Nightscape

The debut of a bold new series of literary pulps! Genre veteran Derrick Ferguson, series creator David W. Edwards and newcomer Arlen M. Todd offer uniquely compelling takes on the Nightscape mythos. Superhuman soldiers, secret animal cults, marooned alien gods, masked detectives, crystalline ghosts and surreal apocalypse weapons—this one is chock-a-block with pulp-inspired weirdness! The first novel, The Thousand-Eyed Fear, follows a ragtag squad of teen soldiers on their WW1 mission to infiltrate a secret German research facility and either steal or destroy the prototype for an advanced tank. They discover much more than their military intelligence led them to believe, however, and must find new strengths if they’re to stop the Kaiser from gaining an unstoppable supernatural power. The companion novel, The Q for Damnation, deals with the unexpected consequences of the first. On the eve of WW2, France’s masked vigilante-detective, Monteau, must solve the murder of a longtime friend—and fast!—in order to prevent the Nazis from obtaining a work of art that could grant them control of every mind on earth. She relies on a unique combination of combat skills and surrealist art techniques in her desperate attempt to save a world on the brink.

Nightscape (Horror/Action/Adventure)

“Double Feature #1

By Derrick Ferguson, David W. Edwards & Arlen M. Todd

Imperiad Entertainment

ISBN #978-0692787373

Price $11.99

310 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

As the “Double Feature” indicates, this volume contains two novels: The Thousand-Eyed Fear by Derrick Ferguson & David W. Edwards and Q For Damnation by Arlen M. Todd. The book is well edited and produced.

The first story takes place in WWI, when the allies send a team of highly efficient youngsters, none over twenty, to capture or destroy Germany’s super weapon, a huge tank. The team is led by Lieutenant Nolan Quigg, and his Lost Boys. Nolan is almost a superman, with great strength and mental ability, and the Lost Boys are specialists in their fields. But there’s something else besides a tank they have to worry about. The Germans have captured a Mimirodat, an alien of some kind that can make men feel fear (it brings the fear plague). The Germans plan to use this power against the allies to win the war. The story has a good plot and interesting characters, but the story never really caught my interest, and the easy flow just wasn’t there, causing me to stumble and lose track of the action at times. The authors are established writers, so I’m guessing the problem lies in the authors not jelling rather than any fault with either.

The second story has some run-over from the first. It takes place prior to WWII, and the Nazis are still after the power of the Mimirodat, this time contained in a painting. A French woman vigilante called Manteau uses her position as head of a Marseille crime mob, Unione Carse, to investigate crime, especially those that deal with the supernatural. She’s in Paris after the last man involved in killing her sister when such a crime comes to her attention, and she puts killing her sister’s murderer on hold to solve this new case. Working with a local gangster named Anatole Janvier, they are opposed by a ghost they call a fantome who is also after the painting. This was a very good story, and captured my interest from the beginning. Even though written more for the college level than the mass-market pulps were aimed at, it’s still a good pulpy adventure. Forget the purple prose, it isn’t here. Just over-look the highbrow language and concentrate on the mystery. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA