The Cemetery of The Swallows

The Cemetery of The Swallows (Mystery)

By Mallock (Jean-Denis Bruet-Ferreol)

ISBN #978-1609451868

Europa Editions www.europaeditions.com

400 Pages

Price $17.00

Rating 5-Stars

“A Real Page Turner!”

Superintendent of Police, Amedee Mallock has turned his office into Fort Mallock. He has five assistants, which he calls his fingers: Thumb, Little Finger, Index Finger, Ring Finger, and Middle Finger. He will need his whole hand to solve the latest case. Manuel Gemoni, the younger brother of Mallock’s Little Finger has disappeared. Manuel is intelligent, a teacher, and a loving family man. When he turns up, why is he in the Dominican Republic, and why did he assassinate an old man?

Curiously, it appears to be a case of reincarnation, as Manuel tells a story of his previous life, as Jean-Francois Lafitte, a French soldier in WWII. The man he killed was an SS officer who captured and tortured the men in his unit in 1944, killing them all. Everything he tells them is revealed as fact, though all of it was secret, and Manuel could not have learned it through research. Mallock hopes the evidence of reincarnation is enough to give a jury reasonable doubt, and set Manuel free. When it doesn’t, Mallock has to look at the case again, to see if there was something he missed.

This was a fascinating mystery. All through the investigation we are led to believe it was a real case of reincarnation. The investigators dug into the background uncovering facts not known to anyone but those soldiers killed in 1944. Only until the very last does Mallock put everything aside and discovers the truth. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Tom's Short Story Collection

Short Story Collections

These Short Story collections are in the tradition of the classic fiction stories that appeared in the heyday of the pulp magazines; new stories of original characters, as well as new characters in contemporary and historical settings. Although I do take a few liberties with the original characters, I try to keep them true to their origins. For the fan of those great action heroes, as well as the new fan, these stories will give the reader a sampling of the old style while not lacking in action and excitement. As a long time fan and collector, I have complete runs of the major character magazines, and have read them all, so I am truly familiar with the characters I write. I am not just a fan of Doc Savage, and not just a fan of The Shadow, but I am a fan of them all. And I hope that comes through to the reader as s/he reads the following short story collections.

PULP DETECTIVES by Tom Johnson. For the first time, nine all-new stories starring the classic pulp heroes of the 1930s, featuring characters such as The Phantom Detective, The Black Bat, The Lone Eagle, The Masked Detective, Secret Agent X and Nightwind. Written by pulp scholar Tom Johnson, it’s nearly 350 pages of excitement! $24.95 from Amazon and Altus Press www.altuspress.com/

PULP ECHOES by Tom Johnson. The Bat returns in "Blind As A Bat", The Crimson Clown returns in "The Crimson Clown – Killer", Nibs Holloway battles Dr. Death in "Till Death Do Us Part", The Black Ghost is back in "Carnival of Death", Captain Anthony Adventure in "Terror In The North Country", The Black Cat in "A Cat Among Dogs", and Senora Scorpion in "Senora Scorpion". The cover features Senora Scorpion! 238 pages. $14.50 from Amazon and NTD www.bloodredshadow.com/

EXCITING PULP TALES by Tom Johnson. The exciting sequel to PULP DETECTIVES, this collection brings you ten more all-new stories featuring classic pulp heroes such as The Angel, The Green Ghost, The Cobra, The Crimson Mask, Gentle Jones, The Purple Scar, Funny Face, Mr. Death,  The Jungle Queen, and Ki-Gor. $24.95 from Amazon and Altus Press www.altuspress.com/

NEW CLASSIC PULP FICTION STORIES by Tom Johnson. Featuring the Moon Man in “Hunter’s Moon”, Secret Agent X in “The Death Tower”, The Man In Purple in “Seven Men of Greed”, Dorus Noel in “The Black Shadow”, and Colonel Jeremiah Custer in “The Silence of Death” (originally written as a Dr. Harker story). 200 pages. $12.00 from the author at fadingshadows40@gmail.com

The New Adventure of The Green Ghost

The New Adventures of The Green Ghost (Mystery)

By Bobby Nash, Don Thomas, Terry Alexander

ISBN #978-1492949336

Pro Se Press

Paperback 5 X 8

112 Pages

Price $9.00

Rating 5-Stars

In this small anthology, Danny Blaney, an ex cop framed by criminals and kicked off the police force, though he was acquitted, has taken on the guise of a masked vigilante called The Green Ghost to go after gangsters. Originally created by Johnston McCulley, the costume is a simple affair consisting of a green hood pulled over his head.

