Alias The Whirlwind

“Alias The Whirlwind” by Johnston McCulley and Tom Johnson. Written in the depths of The Depression, this collects the entire saga of The Whirlwind, Johnston (Zorro) McCulley’s other Southwestern hero of Old California! Never before reprinted, this omnibus includes an all-new Whirlwind adventure by novelist Tom Johnson. This volume published by Altus Press www.altuspress,com  and available for $10.95 from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Alias-Whirlwind-Johnston-McCulley/dp/1461038871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423876688&sr=1-1&keywords=alias+the+whirlwind+by+johnston+mcculley+%26+tom+johnson

Viper

Viper (Murder Mystery)

By Maurizio De Giovanni

Europa Editions www.europaeditions.com

ISBN #978-1609452513

352 Pages

$17.00

Rating 5-Stars

“Engrossing And Highly Entertaining.”

It’s the week before Easter in 1932, and the most beautiful and famous prostitute in Naples, Italy has been found murdered at the Il Paradiso. Maria Rosaria Cennamo, known as Viper, demanded the highest price in the grandest bordello for her services, and everyone loved her. Luigi Alfredo Ricciardi, Commissario of Public Safety in the Mobile Squad, Royal Police Headquarters, and his partner, Brigadier Raffaele Maione are assigned to the investigation.

This is a difficult case, with no clear clues, and with the Easter holiday approaching, families are preparing for celebration. Other problems also interfere within the lives of the investigators; their friend, Dr. Modo has been arrested by the Fascist, and could end up a prisoner on some island, if they can’t figure a way of releasing him. Plus, Ricciardi is torn between his love for Enrica and his feelings for the beautiful Livia.

This is one of the best noir mystery series out today, and likely the best from Europe. The characters come to life, and pulls the reader into the story, while the mystery is well plotted and told in a well-written hand that keeps you coming back for more. Highly recommended for mystery lovers, and readers who love well-crafted yarns.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Tom's Interview

My Interview at Art Sippo’s Reviews is now up. We talk about two of my books, PANGAEA; EDEN’S PLANET (First Realm Publishing) and COLD WAR HEROES (NTD). Art is a good speaker, and familiar with books. He’s a retired Army Lt. Colonel, and medical doctor, and his interviews are always interesting. Ginger and I are not good speakers, so be warned (g). Plus, my southern accent will drive you to drink; and I’m getting very forgetful in my old age. Thankfully, Ginger helps me out when I falter (g). For those who wish to tune in go here http://artsreviews.libsyn.com/webpage

Heroes of Ancient Greece

"Heroes of Ancient Greece" by Tom Johnson & Others. The stories capture the best of the sand and sandal flicks of our youth. This collection has four enjoyable tales by three authors who grew up with those muscle-men action adventures also. The first half of the book is allotted to Hercules with two adventures, while the second half is devoted to Atalanta. Hercules and the Moon Goddess by Tom Johnson pits the mighty half-mortal half-god against the Moon Goddess, a woman from another world with a crew of giant robots at her command. Michael A. Black then presents Spawns of the Titans, in which the mighty Hercules must battle a sea monster and a giant Cyclops to free an island of chained slaves. Artist Ron Wilber starts off the second half with The Legends of Atalanta, a three-page comic book retelling the legend of the mightiest female warrior that ever lived. Tom Johnson then returns with Atalanta and the Golden Lion, telling the story of Atalanta's journey to Africa on the Argo to battle a prehistoric beast and giant golden lion. And finishing up this fantastic collection is Ralph Horner's Atalanta Alters the Tide of Alida. Atalanta must travel to the undersea kingdom of Atlantis to save its people and destroy a number of foes in the arena. Cover image by Ron Wilber, and colors by Sarge. Based on Greek Mythology, the stories lean towards science fiction and fantasy, and you can tell the authors enjoyed writing these romps in mythical adventures. As you read them, you will imagine each story as a film produced by the famous Italian directors of the 1950s & `60s. Long out of print, but Tom has one copy left for $16.50 post paid (US).

The Emperor's Gambit

CODE NAME: The Emperor. Head of a secret network of agents, he fights evil wherever it may arise. Able to pass unsuspected through any security or fortification, he has outwitted and out-fought the cleverest and most deadly enemies. The Emperor’s exploits put those of Doc Savage, The Shadow, Batman, James Bond, and even those two guys from UNCLE to shame. Includes four amazing adventures of The Emperor and his able corps of agents versus international criminals, foreign terrorists, space aliens, and a madman with the gloves that Thor used to wield Mjolnir, his magic hammer! THE UNDERGROUND PULP AND COMIC SENSATION! For forty years, Charles Lee Jackson II has been producing a body of work unprecedented in the annals of pulp magazines and comics. He has garnered a fanatic body of followers and admirers - but his work has never been made available to a mass audience before! Begin the adventure here, with the first volume of stories featuring Jackson's legendary cliffhanger hero, in his fight against the forces of evil.

The Emperor’s Gambit (Cliffhanger Action Thriller)

By Charles Lee Jackson 11

Dearstalker Editions

ISBN #978-148448715

182 Pages

Price $8.99

Rating 5-Stars

“Rare Humor For Action Novels.”

The Emperor’s Gambit contains four novelettes: The Emperor Crosses The Deadline; The Emperor In London; The Emperor Runs The Gauntlet; and The Emperor Takes The Air.

In The Emperor Crosses The Deadline aliens from a far galaxy are here in flying saucers, and they set communication blocks all over the world. The Russians still have Morning Star in operation, a nuclear missile facility that must receive certain broadcasts on a regular basis, or the operators will assume that Russia has been taken out, and automatically launch a strike against America. The Emperor and his fighting team must stop the aliens and resume all radio contact worldwide before it’s too late.

The Emperor In London is the second novelette. While in London The Emperor and his team are looking for The Steel Skull, who appears to be up to no good. It turns out that this personage is actually an alien agent planning to poison London’s water supply. The Emperor joins Gayla Knight, an Enforcer for Continent-Eight (the Bad Guys), and she leads him into a trap by the invaders. Meanwhile, The Emperor’s team is following another man, who turns out to be a disguised good alien from another planet who are after the Thuleans (Bad Aliens). Naturally, it ends well, and the evil aliens are defeated once again.

In The Emperor Runs The Gauntlet we get away from aliens for a while. Supposedly, the Museum of Natural History holds the Mjolnir, the Gloves of Thor, which contains great magic powers, as it controlled Thor’s mighty Hammer. Singh McGurk Roberts hires Howard Medicle Group – a murder-for-hire organization – to kill The Emperor before he puts his own plans into operation. While assassins try to kill The Emperor, Singh steals the Gloves of Thor and kills a professor that did him wrong. But now The Emperor is onto him, and the final battle is pretty equal, since the magic of The Emperor must go up against the magic of Mjolnir.

In the final story, The Emperor Takes The Air, a missile crashes in the water around San Francisco and The Emperor first thinks it has something to do with Thuleans, but breaking into one of their hideouts he discovers they’re not involved. Figuring the trajectory, he and Shanghai Lil follow the trail to Black Rock, Nevada, where they find a missile silo and a team plotting to discredit America with crashes of missiles in large cities, killing thousands of people. Naturally, they weren’t expecting The Emperor to discover them.

Done like the old Saturday Matinee cliffhangers, most chapters end with someone in dire threats of bodily harm. A lot of humor, and the best I can describe it is similar to Underdog or Crusader Rabbit. The author doesn’t want us to take these stories seriously. Remember Crusader Rabbit, when he would get in trouble and need to escape? We had a plastic sheet we placed over the TV screen, and would draw a bridge, or rope, or whatever CR needed to escape. Well, that’s kind of like what we have here. The Emperor has all these abilities, which include a little magic. For instance, hanging onto one of the flying saucers in the first story, an alien breaks part of the ship he’s holding onto, and The Emperor falls – from above the clouds, to land safely on the ground. He’s also impervious to deadly ray guns and bullets, and everything else. So maybe we shouldn’t be so serious about our pulp and comic book heroes, either. A lot of fun, if you can

Tom Johnson

Author of Worlds of Tomorrow