HOT RAIL TO HELL by ROBERT VARDEMAN

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HOT RAIL TO HELL by Robert Vardeman (2011, Cenotaph)

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The first of a proposed series, Hot Rail To Hell, was published a few years ago by Robert Vardeman as an attempt to revive the mens’ action novels of the 1970′s. Vardeman heads the Baroness Yahoo group and dedicated it to her creator, Lyle Kenyon Engel. Although we haven’t been blessed with another book in this “Conversant USA” series, one can always hope. Digital publishing makes the job a lot easier these days. Vardeman lists many other books in his resume, so he has the chops to keep the ball rolling.
the action hero of Hot Rail is known as Vanessa Court, a 5-6″ 125 pound streamlined ball of energy. Known as “Nessie” to her friends and employees, she runs Conversant USA, a company dedicated to eliminating industrial espionage. The book introduces her as she goes one-on-one with a Brazilian jujitsu fighter under the guidance of her mentor, Tancredo Cardoso, AKA “Dodo”. It;s a tightly choreographed scene and Nessie ends up with her clothes ripped away, but her opponent needs an ambulance. Nothing like a naked woman introduction to grab your attention.

We soon find out that Nessie has a very desperate client. A government contractor has had the rail gun he’s contracted to develop by the US Navy to fail catastrophically in a desert test. The nano-tube powered rail gun managed to launch the package as planned, but the exploded immediately afterward. Is someone being payed to sabotage the gun? Could it be the sexist pig scientist Hugo Flynn who’s needed for the project? The Hispanic woman head technician who quit over harassment?  Or might it be the chief of security? It’s up to Nessie and her crack team to find out.

The trail leads from a desert installation to Hong Kong. Along the way, Nessie has encounters with a virtual reality sex machine, being left for dead in the desert, and foreign agents. The trail ends up in China.

As with all hero pulps, Nessie has her team to assist her. Always on stand-by is Kate Li, a Chinese American computer specialist  Next is Rich Blaine, a twentysomething engineer. He’s followed by an Indian cybernaut, Web Singh. Dodo, the martial artist has been mentioned. Completing the ensemble is her trusty canine friend Pascal, a specially trained German Shepard. And, naturally, she has her own satellite in orbit which communicates with her smart phone.

The book is a lot of fun and you can tell Vardeman had a blast writing it. It’s the only one of his works I’ve read, so I can’t compare it to the other books in his resume. If I have one criticism, it’s the bad guys. They sound right out of central casting, circa 1965. Check out the main Chinese spy:

“Such arrogance!  The ancient Greeks called it hubris.  You, a mere mortal, seek godlike power.  How funny.  You are the product of a decadent country but still think you control power.  You are failures, you and your imperialist country, yet your precious self-esteem is overweening.  You do not give orders to me!”

There’s a number of explicit sex scenes as well. As a bonus, the deluxe edition comes with a separate Vanessa Court story and an excerpt from one of Vardeman’s other novels. The postscript is a delight to read: the author talks a lot about his love for the Baroness series and 70′s action novels. This novel is recommended for fans of all those great paperback books which lined the spin racks at bus stations forty years ago.

Even More Bookstore Haunts: Wellington Square Bookshop

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Proof once again that a cool bookstore doesn’t have to be a book barn or a crusty old shoppe, the Wellington Square Bookshop is my find for the week. Located in a planned multi-use development near Eagleville, PA, this is the sort of book store I would design. For heaven’s sake, it has a fountain in the front entrance (see picture above). Just how amazing is this place? It had the science fiction section next to the science books! They even have quality used books at reasonable prices. I picked a hardbound library copy of the Year 2000 short story collection, which I haven’t seen it ages.

 

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (AKA BENIGHTED) by J.B. Priestley

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THE OLD DARK HOUSE (AKA BENIGHTED) by J.B. Priestley

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pulp j b priestly horror novels The Old Dark House is one novel any horror literature fan should take the time to read. It’s not that long and takes place in the course of one evening. Written by J.B. Priestley in 1927, it was published in the United States as The Old Dark House, but originally as Benighted (the title you can find it at through Valancourt Books). It was filmed as The Old Dark House in 1932 and can be purchased on Blu-Ray.

