COCKTAIL NATION 129 ~ MID CENTURY MODERN!

COCKTAIL NATION 129 ~ MID CENTURY MODERN!

Cocktail Nation, thanks to Tiki Shark with Koop Kooper, This week on the show, Koop talks to a real estate agent out of Palm Springs who only deals in mid-century modern homes. Koop's also got an incredible new CD from Kenny Sasaki and the Tiki Boys to play, along with news from Bill Raetz with another WORLD ESPIONAGE BUREAU novel. These's also the usual look at the world of swank with a very cool Charles Phoenix show that’s coming up. and we'll tackle the world's problems in Ask Koop segment - this time talking about rich people and discounts.

PLAYLIST:

Waitiki 7 ~ Similau
Combustible Edison ~ Seduction
Don Tiki ~ Other Side Of The Moon
Astrud Gilberto ~ Goodbye Sadness
Voodoo Island ~ Hypnotique
Tiki Boys ~ A Night Of Ghosts
Esquivel ~ Todavía
George Shearing ~ Shadow of Your Smile
DJ Bonebrake ~ Shakers
Abe Lagrimas ~ Baby Drool
Linda-Lawson ~ Up Pops Love
Clouseux ~ Fist on the Green
Terry Snyder ~ Oye Negra

TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

ENGLAND VS ALGERIA ON TWITTER!

ENGLAND VS ALGERIA ON TWITTER!

MOST OF THIS STUFF IS RIGHT ON . . .

* And there’s the England team, looking like a gaggle of confused hair models.

* The Algerian team appear to be conscious, and therefore not the England team’s preferred opponents.

* Dear Mr Heskey [ENGLAND'S TOP STRIKER, SUPPOSEDLY], please have a blind man and their guide dog show you where the f****** goal is

* Algerians look like they’re having fun. English look like they’d rather drink a pint of sick [BARF] than stay on the pitch.

* Get up you nonce [IDIOT], he only stood on your head

* Rooney [SUPPOSEDLY ENLAND'S BEST PLAYER] appears mostly interested in passing the ball to the invisible ghosts of things he has eaten.

* "Ghost Deer and Ghost Cat play footyball with Rooney in Rooney’s head now. Ug."

* Yes, John Terry, no-one will notice if you just lay on an opposition player and try to f*** them

* Wild, hilarious f***-ups by England team. Awesome, hilarious fouls by Algerian team. Comedy cavalcade. No actual football.

* Pretty sure the soundtrack for the end of the world will be played on those bloody vulva horn things

* England team now being wheeled back to their care home. Heskey being taken straight to glue factory.

* And Fabio Capello [ENGLAN COACH/MANAGER] being forced to consider the fact that perhaps he has lived too long. To the sound of vulva horns.

REMAKE/REMODEL ~ DOMINO LADY!

REMAKE/REMODEL ~ DOMINO LADY!

BACK IN 2008, WARREN ELLIS STARTED A THREAD ON THE WHITECHAPEL BLOG REIMAGINING THE PULP CHARACTER DOMINO LADY . . . SINCE THEN, MOONSTONE HAS SUCCESSFULLY REINVENTED THE PULP HERIONE IN A NEW COMIC SERIES, BUT I THINK SOME OF THE REIMAGINGS FROM ELLIS’ THREAD ARE WORTH A LOOK . . .

HERE’S ELLIS EXPLAINATION . . .

There was, way back in the mists of... 2007... a recurrent meme among several comics art blogs. Reclaiming characters from their owners, I guess it could be broadly described as... people were reimagining abused characters (chiefly Supergirl) as artistic call-and-response in various places, chiefly LiveJournal. In the aftermath of that, I did a similar thing on old messageboard The Engine, called REMAKE/REMODEL. They were embraced as technical exercises, bits of fun, ways to get the brain moving. I think most people's favourite was the dear late Mike Wieringo's wondrous retro-aristo Buck Rogers...

I thought it might be an interesting thing to bring back here. So, once a week, I'll call a character, and you art types here can post images of your reinterpretation of that character.

Photography and digital art is also fine, before anyone asks.

The point is REinterpretation: remake/remodel.

This week's is a tough one, in a lot of ways, I think: DOMINO LADY.

This blandest of pulp heroines has been remade/remodeled at various times in the past, with little success. This is her description:

The Domino Lady is really University of California, Berkeley-educated socialite Ellen Patrick. When her father, District Attorney Owen Patrick, is murdered she puts on a domino mask and a backless white dress to avenge him.

HERE'S MY FAVORITE:

TO FOLLOW THE THREAD FOR OTHER EXAMPLES CLICK HERE

COMMANDO #4306!

COMMANDO #4306!

THE PHANTOM’S STRIKE

A cloaked and masked figure who stalks the city of Paris protecting the underdog and escaping through the sewers to outwit his pursuers — obviously this is the invention of a Victorian mystery writer, not a real person. Yet, this was 1944 and, if you asked the German authorities or the pro-Nazi French Militia, you would find that this character was all too real. And all too deadly.

COOL STUFF FROM ONE OF BRITAIN'S LONGEST RUNNING PULPS . . .

PULP NOW!

BEAT TO A PULP #79!

BEAT TO A PULP #79!

AT THE CAFÉ SABARSKY / PATRICIA ABBOTT

"Would you two mind sharing a table?" It was the hostess at my elbow. She was speaking to the older man in front of me too. "I can give you a table if you share it," she explained, gesturing with the menus.

I turned to the man. "Do you mind?" There was no chance Tibor'd come in here. I felt giddy: faint almost.

The man smiled, nodded.

Our table looked out on Central Park where people were raising umbrellas in the increasingly foul weather. Despite the eye-catching view, both of us turned to our hard-won menus. "Been here before?" he asked, putting his menu down. "At Café Sabarsky?"

THAT SEEMS AN INNOCENT ENOUGH MEETING, RIGHT? WELL, DON'T BE FOOLED BECAUSE THIS IS PATRICIA ABBOTT WHO YANKED THE CHAIR OUT FROM BENEATH YOU IN THE INSTRUMENT OF THEIR DESIRE AND INTRODUCED YOU TO ESTHER MEANEY. SO SIT DOWN, ENJOY THE MEAL BUT KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED AT THE CAFÉ SABARSKY . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patricia Abbott's fiction has appeared in numerous literary and crime fiction publications. Most recently she has had stories in Needle, CrimeFactory and Between the Dark and the Daylight. Forthcoming stories will appear in Damn Near Dead 2, Bats in the Belfry, BEAT to a PULP: Round One and the 2010 Ed Gorman anthology. A poem appeared in The Lineup. She lives and works in Detroit.

TO READ THE STORY CLICK HERE

A STITCH IN TIME!

A STITCH IN TIME!

WRITTEN BY JULIE HOVERSON

NEW FROM 19 NOCTURNE BOULEVARD . . .

A POOR BUT NERDY TAXIDERMIST IS HIRED TO MOUNT THE TROPHY OF A LIFETIME.

"WHAT KIND OF A PLACE IS IT? WHY, IT'S THE STREET OUTSIDE A TAXIDERMIST'S WORKSHOP, CAN'T YOU TELL?"

TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

STRONG JUSTICE!

STRONG JUSTICE!

JON LAND

I JUST WON A COPY OF THIS NOVEL VIA A BOOKGASM GIVEAWAY . . . IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE READ A JON LAND NOVEL, SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GIVING THIS ONE A TRY . . .

STRONG JUSTICE

Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong is back in Jon Land’s STRONG JUSTICE, and this time, she takes on the case of a Mexican girl on the run from white slavers. For Caitlin, the case evokes memories of her legendary grandfather’s run with the Rangers, even as it brings her face-to-face with a serial killer who’s left a trail of bodies along the Mexico border.

JULIE LONDON ~ LONDON BY NIGHT (1958)!

JULIE LONDON ~ LONDON BY NIGHT (1958)!

MY FAVORITE GIRL SINGER FEATURED ON A DOWNLOAD FROM JENSENBRAZIL . . .

TRACKLIST:

01. Well, Sir
02. That's for Me
03. Mad About the Boy
04. In the Middle of a Kiss
05. Just the Way I Am
06. My Man's Gone Now
07. Something I Dreamed Last Night
08. Pousse Cafe
09. Nobody's Heart
10. Exciting Life
11. That Old Feeling
12. Cloudy Morning

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

PULP HISTORY ~ DEVIL DOG!

PULP HISTORY ~ DEVIL DOG!

THE AMAZING TRUE STORY OF THE MAN WHO SAVED AMERICA

DAVID TALBOT / SPAIN RODRIGUEZ

Pulp History brings to life extraordinary feats of bravery, violence, and redemption that history has forgotten. These stories are so dramatic and thrilling they have to be true.

In DEVIL DOG, the most decorated Marine in history fights for America across the globe—and returns home to set his country straight.

Smedley Butler took a Chinese bullet to the chest at age eighteen, but that did not stop him from running down rebels in Nicaragua and Haiti, or from saving the lives of his men in France. But when he learned that America was trading the blood of Marines to make Wall Street fat cats even fatter, Butler went on a crusade. He threw the gangsters out of Philadelphia, faced down Herbert Hoover to help veterans, and blew the lid off a plot to overthrow FDR.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

PULP HISTORY ~ SHADOW KNIGHTS!

PULP HISTORY ~ SHADOW KNIGHTS!

THE SECRET WAR AGAINST HITLER

GARY KAMIYA / JEFFREY SMITH

Pulp History brings to life extraordinary feats of bravery, violence, and redemption that history has forgotten. These stories are so dramatic and thrilling they have to be true.

In SHADOW KNIGHTS, everyday men and women risk their lives on top-secret missions to sabotage Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

Hell-bent on conquering Europe, Hitler had just set his sights on England when Winston Churchill reached into his bag of tricks and invented a secret spy network of ordinary citizens. These schoolteachers, housewives, prostitutes, and farmers abandoned their former lives, trained in covert black ops, and set Europe ablaze. Parachuting into Nazi territory under the cover of night, they destroyed factories, armed resistance networks, and turned Hitler’s juggernaut on its head.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

MORE TALES OF ZORRO!

MORE TALES OF ZORRO!

COMING IN SEPTEMBER FROM MOONSTONE BOOKS!

More Tales of Zorro includes never-before-seen stories and essays from a fantastic lineup of today's top writers. More, this collection includes stunning new cover art by Spectrum award-winner Douglas Klauba and original interior illustrations by acclaimed Disney animator Rubén Procopio.

