindness of strangers to cobble together enough life lessons to help a young boy survive the crushing poverty of his existence. 

There are moments of joy and humor that C.K. delivers quite well, but Ingram’s adventures and the working-poor’s poverty along the way are some bleak fiction. It’s also compelling as hell. The reader grows to love our pre-pubescent, stoic narrator who has nothing going for him other than his innate innocence about…everything. 

This is one of the best books I’ve read in ages. Although it’s technically literary fiction, the pages fly by like a pulp novel because the narrator is a kid. There’s no central plot to the book other than a young man’s education among the dusty roads, tumbleweeds, and Ingram’s coming to terms with the abject neglect of his earliest years. 

I don’t get the impression that the novel has been a tremendous economic success. I suspect people didn’t know what to make of a serious historical novel by a raunchy stadium comedian. I hope that the book is rediscovered in paperback and has a second life. It’s really something special, and I want to read more Louis C.K. serious fiction. Highest recommendation.

Get the book HERE.

Hawker #08 - Terror in D.C.

I read the first six Hawker novels in quick succession and enjoyed them immensely. I took a breather and read the seventh installment a few years later. Again, after a hiatus, I have returned to the series with the eighth novel, Terror in D.C., published in 1986 by Dell using Randy Wayne White's manly pseudonym of Carl Ramm. The whole series is available in reprinted digital and print editions from Open Road Media. 

In the book's opening chapters, Hawker is involved in an active shooter situation at a school. In a rather confusing opener, Hawker is seen moving throughout the school's outer perimeters and into a local neighborhood. In pursuit of the shooter, he stumbles upon a woman who fools him into a false sense of security. Hawker is shot in the chest, and the game's over – literally. It turns out this was a simulated firefight hosted by a recruiting division of the C.I.A. The whole thing was orchestrated by Hawker's employer, Jacob Montgomery Hayes, upon request by the agency. The C.I.A. is aware of Hawker's vigilante missions, his determination to stop crime, and the success he's experienced in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Houston. 

Unfortunately, Hawker is denied by the C.I.A., but this was all a ruse. Behind the scenes, the agency wants to utilize Hawker to perform some off-the-radar missions (isn't all of the C.I.A. Off-the-radar?!?). Hawker is advised of a serial bombing affecting suburban families in the D.C. area. Readers already know the Iranian cell behind these attacks, but Hawker gets to work on the investigation. He finds the spearpoint, a local businessman that is funding the activities. Hawker also romances a U.S. Senator, a woman who will apparently pay larger dividends in a through-story. As the book closes, it is implied that Hawker is now on the run from the C.I.A., and this Senator may be helping him avoid capture. 

Hawker novels are breezy, senseless fun that reads a lot like Dirty Harry or some of the higher-numbered Mack Bolan novels. It's a formula, but the hero's finesse is appealing to me. As always, there are a few mentions of Hawker's prior experiences with the Chicago Police Department and what led to his vigilante missions. I wish the author would delve more into Hayes and his butler Hendrikcks, a former British secret agent. This seems to be a missed opportunity.

You can get Terror in D.C. HERE.

Deepwater Challenge

Based on a small sample size, what I've read by Frank Bonham has been exceptional. He authored for the pulps in the 1940s and 1950s, then moved into writing full-length novels and television scripts. He's mostly known for his western writing, but he was a consistent juvenile and YA writer. I found a copy of his YA novel Deepwater Challenge. It was published in 1963 by Thomas Y. Crowell Company with cover art designed by Albert Burkhardt. 

Cam Walker has graduated from high school and is prowling the docks searching for the right boat. His father is down and out with debilitating arthritis, so it's up to Cam to bring home the bacon – but in this case, it's fish. His parents have saved $7K for a boat, hoping that Cam can start up a successful fishing and salvage business. But Cam quickly realizes it's not enough money to purchase a decent floating tub. This is when he runs into his fiercest rival, an elderly fisherman named Graber. 

Cam wants to buy Graber's overpriced boat, but his father insists that he seek consultation from a family friend, a former Japanese salvage diver named Aki. After Aki reveals that Graber's boat is significantly damaged, Cam purchases another boat using financing. This infuriates Graber, and he becomes one of the primary plot devices – this maniacal lunatic prowling the sea, hoping to wreck and sink Cam. 

With Aki, Cam begins diving in deep waters to harvest abalone, a meaty shellfish that grabs onto the ocean's rocky settlements. But Aki is too old now to successfully make the dives, and Cam is inexperienced. Cam's older brother Steve, a former U.S. Navy diver, joins the trio. But, he has a secret that he withholds from Cam and Aki – he isn't healthy enough to make the dives, yet wants to contribute to the family's new fishing business. 

First off, Bonham can write his grocery list and make it interesting. I was so invested in the education portions of this novel, the intricacies of diving, the technology (as antiquated as it might be now), and the art of abalone harvesting. However, Bonham introduces another interesting plot device with salvaging boat wrecks. There's a thread here of the trio discovering some rare 1800s coins that will hopefully fund their enterprise. Getting the coins to the surface is one of the most exciting portions of the book. Additionally, I was fascinated by the character of Aki and his history as a Japanese-American. He was forced to relocate with his family after WWII, causing him to lose his family's business.

In the “About the Author” section, Frank Bonham explains that he spent a great deal of time researching for this book. He frequently performed skin diving with a friend from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, interviewing professional abalone divers, and cross-checking facts with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. He presents these fishing facts in a pleasurable way. Deepwater Challenge is a fascinating book for any reader, young or old.  

You can read this book at Archive.org HERE. 

Black Berets #02 - Cold Vengeance

I enjoyed The Deadly Reunion, the debut in the team-commando series Black Berets. This was a Dell paperback title that was published between 1984 and 1987. The house name was Mike McCray, but in reality, these books were authored by John Preston and Michael McDowell. As much as I loved the first installment, it has taken me six years to return to the series. I'm rolling my sleeves up for Cold Vengeance, the sophomore effort from the duo, originally published in 1984.

