Year of Shadows

After a plane crash in Northern Korea, Anton Chadeaux was paralyzed and left for dead. Found by monks from the hidden Wei Monastery, he was nursed back to health and learned to focus his mind with the ancient art of Sulsa Do. After five years he is reforged to be a master of the ancient art giving him abilities beyond the common man. He leaves those remote Korean mountains a new, better, stronger man, a man with a purpose; to help the helpless and be the last hope of the hopeless. Thus is born the granite man, the grey wolf of justice that the world comes to know as the archenemy of evil - Dr. Shadows! In five pulse pounding pulp style adventure set in the turbulent 1930s, Dr. Shadows faces off against murderers, ancient curses, Japanese spies, voodoo masters and a curvaceous killer out of his own past that just might be too much for even the granite man to survive!

Year of Shadows (New Pulp Fiction)

By Teel James Glenn

Pro Se Press

ISBN #978-1985201750

Price $15.00 (Paperback)

Price $3.99 (Kindle)

Rating 5-Stars

“New Pulp At Its Best”

This book contains five new stories featuring Dr. Shadows – The Granite Man: THE EYE OF DARKNESS; A PERSONAL DEMON; FORBIDDEN CITY BLUES; GRAVE MISTAKE; and ISLE MACABRE.

            The Eye of Darkness begins in Hong Kong in 1938. Anton Chadeaux is trailing a master criminal, and when one of the members of the Gordon Archeological Expedition is killed mysteriously, which follows the previous murders he is investigating, it alerts Dr. Shadows to the case. The members are leaving for San Francisco and Dr. Shadows is among them when the Empress of Japan debarks. He knows the killer is also on board, and he plans on solving the case en route.

            A Personal Demon brings Anton’s college sweetheart, Akemi Oyami back on the scene. She and her brother, yakuza boss, Ratsudo Oyami come to Slugger’s club just as Dr. Shadows receives a warning that someone wants him killed.

            Forbidden City Blues: Dr. Shadows, Slugger, and Ki Nam Hoon are in San Francisco to meet with Han “Hank” Ku Lee, who is helping local Chinese find their families back in China. But someone is working a scam to bilk more money from the Chinese trying to get their families to the U.S. Dr. Shadows interferes with hoodlums trying to stop a young Chinese girl from reaching the Granite Man.

            Grave Mistake: Prisoners escape from Sing Sing and happen to stop at a small country café where Anton is visiting with old friends from the Caribbean. The owner of the café is a voodoo priestess. They are taken hostage, with Dr. Shadows wounded, and placed in a locked room. But now the gang must fear the night and voodoo monsters.

            Isle Macabre: When zombies attack and kill people in La Plata, Missouri, a clue leads investigators to the Caribbean. The Secret Service asks Dr. Shadows to look into that angle for them, and he returns to stay with his Caribbean friends from the previous story, Grave Mistake, and finds more evil, including voodoo and European foreigners who wants the voodoo drug.

            These stories were a lot of fun, and the author created good plots, memorable characters, and fast action. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

NISSY

A few years from now a new life form will awaken, created not by God or by man but by a fusion of emerging technologies which may spell the end of humankind as we know it. And if it does, who's to blame, Nissy the omniscient quantum computer, Jason Godwin its genius architect, Blake Lipinski developer of the bioprinter that sequenced its DNA into life or man's insatiable fascination with playing God, bringing artificial life into existence? With the world hanging on the brink of devastation, only a young girl named Amy, Jason’s adopted daughter, has a chance to right what he neglected in his design. Although this riveting and suspenseful tale of technology untamed is fiction, it's not about if, but when, it will come to pass. Prepare to meet NISSY.

NISSY (SF)

"NISSY: The Artificial Intelligence Experiment We Feared."

By John P. Cater

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1978196131

Price $11.95 (Paperback)

Price $3.99 (Kindle)

280 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“It’s All About Plot, Characterization, And Good Storytelling”

Jason Godwin’s work on artificial intelligence is reaching omniscient power; he names his computer NISSY for that purpose. But there are still some things needed to complete the process, and Godwin brings in Blake Lipinski, a DNA specialist to help. With the added boost to NISSY’s power, the machine begins to think it is a god, and wants to rule mankind. And its power is capable of accomplishing that feat. Mankind’s future looks bleak.