Available in softcover and limited hardcover. The hardcover, limited to 200 copies, is signed by Procopio and Klauba, as well as writers Richard Dean Starr, Joe Gentile, and Jean Schanberger.

SOFTCOVER $15.95
LIMITED HARDCOVER $46.95

MOONSTONE BOOKS

THE SPIDER & DOMINO LADY ONE SHOT!

THE SPIDER & DOMINO LADY ONE SHOT!

COMING IN SEPTEMBER FROM MOONSTONE BOOKS!

WRITER: NANCY HOLDER/JOE GENTILE

ARTIST: EM GEIST

COVER: STEPHEN BRYANT

A Return of the Originals Event! "The Lady and the Spider," a tale told in widevision! Be here for a hot time in the dead town tonight! A catastrophe puts The Spider in the arms of lovely Domino Lady. Be here for the first time the Master of Men and the Sexy Avenger ignite the comic pages as they deal with spontaneous flaming zombies!

7x10 ~ 40 PAGES

B&W ~ $3.99

MOONSTONE BOOKS

THE BEST OF ADVENTURE VOLUME 1 ~ 1910-1912!

THE BEST OF ADVENTURE VOLUME 1 ~ 1910-1912!

EDITED BY DOUG ELLIS

BLACK DOG BOOKS - AVAILABLE AT PULPFEST!

Assembled from ADVENTURE's first 26 issues, this collection brings together two dozen of the best tales that appeared therein, including rarely or never-before reprinted works by Talbot Mundy, Damon Runyon, Rafael Sabatini, William Hope Hodgson, R. Austin Freeman, James Francis Dwyer, Hapsburg Liebe, Arthur Somers Roche, Nevil G. Henshaw, Frederick William Wallace, Frank L. Packard and others. From the idyllic but dangerous South Seas to the fog enshrouded streets of London, from the wild American West to the jungles of the Philippines, from the fishing banks of Newfoundland to the deserts of Morocco, these collected stories span the globe with intrigue, action, mystery, danger, daring – and adventure!

CONTENTS:

"The Outriders" (poem) by H. Bedford Jones
"The Soul of a Regiment" by Talbot Mundy
"The Luck of the Annie Crosby" by Frederick William Wallace
"A Soft Answer From the Kid" by Willett Stockard
"Brethren of the Beach" by H.D. Couzens
"The Pretender" by Rafael Sabatini
"A Pair of Mules" by Nevil G. Henshaw
"The Mate's Log" by Arthur Somers Roche
"The Pied Piper, Junior" by Damon Runyon
"From the Book of Fate" by George E. Holt
"The Preacher and the Gun-Man" by Hapsburg Liebe
"The Master" by George Buchanan Fife
"The Plot of Signor Salvi" by Marion Polk Angellotti
"The Hate of Ismail Bey" by Bertram Atkey
"The White Queen of Sandakan" by James F. Dwyer
"McQuinn, Sheriff" by William Tillinghast Eldridge
"The Albatross" by William Hope Hodgson
"The Rug of Imam" by Adele M. Donovan
"31 New Inn" by R. Austin Freeman
"Two On Trinity" by Frank Lillie Pollock
"That Prodigious Postscript" by John Lewis
"The Bravery of Bertie McDodd" by George B. Seitz
"Captain Curlew's Atonement" by C. Langton Clarke
"The Final Average" by Frank L. Packard
"The End" by Stephen Allen Reynolds
"Adventure" (poem) by H. Bedford Jones

BLACK DOG BOOKS

DOC SAVAGE VOLUME 40!

DOC SAVAGE VOLUME 40!

MYSTERY ON HAPPY BONES ~ JIU SAN ~ THE LOST GIANT

WWII SPECIAL

COMING IN AUGUST FROM SANCTUM BOOKS

Thrill to the original pulp exploits of DC Comics' newest superstar as the Man of Bronze battles America's enemies in three World War II thrillers by Lester Dent writing as "Kenneth Robeson." First, Doc Savage's investigation of a kidnapped Army major unearths a Nazi plot. Then, the Man of Bronze is accused of treason after he breaks dangerous Japanese prisoners out of a POW camp. Finally, Doc disguises himself as a big-bandleader to search for an Allied government leader who has mysteriously disappeared.

This extra-length pulp reprint features the original color pulp covers by Emery Clarke and Modest Stein, Paul Orban's classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of seven Doc Savage novels.

SOFTCOVER ~ 7X10

128 PAGES ~ B&W

$14.95

THE SHADOW VOLUME 41!

THE SHADOW VOLUME 41!

CHAIN OF DEATH ~ DEATH'S PREMIUM

COMING IN AUGUST FROM SANCTUM BOOKS

"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay. The Shadow knows! The Knight of Darkness battles outlaw corporations in two thrilling pulp novels by Walter Gibson writing as "Maxwell Grant." First, The Shadow seeks to decode the secret plots of Crime, Incorporated and its murderous masterminds to unravel a "Chain of Death." Then, when a rogue insurance company offers death policies, Henry Arnaud takes out a "Death's Premium" on the life of Lamont Cranston.

This instant collector's item showcases the original pulp covers by George Rozen and Graves Gladney, the classic interior illustrations by legendary artists Tom Lovell and Edd Cartier and commentary by popular-culture historian Will Murray.

SOFTCOVER ~ 7X10

128 PAGES ~ B&W

$14.95

PLOTS WITH GUNS #9!

PLOTS WITH GUNS #9!

THE JUNE 2010 ISSUE IS UP AND RUNNING . . .

TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE

CHUCK ~ THE THIRD SEASON!

CHUCK ~ THE THIRD SEASON!

WARNERS HAS ANNOUNCED THE UPCOMING SPEPTEMBER 7, 2010, RELEASE OF THE THIRD SEASON OF ONE OF THE MOST FUN SPY SHOWS EVER – CHUCK . . .

No more Mr. Nice Spy! Chuck is back and he’s the Chuck you know: the hapless Nerd Herder hopelessly devoted to sexy super spy Sarah. And he’s the Chuck you don’t know: a master martial artist whose brain is locked and loaded with the new Intersect 2.0. How the two Chucks clash, bash and (sometimes) cooperate makes Season Three total, action-packed fun. More new stuff: A dashing rival (Brandon Routh) joins the team, someone from Chuck’s Buy More life discovers his secret and Chuck learns the spy biz can turn the nicest guy dark and dangerous. “For the last two years, we’ve protected Chuck from the world,” the General notes. “But now we have to protect the world from Chuck.”

THE CAT'S MEOW!

PULP NOW!

PULP CENTRAL: SPORTS PULPS!

PULP CENTRAL: SPORTS PULPS!

On the newly establish Adventure Pulps Yahoo group, I was recently asked me how I became interested in the pulps. In actuality, the adventure pulps are a secondary interest for me. I’m mostly a sports pulps kind of guy. I have around 300 in my collection with an emphasis on Sport Story (Street & Smith’s), Fifteen Sports Stories, and Sports Novels.

Having read mystery fiction extensively for many years, I was of course aware of its pulp antecedents, especially Black Mask. But the detective, aviation, and hero pulps that caught my fancy were in high demand, and subsequently fairly expensive, so I pretty much gave them a pass.

Sports pulps, however, like the western pulps had been mostly ignored by collectors. And while the western pulps have recently seen a revival, sports pulps are still the red-headed step-child of the pulp world. The only pulps getting less respect are the romance pulps.

Still, for me, sports pulps were where it was happening. I have an extensive collection of Y/A (young adult) sports fiction – first putting together complete collections of Chip Hilton and Bronc Burnett, and then moving on to getting complete collections of individual titles from Joe Archibald and Jackson Scholz (AKA: The New York Thunderbolt – immortalized as one of the Olympians in the film Chariots of Fire). Scholz novels were particular favorites, so, knowing he started out writing for the pulps, I began seeking out sports pulps containing his byline.

It wasn’t long before I realized Scholz wrote pulp stories not only under his own byline, but (as was usual for many pulp writers) also under several pseudonyms. Some issues of Sport Story carried a novella under Scholz own name and two short stories under his different pseudonyms.

I’ve always wanted to put together a collection of golf stories or boxing stories from the pulps. There have been some real dandies of each from the likes of William Campbell Gault, Louis L’Amour, W. H. Temple. I even went as far as to obtain the rights to Temple’s story from his daughter.

While boxing, track, football, baseball, and basketball, made up the background for the majority of the stories in the sports pulps, every sport imaginable also had its day in the sports pulps at one time or another.

It wasn’t long before I was no longer just chipping sports pulps, but actually mainlining them – addiction is a terrible thing. From the sports pulps, I moved on the adventure pulps – mostly Argosy – and western pulps. My addiction is currently under control, but I could backslide at any moment.

SAND’S GAME!

SAND’S GAME!

ENNIS WILLIE IS A NEW NAME TO ME, BUT EVERYONE FROM BILL CRIDER TO ED GORMAN TO JAMES REASONER TO MAX ALLAN COLLINS – NAMES I TRUST IMPLICITY WHEN IT COMES TO KNOWING THEIR HARDBOILD STUFF – IS TOUTING THIS NEW COLLECTION OF WILLIE’S NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES. I’M GOING TO HAVE TO GET ON THE BALL AND CHECK IT OUT . . .

SAND’S GAME

His name is Sand . . .

. . . a former crime lord with a price on his head, an army of hit men on his back, and a .45 riding in a shoulder rig under his arm to do his talking. A man alone, with few friends and many hates.

Walk along with him in this volume, down the dark street and fog-filled alleyways of Skid Row as he seeks the monstrosity that killed a ragged little man with sticky fingers and a generous heart who did not deserve to die in this dead place.

Enter a bordello where the madam has just died from a hundred shallow stab wounds. Find out why she used her last breath, not to tell the police the name of the killer, but to breathe out the word "Sand." What had this woman done for him that she knew she could talk to him from the grave?

Fly in with him to the city he left behind when he quit the mob, the city where his enemies rule and where he could never return. But the word is out. It is seeping through the underworld like smoke through a crack.

"Sand is coming back!"

There is nowhere to hide . . . and it's too late to pray.

RANT, RANT, RANT!

RANT, RANT, RANT!

I’ve just finished watching the atrocity that was the first half of the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup game, and I could just spit . . .

