Captain Hawklin And The Jade Dragon

China 1933: When Captain Steven Hawklin meets a mysterious Chinese woman named Juno Li. He and his trusted allies Hardy Regan Miller and Oscar "Oz" Lyman are off on an adventure to the far flung orient, across the war-torn land of China. Their mission: stop the nefarious being known as the Black Skull from harnessing the power of the Jade Dragon. An ancient artifact that is said to be created thousands of years ago. In the wrong hands, the dragon has the ability to alter the course of reality to meet its owners true desires. But... there is more at stake than just the retrieval of the elusive statue. Who is the Black Skull and what are his true intentions? How is his life connected to Steven's? And what of Juno Li, what secret is she keeping for Captain Hawklin, will she be friend or foe? The answer will surprise you. Captain Hawklin and the Jade Dragon is another action-packed tale in the popular New Pulp adventure series. Filled with Heroes, villains and secret treasures.

Captain Hawklin And The Jade Dragon (Retrofiction)

By Charles F. Millhouse

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN # 978-1983873669

Price $8.99 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

228 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Captain Steve Hawklin and his men are in San Francisco. Hawklin is invited to a party where he meets a beautiful Chinese girl named Juno Li. When they step out to the garden they are attacked by men on motorcycles. Grabbing one of the bikes he and the girl escape, but are forced off a cliff a few miles down the road. Hawklin survives, but fears Juno Li may have perished. Meanwhile, Oscar “Oz” Lyman and Hardy Miller are playing pool and drinking beer in a joint on the docks when a Chinese gentleman enters the dive and the sailors get nasty. Hardy and Oz escort the Chinaman out before the sailors get rough, only to have more Chinese attack them. They are looking for a mysterious Jade Dragon statue that has the power to change the world.

Soon, Juno Li is back and she leads the Hawklin team to China. It’s 1933, and China is in turmoil between Nationalists and Communists. Plus Juno Li confesses to being Steven Hawklin’s half-sister. Hawklin’s father married a queen in a previous adventure, and his son could care less about him, but if Juno Li is his sister, then it’s up to him to protect her and get the Jade Dragon before the mysterious villain, The Black Skull obtains it and all the power that goes with it.

This was a fun story, but it might have been wiser if I had started with an earlier adventure. Thomas Hawklin sounds like a real scalawag, especially where women are concerned. His son, Captain Steve Hawklin is pure of heart, and with his men seeks out excitement, danger, and adventure. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of SENORA SCORPION

Her Reluctant Hero

A dream shattered – a love jilted – a heart broken. People change. Is there a second chance for love above the clouds? It’s the swinging sixties. An ex-fiancé flies back into a stewardess’s life. He dumped her once. But this war veteran knows what he wants now. Torn between attraction and fear, will she head for the runway or the hangar? She’s left behind her past, with its small-town values and jilted love to see the world and become independent. He’s returned from war and death with a single goal—to redeem the worst mistake of his life. She wants nothing to do with him. He wants her as his wife. Will their flight end with an emergency landing—a total crash—or a perfect glide into the right airport, the right gate, and the right destination?

Her Reluctant Hero (Historical Romance)

By Anne Greene

Winged Publications

ISBN #978-1980368526

Price $5.94 (Paperback)

Price $2l99 (Kindle)

94 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Laura Richards is awakened with her home in fames. The young fireman is a volunteer named Josh Langford. He carries her to safety, but all she learns is his name. Then their lives cross again at Texas Tech where they become an item. But Josh is an ROTC cadet, and this is 1968. He knows he’ll be heading for Vietnam, and doesn’t want to leave a widow, so breaks up with her. While he is in Vietnam, Laura becomes an airline stewardess. Their paths cross again when he flies home, and now Josh wants to pursue Laura, but she wants nothing to do with him.

The author always does her homework in researching the period her stories are set in. This interesting romance is set during the war in South East Asia. The helicopter school at Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas is almost forgotten now, but I was there is 1966/67, and remember it fondly, as I remember coming home from Vietnam, and the airline stewardess that served me on the plane from California to DFW in Texas. A flight I will never forget. Reading this novella reminded me of my own past, and it helped me connect to the characters. It was fun reading about Laura and Josh, and their falling in love again after so many mistakes. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THESE ALIEN SKIES 

The Spider: The Doom Legion

When a weird meteor crashes in the heart of Central Park on Halloween night, its uncanny light attracts the attention of Richard Wentworth—alias The Spider! Investigating, the millionaire criminologist encounters a maelstrom of madness in the making. Drawn, too, are two sinister figures from the past—international master criminals who join forces to harness the power of the pulsing meteorite. Alone, The Spider confronts his greatest challenge, but he is not alone this time. For the unholy power of the meteorite draws James Christopher, alias Operator 5, and another government agent from the past, known only as G-8…. Together, this heroic trio must battle a pair of powerful adversaries intent on harnessing and unleashing the malevolent power of the Green Meteorite. But how can they work together when one of them is branded an outlaw?

The Spider: The Doom Legion (Pulp Fiction)

By Will Murray

ALTUS PRESS www.altuspress.com

ISBN #978-1618273550

Price $24.95 (Paperback)

360 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Author Scores Another Hit”

A month after Machines-guns Over The White House, and almost twenty years after WWI, Herr Stahlmaske and Count Carmine Calypsa show up at a Halloween costume ball where Richard Wentworth and Nita Van Sloan are in attendance. Stahlmaske is after his old helmet from WWI, while Calypsa wants to kill Police Commissioner Stanley Kirkpatrick. Neither villain is aware of each other yet. Before anything can happen a green radioactive meteorite crashes into Central Park and starts turning people into zombies. Calypsa and Stahlmaske join forces and use the terror caused by the zombies for their own purposes.

Jimmy Christopher, Secret Service Operator 5, is assigned to the case, while Diane Elliot covers the situation for her paper. Z-7 is also present. Captain George Gate, better known as the WWI Master Spy G-8, is assigned by G-2 out of Mitchell Field. Alas, poor G-8. Twenty years after WWI he is still a captain in the Army Air Corps. I would think he should be a general by now, or at least a colonel, but he remains a lowly captain in G-2. Ronald Jackson and Ram Singh are also present, but this story revolves around The Spider, Operator 5, and G-8, as they battle Stahlmaske and Calypsa.

Typical of The Spider series, New York is devastated with thousands killed as the zombies turn others into the mindless dead. Buildings are burnt to the ground; police must kill police, as they become walking dead men. In the meantime no one can get close to the green meteorite without turning into a zombie, so it remains in Central Park pulsing out its deadly rays. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE COMPANION

Illicit Passion

Showbiz superstar, Lisette, flees a blackmailer threatening to reveal to the scandal-hungry media that she bore a child of incest. Michael, her father and ex-lover, initiates an audacious plan to set her free that leaves the whole family hovering on the brink of emotional and financial disaster. Their adult daughter, Harriet, learns the truth and vows vengeance on all who conspired to hide her birth by registering her as the twin of the man she loves. “The night will end in death.” The story, the scene set with a meeting between Lisette and her rejected, blackmailing, would-be lover in the prologue, goes on to show Harriet growing up and the sibling rivalries between Michael's, and his wife Lizzie's, five offspring. Lisette, knowing she is guilty of seducing her father, keeps the secret of blackmail, which has progressed from the extortion of money to a life of torture and perverted sex for sixteen years. She joins Michael for a European concert tour to promote the music of Kit Marsh, due to open at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. A scream in the night alerts Michael to Lisette’s distress and guilt drives him to risk his career, and his liberty, to defeat his old enemy. The Book of Hours that belonged to Margaret, James IV of Scotland’s queen, which she used as a diary and carries the secret royal command to her heiresses “find love where ye may” is given to Harriet. She plots to follow the dangerously immoral example of the queen’s great-granddaughter, Lady Harriet Allanach, who falls in love with her own brother, until Harriet herself discovers that she is the child of incest and love for her whole family turns to hate.

Illicit Passion (British Romance)

By Sarah Stuart

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1518747427

Price $8.00 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

320 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

In this sequel to Dangerous Liaisons, the family cycle continues with deceit and family secrets. Lisette, bore a child from incest with her father, and now a blackmailer and the media are after the superstar. Someone wants to use her incestuous background to bring her star crashing down.

The author spins a complicated plot with twists, and strong characters with multi-layered lives. Although I prefer sweet romantic love stories without all the sex and scandals, I’m sure that romance readers everywhere will love all the heated scenes in this well-written novel and series.

Ginger Johnson

Author of COWBOY FROM TEXAS