In the debut, Beeker, Rosie, Cowboy, Harry, and Marty are introduced. This is an old CIA special forces squad that made a name for itself during the Vietnam War. Their old warhorse officer, Parker, put the band back together to liberate one of their own from a Laotian prison camp. As that book ended, the team realized that Parker was a criminal drug lord and was just using the team to gain more fortune for himself. Realizing they were double-crossed, the team took the fortunes of war for themselves in an effort to create a mercenary enterprise.

In Cold Vengeance, the novel begins with Parker's cohorts invading the team's headquarters in the Pacific Northwest. The team is away on a mission, leaving only Beeker's “son”, a mute boy, behind. In a riveting, action-packed sequence of events, the young boy hunts and kills Parker's trio of goons, fatally eliminating each one with a bow-and-arrow. These scenes were some of the best I've read in ages. It reminded me of David Morrell's equally amazing archery scenes from Rambo II. But, despite the boy's best efforts, the trio burns the headquarters.

The team returns, finds the place in ruins, and uses their newly acquired fortune to rebuild a better headquarters. I enjoyed this portion of the storytelling, with all the nuances and caveats of gun placement, barrier resistance, ammo stores, and the team's living conditions. In many ways, this team operates similarly to The Hard Corps, another outstanding team-commando paperback series. The Black Berets and The Hard Corps run a profitable, professional business – they aren't weekend warriors.

The plot of Cold Vengeance is the team's efforts to infiltrate and destroy a terrorist cell that may be operated by Parker. This is a good plot device as it serves two purposes: a storyline that works as a stand-alone novel, but also a way to wrap up the events about Parker from the debut.

Cold Vengeance was another fantastic entry, complete with an emphasis on furthering these characters and their personal histories. Readers learned a bit more about Cowboy's past as well as some intricate details concerning Marty's hobby of blowing things up – he's really into things that go boom. While there's plenty of action with chattering gunfire, bloody fisticuffs, and some graphic torture, both authors understand proper setup and delivery. There's a story here, and its told efficiently. The Black Berets continues to outshine much of the 1980s competition.

Get the book in reprint HERE or original paperback HERE.

The Secret Origin of Michael Myers? | Halloween Paperback Deep Dive

Halloween comes early on Paperback Warrior! In today’s video, I take a deep dive into the collectible 1979 Bantam paperback adaptation of Halloween by Richard Curtis and uncover the surprising mythology hidden inside its pages. While most fans know John Carpenter’s legendary film, this novelization adds an entirely new layer to Michael Myers’ story — including a six-page backstory that quietly influenced nearly every sequel in the franchise for the next four decades.

Join me as I compare the novel to the original film, explore the evolution of Michael Myers as a character, and examine how this overlooked paperback became one of the most fascinating pieces of Halloween history.

If you love vintage paperbacks, horror history, slasher films, and collectible movie tie-ins, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Watch the video below or directly on YT HERE.

The Long Vendetta

Clifton Adams (1919-1971) only wrote a handful of crime novels in his career that weren’t also western novels. One of his contemporary crime novels was The Long Vendetta, published in hardcover in 1963 under the pseudonym of Jonathan Gant and re-released in 2026 by Stark House Press as a double with an introduction by someone named Eric Compton.

The Long Vendetta is a hardboiled suspense novel centered on Buck Coyle, a garage owner and former WWII sergeant who becomes the target of a psychologically-driven revenge campaign somehow tied to his time in the war. The novel begins with Buck, our narrator, awakening battered and bruised in a hospital room after a targeted attack by a vehicle swerving to hit pedestrian Buck.

A flashback to his squadron during WW2 details a war atrocity/mistake in which Buck and his men mistakenly opened fire on a house containing civilians, a woman and a child cut down by bullets from Buck’s men. Could this be related to the attempt on Buck’s life? Count on it.

Out of the hospital, a police detective discloses to Buck that several of the other surviving men in his squadron have all been mowed down by hit-and-run drivers in the past two weeks. Buck has no realistic choice other than to accept police protection.

The attempts on Buck’s life and his sanity escalate while the policemen pressure Buck to explore his recollections of wartime events in search of a motive. The author wrote an honest-to-goodness mystery here, shrouded in some serious commentary about the enduring impacts of wartime trauma complete with a climactic showdown revealing the truth behind the terror campaign.

The Long Vendetta is another winner from Clifton Adams, and we have Stark House Press to thank for rescuing this novel from out-of-print hardcover obscurity. Recommended. 

Get the book HERE.

The Caretaker

Marcus Kliewer is a stop-motion animator who made a name for himself in 2024. His debut novel, We Used to Live Here, began as a serialized short horror story on Reddit before being compiled into a full-length book. Now, Kliewer returns with his much-anticipated novel, The Caretaker. It is available in both digital and physical editions through Simon & Schuster.

The Caretaker has an initial setup that reminds me of the gothic-suspense paperbacks of the 1960s and 1970s. A young woman is employed by a mysterious family to temporarily live in their robust house. Of course, there's an air of mystery that surrounds the dwelling, from odd instructions about the various duties involved to a prevalent threat that looms over the house's property lines. Although void of some key gothic staples, like romance, an inheritance, and closed off sections of the home, it does possess some of the components - a vulnerable woman in the clutches of a supernatural threat while in the confines of a large house in a remote area. 

 

Kliewer does an excellent job making the reader care about Macy Mullins. She and her sister were both raised by their single father. He died years ago in a car accident, and since then, Macy has played the part of responsible parent for her sister. But broke, jobless, and on the verge of eviction, Macy accepts a rather unusual job interview to temporarily house sit for a weekend. 

During the interview, which takes place at the house, the owner explains some rather odd duties involved. She also provides a VHS tape for Macy to watch on her own that provides further instructions. Initially, these orders are very odd, but completely doable. Macy leaves the interview to ponder why this simple chore pays a whopping $9K. Despite her sister's best efforts to throw up the cautionary red flags, Macy accepts the job. She doesn't realize that in doing so, she is teetering at the gates of world collapse.