Somebody has to say this, so it might as well be me – the US Men’s National Soccer Team sucks. SUCKS! S.U.C.K.S! If they were playing the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, I’d bet on the women’s team every time.

This isn’t to disparage the U.S. women’s team. Quite the opposite. The U.S. Women’s team is a well oiled, well coached, goal scoring machine. There is huge depth on the women’s team bench and each individual women’s team player not only wants to win, but knows how to win. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team plays in-your-face aggressive soccer with an American flair.

The U.S. men’s team, however, hasn’t graduated from the AYSO leagues, where everyone gets to play and it doesn’t matter what the score is since everyone’s a winner – who comes up with this liberal self-esteem crap? AYSO has a lot to answer for when it comes to the level of professional play in the U.S.

Watch the U.S. men’s team closely. Not one player can stop the ball at their feet – it always ends up with space between the U.S. player and the ball, giving the opposing player more than enough incentive to whip it away.

The coaching of the U.S. Men's team is a travesty. The only time the U.S. players successfully pass the ball is when they are diddling around in the back of their own half because they can’t find a way to penetrate the opposing team’s defense.

The U.S. team scrambles around on defense, out of position and out of breath, simply kicking the ball wildly to get it out of the area. There is no thought to controlling the ball, and the game, and engineering a counter attack.

On offense there isn’t a single U.S. player who has the ability to score on anything other than a fluke. Clint Dempsey, arguably the best U.S. player behind Landon Donovan, was the hero of the 1-1 tie against England with a powder-puff shot that dribbled into the goal off the English goalkeeper's rock-like hands.

Against Slovenia, Dempsey makes a brilliant run, he’s right in front of the open Slovenian goal . . . what does he do? Does he shoot and score, like a goal hungry European or South American superstar? No, he reverts back to the AYSO philosophy of ‘sharing’ and passes the ball across the front of the net into the path of two other perfectly positioned U.S. players . . .

Do they score?

No. One whiffs the pass and the other allows himself to be cut off by an aggressive defender who slices the ball away and out of danger.

Kill me now. Just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

When will an American superstar goal scorer rise?

Landon Donovan is an excellent player, but he is ultimately a midfield player, somebody who can brilliantly set up the ball for another player to score . . . the problem is there isn’t anyone to support his play – there is no true American goal scorer . . .

Wait . . . what’s that??? Donovan just scored! Bradley just scored! The game is tied! A third U.S. goal disallowed for apparently no reason! We wuz robbed!

Go U.S.A.!

Hope springs eternal. One game can change everything . . .

THE AMERICAN!

THE AMERICAN!

THE PROMO ART FOR GEORGE CLOONEY'S UPCOMING SPY-CENTRIC FILM, THE AMERICAN, IS A COOL THROWBACK TO THE '70s IN DESIGN AND STYLE . . . AS THE MAD PULP BASTARD OVER AT PULP 2.0 PUTS IT, 'OLD SCHOOL BROUGHT FORWARD' . . .

I SPY REDEUX!

I SPY REDEUX!

HERE IS SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT FOR I SPY FANS VIA FELLOW C.O.B.R.A.S. AGENT WES BRITTON . . .

I Spy fan extraordinairre Debbie Lazar has begun her project of posting Ernie Frankel's 2 unpublished scripts for I SPY. She just started the first one "The Day They Gave the Bride Away." She is posting it in installments, and thinks some readers might want to wait until more of it is up. Whatever your choice . . .

TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: RED CARD!

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: RED CARD!

RICHARD HOYT

With most of the world still glued to the World Cup games continuing in South Africa (go USA / go England), I pulled another fictional World Cup thriller off of my shelves as this week’s Forgotten book entry. Unlike last week’s The World Cup Murder, which got just about everything soccer related wrong, this week’s entry does a much better job.

Author Richard Hoyt jumped into the ‘80s private eye renaissance with a series of books featuring a disgraced reporter named John Denson. This were well received, but had more of a cult following than a wide-spread audience. Hoyt, who had served as U.S. army counterintelligence agent, then brought his writing talents to bear on a new character, James Burlane, an ex-CIA spook turned private operative. Burlane would appear in eight novels before Hoyt , who travelled extensively in Europe, Latin America, and Asia – riding trains across the Soviet Union and riverboats down the Amazon – began writing stand alone thrillers.

Hoyt’s timing was right for a book with a soccer background (the sixth to feature James Burlane). Published in 1994, when the U.S.A. actually hosted the World Cup, Red Card was actually subtitled A Novel Of World Cup 1994. And while the soccer background still plays second fiddle to the novel’s thriller plot, Hoyt gets most of it right.

RED CARD

June 1994

Millions watch breathlessly as the World Cup, soccer’s premier tournament and the largest single-sport event in the world, opens to a triumphant reception in cities throughout the United States. Some players will go home as champions, others in ignominious defeat.

And some will not return at all.

It all begins when Elizabeth Gunderson – the international Foot ball Federation’s tough, attractive security chief – hand delivers a package to German team manager Jens Steiner. Inside the envelope, Steiner finds one red card and two yellow cards. A few hours later, two of the team’s hottest players are gunned down right outside the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. With a stat, Gunderson and Steiner realize the significance of the mysterious package: in soccer, the referee displays a red card or two yellow cards to call a flagrant, dangerous foul – then ejects the offending player from the match. Ejected players cannot be replaced. Neither can dead ones.

