The Great Secret

That is Fanner Marston’s mantra—his reason for being—and while he knows a little about the first and a lot about the second, he may well be on the verge of learning everything there is to know about the third.  Power.  He may, in fact, be about to uncover the key to gaining absolute control over the entire universe.  The only problem is, Fanner is certifiably insane—a crazed Peter Lorre on a power trip….

His starship has crash-landed, and he’s the sole survivor, which doesn’t matter to him.  Driven by greed and lust for power, wracked by thirst, hunger and pain, all he cares about is reaching the ancient city of Parva and making himself at home.  Because there lies The Great Secret to universal domination—and what’s a little suffering on the road to becoming God?

Does Fanner have a prayer?  The writing’s on the walls of Parva—and you won’t believe what it says. . .

The Great Secret (SF)

By L. Ron Hubbard

Galaxy Press www.goldenagestories.com

ISBN # 978-1592123711

Price $9.95

122 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Golden Age Science Fiction At Its Best.”

Actually, this book contains four stories: THE GREAT SECRET, which was originally published in SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, April 1943; SPACE CAN; THE BEAST, and THE SLAVER.

In THE GREAT SECRET Fanner Marston is the last survivor of a team searching for the mythical Parva, a lost civilization holding the secrets to the universe. Whoever can find those secrets will control the universe. Struggling through the desert half dead under two suns, Marston finds the lost city, only to learn the first secret to his grasp of power may also mean his death.

SPACE CAN, the Menace, is a US Destroyer category ship leading a convoy under the command of Lt. Carter. Two enemy ships attack, and the old space can must take them out in a space battle that will likely destroy his ship and men.

THE BEAST is a monster threatening the village Tohyvo on the planet Venus. The blue natives are in need of a great white hunter and the government sends Ginger Cranston, a man who has never failed. But the planet is known for its giant animal life, so what is the man-size beast that attacks Cranston and almost kills him? A man without fear now has fear, but he plans on tracking the monster and killing it. But is he ready for the revelation once he comes fact to face with the Beast?

The final story is THE SLAVER, and my favorite (though THE GREAT SECRET is a runner up). Voris Shapadin, captain of the slaver, is parked on Earth and his men are capturing slaves to be returned to his home planet, Lurga. They are attacked by a small, slender man, but quickly capture him. He is a high class, named Kree Lorin of Falcon Crest, a soldier and blue blood. Also held captain is the girl Kree was trying to win, Dana of Palmerton, a peasant girl. Chained and locked in cells, the ship departs Earth with their human cargo, but Kree is determined to free himself and Dana, while killing as many Lurga slavers as possible.

The four stories in this collection was a lot of fun, and though they could have been altered as adventure stories, and sea adventures instead of space opera, they worked well as SF. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of WORLDS OF TOMORROW

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

Blind As A Bat

BLIND AS A BAT by Tom Johnson, published by FADING SHADOWS: The Eternal Dragon stands mute while the menace of white slavery cast a spell of horror over Chinatown. When the Purple Dragon strikes it brings Dawson Clade out of retirement. The Chinese mastermind is targeting young white girls for his evil pleasure, and The Bat must take wing once more. The Bat first appeared in 1934 & ’35, with four stories that researchers suspect were written by Johnston McCulley, under a house name. A fifth story, advertised as BLIND AS A BAT, never appeared. After Tom read the series, he felt he knew where McCulley was taking The Bat in the final story, and wrote the missing adventure. This is now available on Amazon Kindle for $1.99.

From My Mother

From My Mother (Nonfiction)

By Darcy Leech

Electio Publishing www.electiopublishing.com

ISBN #978-0692589147

Price (Not published yet)

Pages (Not published yet)

Rating 5-Stars

“Living With A Terminal Disease.”

Darcy was told that her brother would die before her when he was born. Three years older than Dustin, her young life would become entangled in his care and helping her parents around the house at an early age. Darcy’s mother, Jo Lyn Bartz (nee Woodard), carried the genetics of myotonic muscular dystrophy in her genes, which she passed on to Dustin, and he was born with congenital MMD, a disease that would end in death while still a child. The disease would also take Darcy’s mother by age 51.

This is one family’s struggle to live with the disease. Darcy’s father, Randy Bartz was an Air Force enlisted man, and the family already struggled with low pay. Jo Lyn worked out of the house as a waitress to earn more money to help with finances, and now the struggle is even greater with more medical expense. The military medical assistance helped a lot, but there were always out-of-pocket expenses, and Randy could not just take off and share in the workload around the house, as much as he would have liked. He was with civil engineers, and had a job to do, while his wife and young daughter battled the problems at home.

Darcy’s problems were manifold. She felt cheated because of all the extra work around the house, not to mention less attention to her own needs, and often blamed her mother for not doing more. It was even worse as she became a teenager and wanted to fit in with her school class and sports team. She often had to wear dirty clothes to school, and was ashamed when her parents appeared at games dirty and wearing old clothes. She was intelligent and athletic and wanted to succeed. She was even ashamed when her mother won her a two thousand dollar a year college tuition for four years, thinking that her parents should have saved enough money for her college. But before we think of criticizing this young lady, we should never blame our children for not understanding. They are not ready for so much knowledge so young.  In later years Darcy would look back and see how foolish and wrong she had been, but no child should be put through so much.

As it was, young Darcy watched as her brother Dustin struggled through life to live, and eventually died at age 13. Then, as a young mother herself, she had to witness the decline in health of her mother, and watched MMD slowly destroy her ability to even smile. The one anchor for the family was her father, Randy, who stayed by the family and did all he could while earning money to keep them fed and a roof over the head. Many families in this situation live below the poverty line, and it’s a struggle even with a military retirement and a full time civilian job.

Millions of families struggle with disease in the family, whether MMD, ALS, cancer, or diabetes, and we seldom hear of their stories. Many don’t know where, or who, to turn to. FROM MY MOTHER gives insight to those struggles we don’t see, and should be mandatory reading for all of us. Darcy drew strength from her mother at an early age, then her father when Jo Lyn was dying. Their prayers sustained them, and with determination, Darcy succeeded in life, and now wants to tell her family’s story. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE SOUL STEALERS

Holliday Library

Holliday Librarian, Paula Meyers, with copy of WIRE DOG donated to the Holliday, Texas Library by Tom Johnson.