Doc Savage: The Miracle Menace

When I heard about the new “wild” adventures of Doc Savage, I had some misgivings. I thought the price was a bit high and I was afraid the larger page counting would lead to story padding. The original Doc novels were lean adventures (even leaner as the series aged).

Also, when author Will Murray wrote several Doc Savage novels for Bantam books in the early 90s, I thought they were rather hit and miss.

My thinking has changed.

It started with Skull Island, Murray’s story of Doc Savage meeting King King. It took place early in Doc’s career, before he had officially begun his life’s work of crusading again evil. The novel was a grand adventure, with an exciting plot and a wealth of detail about Doc’s family and his unusual upbringing. I had no qualms with the size or the price or the writing.        

Now comes The Miracle Menace.

In the latest Doc novel, Murray tells two stories that finally converge into one epic. In the first thread, out of work magician Gulliver Greene and his assistant Spook Davis encounter strange happenings in La Plata, Missouri (the hometown of original Doc Savage author Lester Dent) involving a murdering midget, a suspicious religious cult, telepathy and the rumor that Christopher Columbus is alive and well in 20th Century Missouri. In the parallel story, Doc Savage and his aides investigate a mansion in the Missouri woods that disappears and appears at random.

When the two sections of the novel finally come together, Murray dishes out an explosive finale, including shocking revelations about the past of some of the characters and the appearance of a villain from an earlier Doc novel. The secret of the vanishing house proves to be one of the most amazing mysteries of Doc Savage’s career.

Wild adventures, indeed.

With Skull Island and The Miracle Menace, I was as captivated and entertained as I was when I first discovered Doc Savage as a kid. Back then, those classic James Bama covers drew me in with the promise of action and mystery. Now Joe De Vito paints Doc’s covers and the last two have been spectacular.

I have gone back and found that some of the earlier Murray Doc novels that I had a problem with have magically gotten better.

Apparently the 12 year-old inside of me has issued an order to relax and enjoy the new Doc Savage novels. The older I get the more that kid seems to get the best of me.

Silent Night: A Spenser Holiday Novel by Robert B. Parker and Helen Brann

One of the final projects begun by author Robert B. Parker before his death in 2010 was this novel featuring his ageless sleuth Spenser helping a homeless boy during the Christmas season. Parker wrote only 17 pages before his passing, and since the book was under contract, his longtime agent Helen Brann stepped in to finish the novel, with the consent of Parker’s family.

To my surprise, Brann captures the voice of Spenser almost perfectly, as well as those of Susan and Hawk. In fact, Brann may write a better Spenser than Ace Atkins, the author selected to carry on the series. There are no real surprises in the book (just as there were none in Parker’s last several novels). On the other hand, I never read the books for their innovative plots. Like most of Spenser's readers, I came back for the characters and Parker's unique authorial voice.

Speaking of the plot, Brann handles the story pretty well, including the requisite holiday moments that aren’t nearly as out of place as I’d feared.

The one facet of the book where I found Brann lacking was the action scenes, which are light on detail. Despite that, the novel stands on its own, as good as the last few Parker-written Spensers. It was nice to revisit these beloved characters again, particularly knowing the book contains Parker’s last few Spenser pages.

It wouldn’t break my heart if Brann alternated with Atkins on future Spenser novels.

Pod of Horror #70

The stake has been pulled from the heart of Pod of Horror and our moldy slumber is over. We’re back with PoH #70, featuring horror writer Jonathan Janz, author and Stephan King expert Bev Vincent, Jason L. Keene’s Moonshine Matinee and all the news that fits in the Call of Kalanta. Pod of Horror # 70 is produced and hosted by Mark Justice. You can listen here.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's the first trailer for the next Cap movie, coming out in April in the U.S. This introduces the Falcon.

Here's the film's official description: 

After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier finds Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.

New Story

 

Actually, it's a novelette (shorter than a novella, longer than a short story) in Volume 4 of Jim Anthony, from Airship 27th.