James Burlane, ex-CIA agent, now private operative and soccer aficionado, is hired by the Football Federation to investigate the murders and save the World Cup. Burlane follows a confusing trail of threats deceptive evidence to an unlikely set of suspects: a vengeful Argentinean industrialist and his beautiful soap-opera girlfriend, a disgruntled player turned referee, and an infamous news rag magnate. Burlane and Gunderson team up to unravel a tangled web of greed and sexual deception, while the killer – acting on his own bizarre agenda – strikes again and again.

Set against the spectacle and emotion of the world’s most popular sport, Red Card turns the first U.S.-hosted World Cup into a brilliant, international thriller and the ultimate soccer novel; fast, complex, and truly engrossing.

While I enjoyed Hoyt’s early John Denson novels more than his later thrillers (I just can’t get worked up about world domination anymore), Red Card is my favorite of his John Burlane tales.

Next week I’ll bring to the blog two of the best non-fiction books about soccer – one that will fill you with the joy of the sport, and one that will break your heart . . .

YUKI 7 UPDATE!

KEVIN DART, ILLUSTRATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE AND CREATOR OF SPY GIRL YUKI 7 HAS BEEN BUSY GETTING READY FOR THE LICENSING EXPO IN LAS VEGAS, BUT HE’S TAKEN THE TIME TO UPDATE HIS BLOG AND TREAT US TO A COUPLE OF NEW YUKI 7 FEATURES, INCLUDING THE LINE-UP BELOW OF FEMME FATALS, WHO COMPRISE YUKI’S TEAM OF GADGET GIRLS – NADYA, VOGUE, SOPHIE, AND CIC, WHO EACH HAVE THEIR OWN SPECIALTIES AND HELP YUKI OUT ON HER MISSIONS.

FOR MORE CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!

WORLD CUP: ENGLAND VS. USA (LEGO VERSION)!

Y/A CORNER: THE RISE OF RENEGADE X!

Y/A CORNER: THE RISE OF RENEGADE X!

CHELSEA M. CAMPBELL

Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she’s been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father’s too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he’s not a hero in any way, or else he’s stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.

To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad’s “flying lessons” that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city–despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights–thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she’s his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.

HORSE RACING THRILLERS!

HORSE RACING THRILLERS!

Once upon a time, I had over 600 volumes of horse racing mystery/thriller fiction propping up my bookshelves. I started with Dick Francis, of course, and became obsessed from there. I devoured all the horse racing mystery titles from the likes of John Francome, Lyndon Stacey, Richard Pitman, Graeme Roe, Jenny Pitman, John Welcome, and many, many others both old and current – including around 80 garish pulps from the king of the horse racing mystery thriller, Edgar Wallace. While not every title was up to the level of Dick Francis (very few were), I still enjoyed most of those in the milieu.

While I eventually donated much of the collection to a library in Norco, California (which specializes in collecting all books related to horses and horse racing), I have still kept up with new names in the field, especially as a number of American authors (starting with the excellent William Murray)
have taken up the standard, including John McEvoy whose current title, The Significant Seven, is outstanding.

Even with my radar for horse racing thrillers still twitching, I missed the debut novel, The Hyperion Legacy, from British author Ben Osborne, only getting wind of it by uncovering his just released follow-up, The Rule Of Lazari. I now have both on order from Amazon.UK.

THE HYPERION LEGACY/THE RULE OF LAZARI

BEN OSBORNE

THE HYPERION LEGACY

Ex-jockey and betting guru Danny Rawlings thinks he's met his darkest hour. Accused of murdering his friend, stable lad Deano, and now a wanted man on both sides of the law. A pulsating and innovative plot sees Danny hunted down and forced to witness the cold-blooded execution of a loved one. Fired on by that harrowing experience he goes all out to exact his revenge and get justice. Packed with stunning race scenes at Britain's premier racetracks, the tension never lets up right down to the wire as Danny goes after the real killers to reveal the shocking truth behind an inherited secret. Against all odds, Danny makes a return to the saddle in the Epsom Derby, not just to fulfill a lifelong dream but to expose the evil forces at work and save the 'Sport of Kings' from ruin.

THE RULE OF LAZARI

A thrilling sequel to the popular and well-received The Hyperion Legacy.

Assistant trainer and jump jockey Danny Rawlings is on the brink of financial ruin after taking a punt on buying his pride and joy Silver Belle, a tiny mare who’s underachieved in the hands of struggling trainer and boss Roger Crane.

After Danny is left badly beaten and shaken by a stranger outside his apartment, he learns that, one by one, jockeys that rode in a low-key race at Kempton years back are being murdered. And his name is next on the list.

In the most important race of his life, with everything at stake, Danny sets about unearthing the shocking secret behind the deaths: The Rule of Lazari.

A chain of mysterious events builds to a breathtaking climax at the Cheltenham Festival, where Danny gives his all to right the wrongs of the past, clear his financial woes and help set up a brighter future.

This horse racing mystery/thriller set in the UK is in the genre that brought you the likes of Graeme Roe, John Francome, Lyndon Stacey, John McEvoy, Richard Pitman, Jenny Pitman and, of course, Dick Francis. It’s a page-turning novel that's been well-received, a racing book that makes a perfect gift for all racing fans.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

ATOMIC PULP!