The Caretaker's first half is one of the most effective things I've read in years. As various rooms are discovered, intricate details of this family are exposed, and mistakes are made, the novel comes alive with a dense, stirring tension that's unrivaled. Kliewer drapes the house and the surrounding forest with a menacing supernatural threat. But, at the same time, Macy also has this innate ability to second-guess herself, fueled by voices she hears in her head from her sister – things she knows her sister would yell and scream about in precarious situations. These conversations make it seem as though Macy AND her sister are in the house, when in reality, these are just conversations Macy is having with herself. It makes the scenes come alive in what would normally be a dull one-person narration or perspective.  

As good as The Caretaker is, the second half wasn't quite as effective. As things continued happening in the house, and these bizarre little patterns snowballed, I felt that the ending left something to be desired. The novel has tremendous support from readers and fans, but much of the criticism is pointing at the ending, which some people refer to as a “nothingburger”. I'm okay with the ending simply because I couldn't come up with anything any different. It had to end that way, and I haven't lost any sleep over it.

If you enjoy these atmospheric, tight mysteries, then The Caretaker is highly recommended. It will probably be in my Top 10 reads of 2026. 

Get the book HERE.

Dirty Harry #03 - The Long Death

I had failed to find any enjoyment with the first two Dirty Harry installments, Duel for Cannons and Death on the Docks. However, I read the fourth and fifth installments, The Mexico Kill and Family Skeletons, and found the series had started to come into its own, a separate entity from the film franchise that inspired it. I had missed The Long Death, the third entry, in my early reading, but was happy when I located a copy. Was it the novel that converted this series from mediocre to great? 

The Long Death, authored by Ric Meyers (Ninja Master) as Dane Hartman, is a fun novel that soaks in all of the action-film formulas that were thriving at the box office at the time of publication. In fact, Meyers even delves into one of the other hot commodities of 1980s Hollywood, the beloved slasher genre. Meyers references films like Halloween and Mother's Day, as well as the Italian Giallo scene led by the likes of Dario Argento. In the book's first chapter, the author zeroes in on some really disturbing shock tactics to setup Dirty Harry's opponent, a child sex-trafficking ring.

A film student named Barbara is captured by a couple of masked men and taken to a secluded shed. Here she is tied with hundreds of restraints (seriously) and drugged. Somehow, she ends up escaping but is later recaptured and dragged to a macabre sex show where she is brutally raped to death. Some of these scenes made me very uncomfortable. At the same time, I was begging – pleading – for Dirty Harry to blow these monsters to smithereens. It was one of the most effective first chapters of recent memory.

Meyers uses low-hanging fruit for this novel, a crazy “race war” plot device that has been used by so many of these paperback action titles like The Enforcer and Narc. In this one, the traffickers are setting up a local black militant group as the mastermind behind their operation. The militants, fearing the feds will prosecute them for crimes they didn't commit, immediately go into defense mode, a sequence that lights up the city with violence and police action. None of it really matters that much. We all bought the book to read about Harry putting bullets in brains. By the book's end, the body count is a bloody tower.

The book is highlighted by Harry fighting an active shooter on a college campus. Another long scene has him shooting it out with criminals in an aquarium. As an enjoyable bonus, one of the baddies gets eaten by a shark. The book's finale has Harry in a gunfight with the traffickers in a film studio before the action transitions to an island fortress. I found this final fight interesting, as Meyers will do the same thing again in the next book, The Mexico Kill, as Harry penetrates an island fortress. Weird. 

Some cool references are made to the Dirty Harry film The Enforcer, and the character's famous quote of “do you feel lucky” from the original. Also, Meyers mentions “Any Which Way but Loose” when describing one character, an obvious reference to the 1978 Clint Eastwood film. Also, the author has some book fun by throwing in a character's name as Roy Henkel, probably homage to the great Roy Krenkel, an American illustrator who painted several paperback covers. He also includes a doctor named Steve Rogers (Captain America).  

The Long Death is absolutely ridiculous, but effective. This is cartoon Dirty Harry performing somersaults and leaps through the air, firing on the run and rarely missing. It's pointless and trashy, but damn, it is just so enjoyable. I want to read every Dirty Harry book now. Sign me up for more senseless fun!

Get The Long Death HERE.

Solomon Kane - The Hills of the Dead

The August 1930 issue of Weird Tales featured a Robert E. Howard story titled “The Hills of the Dead”. It starred Howard's Puritan hero Solomon Kane. The story was later reprinted in Arkham House's Skull-Face and Others (1946), Donald M. Grant's Red Shadows (1968), and the Bantam paperback The Hills of the Dead (1979). The story is also included in Del Rey's The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (2004). 

This story is an important one in the overall lore of Kane. It is this story where the character receives the juju staff (aka The Staff of Solomon), an iconic weapon used to fight the supernatural. Often, artists create artwork with Kane holding this mysterious staff. In later stories, the staff is described as having been used by Moses and King Solomon, two historical and biblical figures. This story also marks the return of N'Longa, the African shaman who appeared two years earlier in Howard's “Red Shadows”. 

As the story begins, Kane is in Africa talking with N'Longa. The shaman explains to Kane that the jungle is deadly, filled with nefarious creatures that will more than likely kill him. While it isn't named, N'Longa provides Kane a sharpened stave, which is ultimately the Staff of Solomon. As readers learned in “Red Shadows”, N'Longa can astral project his body. He advises Kane that this stave can summon N'Longa from far distances.

Kane travels deep into the jungle, rescues a girl from a lion, and then builds a shelter for the two of them in a cave. It is there that Kane and the girl are attacked by two vampires. After stabbing one into dust, Kane learns that the entire region is populated by vampires. Later, Kane summons N'Longa (in a rather contrived way), and the two use magic to summon vultures and bats to kill countless vampires. 

This story is rich with atmosphere, a frenzied second-half pace, and a satisfying, action-packed finale. This may be one of my favorites of Howard's Kane stories as it follows a horror formula built for the vampire saga – these undead creatures, bats, gloomy isolation, a storied history, and of course, an explanation on how humans can kill vampires. As I alluded to earlier, the inclusion of the gifted staff makes this an important chapter in the character's mythos, but also helps build the unique bond between N'Longa and Kane. 

“The Hills of the Dead” was adapted into comics by Marvel in Kull and the Barbarians #2-3 (Jul, Sept 1975) and The Sword of Solomon Kane #5 (May 1986). Dark Horse published an adaptation in The Saga of Solomon Kane (July 2009). 

