ECLECTIC MEANDERINGS ON BOOKS, PULPS, NOIR, '60S SPY SERIES, SOUNDTRACKS, JAZZ, THE RAT PACK, THE LOUNGE LIFE, Y/A NOVELS, COMICS, AND ANYTHING ELSE OF MILD AMUSEMENT . . .
Gwyneth Shepherd’s sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!
Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon–the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.
JOE ACKERMAN OVER AT TWO-FISTED TALES OF TRUE-LIFE WEIRD ROMANCE IS FEATURING A GREAT POST TODAY ON HONEY WEST, ER . . . ANNE FRANCIS, WITH A SERIES OF GREAT PICTURES . . .
In 1964, Francis guest starred in two episodes, "Hideout" and "Rachel's Mother", of the CBS short-lived drama The Reporter. She made two successive appearances in 1964 in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series. In 1965, Francis turned to series television and was cast as Honey West, a sexy private detective with a pet ocelot. The character was initially introduced on the popular ABC series Burke's Law . . .
•An Interview With Henry Steeger by Nils Hardin •G-8—Flying Spy of the Pulps by Sidney H. Bradd •Who Wrote Operator #5 by Robert Weinberg and Joel Freiman •G-8 Versus Stahlmaske by Nick Carr •Jumping Jimmy Christopher by Dean A. Grennell •Shirley Steeger Remembers by Shirley Steeger •How Dusty Ayers Was Born by Robert Sidney Bowen •Meeting Mr. Steeger by Norman Saunders •Captain Satan by Dean A. Grennell •The Popular Publications Collectibles by Tom Roberts and Chris Kalb •Pulp Reflections by Bruno Fischer
VINTAGE ARTICLES:
•"Goldsmith and Steeger Incorporate" (June 1930 trade announcement) •"Popular Publications Announce ..." (September 1930 trade press release of the first four magazines produced by Popular Publications) •"The Popular Publications Magazines" by August Lenniger •"A Day at Popular Publications, 1940" by Tom Roberts •"Six of a Chain" by August Lenniger
A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE HISTORY OF THE PULP MAGAZINE FIELD!
CAUGHT JAKE AGAIN LAST NIGHT AT THE CANYON . . . AN INCREDIBLY PERSONABLE GUY WITH AMAZING TALENT . . . YOU HAVEN’T LIVED UNTIL YOU’VE HEARD JAKE PLAY AS MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS AND BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY ON THE UKULELE . . .
A STUDY OF BASEBALL, BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL FICTION OF THE 1930S THROUGH 1960S
MICHELLE NOLAN
This history of American sports fiction traces depictions of baseball, basketball and football in works for all age levels from early dime novels through the 1960s.
Chapters cover dime novel heroes Frank and Dick Merriwell; the explosion of sports novels before World War II and its influence on the authors who later wrote for baby boom readers; how sports novels persisted during the Great Depression; the rise and decline of sports pulps; why sports comics failed; postwar heroes Chip Hilton and Bronc Burnett; the lack of sports fiction for females; Duane Decker's Blue Sox books; and the classic John R. Tunis novels.
Appendices list sports pulp titles and comic books featuring sports fiction.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Nolan has been a newspaper and magazine feature writer for more than 40 years, working with such periodicals as Comics Buyer's Guide and Comic Book Marketplace. She lives in Bellingham, Washington.
AT THE BIJOU INTERVIEWS RAT PACK MYSTERIES AUTHOR ROBERT RANDISI IN A RATHER UNUSUAL FASHION . . .
THE RAT PACK INTERVIEWS ROBERT J RANDISI!
(As overheard by Absolutely*Kate)
"Hey fellas ~ what about this Bob Randisi guy? He's sure turning out a bookshelf load of RAT PACK MYSTERIES, you notice?"
"About a six-pack by my count now Dean and #7's gonna be a bullet on the charts too. Bet your bottom dollar."
"What about my top one?"
"Yeah, that'll work too. The guy puts the terrific in prolific."
"Man oh man - over 540 books and he still has time to talk to his bookie. That's even more songs than you've cut vinyl on Frank."
"Yeah yeah, sure, sure ... the guy's good and Katie set up the low down on our RAT PACK Mysteries right HERE, but let's fire some Q's at the mystery man under the hat and see if he's worth his snuff."
"Fair enough. You goin' first?"
"Might as while. I'll get to the bar sooner . . . "
Join the BIG W every Friday evening as he continues to explore, with drink in hand, the Space-Age Pop Hi-Fi musical sounds of the 1950’s and the 1960’s in LIVING STEREO!
PLAYLIST:
• There Was A Tavern In The Town - Sammy Davis, Jr. • Oye Negra - Percy Faith • Let’s Love - Buddy Greco • One Mint Julep - Ray Charles • A Lot Of Livin’ To Do - Nancy Wilson • Rain - Les Baxter • The Pleasure Seekers - Ann Margret • The Surrey With The Fringe On Top - Eddie Cano Quartet • Maybe - Dean Martin • Who’s Sorry Now - Nat Cole • Secret Agent Man - Al Caiola • Fever - Sarah Vaughan • Lady Is A Tramp - Enoch Light • Frenesi - Julie London • Pata Pata - Les Brown • That’s What It Takes - Peggy Lee • The Girl From Ipanema - Al Hirt • You’re So Vain - Tony Randall and Jack Klugman • Once In A Lifetime - Bobby Darin • The Continental Twist - Sam Butera / The Witnesses
Possibly better known under his Huge Pentecost pseudonym, Judson Philips was another successful wordsmith to make the jump from the pulps to paperback originals. Highly prolific, Philips was never top rank, but almost always told a solid story.
I started reading Philips’ Peter Styles novels when Pinnacle began reprinting them in 1973 with stylized covers. I enjoyed them enough to stay with them as each new title appeared.
Styles first appeared in The Laughter Trap. He is haunted by memories of driving his alcoholic father home from a ski resort only to be forced off the road by two hooded men in dark glasses and driving a dark sedan – the passenger laughing maniacally.
The resulting accident killed Styles’ father and severed Styles’ right leg below the knee when he was thrown clear. Now, he’s returning to the ski resort to seek the unknown killers.
Within a short time there are several more murders linked to a maniacally laughing man. Are they connected to the murder of Styles’ father – of course, but that’s all part of the fun.
With his experience in the pulps, Philips knew how to keep the pot boiling and the story clipping along. His use of Styles’ artificial leg is handled well and often leads to increasing suspense.
The Laughter Trap is a good start for the series with decent characterization and several twists leading to the traditionally surprising least-likely suspect reveal.
What makes the Styles’ novels of continuing interest is Philips’ efforts to confront the social controversies of the era, often using Styles’ position as a reporter/columnist for Newsview magazine to jump start his plots. In many ways, the novels are tiny time capsules drawn from the headlines of the day.
THE PETER STYLES NOVELS:
The Laughter Trap (1964) The Black Glass City (1965) The Twisted People (1965) Wings of Madness (1966) Thursday’s Folly (1967) Hot Summer Killing (1968) Nightmare at Dawn (1970) Escape a Killer (1971) The Vanishing Senator (1972) The Larkspur Conspiracy (1973) The Power Killers (1974) Walk a Crooked Mile (1975) Backlash (1976) Five Roads to Death (1977) Why Murder? (1979) Death Is a Dirty Trick (1980) Murder As the Curtain Rises (1981) Target for Tragedy (1982)
THE HUNT IS ON WHEN ABC PREMIERES TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN!
PER ABC MEDIANET:
From the producers of The Amazing Race and the CSI franchise comes an entirely new heart-stopping competition show, Take the Money and Run, a six-episode unscripted series for ABC. Combining all the elements of an edge-of-your-seat spy thriller with the excitement of rooting for real people in different locales trying to outwit legitimate professionals, Take the Money and Run is an exhilarating competition series that will take reality television to a whole new level.
The cat and mouse format will feature everyday people trying to win a $100,000 prize.
A hair-raising collection of adventure stories that's so big and enthralling if you open it you may never be seen again: enter at your own risk.