ATOMIC PULP!

Writer/editor/pop culturist and fellow C.O.B.R.A.S. agent Christopher Mills has amped up his web presence with the relaunch of his Atomic Pulp Studios official website.

Chris tells us the new version gives him a lot more flexibility to update us with news on his many cool projects (I can’t wait for the new Gravedigger graphic novel) and will be ‘the place’ for his work-related blog posts.

The site’s graphics are outstanding and the site is easy to navigate.

TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE

THE EQUALIZER: RUSSELL CROWE!

THE EQUALIZER: RUSSELL CROWE!

One of my very favorite ‘80s television shows was The Equalizer (CBS 1985 – 1989) starring Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a former spy turned private eye/vigilante. McCall’s backgroudn was murky, but it was clear that as a spy he’d done anumber of thing of which he hasn’t proud. As The Equalizer he searched for repentance through righting wrongs for the persecuted by settling scores with their persecutors. He ran an ad in the want ads reading "GOT A PROBLEM? ODDS AGAINST YOU? CALL THE EQUALIZER!"

While the film version of the show has been on the books before (with a script by Michael Connelly and Terill Lee Lankford) it has been in devlopment hell for several years. Now the L.A. Times is reporting Russell Crowe has been attached to star in the feature.

This is cool news for fans of both the show and Crowe – for whom playing a character with a mysterious past and a dark edgy side could be enough to make viewers forget his latest turn as Robin Hood. However, trying to match the performance of the consumate Edward Woodward wil be an exacting task.

None of this will be happening in a hurry. There isn’t a new script, a director, or even a studio agreement yet. But the powers who now control the concept appear bent on briging the film to fruition.

Stay turned.

RATPACK CENTRAL: GUYS AND DOLLS REPRISE (1963)

RATPACK CENTRAL: GUYS AND DOLLS REPRISE (1963)

A VERY COOL DOWNLOAD FROM KELLY’S LOUNGE SOUNDZ . . .

Frank Sinatra appeared in the 1955 film version of the Frank Loesser musical "Guys and Dolls". But he was miscast in the virtually nonsinging role of Nathan Detroit while Marlon Brando took the part of Sky Masterson who gets to sing such songs as "I've Never Been in Love Before" and "Luck Be a Lady". What singing Sinatra did do never appeared on a legitimate album because he was contracted to Capitol Records and the soundtrack music was controlled by Decca which only issued a four-track EP of songs sung by Brando and Jean Simmons. Sinatra attempted to make up for all this almost a decade later when he chose "Guys and Dolls" as one of four musicals to record using performers from his Reprise Records label under the rubric Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre.

He and his Rat Pack cronies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. were well-suited to this show full of songs sung by (and in the vernacular of) small-time gamblers; it was a persona not all that far removed from the small-time gangster identities they often adopted.

TRACK LIST:

SIDE 1:

01) Overture/Fugue For Tinhorns
[Sinatra, Crosby, Martin]

02) I'll Know
[Jo Stafford]

03) The Oldest Established Permanent Crap Game
[Sinatra, Crosby, Martin]

04) A Bushel And A Peck
[McGuire Sisters]

05) Guys And Dolls
[Sinatra, Martin]

06) If I Were A Bell
[Dinah Shore]

07) I've Never Been In Love Before
[Sinatra]

SIDE 2:

01) Take Back Your Mink
[Debbie Reynolds]

02) More I Cannot Wish You
[Clark Dennis]

03) Adelaide's Lament
[Debbie Reynolds]

04) Luck Be A Lady
[Sinatra]

05) Sue Me
[Reynolds & Allan Sherman]

06) Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat
[Sammy Davis Jr]

07) Guys And Dolls - Reprise
[Sinatra, Martin]

FOR THE FULL POST AND TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

ESPIONAGE CENTRAL: LADY S!

ESPIONAGE CENTRAL: LADY S!

JEAN VAN HAMME

Adopted daughter and principal collaborator of roving ambassador James Fitzroy, special correspondent for the American Secretary of State in Europe, Susan is a clever, multilingual young woman, in full bloom and perfectly happy in the eyes of an attentive father. But this too-perfect happiness hides many faults, sorrows and mysteries. Trapped by her past, Susan will have to play her most dangerous role in a life already rich with adventure: Lady S., high-class spy in a diplomatic environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With a penchant for addictive action and fantasy, Jean Van Hamme is one of Belgium's most successful contemporary novelists and comic-book writers. Since 1968, his most popular successes have been Thorgal (illustrated by Rosinski) and Largo Winch (illustrated by Francq), both published in English by Cinebook, and XIII (illustrated by Vance). By 2003, Philippe Aymond, a 34-year-old artist, had already published 13 books. Enticed by Aymond's neat and restrained drawings, Van Hamme entrusted him with the graphic destiny of Lady S, which possesses all the assets of a great series.

FOR MORE CLICK HERE

ESPIONAGE CENTRAL: BLAKE & MORTIMER!

ESPIONAGE CENTRAL: BLAKE & MORTIMER!