Get The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane HERE.

Horror House

Paul Fairman (1909-1977) became the founding editor of If in 1952. He later became the editor of Amazing Stories, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and Fantastic. He authored several novels under his own name, as well as the pseudonyms of Ivar Jorgensen and F.W. Paul. Using the name Paulette Warren, Fairman wrote at least nine gothic paperbacks, with two of those consisting of the series titles Bitter Hill Saga and Ravenkill. I stumbled on the author's 1972 gothic titled Horror House. It was originally published by Lancer.

Terry Lawrence, a young writer living in New York, hits it big when she writes a critically-acclaimed biography. Her agent, clamoring for more exposure and work for his client, shares some good news with her over an unexpected phone call. One of America's wealthiest men, Jonah Garth, wants to employ her talents to pen his biography. He signs a contract to pay Terry $10,000. The catch is that Terry must journey to Garth House, the man's home, and interview him and his family of sons and daughters-in-law. Terry reluctantly agrees.

Garth House is in a sleepy upstate New York town that harbors the family's robust mansion and the family business – a myriad of labs and manufacturers producing various items for the federal government. Terry settles into a local hotel in town, awaiting a train that will take her to Garth House's front door. In town, she meets Deputy Bob and the two instantly fall in love. Bob shares the town's disdain for Jonah Garth, referring to him as a slave-driving monster that terrorizes his workers and competition.

Once Terry arrives at Garth House, she begins meeting the various family members, including a flamboyant beauty named Lisa, who is married to Garth's oldest son. There are two other sons, their wives, and the obligatory mansion helpers like the maids and servants. Jonah has prepared for Terry's arrival by recording several reels of tape for her to transcribe. While she's busy with dating Bob, transcribing the reels, she is approached by two mysterious men – each with their own plan to frame Jonah for his dubious misdeeds. Terry declines participation, but learns something detrimental to her safety at Garth House. Apparently, Jonah has murdered at least one man who meddled in his business affairs. Terry uses a great deal of caution when Jonah is around. But the tension and stress increase to the breaking point when Terry discovers the family's dark secret. 

Is Horror House a gothic? Yes. But does it have all of the trimmings to make it a full-fledged gothic? That's debatable. Fairman employs the same concept he used in his 1965 novel Ravenkill – placing the vulnerable beauty as a guest in a mansion as opposed to inheriting one. That's a change of pace that he apparently used frequently. 1972's Hazard House and 1967's The Nurse of Brooding Mansion are his other examples of “guest ventures”. Additionally, there's not much gaslighting, which is typically paramount to the gothic plots. It does feature other gothic mandatory elements like romance, hints of the supernatural and, of course, the “one-lighted window” cover art. I'd also add that Fairman injects one of the most overused tropes of gothic storytelling: an abandoned wing of the mansion. This is a huge part of the story.

Terry hears snarls and footsteps at night, a combination that is explained by the family as sounds made by the dog. Yet rumors abound that Jonah had a fourth son, a “monster” that lives deep inside the house's guarded walls. Fairman's intriguing narrative blends a corporate mystery, a racy love affair, the aforementioned “monster”, and eventually, murder. The book's finale includes the 'ole “daddy's dying but who's got the will” bit to add an element of surprise. I really enjoyed the characters of both Terry and Bob, and genuinely found the book to be a bit eerie in parts. 

If you love these old gothic paperbacks, then Horror House is an easy recommendation. Good luck finding a copy!

Ken Holt #01 - The Secret of Skeleton Island

In the U.S., Grosset and Dunlap published the Ken Holt series between 1949 and 1963. There were 18 total installments, with the first 17 issued in hardcover with a dust jacket. The last installment was issued in a picture cover only. The series was published in the U.K. by World Distributors in hardcover with dust jackets. The series was authored by the married couple Sam and Beryl Epstein using the pseudonym of Bruce Campbell. Series Books for Girls has an excellent page about the series, including reviews.

Lately, I've been on a young adult kick, and I've sampled various series titles like Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, and Fighting Four. The Ken Holt series is discussed in collector circles as being very tight with descriptive detail, gripping investigations, and lots of action. I decided to try the book's debut, The Secret of Skeleton Island. (Note that this title was also used for the sixth novel in the Three Investigators books)

As the novel begins, it's explained that Ken is away at school when he receives a letter from his father, Richard. In the letter, Richard has invited Ken to join him on a fishing trip. While working as an investigative journalist for Global News, Richard has stumbled on a mystery in New York concerning two shipping vessels that seemingly come and go without any freight, events that he describes for Ken in the letter. As Ken is set to meet his father, he is intercepted by two strangers, one of whom is pointing a gun at him.

Ken's capture and then escape from the two baddies kicks off an exciting action sequence as Ken, paired with another boy named Sandy Allen, attempts to locate his father. Of course, Richard is being held by criminals because he's close to revealing their smuggling operation. Ken and Sandy dig into the investigation, prowling New York City stops like a large harbor, a hotel, and Richard's apartment. Eventually, they sneak on board one of the ships to learn more about the operation and ways to bring the empire to its knees. 

This novel introduces both Ken and Sandy, the two characters who will be the series' stars. Sandy's father is a journalist serving the family's small-town newspaper, the Brentwood Advance. Since Richard will be on assignment quite often, Ken goes to live with the Allens and, in turn, becomes an investigator for the newspaper. Ken's investigative techniques combine with Sandy's photography skills to allow the duo to tackle all of these tough mysteries. It's a solid setup that kicks off the series.

The Secret of Skeleton Island is written well, but in my opinion is way too descriptive for my tastes. Something as simple as boarding a ship is met with pages and pages of overly described steps, play-by-play action, and an abundance of tension that doesn't always mesh well with the scenario. It didn't ruin the reading experience, but it definitely had me impatient as I waited for the pace to quicken. There's 100-pages of running around pursuing criminals and clues, so the descriptions became tiring. 

I also found some of the details of the plot a bit confusing at times. The series has very little criticism from fans other than some of the more convoluted plots involving multiple characters. I've become accustomed to that after reading countless paperback whodunits over the years. I've written out a Game of Thrones-esque org chart just to keep up with who's who in those old stuffy mansions. 

Overall, I enjoyed this series debut and will continue reading more installments. This novel ends with a brief mention that the boys won't have long to settle in with their new roles, as a new mystery is at hand in Colorado with The Riddle of the Stone Elephant. 

Get The Secret of Skeleton Island HERE.

The Abductor

Stark House Press has reprinted eight of Dolores Hitchens novels, including two short stories and analysis from literary scholars like Nicholas Litchfield and Curtis Evans. Admittedly, I've been behind on reading the Hitchens novels (her real name was Julia Clara Catherine Dolores Robbins) and needed to catch up. I read and enjoyed her 1958 novella Strip for Murder and decided to try her 1962 novel The Abductor, originally published in hardcover by Simon and Schuster. The book is now available in a SHP twofer that includes the author's 1965 novel The Bank with the Bamboo Door. 

The Abductor takes place in a quiet California beach town. In the eerie opening, a substitute teacher is standing on an elementary school playground when she hears a man whispering “Marion” from the bushes. He quickly takes off, but his message is puzzling. The teacher's own name is Marion, and one of her students is also named Marion. She reports the incident to the principal, and he dismisses it (different era).

Hitchens then welcomes the reader into three households, very distinctive from each other. The first is the Trent family, who have a daughter named Marilyn. This family has some weird security quirks, appearing overprotective of their daughter. They consistently ask about her whereabouts, if she has spoken to any strangers, and if she has anything odd happening at school. It is immediately clear that the Trents are running from someone. This is reinforced when a man calls their home and declares he has dialed the wrong number. This sets off panic alarms for the family as they contemplate where to move next. 

The second unusual household is that of the substitute teacher, Marion Kennick. After her minor investigation into the puzzling school whispering, she dresses up and hits the town's jukejoints despite having a man in her bed at home. Is she married? Living with a boyfriend? What's his story?

The third home is that of Mrs. Charles, an alcoholic widow who spends her day at the nearby bar. Her motherhood is the opposite of the Trent family – often, she has no idea where her daughter Marion is. Further, she tends to write off her own daughter in an effort to please her wealthy boyfriend. He sees Marion as an obstacle. 

All of these households and family members spiral into oblivion when an abductor captures both Marions – little Marion Charles and her substitute teacher Marion Kennick. He takes them both to an abandoned hotel. This scene was very disturbing as the tormentor questions whether to murder them both or use them as fodder in his grand scheme of torturing the Trents. In one of the most clever setups, the abductor actually meant to capture Marilyn Trent in a revenge plot against the Trent family. However, a misprint in a newspaper article had Marilyn Trent's name listed incorrectly as “Marion”. So this strange kidnapping takes place – the abductor captures the wrong kid and torments parents who know their child is perfectly safe. But they have to play along to rescue the kid. Brilliant!

The Abductor is an absolute masterpiece. The setup, characters, locale, and eerie nature of this kidnapping gone wrong were perfectly penned by Hitchens. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for this novel to come to fruition. I became confused at times with the character names being similar, but I completely understood that this was necessary. The name snafu is such a pertinent portion of the plot and surely required a great deal of patience on the author's part to keep this plot tight and suspenseful.  Additionally, this was a bold undertaking for Hitchens, writing a disturbing novel about child abduction. I'm sure even as late as the 1960s, the subject was a bit taboo. 

There are some unsettling scenes with the phone calls that reminded me of John Farris's excellent 1967 novel When Michael Calls. As I mentioned, the abandoned hotel locale was fitting as well as the author's description of thick fog that permeates the air, draping the entire town in a bleak blanket of “unknown”. There's no doubt that writers like Hitchens helped propel the 1970s and 1980s suspense market, that hotbed of bestseller lists ruled by the likes of Mary Higgins Clark.

For all of the above reasons, you should be reading The Abductor next. Highest recommendation. You can get the book HERE.

Conan - Savage Sword of Conan #03 (Titan)

Titan's new The Savage Sword of Conan launched its third issue in July 2024. I've slowly been devouring these issues, and wanted to continue my reviews with this one. The A cover is by Alex Horley (B by Cary Nord) and features artwork that highlights the magazine's feature, “The Wolves of the Tundra”. This cover story is written by Frank Tieri (Iron Man, Wolverine) with interior art by Cary Nord (Daredevil, X-Men), who returns to Conan after a successful run with Dark Horse Comics. 

It is an odd choice to have a werewolf-themed story for this installment. First, Solomon Kane has already been featured in the first two issues in his own werewolf story, “Master of the Hunt”, which continues in this issue. Second, I've never really encountered many werewolves in the Hyborian Age. It seems goofy to have Conan not only tangle with this horror concept, but also to eventually transform into a wolf. The artwork is great, the story not so much. I found this just a little too odd for my tastes. 

“The Wolves of the Tundra” is followed by an excerpt from Conan and the Living Plague, a John C. Hocking narrative that is featured in the Conan: City of the Dead book. This was included to promote that book's release, which has been well-received by most fans. The excerpt also includes commentary from Hocking on his experience writing Conan novels and stories. 

As I mentioned above, “Master of the Hunt” continues with this final chapter. The three-part story features Kane searching for a werewolf in a small village. The story and artwork were created once again by Patrick Zircher. It's a fitting end to the story as Kane and the small heroic boy ultimately confront the man-beast. 

Alan Quah's “Lure of the Pit Creature” is a unique, wordless story showing Conan fighting an aquatic beast. 

Pinups for this issue include artists Alex Horley and Roberto De La Torre. There is also a short Conan poem by Jim Zub. 

Get the issue HERE.

Haunted Island

Joan Lowery Nixon (1927-2003) was a celebrated novelist of juvenile fiction and mysteries. She won four Edgars and had five additional nominations. She also won the Western Writers of America's Golden Spur Award twice. All of this has me scratching my head as to why I've never read her novels before now. Breaking the ice, I chose Haunted Island as my first sampling of her writing. It was originally published as a YA Apple Paperback by Scholastic in 1987 with a gorgeous Rudy Nappi cover (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys). 

Chris and Amy, teen siblings, are working with their Aunt Jennie to restore an old hotel in Missouri. Across the river, there's an ominous island that is strictly off-limits, partially due to the dense foliage, wildlife, and deep caves, but also because of a rumored ghost that still prowls the shoreline. Of course, Chris and Amy are fixated on this mysterious oasis and the mythology associated with the island's prior owner, a deceased farmer named Joshua Hanover. 

One evening, Chris and Amy confront a laborer upstairs in the hotel. He confesses that the island was created during a massive earthquake. Nixon allows this character introduction to flourish, introducing a long flashback scene in which the man, in first-person narration, explains how he grew up in the area and his experience working with Joshua. This is an entertaining portion of the story, complete with treasure, romance, and of course, a tragedy that fuels the ongoing mystery – does Joshua's ghost now haunt the island?

Oddly, as I was reading this, I couldn't quite understand how the man could have been alive in the 1800s to present this first-person account of life under Joshua's employment. Later, during a surprise twist, Chris and Amy learn the truth about the old man. This reveal sets up a fantastic second half in which the two teens are left stranded on the island. Admittedly, the locale of an old farmhouse at twilight on an uninhabited island was unsettling. Nixon's description of tattered curtains blowing in the wind, the old creaking sounds of the dilapidated house, and the dark recesses of the hallways and cellar were downright creepy, even for this YA novel. These two kids left on the island – a haunted island – were worth the price of admission.

Eventually, the finale becomes a bit rushed as the author had a strict 200-pages to wrap up this story. It felt a little hectic as Nixon revealed the mysterious circumstances affecting nearly 150-years of island life. But the frantic pace builds into a long chase scene as Joshua's ghost (yes, there are ghosts!) and the teens run wild through the forests and caves. The search for revenge and redemption, and the drive to survive, was a smooth blend of action and fright. Nixon's writing is superb and flexible enough to entertain all ages. This is an easy recommendation.

Get Haunted Island HERE.

The Girl in Green

Los Angeles native Staci Layne Wilson authored the Rock & Roll Nightmares series, featuring 12 books of music-related horror short stories and non-fiction. She also produces films like Cabaret of the Dead (2017), The Ventures: Stars on Guitars (2020), and The Second Age of Aquarius (2021). Her newest novel, The Girl in Green, is out this month on Sinister Smile Press, an imprint of the award-winning publisher Crystal Lake. 

The book, set in 1980, features a unique look at motherhood and adolescence, a dark blend of cruel irresponsibility, morbid curiosity, and the pangs of guilt. Beth, the single mother, is striving to keep her 10-year old daughter Amy safe as the two drift across the U.S. seeking shelter, food, and companionship. This nowhere trip takes the two into menacing places like seedy towns, lowly dives, and dirty motels, yet seems counterfeit compared to Amy and Beth. This lethal duo is authentic death-dealers; Beth serving to protect Amy, the psycho serial-killer.

In the book's opening chapters, Amy is shown fatally stabbing a young bookstore clerk. Later, she kills a man at a roadside stop. It is immediately clear that Beth is aware of Amy's uncontrollable violence, but she seems to nurture these tendencies instead of preventing them. This is an interesting thread throughout Wilson's narrative, the idea that Beth is killing innocent people as much as Amy. “See something, say something” isn't in Beth's parental makeup. Instead, she coddles this bloodthirsty child and seemingly feeds into the butchery. But from her perspective, she is a good, supportive parent. 

The relationship teeters on a breaking point when Beth's boyfriend Cecil, appears. He isn't aware of Amy's murderous trek and journeys on with the duo from town to town. When Cecil's ex-wife begins to pal around with the trio, emotional conflict begins to tarnish these relationships. Beth begins to doubt Cecil's affection as Amy begins to distrust her mother. The book's first half closes with a harrowing scene that permanently changes the family dynamic. 

The novel's second half moves the narrative to Las Vegas as Amy is reunited with her biological grandfather. He's a morally corrupt alcoholic who works as a card dealer in a local casino. Amy is searching for a parental figure, but finds an alarming diary written by her mother during childhood. Amy's grandfather has some dark secrets of his own. His mysterious past, the relationship he had with Beth, and how it impacts Amy's murderous traits are all plot-propulsive devices that highlight the book's bloody finale. 

The Girl in Green is a disquieting descent into some really dark places. It is saturated in violence, bloodshed, and uncertainty, but all written with a purpose. It isn't graphic violence for the shock factor. These murders, as troubling as they are, define this mother-daughter relationship - as unsettling as that might be. The shifting environments from shabby, dilapidated places to the afterglow of Las Vegas was the best stage for this murky familial drama to unfold. Wilson's writing, while overly descriptive, tells the tale well. She's an experienced storyteller who brings these multi-faceted characters to life...and death.

You can purchase The Girl in Green HERE.

Lady Cop

The name J.T. Pritchard is associated with a handful of sleaze novels published by Beacon in the 1950s and 1960s. As Janet Pritchard, the author wrote paperbacks like Warped Women (1951), One Hot Night (aka Sin Ship, 1960), and Station-Wagon Wives (1963). Using the J.T. Name, the author wrote Lady Cop (1955). Cutting Edge Books has committed to offering all of Pritchard's novels, including Lady Cop, in new editions that include physical and digital. Additionally, the author's novels are included in several of the publisher's digital omnibus collections like Noir at Sea, Vintage Sleaze, Suburban Sins, and High Seas Adventure. New to this mysterious Pritchard name, I decided to read Lady Cop. 

Peggy Malone is the Lady Cop. As the book begins, Peggy is cuffing a pervert making advances in a seedy theater. From that opening chapter, Pritchard takes readers back to Peggy's innocence – her time as a school teacher in France and her sensational romance with a man named Jacques. However, this seemingly perfect life is shattered with a phone call. Peggy's father was found dead.

The funeral scene and time spent with her father's family and friend offer a glimpse into Peggy's distinctive childhood. Both she, and her brother Duke experienced their mother's death. Their father, Mike, a dedicated police officer, was forced to raise the two of them, often sacrificing his own wants and desires to support the family. Peggy and Mike had a special bond, something she compares to more of a marital couple than a traditional father-daughter relationship. Pritchard skirts around any sexual promiscuity, but her relationship with her father is a driving force in her inability to commit to a man.