Everyone loves adventure, and Otto Penzler has collected the best adventure stories of all time into one mammoth volume. With stories by Jack London, O. Henry, H. Rider Haggard, Alastair MacLean, Talbot Mundy, Cornell Woolrich, and many others, this wide-reaching and fascinating volume contains some of the best characters from the most thrilling adventure tales, including The Cisco Kid; Sheena, Queen of the Jungle; Bulldog Drummond; Tarzan; The Scarlet Pimpernel; Conan the Barbarian; Hopalong Cassidy; King Kong; Zorro; and The Spider. Divided into sections that embody the greatest themes of the genre — Sword and Sorcery, Megalomania Rules, Man vs. Nature, Island Paradise, Sand and Sun, Something Feels Funny, Go West Young Man, Future Shock, I Spy, Yellow Peril, In Darkest Africa — it is destined to be the greatest collection of adventure stories ever compiled.
FEATURING:
Lawless open seas Ferocious army ants Deadeyed gunmen Exotic desert islands Feverish jungle adventures
INCLUDING:
The story that introduced The Cisco Kid The complete novel of Tarzan the Terrible
On the show this week, we catch up with our sponsor Brad Parker from Tiki Shark. We’ll also feature our review segment with Koop and a book on some of the sexiest women in the world. We’ll also talk about a very nice addition to your bachelor pad in the form of a rotary phone . . . puls, you’ll find the best partys in the world listed here on the Cocktail Nation’s world of swank.
PLAYLIST:
HB Radke ~ I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane Babe Combustible Edison ~ Cat O' Nine Tails Martin Denny ~ Exotic Nights Morton Gould ~ Besame Mucho Marty Lush and His Lush Livers ~ Para Los Rumberos Mancini ~ Charade Don Ho ~ A Taste Of Honey Lucas Vigor ~ Lights On The Water Narco Lounge Combo ~ Miserlou George Shearing ~ Lonely Moments Martini Heaven ~ Tango Zingo Jackie Gleason ~ Hold Me Mr Hos Orchestorica ~ Music Makers Jonah Jones ~ I Dig Chicks
Carole Nelson Douglas Alan Dean Foster Joe R. Lansdale Timothy Zahn Kage Baker Matthew Baugh Johnny D. Boggs Henry Darrow Keith R. A. Decandido Win Scott Eckert Jennifer Fallon Craig Shaw Gardner Joe Gentile John Peel Jean Schanberger Richard Dean Starr Steve Rasnic Tem
Moonstone is proud to present More Tales of Zorro, the second anthology featuring all-new, original tales of The Fox!
THE ALL PULP BLOG HAS A COOL INTERVIEW WITH PULP AUTHOR AND CREATOR OF HARDLUCK HANNIGAN, BILL CRAIG. HANNIGAN IS ONE OF THE BEST OF THE CURRENT CROP OF PULP CHARACTERS AND CRAIG DOES A GREAT JOB WITH HIS TALES OF HIGH ADVENTURE . . .
I just finished off a short story for a future Airship 27 book, and I am in the home stretch on the next Hardluck Hannigan book: The Golden Scorpion, and then I was just invited to submit a story for a new weird western anthology, Showdown At Midnight, from the same people who did Six-Guns Straight From Hell . . .
Hold on tight for a literary thrill-ride into the wickedly clever, frightening, and exhilarating world of Top Suspense, a sizzling collaboration of twelve master storytellers at the peak of their powers in thirteen unforgettable tales. This unforgettable anthology – packed full of cold-blooded killers, erotic tension, shady private eyes, craven drug dealers, vicious betrayals, crafty thieves, and shocking twists – is only a taste of the thrills you will find in the breathtakingly original ebooks by these authors.
So sit back, bite down on a piece of strong leather, and prepare to get hit by some gale-force suspense and writing so sharp it will draw blood.
TOP SUSPENSE INCLUDES:
Unreasonable Doubt by Max Allan Collins Death’s Brother by Bill Crider Poisoned by Stephen Gallagher Remaindered by Lee Goldberg Fire in the Sky by Joel Goldman The Baby Store by Ed Gorman The Jade Elephant by Libby Fischer Hellmann The Big O by Vicki Hendricks The Chirashi Covenant by Naomi Hirahara El Valiente en el Infierno by Paul Levine A Handful of Dust by Harry Shannon The Canary by Dave Zeltserman The Chase by Top Suspense Group
AN ONGOING SERIES HIGHLIGHTING POSSIBLY DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH E-BOOKS BY RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AUTHORS, FOUND WHILE CRUISING THE E-BOOK SHELVES ON AMAZON WITH PRICES THAT MAKE THEM WORTH TAKING A CHANCE ON . . . SOME MAY BE CRAP, SOME COULD SHOW POTENTIAL, OTHERS (I SUSPECT VERY, VERY, FEW) MIGHT BE GREAT – TAKE A CHANCE . . .
TODAY’S FIND . . . THRILLER!
THE KILLER ~ $2.99
STEPHEN CARPENTER
For fans of Robert Parker's smart but tough-as-nails heroes, screenwriter Stephen Carpenter introduces a new character to the mystery genre, Jack Rhodes. Jack is an author and former boxer who was on his way to literary success when his life was blown apart by the horrific suicide of his fiancee.
Devastated, Jack went on a fifteen-month alcoholic spiral into near-oblivion before eventually working past his demons to become a best-selling crime novelist. But just as Jack is finishing his fourth book about a vicious serial killer, the LAPD interrupts his quiet routine with news of what appears to be a copycat murder from his first book. There's just one problem--the murder took place before Jack's book was published.
Jack begins to investigate, using techniques he learned through his meticulous research with police and FBI investigators. To his horror, Jack discovers that each of the murders he has imagined are all real...down to the most harrowing details. And Jack is Suspect Number One.
Jack winds up on the run, a fugitive haunted by his past and hunted by the very cops and FBI agents he has learned from and befriended. Jack must use every resource he has to prevent the murder of a woman he knows will be next in his series of novels. He must piece together shattered memories from the fragments he recalls during his drunken fifteen-month blackout.
Fast-paced and utterly unpredictable, KILLER reads like a rapid-fire crime thriller, with hairpin twists and turns and edge-of-your seat psychological horror. KILLER eludes easy answers to the impossible puzzle Jack must solve, and takes the reader on a journey unlike any other.
THE CANYON CLUB 28912 ROADSIDE DRIVE AGOURA HILLS, CA 91301 (818) 879-5016
I’VE SEEN JAKE BEFORE AND HE IS AMAZING. THIS IS CLOSE TO HOME, SO I WOULDN’T MISS THIS PERFORMANCE . . .
Jake Shimabukuro, whose staggering skills have redefined the ukulele and led critics to compare him to Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, plays The Canyon. His music ranges from traditional Hawaiian tunes to covers like the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
He's received millions of YouTube views, played with musicians ranging from Yo-Yo Ma to Bette Midler, performed for the Queen of England, and appears in the new Adam Sandler movie Just Go With It.
AN ONGOING SERIES HIGHLIGHTING POSSIBLY DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH E-BOOKS BY RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AUTHORS, FOUND WHILE CRUISING THE E-BOOK SHELVES ON AMAZON WITH PRICES THAT MAKE THEM WORTH TAKING A CHANCE ON . . . SOME MAY BE CRAP, SOME COULD SHOW POTENTIAL, OTHERS (I SUSPECT VERY, VERY, FEW) MIGHT BE GREAT – TAKE A CHANCE . . .
TODAY’S FIND . . . HARDBOILED FANTASY!
THE DEMON CROSS ~ $2.99
AVALON AND COMPANY
NATHAN SHUMATE
Private investigator Rennie Avalon's current job seems simple: to find and regain an antique book purloined from the collection of an elderly archivist. But nothing is ever that simple for Rennie.
The book in question is no ordinary book--once the property of a high-ranking Nazi official with occult obsession.
The thief in question is no ordinary thief--a white supremacist who’ll use any means necessary to accomplish his mission of hate.
But Rennie Avalon is no ordinary private eye.
Now with dangers looming on a literally apocalyptic scale, will her past experience dealing with the darkness be enough?
Unavailable since its first appearance as an online serial in 2002, The Demon Cross is here presented for the first time in one volume, specially edited and revised for this edition. Also included is the first chapter of Brother’s Keeper, the next Avalon and Company novel.
