Trail of The Bat Beasts

Fans of pulp heroes like The Shadow, The Spider, The Black Bat and The Avenger will adore this new pulp magazine inspired series!

Trail of The Bat Beasts (New Pulp)

By Darryle Purcell

Independent Publishing Platform

ASIN # B077GK1XP4

Price $1.99

119 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

Two people in industry are tricked and imprisoned in a hidden stockade on the Amazon River. Industrialist Ralph Thorn and the voodoo priestess, Ayida Patel fall in love, become lovers, and under her training he learns the ability to control men’s minds. They eventually escape, but on the river in a fast moving boat, Ayida is hit by a native’s poisoned dart and falls into the river where a school of piranhas attack her. Unable to help, Thorn’s boat is pulled on downstream. When he returns to California he uses his training to become The Man of The Mist to fight crime.

Thomas Walker, the News Tribune political cartoonist, is hated by the mob and political powers alike, and as he leaves the newspaper one day he is attacked by a flying bat beast and killed in front of a newsstand run by a 12-year-old boy. When Ralph Thorn and his secretary learn of the murder, they feel the boy’s life may be threatened and take him to Thorn’s apartment. While they are away, the bat beast kidnaps the boy, and now The Man of The Mist must find him and bring justice to the criminals.

Overall, this was a good plot, and I really loved the interior art in the book. The criminal behind the case was a little too easy to figure out, but that was okay. The author also writes a lot of westerns in the format of serials and B-westerns, and these get a lot of play in this story, including the old Miracle Studio used in those stories. Although the author compares his character to The Shadow and other old pulp heroes, the closest I can see in the resemblance might be the three 1946 Shadow movies starring Kane Richmond and Barbara Read, from Monogram Pictures, which were more comedy than drama. And for me, there was a little too much comedy in what should have been more drama in this story to really appeal to me. But I think new pulp readers will enjoy it. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

BEHIND THE MASK Volume One

BEHIND THE MASK Volume #1 By Tom Johnson. Published by FADING SHADOWS. Cover titles, design, and logo created by Tom TV Powers. A string of murders and kidnappings lead the Masked Detective on a manhunt that could result in his own death. Follow the intrepid crime fighter as he attempts to unravel these hideous crimes as he embarks on a deadly trail of mystery …

            Clues lead the The Black Bat to theorize that small time crime originates with a traveling circus. He turns his information over to the police department, through his alter ego, blind Tony Quinn. However, the case is not pursued  until a murder is reported at the circus. Now, the Black Bat, nemesis of the underworld, takes flight to find the killer and bring the criminal activity to a close. But at every turn the Black Bat and his team of crime fighters find that they are faced by a super mind working behind the scenes.

When a new inhuman terror strikes the Slums of Akelton City, leaving the acid mark of a Skull on victim’s foreheads, can the Purple Scar uncover the diabolical scheme of a madman, and protect the innocent citizens before death also finds the woman he loves?

Private detective Sam Doyle took the case because he needed the money, but he knew the dame’s husband would never cheat on such a classy doll. But what he turns up is more than he bargained for – Hoodlums, snakes, and a cute kitty!

The Legend disappeared in 1953, and now it’s a decade later, and Carlos Donatti wants to be a Big Shot. What Carlos doesn’t remember is Legends never die.

Available on Kindle format only, for $2.99, at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5VKAZG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485976339&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=behind+the+mask+%231+by+tom+johnson

                             

The Hooded Person

The Hooded Person (New Pulp)

By Wayne Greenough

Devine Destinies www.devinedestinies.com

ISBN #978-1487406868

41 Pages

Price $..99

Rating 5-Stars

A hooded vigilante is protecting the city. The police want The Hood identified and stopped. Captain Holt of the police department wants P.I. Thanet Blake to use his underworld connections in finding the so-called Pulp Hero, and bring him in to the station. But Blake thinks maybe the city needs the mysterious fighter, and he already has a few suspects who just might be The Hood. There is rumor of a dead cop who was on the take that might have something to do with why the vigilante was in town, and if Blake can discover the story behind that, he may bring the case to a close.

Okay, this was a fun story, with plenty of suspects. The Hooded Person, just called The Hood most times, dresses all in black, wearing a black hood; all that’s visible are blue eyes. Six feet, slim build, moves with feline grace, and uses martial arts to take out four men at a time. The problem is, The Hood has been seen in two places at the same time. Could one be a copycat? The story takes the reader back to the pulp magazine days. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of BLIND AS A BAT

The Apparition

The Apparition (New Pulp)

By Wayne Greenough

Devine Destinies www.devinedestinies.com

ISBN #978-1487406486

Price $1.99

28 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Fun New Hero.”

Mike Johnson, the original Apparition got careless and in old age was gunned down. His granddaughter, Alicia, was helping him walk when mobsters gunned him down and shattered her spine with bullets, and now she must live in a wheelchair. In the meantime, billionaire Bryan Sloane killed David Stryker’s son in a fistfight, and the mob boss wants him dead. With the strange return of The Apparition, and new attacks on Stryker’s minions, the police suspect Sloane may be the new vigilante.

Okay, this short novelette had a lot happening, but not enough time to really build the characters. Plot twists, along with character twists, will keep the reader guessing just who The Apparition really is – until the final pages, of course. You won’t go away disappointed, just wanting more stories, and longer ones. Highly recommended for lovers of pulpy fiction with an over-the-top crime fighter.

Tom Johnson

Author of PARTNERS IN CRIME

Tom Johnson's Books On Altus Press

Tom Johnson’s books on ALTUS PRESS. Can be found here: Pulp Histories  http://www.altuspress.com/product-category/altus-press-books/pulp-histories/ and New Pulp Stories here (Page #1 & 2) http://www.altuspress.com/product-category/altus-press-books/new-pulps/ Several volumes are listed in pulp reprints, like The Man In Purple, Alias The Whirlwind, and Red Finger, where I contributed new stories for those characters http://www.altuspress.com/product-category/altus-press-books/pulp-reprints/ and too many volumes that I wrote Introductions for me to mention.