Though not one of my favorite of McCulley’s creations, I am glad to see the series continue with new authors. This volume contains three novelettes: “Manifest Destiny” by Bobby Nash; “My Brother’s Keeper” by Don Thomas; and “Beware … Fixer” by Terry Alexander. In “Manifest Destiny”, someone is torching old buildings in the K-Block near Danny’s Cigar Shop, and The Green Ghost looks into the case. In “”My Brother’s Keeper”, it appears that The Green Ghost, welding a machine-gun, is killing mobsters and the innocent. This brings the real Green Ghost out, and he discovers a maniacal mobster dressed in a green hood like his own, slaughtering indiscriminately. The third story, “Beware … Fixer”, a known killer is releasing a deadly new weapon on the tenements in Danny’s area, and when he goes after the killer, he discovers a deeper plot that involves the whole US.

The stories weren’t bad reading, and the whole package was a nice production.  I really think The Green Ghost deserves a chance to return to print in these new adventures. Johnston McCulley created so many costumed heroes, many were merely carbon copies of each other, and The Green Ghost may have suffered from his own brother competitors.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Echoes 30

ECHOES 30: From Tom & Ginger Johnson, three decades of Pulp Fandom’s greatest hobby magazine. Echoes is the longest-running pulp fanzine of all time, in print from June 1982 through December 2004. It is back for a special 30^th anniversary issue, and it’s the largest single-issue pulp fanzine ever published. Enjoy over 300 pages of articles on pulps as well as a pair of classic reprints, written by pulp experts. The following fiction is included:

“The Green Ghost” by Johnston McCulley

“The Red Sword” by John Drummond

“The Black Shadow”, a Dorus Noel story by Tom Johnson

Articles on The Black Hood, Red Finger, Pulp Ladies, Lone Wolf Detective Magazine, The Octopus & Scorpion, Captain Future, Captain Satan, Masked Detective, Dr. Zeng, Green Ghost, Secret Service Smith, The Shadow’s Ladies, The Spider, Belmont Shadows, Red Mask, Secret Agent X, Dan Fowler, Moon Man, Bronze Shadows, Johnston McCulley, and many, many more; including new pulp characters as well.

A pulp collection for the pulp community, with many photographs of the early pulp researchers and conventions, and filled with scans of your favorite pulp covers, and packaged as only Altus Press can produce them. This 7 x 10 perfect bound book is priced at a mere $24.95.  Available on Altus Press (preferable on Altus Press so we can keep track of early sales) http://www.altuspress.com/ and on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1618270796/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1618270796&linkCode=as2&tag=altpre-20

Fight Card Anthology

I'm excited to announce the release of our first ever Fight Card CHARITY anthology. Part of our mandate as an author’s cooperative is to give back to our community.  This debut project, Fight Card Presents: Iron Head & Other Stories – Ten Rounds of Fight Fiction for Charity, is the first step.  Three other charity anthologies will follow during the course of 2014.  If you would like to provide a story, please contact either myself or Jeremy L. C. Jones.

One hundred percent of all royalties from these anthologies will go directly to an author-in-need or a literacy charity.  Royalties from our debut charity anthology will go directly to ailing western writer Jory Sherman, who has been financially devastated by related medical bills. Jory is a revered writer known primarily for his award winning westerns, but has also written in many other genres.  Jory has also been a mentor to many other writers. 

Fight Card Presents: Iron Head & Other Stories is a 60,000 word anthology of two-fisted action by authors from multiple genres, There's Jack Badelaire, James Scott Bell, Mark Finn, Ed Greenwood, James Hopwood, Bowie V. Ibarra, Ryan McFadden, Troy Smith, and Matthew Pizzolato. There's also a foreword by myself, an introduction by Jeremy L.C. Jones, and a cover by Carl Yonder.

As always, I have attached a jpeg of the cover and a copy of this current release to read on your computer or send on to your Kindle.  However, as this is a charity anthology, it would also be appropriate to spend $1.99 and buy a copy from Amazon to support Jory.

It is particularly important to help us spread the word about this anthology via your blogs and social networks.  Please help us make a difference two dollars and one punch at a time!

FIGHT CARD PRESENTS: IRON HEAD & OTHER STORIES

Fight Card Presents: Iron Head & Other Stories is the first in a series of charity anthologies from the Fight Card authors cooperative – a writers community featuring many of today’s finest fictioneers, including Jory Sherman, Ryan McFadden, Mark Finn, Troy D. Smith, Ed Greenwood,  Jack Badelaire, James Scott Bell, James Hopwood, Bowie V. Ibarra, and Matthew Pizzolato.

Compiled by Paul Bishop and Jeremy L. C. Jones, 100% of the proceeds from these anthologies will go directly to an author-in-need (in this case, revered western writer Jory Sherman) or a literacy charity. Words on paper are the life blood of a writer.  The writers in this volume were willing to bleed in order to give a transfusion to one of their own – and then continue to bleed to give a transfusion to literacy charities in support of that most precious of commodities ... readers.  They are true fighters, every one ...

Amazon Link: http://tinyurl.com/m69545p

Much more coming from Fight Card in 2014 ... So, hang on and ...

Keep punching!

Paul