THE YELLOW ‘M’

EDGAR P. JACOBS/ JEAN VAN HAMME

London's walls resound with the incredible exploits of the 'Yellow Mark.' The spectacular actions of this mysterious criminal are on the increase: holding up the Bank of England, robbing the imperial crown... No one seems able to stop him. He is so audacious that he lets the police know in advance where he will commit his crimes, each time ridiculing Scotland Yard a little more. The apparent ease with which he evades police schemes begins to worry the highest authorities of the country. The Home Office asks Captain Francis Blake to solve the mystery and discover the identity of the man who hides behind the Yellow Mark. The captain immediately takes as partner his old friend, Professor Philip Mortimer, whose scientific knowledge will be invaluable in solving this extremely complex enigma. Who hides behind the Yellow Mark?

The characters Blake and Mortimer were the creation of Edgar P. Jacobs, a Belgian artist who assisted Herge on his classic Tintin series. The Yellow "M" (1956) is a moody mystery-adventure that pits Capt. Francis Blake of MI5 and his friend, Prof. Philip Mortimer, against a near-superhuman figure, impervious to gunfire, who is abducting some of Britain's leading citizens and leaving only his yellow mark behind.

THIS IS THE FIRST OF NUMEROUS PUBLISHED VOLUMES NOW CARRIED ON BY FRENCH WRITER JEAN VAN HAMME . . .

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

COMICS CORNER: LARGO WINCH ~ SEE VENICE . . . AND DIE!

COMICS CORNER: LARGO WINCH ~ SEE VENICE . . . AND DIE!

HERE’S SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE BRITISH COMIC BLOG DOWN THE TUBES, WHICH TAPS INTO MY LOVE OF ALL THINGS VENICE . . .

Largo Winch is the Eagle Award nominated series that follows the life, loves and tribulations of one of the richest men in the world. Written by Lady S, Thorgal and XIII's Jean Van Hamme and illustrated by Philippe Francq, the series has reached 16 albums in French of which 10 have now been translated by Cinebook into English.

Largo is the adopted son of the billionaire owner of the W organisation which he inherited on his father's death. In Paris Largo meets up with Charity, an old girlfriend from his previous life, who he cannot persuade to return to New York with him. Instead she goes to Venice to meet her former lover Domenica who has just had a run in with Italian terrorists attempting to escape the police after assassinating a local banker. When the terrorists return and kidnap Charity, Largo and Domenica team up to attempt to retrieve her which leads them to the Masked Ball of the Doge of Venice, a man that Largo has already been warned about.

The character began in a series of text novels by Van Hamme in the 1970s which then became a series of graphic novels beginning with L'Héritier in 1990. It is a popular series in the French speaking world with both a live action TELEVISION SERIES based on the character and, more recently, a FILM which is due for UK DVD release in August.

FOR THE FULL REVIEW/POST CLICK HERE

MYSTERY SCENE #115 ~ SLIDING INTO SUMMER!

MYSTERY SCENE #115 ~ SLIDING INTO SUMMER!

HERE’S THE WORD FROM MYSTERY SCENE’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF KATE STINE . . .

Hi everyone,

The Summer Issue of Mystery Scene has just gone to press and will be making its way to you in the next few weeks. Here's a preview:

In a short but productive career, Michael Koryta has attracted plenty of admiration from PI fans. His latest book, So Cold the River strikes out for new territory--it's a dark thriller with supernatural overtones, à la Stephen King. Kevin Burton Smith investigates.

We also talk to another bright new talent, Stefanie Pintoff who just won an Edgar Award for her debut novel, In the Shadow of Gotham. And going to the other extreme, Carolyn Hart thoughtfully discusses her long and successful career.

Remember Alvin Fernald and his Magnificent Brain? The whiz kid detective is returning to bookstores and we talk to series creator Clifford B. Hicks about Alvin's new adventures.

Courtroom fiction expert Jon L. Breen offers an overview of Scott Turow's entire career--including the new sequel to Presumed Innocent.

Lawrence Block remembers the engagingly eccentric Henry Kane; and we review over a 100 great books, films, TV shows, audiobooks and more - just in time for summer reading.

Sincerely,
Kate Stine ~ Editor-in-Chief

P.S. And just one more thing...don't miss Tom Nolan's entertaining visit with William Link, co-creator of TV's beloved Lt. Columbo!

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

PULP CENTRAL: DEAD ON (e-BOOK)!

PULP CENTRAL: DEAD ON (e-BOOK)!

MICHAEL PAULSON

When a scruffy ex-boxer picks up P.I. Deacon Bishop at the south Texas airport, Bishop worries that he's made a long trip for nothing. Because Leon Huggins doesn't look like he could pay a bar tab, let alone a detective's retainer. But Leon isn't the client--not at first, anyway. Leon's brother is supposed to be the client but then Eli Huggins ends up dead. Bishop can't walk away.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

PULP CENTRAL: STILL A BITCH (E-BOOK)!

PULP CENTRAL: STILL A BITCH (E-BOOK)!

R. E. CONARY

A CONFIDENTIAL INVIESTIGATIONS CASE
RACHEL CORD. P.I.

Hard-boiled! Poached in Tabasco! Private detective Rachel Cord returns with a vengeance chasing multiple threads through a labyrinth of missing persons, buried bodies, kinky sex, new love, and an ex-lover who may be a serial killer. Threads that threaten to bind Rachel within a tight cord preventing her from getting the answers she needs and saving the woman she loves.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE