Behind The Mask Volume 4

Behind The Mask Volume 4 by Tom Johnson is now available. Published by FADING SHADOWS. Cover & Title Design by Tom TV Powers. The master crime fighter, Secret Agent X, is called back to duty when an overseas agent warns of an unknown deadly attack aimed at America! But even the unconquerable “X” is not prepared for the deadly menace that has been brought to our shores under cover of darkness. Will the Intrepid Fighter be in time to save his beloved, Betty Dale, when she falls into the den of …Horror’s monsters from hell!

The Lone Eagle must penetrate German skies to rescue two friends, and complete his latest mission, Horror’s monsters from hell. Perhaps the strangest case in his career, he is destined to meet an old enemy from World War 1, as well as face a new danger. A danger that means disaster to America and the Alies, should the German scientists succeed in their new experiments. Can even this master Ace of the skies win through, to bring victory to the Alies?

A mystifying murder mystery ensnares the famous criminologist and sharpshooter, Colonel Jeremiah Custer when his team encounter a young boy accused of mayhem. The lad cannot deny the charges for he can neither hear nor speak. The scientific brain of the greatest man-hunter is put to task as he attempts to unravel this new crime!

When murder strikes the Museum of Natural History, Doc Clarke dons the red velvet mask that sends fear into all the underworld, the Crimson Mask nemesis of all crimedom, but this time he is faced by another creature in a mask, Anubis, the Egyptian god of the Dead! Will he succeed, or become another walking corpse, doing the bidding of an evil master of the dark netherworld?

What did the miniature coffins signify? When men of great wealth and industry begin receiving these tiny replicas of crimson caskets, their days of life are numbered. Who is the fiend behind the murders? Young millionaire playboy, Jimmy Gilmore wants to know, and the dreaded Mr. Death goes in search for coffins of death! $2.99 from Amazon Kindle, at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y2HZQ7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491428582&sr=1-1&keywords=Behind+The+Mask+Volume+4+by+Tom+Johnson

Writers of The Future Volume 33

The Best New Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: 28 Award-Winning Authors and Illustrators Accompanied by Anne McCaffrey, Robert J. Sawyer, Larry Elmore, Todd McCaffrey, Bob Eggleton.

Writers of The Future Volume 33 (SF)

By Various Authors & Artists

Galaxy Press

ISBN #978-1619866297

Price $10.12

400 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Some of The Best New SF This Year.”

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of The Future continues to bring new authors and artists to the field in their many contests over the years. This current issue is no exception. The cover is by Larry Elmore, illustrating the story, The Dragon Killer’s Daughter. It also contains stories by contest winners, as well as old pros, while introducing new artists to the genre. Each story is different, while the writing is topnotch, and the story telling keeps the reader turning the page. 12 winning writers and two published finalist are included, as are 12 winning artists. Not a better SF anthology will be found this year. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THESE ALIEN SKIES

The Red Pole of Macau

In Ian Hamilton's The Red Pole of Macau, family ties are stressed to the limit when intrepid forensic accountant Ava Lee must rescue her half brother, Michael, and his business partner, Simon, from a disastrous multimillion-dollar real-estate deal in Macau. When the developers turn out to be gangsters, Michael and Simon are threatened with bankruptcy and much worse. Ava struggles to salvage the deal and her family's money, but then Simon is kidnapped, and the rules of the game abruptly change.

Determined to keep her mentor, Uncle, out of the affair, Ava is forced to turn to a former client, the cunning and seductive May Ling Wong, for help. With time running out, Ava must use all her skills to outwit the gangsters, rescue Simon, and save her family's future.

The Red Pole of Macau (Thriller)

An Ava Lee Novel #4

By Ian Hamilton

Picador

ISBN #978-1250032317

Price $15.00

336 Pages

Rating 5-stars

“Smooth Writing.”

Lok, once a Red Pole of the Triad, brought Ava’s half brother, Michael Lee and his partner Simon, into a land scam. Lok won’t return the money, so Ava must bring Lok and his men down the hard way. That means following the money, and calling in some favors where needed, then invading a tightly secured compound against well-armed gangsters before it’s all over.

This was another well-written novel featuring the forensic accountant trained in bak mei martial arts.  The writing is smooth, the plot deep and twisting, and the characters three-dimensional. Highly recommended for action lovers.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Legends

Some legends live on. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, all our legends that will more than likely never die.

But what happens to the ones that do die? The ones who fought for law and order, fighting for justice their own way and yet nobody seems to remember them? Here is a story about them.

Legends (Western)

By Wayne Greenough

eXtasy Books, Inc.

ASIN #B06XFG1WNL

Price $2.99

75 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Remembering The B-Westerns.”

The Old West as it was on the screen in our youth. When the Legends rode the west and the good guys carried six-shooters that never ran out of bullets. What a glorious time we had. The author recaptures those times in this tale, bringing us legends like Gun Man, Law Man, and Mask, facing down men as evil as the Clantons at the OK Corral. Law Man was thought to have died in a gun battle, and his body buried, but when the body is exhumed they learn it was not his. He’s still out there, but has lost his memory. Mask, his true love learns that he still lives and goes to him, only to find he doesn’t remember and is ready to kill her. Gun Man has a choice, kill Law Man and save Mask, leaving his back vulnerable to the outlaws, or let Law Man kill Mask while he kills the outlaws. What will his choice be? And who will ride away?

This was another fun little story by the author who brought us “Mask” a few years back. A fun and quick read, and highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of SENORA SCORPION

Sunrise On The Ice Wolf

Young Helen Kley of El Colony, a world dominated by women, doesn't know what to make of the two young men who suddenly come bursting into her life, rescuing her from a humiliating kidnap attempt. That they are offworlders, she has no doubt, that they are corporate agents of some sort, she suspects. Otherwise why do they withhold their names, giving her only the number of a safe line to contact them? In the end, she becomes friends with the one she dubs "Pro" (the other she call "Con" because of their differing attitudes) and simply learns to think of them as her guardians.

Only when she comes of age, two years later, and is by custom given her father's name and an invitation to visit heretofore unknown relatives on his homeworld, does she learn the truth about her adopted guardians. In fact she learns truth after truth as she and Pro, whose real name she finally learns, must battle their way through one adventure after another as they seek her missing father while avoiding his enemies.

In the end, she faces not only threats from the outside, but also the need to come to terms with her own values and background -- to choose and to choose rightly. Everything she has learned to care about depends on her choice -- her own happiness and the welfare of those who have become dear to her.

Sunrise on The Ice Wolf (SF)

By Colleen Drippe

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1542658683

Price $12.49 (Paperback)

304 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“An Adventure In Storytelling.”

Young Helen Kley lives in a planet network where girls have little say in their future. She must wait until of age to learn who her father is, and her mother could care less about her. But Helen longs for adventure and to find her dad among the stars. Several years before she’s reached the age of finding out about her father, she meets Pro and Con, two offworlders who stop a man from abducting her. Con kills the man, then they see her safely back to her apartment. For the next several years they stay in contact, however, and when she’s of age, she learns that her father was John Heth Wolfbane, from Lost  Rathar, a wild volcanic world, where Pro & Con happen to also be from. There is a mystery whether or not her father is dead or alive, and to his exact whereabouts, but Helen is determined to find him and seeks the aid of Pro (Bis Stephen). Con (Gris Ansgar) has already left for Lost Rathar in search of her father, but for a different reason than hers.

The journey is a hard one, and difficult. They must evade a war on one planet, while escaping tigers in a jungle, and survive near-death injuries. If she lives to find her father, will the reunion be worth it?

The author’s writing keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, while at the same time introducing them to exciting new worlds. Her descriptive narrative will captivate the reader, as they discover new worlds to explore. Take this passage for instance:

I saw the planet for the first time, streaked with cloud. Slowly the surface became a marbling of black and grey, greenish blue and white that I thought must be snow.

         We glided in over the dun-colored ocean half obscured by steam. Presently this gave way to a low, dismal land of quaking, charcoal colored mud. There were no signs of habitation.

         “This,” Mary Wolfbane volunteered, “is the bogland. There is much volcanism on Lost Rythar and most of the surface is unstable – uninhabitable. This part is often hot, not just literally, but somewhat radioactive. And there are gases from the ground.”

        

The author’s writing also tends to have a religious slant, conforming to the author’s background as a Catholic. Priests, called Star Brothers are found in each of her SF novels so far, their duty is to carry Faith to the star colonies. The people of Rathar are Christian, and hold fast to their belief in a Crucified Lord. That doesn’t mean they are perfect, however, as most have killed or committed some other sin. SF readers will enjoy this tale of a young girl becoming a woman among the stars. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of WORLDS OF TOMORROW