Mike's death is ruled as suicide, but Peggy feels there is more to this. The suspects are plenty – local gamblers that Mike was leaning on, a political best friend, and even Duke himself, now a wayward college dropout involved in car theft and drugs. Peggy takes it upon herself to become a police officer, and with the help of a high-ranking city official, is enrolled into police academy. Her graduation concludes a solid, well-written first half.

Unfortunately, the second half of the novel is rather subdued. Peggy's day-to-day work, arresting criminal teens, lowly thieves, and tailing her brother's crime enterprise, doesn't make for a lively reading experience. The book was originally published by Beacon, so a few tepid sexual escapades are included as Peggy flirts with losing her virginity. The book's finale was satisfying with a grand reveal of Mike's murderer, as well as an undercover F.B.I. agent who took me by surprise.

Lady Cop provides an insightful, educated glimpse at the difficulties faced by female police officers in the mid 20th century. Malone's ability to navigate these unfamiliar waters, while seeking revenge for her father's murder, is a satisfying premise that gains momentum through the book's first half. Overall, this is an enjoyable crime-noir and an excellent choice for a Cutting Edge publication.

Get Lady Copy HERE.

Night Boat to Paris

I've really enjoyed Stark House Press's recent spotlight on author Richard Jessup. He wrote over 60 novels, including the excellent five-book series of spy adventures starring Monty Nash. Additionally, Jessup experienced success with his western, The Cincinnati Kid, which was adapted into a Steve McQueen-led film. Along with reprinting Jessup's Port Angelique and Wolf Cop, Stark House Press also released the author's 1956 Dell paperback Night Boat to Paris as a Black Gat Book. 

Jessup's formula uses a familiar setup, often found in westerns, to drive the plot. The concept is the retired gunfighter, bandit, or bounty hunter wrangled back into “one more job”. By the mid 20th century, imaginative authors had transformed the idea into a more contemporary setting, often in crime fiction, as con-artists, heist specialists, and other seedy fellows are convinced “one more job” will score the grandest prize of all. Under the hands of thrilling writers like Lionel White and Dan J. Marlowe, those novels thrived with threads of desperation and treachery while the anti-hero judged his self-perception and worth.

Night Boat to Paris is unique in that it combines this same concept, the retired gunman back on the trail, with a sweeping European spy chase. Jessup's superb plot, melding heist and espionage, recalls the high-adventure cornerstones like Jack Higgins and Hammond Innes. Yet his prose is comparable to the conversational tone of Donald Hamilton's memorable Matt Helm novels. 

In the book's opener, Reece, a former British secret agent, is minding his own business running a small bar in England. His former boss calls him back into action to chase down a microfilm that every country in the world is clamoring for. While the details of the microfilm, its current owner, and the nefarious parties involved are all dense and too specific, the mission is simple: knock over a highly influential dinner party and steal the microfilm from the Russian. 

Reece and intelligence design a heist operation, one that is disguised as a simple hit and run, stealing money and jewelry from all the suits and ties. Under this operation, Reece hits the streets to recruit the best heist guys in the business. The lucrative payout is enticing, and soon Reece and his gang of thieves are training at a farmhouse in France. This is the best part of heist novels for me – the organization of who does what and where. I just love how these jobs come together in vintage paperbacks. Any author worth his salt can infuse so much characterization and subplots into this portion of the heist build-up. Jessup introduces a clever rivalry between the men and two Italian specialists. This will pay dividends in the book's stirring finale. 

Soon, Reece and the men are in full-swing and begin the heist. As always, complications ensue, and changes are made on the fly. The book's second half morphs into getaway mode as the team escapes into the French countryside to avoid the law. It's here that Jessup plays a few more wild cards by introducing a female character who will play a hand in Reece's escape strategy. Additionally, a surprise twist reveals that one of the men is a secret Russian operative.

Night Boat to Paris is the best book I've read thus far in 2026. Jessup was just a phenomenal storyteller, and his stand-alone crime-fiction, spy, and heist novels are top-shelf entertainment. This is an easy recommendation. Get on this Night Boat to Paris as soon as possible. 

Get the book HERE.

Earth vs The Lava Spiders

In 2022, authors Candace Nola, Lucas Mangum, and Judith Sonnet contributed horror novellas to a trilogy series titled Earth Vs, a homage to the 1950s drive-in movie culture. Mangum's was Earth vs The Star Mummy, Sonnet's was Earth vs The Nudist Camp Freaks, and Nola's was Earth vs The Lava Spiders. The covers for all three books were created by Christy Aldridge of Grim Poppy Design. A friend let me borrow Nola's novella, which was my first experience with the series and the author. The book was published by Nola's own Uncomfortably Dark Horror and edited by both Nola and Mort Stone. 

Earth vs The Lava Spiders is set in Pine Grove, California, in 1958. Teenagers are making out in the car when they see strange lights over the bay. Soon, the landscape is glowing as fireballs erupt from the nearby mountainside. As a volcano erupts, the teens realize that the embers and lava aren't the only thing pouring from the mountain – there are also flaming spiders ready to pounce on human flesh! Then, the feast begins.

Each chapter of the book features a 1950s song title, like "Jailhouse Rock", "Blueberry Hill", and "Oh, What a Night!". Nola uses each of these early chapters to focus on one character or set of characters who are experiencing the spiders. These attacks occur in the suburbs, on the highway, at a nearby prison, and at a police station. By the sixth chapter, a story arc develops as an elderly man named Jonas escapes prison and begins a lively escape from the burning arachnids. 

Nola candidly admits on her website that Earth Vs The Lava Spiders isn't great. But, she explains, “it is a good story that is meant to be funny, wild, fast-paced, and corny.” She definitely achieves that in this 50-page novella. It is never too serious, and it hearkens back to the day when horror didn't have to say or mean anything. It's just a fun distraction from life's everyday horrors – mortgages, jobs, social angst, etc. I also borrowed Nola's book Bishop: Man vs Monster, and I am now anxious to read it too. 

Get Candace Nola's books HERE.

The Last Snow

Nine years before his retirement, Jon Messmann (Revenger, Nick Carter: Killmaster) authored a stand-alone western titled The Last Snow. The book was published as a paperback in 1989 by Random House using Messmann's real name. It's odd that Messmann, a lifelong New Yorker, wrote the novel, considering he was ultra-productive in the 1980s with his tremendously successful adult-western series The Trailsman. By 1989, Messmann, writing as Jon Sharpe, had completed 84 installments of that series for his publisher Signet. In true pulp fashion, these novels were published nearly every month on a firm schedule. Additionally, Messmann was also writing the Canyon 'O Grady series, again as Jon Sharpe. The Last Snow is one of only two stand-alone novels that Messmann wrote in the 1980s, the other being Jogger's Moon (aka To Kill a Jogger) in 1980 for Penguin.

The Last Snow is presented in an epistolary style with 19 journal entries ranging from October 1846 through April 1847. The opening pages of the novel advise readers that these documents were found among the family possessions of Daniel Culver by his granddaughter. It's an old-school storytelling approach that has been used by the likes of Bram Stoker, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Stephen King. 

Culver is a thirty-something mountain man who makes a living as a trail guide, but has been known to gamble, gunfight, and perform as a type of mercenary. He's the proverbial “everyman”, yet Messmann rarely places Culver in action scenes. Instead, Culver is more of a messenger or consultant. When he arrives in the frontier town of Stoddard, he discovers families brutally massacred in their cabins. Citing the work of the Cheyenne, Culver enters the city to warn the settlers of a coming invasion. His cries fall on deaf ears.

In Stoddard, the U.S. Calvary has a small encampment of 200 soldiers led by a half-dozen officers. The town feels safe and immortal despite Culver's pleas. As the snow begins to fall, Culver realizes the town will be cut off with no way to cross Snowshoe Pass, the only passage through the harsh mountainside. As Culver jockeys as a mouthpiece for the town, he also rediscovers an old relationship he once had with a widow and her son. Further, Culver begins a romance with the daughter of one of the officers.

As the snowfall begins, Culver risks staying with the town in an effort to fortify it from attack. Unfortunately, the military doesn't take his efforts seriously until it is too late. As Cheyenne and other factions begin the invasion, Messmann cranks up the action with gritty violence, savage acts of murder, and the familiar bloodshed of battle. 

The Last Snow is an unusual western, brimming with non-formulaic traits from the protagonist. Culver is a sensible, no-nonsense adventurer, but realizes his efforts to fight the Cheyenne are pointless. The town is ripe for slaughter, the military's strategy is lacking, and the town's chief politicians are clueless. In many ways, Messmann exercises a liberal political fusion of words versus action as this tiny frontier town collapses from internal and external pressures.  

Thankfully, Cutting Edge Books has made The Last Snow available in a new paperback and digital edition. The book is also included in the publisher's western omnibus The Big Bold West #12, featuring novels by James Warner Bellah, Michael Carder, and Riley Ryan. If you enjoy Messmann's writing, Cutting Edge has also made available the author's Logan series, originally written as Alan Joseph, and his gothic-romance novels, originally written as Claudette Nicole. 

Get The Last Snow HERE.

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet #01 - Stand by for Mars!

According to the Tom Corbett Website, Grosset & Dunlap began publishing the Tom Corbett Space Cadet juvenile novels in 1952. These were a tie-in to the established television character and the Rockhill Radio IP. There were eight books in the published series from 1952 to 1955, all using the house name Carey Rockwell. There has never been a definitive answer on who actually wrote the books, but speculation is that it could have been Richard Jessup or G&D editor Joe Green.

Tom Corbett first appeared on CBS television in 1950 before moving to ABC in 1951. The show remained on air, with various networks, through 1955. Corbett also appeared on the radio in 1952, in 14 Dell comics from 1952-1955, and in Sunday newspaper strips between 1951 to 1953. My only experience with the character, like most readers, is the G&D books, which I still see from time to time in used bookstores. 

I decided to try the character out with the series debut, Stand by for Mars!, originally published in 1952. 

The setting for the series is the 24th century, 2350. All of the inner planets have been colonized by humans. Earth is a commonwealth shared by Mars and Venus. Solar Guard units are stationed in different parts of the universe, each monitoring shipping and passenger commutes while conducting various experiments. Somewhere in the North American Midwest, there's an academy to train men and women vowing to join the Solar Guard. This is where we first meet Tom, on day one of his training as a cadet. 

Roger Manning, like Tom, is from Earth. As a fellow cadet, Roger is consistently tormenting Tom and a man from Venus named Astro. This conflict is the central plot of the book – the trio's ability to work together cohesively through training and actual operations. Roger seems to have a great burden on his shoulders, one that he distributes emotionally and physically to his cadet mates. At one point, Tom and Roger have a fistfight in the facility gym. Awkwardly, Roger strives for companionship, but simply doesn't know how to coexist with his teammates. This is a mystery that permeates the book's second half – Roger's secret. Fortunately, the reveal pays off in the book's emotional finale.

As I was reading Stand by for Mars!, I kept thinking of other series titles that shared similarities with the book. The trials and tribulations heaped on Tom during training reminded me of R.A. Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt series of Forgotten Realms novels. That character is forced to make alliances while also combating other students during his training. The debut, Homeland, featured Drizzt's time in the Academy. Another similar title is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, complete with the alliances and rivalries forged at Hogwarts, a school of magic. Like Stand by for Mars!, that series features a combat sport in which the students must rely on each other to score goals and win for their team (or house). 

Most of Stand by for Mars! features Tom, Roger, and Astro working as a trio to overcome mathematical and engineering problems during their training classes and final. However, their education pays off when they are thrust into a real scenario of answering a rescue beacon from another ship. The action also includes a shipwreck, an 8-day survival quest through a hot desert, and some intense battle planning as the trio is forced to make quick decisions to defend a faux invasion. 

Overall, this Tom Corbett debut was highly entertaining. I connected to the character, enjoyed Astro's comical scenes, and found Roger detestable. All three characters, and their emotional baggage, helped elevate the storytelling. I'm all in. Stand by for the next installment!

Get Stand by for Mars! HERE