Death Walks Behind You

It begins with a cryptic message sent to four of America's leading industrialist crucial to the war effort against the Axis Powers. Then these four men are dead, hideously murdered by the Crimson Scorpion.
With war production at risk, Super-Detective Jim Anthony must race against time to solve the riddle of the Crimson Scorpion. However, danger lurks in every shadow for he has received the message as well: 'DEATH WALKS BEHIND YOU!' Can he solve the mystery in time? Or will he fall at the hands of a villain who threatens the world?

Death Walks Behind You (Pulp Mystery/Adventure)

By Andrew Salmon

Timepiece Press

ASIN #B0196AUPUO

76 Pages

Price (Free on Kindle)

Rating 5-Stars

“For Pulp Fans And Lovers of Good Action”

Men of industry are being murdered, and then their factories are taken over by other firms. When Orson Woolcott III is killed nearby as Jim Anthony, Tom Gentry, and Jim’s fiancé, Delores Colquitt are returning to the hotel, Jim rushes to the murder scene and discovers a horrendous corpse bleeding out a form of mustard gas. It’s the beginning of another great mystery to be solved, and a dire plot aimed at our fighting men in Europe.

I love stories set during WWII, and Jim Anthony was one of the better clones of Doc Savage back in the days of the pulp magazines. This story could have easily been published in the original pulps, as it read true to the original character. The story moves fast, and keeps the reader involved. I highly recommend this for pulp fans, and lovers of good action and adventure mysteries.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH

The Sons of Thor

The Sons of Thor (Book One)

By Erwin K. Roberts (Robert E. Kennedy)

Pro Se Productions www.prosepulp.com

ISBN #978-1475250671

96 Pages

Price $5.82

Rating 5-Stars

It’s the 1930s: The Phantom Detective, while trailing a suspect through the subway tunnels, watches as the man plants a bomb on the tracks. Acting quickly, there is a gunfight and the man is fatally wounded. His last words are familiar to the Phantom. Twenty years previous, as a young officer serving in France during WWI, Richard Curtis Van Loan encountered a vicious unit of German soldiers calling themselves The Sons of Thor. He thought they had disbanded at the end of the war, but now it appears they are back, and in America.

The first book is a fun action novel that covers the period in 1918 France, as well as the present 1930s, as the Phantom chases down The Sons of Thor. A plot by the current group is to kidnap rich university students for ransom, plus an unknown famous person. The Phantom, in fine form, rushes to crush the scheme. He is given some assistance by The Crimson Mask towards the end. The author has fun dropping names of other pulp characters in the story. Captain Midnight helps Van Loan in France in WWI, while George Chance, Jethro Dumont, K-9 (the government official head of Secret Agent X), are all mentioned. The Phantom has a secret apartment in a building that also houses such names as N. Wind Investigations (The Nightwind),  Dale Foundation (Jimmy Dale), B. Jonus (The Shadow), and Hidalgo Trading Company (Doc Savage). Although the current case comes to a satisfactory end, the Sons of Thor are still around, and will be back for Book Two, the conclusion.

The Sons of Thor (Book Two)

By Erwin K. Roberts (Robert E. Kennedy)

Pro Se Productions www.prosepulp.com

ISBN #978-1477513934

109 Pages

Price $8.96

Rating 5-Stars

The first part of Book Two features Jim Anthony in “Home On The Pandemic Range”, where the Sons of Thor are working on a virus to release around the world. As best I can figure the story takes place in the late 1930s. Felix Thomas, the Railway Post Office car employee, is reading Doc Savage Magazine, “The Munitions Master” from 1938. Tiger Standish, Howard Hughes, Wrong-Way Corrigan, and The Phantom Detective are in the story.

The second half of the book brings in The Black Bat, Carol, Butch, and Silk, In “The LaGuardia Action”. Frank Havens, acting as CONTROL, brings in other pulp heroes of the time to battle The Sons of Thor. Rex Parker is called, but he has not as yet become The Masked Detective. Mike Axford makes an appearance, as does Jim Anthony and Hooks McGuire. The Celluloid Burglar & the Green Ghost (Johnston McCulley, maybe) are mentioned, Bob Clarke (The Crimson Mask), Dr. Skull’s free clinic is mentioned. Some of these characters were not around in 1938, so I’m not positive about the timeline, but WWII is not mentioned, although Nazis and Hitler are. Also showing up towards the end is Sergeant Harrison “Pretty Damn” Hasty. The Sons of Thor appear to be planning on replacing important people with look-alikes.

Although each book can be read separately, The Sons of Thor is the theme of both books, and highly recommended to be read together. The novel is well written, and entertaining from beginning to end. Pulp fans will enjoy all the cameos of their favorite pulp characters, and the action is fast paced. A good read!

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Jim Anthony, Super Detective

Jim Anthony, Volume #1 & 2. (Paperback for each $29.95, and hardback $39.95 each). Available from Altus Press and Amazon, these two volumes feature the superman Jim Anthony in three novels per volume, running in chronological order. Volume #1 contains “Dealer In Death”, from Super Detective, October 1940; “Legion of Robots”, Super Detective, November 1940; and “Madame Murder”, Super Detective, December 1940, with an Introduction by Will Murray. Volume #2 contains “Bloated Death”, from Super Detective, January 1941; “Killer In Yellow”, Super Detective, February 1941; and “Murder In Paradise”, Super Detective, March 1941, with an Introduction by Morgan A. Wallace. The stories were bylined John Grange, but all six entries in these volumes were written by Victor Rousseau.

The novels are fast-paced, and lean towards science fiction. Jim Anthony is comparable to Doc Savage, a man of great intellect and strength, travelling the globe to solve crime or stop some mastermind from taking over the world. All in all, they are a lot of fun. If you like pulp action, you’ll enjoy the Jim Anthony adventures.