Six Scarlet Scorpions

When a man so anemic that he could be a vampire’s victim comes to Patricia Savage for rescue, the impetuous girl can’t say no. Excitement is her meat and danger her dessert. Accompanied by Doc Savage aide, Monk Mayfair, Pat finds herself in the worst danger of her life. Wanted for murder, hounded by the minions of a weird mystery figure calling himself Chief Standing Scorpion, narrowly evading the hordes of the Vinegarroon tribe, the bronze-skinned golden girl battles her way to a sinister secret cached in an ancient ruin. From the oilfields of Oklahoma to the forbidding Ozark Mountains, the trail of scorpionic doom winds. Will Pat Savage’s first great adventure also be her last?

Six Scarlet Scorpions (Mystery/Adventure)

Wild Adventures of Pat Savage #1

By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)

Altus Press www.altuspress.com

ISBN #978-1618272744

Price $24.41

358 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Topnotch Premiere Adventure.”

Monk Mayfair is with Pat Savage in Oklahoma, where he’s helping the bronzed beauty lay claim to oil leases. They start out in trouble when a crook sabotages her rented plane while trying to beat her to a lease. They survive the crash, and then Monk pulls a stunt on the crooks, allowing Pat to make the lease first. But their troubles aren’t over. When they reach town they run into a man almost dead from lack of blood. While rushing him to the hospital a gang waylays them and a cop is killed at the scene. But now Pat and Monk are on the investigation of this weird mystery. A mystery that involves the Vinegarroon whip scorpions and a tribe of Osage Indians led by Tall Turkey and the mysterious robed leader, Standing Scorpion.

Readers and fans of the Doc Savage adventures have been waiting for this book since Will Murray took over the series. Patricia Savage, the bronzed cousin of Doc Savage, was always a favorite of the fans, having been introduced in Brand of The Werewolf. Mr. Murray found notes Lester Dent had proposed for a 1931 pulp adventure story, and turned it into a Pat Savage yarn instead, and the result might outshine Doc himself.

As a fan of Doc Savage I’ve always worried that Doc would run it course and cease to interest fans; after all, the original series ran for 181 (plus the unpublished RED SPIDER) stories in the pulps, and readers have wondered if new adventures would even be possible, and how long could new stories sustain the series? Well, I don’t think the interest will really fade, but if it should, I think Pat Savage will quickly revive the series. The Six Scarlet Scorpions is a topnotch tale that will insure success, and I’m sure we will see many more adventures of The Wild Adventures of Pat Savage in the future. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE BLACK BAT COMPANION

Glare of The Gorgon

Why did a desperate man shave his head before visiting Doc Savage headquarters, only to be struck down, his pulsing brain turned to inert stone? What sinister secret did his strange slaying silence? And how was a lizard-green shadow resembling Medusa branded on Doc’s office wall?

These are only some of the questions confronting the Man of Bronze as he pursues a grisly trail of petrified corpses to post-Prohibition Chicago, whose criminal underworld is being terrorized by a serpent-haired demon engaged in a seemingly senseless slaughter spree whose ultimate target will shake Doc Savage’s men to their core.

Suspects are many, clues baffling. Death and danger lurks everywhere they turn––symbolized by the silhouette of a faceless Gorgon.

From the concrete canyons of Manhattan to the coal fields of Illinois, Doc Savage tracks a phantom fiend the likes of which he has never before hunted. Or is he the one being hunted?

Glare of The Gorgon (Doc Savage Adventure)

The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage

By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)

Altus Press www.altuspress.com

ISBN #978-1618272386

Price $24.95

510 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Smoothly Written, Fast Paced, And Thrilling Adventure.”

Ned Gamble contacts Doc Savage from the train he’s arriving on from Chicago, to expect him. But he’s being followed, and before he reaches the safety of Doc’s headquarters, he is killed in the hallway and an odd green figure is found on the wall where he died. When Doc examines him, he finds the man’s brain calcified. Ned is carrying a newspaper with an article covering the death of a scientist in Chicago that appears to have a bearing on the case. At present, Long Tom Roberts is attending the Chicago Exposition of Science, and Doc notifies him to contact Janet Falcon, the last person Ned Gamble was in contact with. Finding the girl is easy, but Long Tom is quickly captured, and the case is running full steam with the Greek mythical Gorgons playing a hideous death note. The story quickly moves to Chicago where the Exposition becomes a backdrop for some of the action.

Although the cover isn’t one of my favorites, the author’s writing continues to mesmerize the reader from the first page onward. The writing is smooth, the plot fast-paced, and the adventure is filled with thrills. Doc’s aides, the five greatest minds in the world – next to Doc – have to be shown a little dumb in order for Doc to appear so smart, but these longer stories tend to make them even dumber than they would normally seem in a pulp-size adventure of 120 pages. In this novel we see that clearly. Not that it distracts from the novel, I just feel the author should give them a little more intelligence in these longer tomes. However, the author has another winner on his hands. Highly recommended to Doc Savage fans, as well as adventure lovers around the world.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH

The Miracle Menace

The Miracle Menace (Doc Savage)

By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)

ISBN #978-1618271327

Altus Press www.altuspress.com/

Price $24.95 (paperback)

314 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“The Continuing Sagas of The Adventures of The Man of Bronze!”

Two mysteries transpire in the area of La Plata, Missouri. First, a mysterious old Victorian home tends to disappear and reappear from time to time, causing a bit of curiosity among the citizens. Second, there is the sudden appearance of Christopher Columbus, the man that discovered America. Doc received word of the mysteries from two of his “college” graduates, men who were released from the special hospital where their minds were operated on to remove criminal tendencies.  Gathering his five aides, they depart for Missouri, where they encounter more than they had bargained for!

How’s this for a Halloween special release? Starting off the issue is Joe DiVito’s fantastic cover featuring Doc, Monk, and Ham, plus Doc’s Dirigible. In fact, this cover is now my favorite of the series, with the cover of “Death’s Dark Domain” coming in second. Altus Press has designed and produced another fantastic product. My only complaint is the paperback edition does not contain the beautiful wraparound cover that Joe illustrated. You have to get the hardback for that. In this complicated mystery, we have time travel, mind reading, foreign spies, a religious cult, and a pair of magicians, plus the beautiful girl and … Christopher Columbus!

The Miracle Menace may not top Skull Island, but you can’t criticize it for lack of trying. Skull Island is going to be hard to surpass. But Will Murray gives it a good try with all the elements mixed into this new adventure. It proves once again that Will is the right author for the continuing series of Doc Savage.

Tom Johnson

Echoes Magazine

Death's Dark Domain

Death’s Dark Domain (Doc Savage)

By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)

Altus Press www.altuspress.com/

ISBN #978-1618270825

$24.95 Paperback

325 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Thrill-A-Minute Ride!”

When Pat Savage receives a strange package, it sends Doc, Monk and Ham off to Europe where war drums are sounding between Tazan and Egallan. Long Tom has already departed by ship. It seems John Sunlight had sold super weapons from Doc’s Fortress of Solitude to the two warring neighbors. Doc wants the deadly weapons back, but complicating the situation is the terror-field area between the countries, called Ultra-Stygia.

Hold on to your hat. Things are going to get wild. Just in time for Halloween, Will Murray takes Doc Savage where Lester Dent could never take him. In a land seeming to be infested with vampires and werewolves, you can add invisible Cyclopes to the mix for more fun. A deadly spore may have infected poor Pat, so she is left behind in the care of doctors.

In this latest Doc Savage adventure, Will Murray proves once again that he is the rightful successor to the character. Doc and his aides are in top form, and the story moves full steam ahead without let-up. As much as I loved the previous entries, Death’s Dark Domain out does them all in fantastic adventure, and the man of bronze tackles the action head-on in a non-stop thrill-a-minute read.  The book production and design by Altus Press, along with the new cover by Joe DiVito makes this book a gorgeous keepsake.

Tom Johnson

Echoes