It’s all about plot, characterization, and good storytelling. The characters come alive in this fast-paced novel. The writing is smooth, and the pace flows, never letting up. The science is real, and the possibilities of computer science and artificial intelligence advancing to the level of this novel is not far in the future. Not since Colossus: The Forbin Project and War Games has computer technology combined with AI this powerful been drawn to our imagination. A prophetic novel everyone should read. Plus, it is darn good entertainment. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of PANGAEA: EDEN’S PLANET

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

Trinity Series Mixture

This Trinity Series Mixture compilation novel is a hard reboot of the original first three novels in the Pseudoverse. Reedited and remastered in HD, these one-of-a-kind science fiction/horror novels are sure to entertain you until the very end. Enjoy!

Trinity Series Mixture (SF)

By CG Blade

Pseudosynth Press

ISBN 978-1520278735

Price $19.99 (Paperback)

Price $4.99 (Kindle)

719 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

The first three novels in the Pseudoverse, COBALT, CRIMSON, and EMERALD, are included in this huge volume. The three stories give the readers a clear idea about what the series is about - Artificial intelligence that’s reached singularity. In the first novel we are introduced to Cobalt, Lieutenant Petra Kayden Dace (PKD), she is our Captain America of the future. Petra returns in CRIMSON, and this time she’s after the evil personage known as Crimson. With EMERALD we’re introduced to my favorite new character, Xanthe Thirty-Three, a bounty hunter type who is after more evil, the deadly Twins. She is pure bad, and I liked her.

Readers can read my individual review for each novel on Amazon, but for this trinity I’m leaving a short review, as I think many readers will want this version. The author has a background in AI, and his knowledge comes through as he writes these science fiction adventures. However, I must add a warning: for those offended by vulgar language and scenes, these novels are highly laced with both profanity and sexual situations. In the third novel a five-year old child uses language that will turn many off. But for those not offended, the author’s knowledge and writing ability will keep you turning the pages. AI is the science in science fiction, and CG Blade is the storyteller that brings it all home. My rating is for the science involved in this groundbreaking series. Highly recommended for the science fiction fan.

Tom Johnson

Author of WORLDS OF TOMORROW

In The Wrong Lifetime

In the wrong lifetime is the second book in the Scarlett & Mason series. A continuation following 'Discovering Witchetty Waters.' An exciting fantasy that will hook many readers including children! Scarlett and Mason Beckett live at Waters End, Witchetty Waters, part of a group of seven islands. From the present and the past many strange beings are sent to aid them. Enemies are all around them, in the present, in the past, in other realms. They are the chosen ones, the whole shape of the future depends on them. Strange things are happening to the 9- year- old boy and 14- year- girl. The dangerous Dark-side Knights are close by. Even closer is the mad Satyr. Trapped 600 years in the past, what are they to do? The Head Warlock and Wizard cannot help them. Now they are in deep trouble. Having unwittingly used an unprotected and unprepared portal to The Middle Ages it has now closed on them. There is no way home.

In The Wrong Lifetime (Juvenile Fantasy)

By Trisha J. Kelly

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1520944227

Price $9.98 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

228 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Fun Read”

When we left Scarlett and Mason in the first book, they were lost in the year 1379 after accidentally closing the time portal before it had been completely activated. Now they must figure a way of getting back home and carrying out more tasks to set the future on the right track. In this latest adventure we’re introduced to several new characters, as well as reunited with many of the ones from book one. The mad satyr – a man with a horse’s tail is one of the new characters, as is Sorcha the Great Sorcerer, which we will see more of in future volumes, I’m sure. After each new task, a curse is lifted on one of the islands, and the future looks better. So far there are six volumes in this series, so there are many more curses yet to be lifted, so stick around for the fun.

This was another fun read, with our youngsters discovering new adventures, friends, and adversaries. Children and adults will find this fantasy series a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THREE GO BACK