Jim Anthony was a Doc Savage imitator for a short time during the pulp era. He was super-strong, super-smart, rich, etc. Unlike Doc, Big Jim loved the ladies. He had a Native American grandpa and a secret hideout called the Wigwam. For a while his stories were wild and wacky. Later, he was tamed down and turned into your run of the mill pulp detective. 

My story (and, I presume, the others in the book) is set during the "fun" era. I know I had fun writing the story. I don't produce much pulp fiction anymore (yeah, The Dead Sheriff is pulpy, but I consider it equally part of the horror genre) so it was a hoot to read the story again. It was written several years ago and, in my biased opinion, it still holds up.

Here's an Amazon link for ordering it.

The Greatest Toy of All Time

My Favorite Vampire Movie

Mark In Mayberry

Even though I haven't posted in a while, my Department of Justice column continues to appear each week in the Ashland Beacon.

In this week's edition, I recall a recent trip to Mayberry, where things have definitely not remained the same. You an read it here on page 2.

A Little More Movie News

Here's an article a local paper, The Daily Independent, ran on Sunday.

Looking No More

Graveside Tales, the publisher of Looking at the World with Broken Glass in My Eye, is gone. Or "on hiatus", as it was put to me. 

The company is apparently also closed off from all communications, so this next part is an assumption by me. Once the online booksellers run out of copies of the book, your only choice will be the secondary market. If you would like a copy, this would seem to be the best time to buy.

Here's the link to order from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Here's The Pub, Baby

Pub, as in publicity. Here's the official press release for the movie.

Justice’s “Lonely Street” Set For Film Adaptation

Ashland, KY –– Local radio personality and writer Mark Justice is set to have one of his short stories adapted by local filmmaker Jason Jenkins. The story, a horror tale found in Justice’s collection
Looking at the World with Broken Glass in My Eye, is titled “Hell is a Lonely Street” and focuses on a murdered cop who finds himself in a very unusual afterlife. Jenkins will write and shoot the adaptation this Fall in the Tri-State area, likely with local actors and crew. He hopes to have the project fully completed by year’s end.

Justice hosts The Breakfast Club weekdays on 105.7 WLGC. He also writes a weekly column for the Ashland Beacon.

In addition to the collection. Justice has written The Dead Sheriff: Zombie Damnation, the first in a series of supernatural western novels and three books in the Dead Earth science fiction/horror series, co-written with David T. Wilbanks.

Tuna Time

It lasts about ten seconds at our house.

Movie Mania

It looks like one of my short stories will soon be turned into a short film. A talented local filmmaker is planning to lens the tale "Hell is a Lonely Street" from my collection Looking at the World with Broken Glass in My Eye.

I've seen this guy's work, and I'm can't wait to discover what he does with my creepy little story.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of the movie. 

Meanwhile, if you'd like to read the story, you can order the book here.

"Time Warp" by the Cast of The Big Bang Theory

Happy 4th of July

In Case You're Interested

My column in this week's Ashland Beacon is a script for a new TV show about the inner workings of my favorite little newspaper. You can check it out on page 2.

On Tuesday, that edition moves to the archives and in the new issue, I'll have a special column about my 31st wedding anniversary.

A Father's Day Tribute in Pulp

Dad was a big fan of westerns, and he introduced me to many TV, cinematic and literary cowboys. On Father's Day, it seems fitting to honor him with a few good western pulps.

And for a slightly more humorous take on life with my father, you can check out this week's edition of  my newspaper column. It should be up for a couple of more days. It's on page 2.

 

Sunday Pulp

Summer always puts me in a pulp mood. While reprints are great, sometimes there's nothing like the feel and smell of crumbling pulpwoody magazines to scratch that itch. Now I just have to decide what to read. To carefully read.

New Columns

 

Over at Horror World, I devote my column to a review of Stephen King's new novel Joyland. Read it here, if you're so inclined. 

And my weekly newspaper column tackles reader mail. It's on page 2.

Now Reading

My Phantom Detective reading has been spotty, and prior to this I hadn't read any of Laurence Donovan's Phantoms. Donovan, a Doc Savage ghost, as well as the man behind the Skipper and Whisperer (first series) novels, has a pretty energetic style here, giving these Phantom yarns the feel of Doc adventures, hence the title.