Philip Waverton, his wife Margaret and their friend Roger Penderel are traveling across Wales in by car when they are beset by a thunderstorm. As the roads become impassable, their spot a house in the hillside and decide to make for it when a landslide buries the roads . They’re greeted at the door by a huge, mute butler, whom we soon learn is named Morgan. Inside the house, which turns out to be a 16th century manor, they are greeted by two of the other inhabitants of it: Horace Femm and his sister Rebecca. They soon learn there is another member of the family, Sir Roderick Femm, who is too ill to leave his room. Later that evening, Sir William Porterhouse and his chorus girlfriend Gladys make an appearance, as they too are seeking shelter from the storm.

As the night drags on, strange things begin to happen. Morgan the butler starts drinking in the kitchen and becomes a very mean drunk. Rebecca Femm begins preaching hell-fire and damnation to anyone who bothers to listen, Horace Femm reveals he’s wanted by the police and the travelers reveal interesting bits about their own backgrounds. Eventually the power fails and the Old Dark House is lit by candle lights and lamps. Then things become very strange.

The book is written in a very continental style. Long expository sentences and observations very typical of literature of this period. But the conversations are riveting in what you learn about the characters. At one point someone suggests they play Truth (as in Truth or Dare). Horace Femm mocking comments “Oh, its’ a game now. About time”. Sir Porterhouse who makes his stage entrance as a glad-handling money bags soon reveals he’s not to the manor born. And Penderel, a veteran, is still suffering from seeing his comrades mowed down in WWI.

Here’s a good example of how Priestly manages to take a character who might be a boob in any other story and give him depth:

  ‘Unless you’re very lucky,’ he began, ‘you only make money by wanting to make it, wanting hard all the time, not bothering about a lot of other things. And there’s usually got to be something to start you off, to give you the first sharp kick. After you’ve got really started, brought off a few deals and begun to live in the atmosphere of big money, the game gets hold of you and you don’t want any inducement to go on playing—d’you follow me? It’s the first push that’s so hard, when you’re still going round with your cap in your hand. It’s my experience there’s always something keeps a man going through that, puts an edge on him and starts him cutting, and it may be some quite little thing. A man I knew, a Lancashire man too, was an easy-going youngster, thought more about cricket than his business, until one day, having to see the head of a firm, he was kept waiting two hours, sitting there in the general office with the clerks cocking an eye at him every ten minutes. He’s told me this himself. “All right,” he said to himself, “I’ll show you.” He walked out when the two hours were up, and that turned him, gave him an edge. He did show ’em, too. I don’t say, of course, that every man who says something like that to himself brings it off, but some do. Well, it was the same with me.’

Of course, you can’t discuss the book without mentioning the movie version which came out a few years later. An early talkie, it suffers a bit from sound recording and the problems of preservation. It was only through the efforts of filmmaker Curtis Harrington that a decent copy was found. Following the heels of director James Whales’ Frankenstein  it was the ignored by the public, who didn’t seem to understand the mix of horror and comedy. But the movie is an excellent adaptation of the book with whole dialogue being taken from the original source. Although the upbeat “cold light of day” ending is absent in the book, I still highly recommend the film version. I’ve watched it many times. When I read the book I can’t help but hearing Ernest Thesiger’s voice every time Horace Femm speaks.

I must give a shout-out to Pretty Sinister Books for bringing this brilliant classic to my attention. Also to Valancourt Books who made an electronic version available.

Andrew J. Offutt, R.I.P.

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I’ve just received word about the passing of Andrew J. Offutt. He was one of the first professional writers I ever met. Last year I did a small article about a lecture he gave at Ohio State University in 1976:

http://www.z7hq.com/pulp/meetings-with-remarkable-writers-1-the-fortress-of-andrew-j-offutt.php

Here’s the Locus obituary:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2013/04/andrew-offutt-1934-2013/

CAVERN OF THE BLOOD ZOMBIES by XU LEI

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CAVERN OF THE BLOOD ZOMBIES by XU Lei, translated by Kathy Mok (Things Asian Press, 2011)

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I had to read Cavern of the Blood Zombies by Xu Lei after finishing Search for the Buried Bomber. The sequel to Bomber hasn’t been translated and I was thirsting for more books by this author. Luckily, Things Asian Press has managed to put two other of his books into print. This is the first of a series, The Grave Robber Chronicles. Chinese novels can run to an arc of ten or more books. This edition comes with rich illustrations by Neo Lok Sze Wong.

Cavern of the Blood Zombies opens with a preamble taking place fifty years ago. A family of tomb robbers are busy excavating an important find. After constant bickering among themselves, the elder members of the family elect to go down into the hole they’ve dug while leaving the youngest member on the surface holding the rope to a bucket. When the rope begins to get pulled hard, he pulls back harder until the bucket comes flying out of the hole. The bucket contains the severed hand of his brother and an ancient document written on silk. The young tomb robber barely escapes with his life by out running a “blood zombie”.

Flash forward fifty years. The descendant of the man who fled the tomb is now running the Hangzhou Xiling Printing Company and reading his grandfather’s journal. A mysterious customer enters the shop, which specializes in selling antiquarian books, trying to find out if they buy ancient manuscripts from the Waring States Period (475-221 BC). The stranger has been referred to the shop by a shady character and wants to know if they still have the manuscript his grandfather escaped with from the tomb. To prove his sincerity, he shows the narrator a manuscript written on silk, very similar to the one his grandfather stole. The narrator manages to photograph the silk before the stranger leaves.

He takes the photograph to his father’s third brother (“Uncle Three”), a bon vivant who’s a famous  tomb robber in his own right. When Uncle Three looks at the photograph, he claims it to be a coded map of an important noble’s tomb from ancient China. Convinced the document is a treasure map, Uncle Three assembles a team to go after the goods.The team consists of:the narrator, Uncle Three and two of Uncle Three’s old grave robbing buddies, Panzai and Big Kai. Later they are joined by a quiet young man nick-named “Poker Face”.

The tomb raiders find the mysterious ancient grave and spend the rest of the novel trying to get the treasure out if it. Along the way, they meet-up with another grave robber, who is christened “Fats” because of his size. They find themselves lost in an underground labyrinth out-running carnivorous bugs known as “corpse-eaters”, blood zombies, and a man-eating tree. They also have to survive booby-trapped coffins, preserved corpses, and constant attack. The novel ends inconclusively,which leads into the next book in the series.

This is a book where it helps to know a little bit about Chinese cosmology and mythology. I think some of the translations match western equivalents too readily. The book lacks foot notes which would help the uninitiated understand some of the references being made.

There’s plenty of humor in the book. Uncle Three is constantly arguing and putting down his companions.But you never know when a trap door is going to open.

I’m curious how the series develops. Book #2 awaits.

THE REMAINING: REFUGEES by D. J. MOLLES

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THE REMAINING: REFUGEES by D. J. Molles (2012, Amazon Digital Services)

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The struggle of Capt. Lee Harden to save civilization (As We Know It) continues in the third book in this series, The Remaining: Refugees.

A few months after the events described in the previous novel, The Remaining: Aftermath, Capt. Harden is supervising the refugee compound known as Camp Ryder. More people have joined the encampment, creating a small culture of its own. Satellite colonies have been sent out to beyond the protecting barricade. The novel begins with a gruesome method used to clear a potential forward operating base of infected.

But Capt. Harden still has his enemies in the camp. “Jerry”, the glad-handling politician/ corporate buttkiss is still trying to build a base of support among the survivors. Professor White, from the remnants of a local college, has followers among his former students. None of whom care for Harden’s “Mission”. Some people want to view the infected, no matter how dangerous they are, as plague victims.

With “Jerry”, Molles’ shows his disgust with the present. Jerry is a craven individual who fled his own burning house, abandoning loved ones to raiders. He’s found a way to justify his actions by focusing on the present. I suspect the author knew too many people like him. God knows I have. The sort of grinning lap dog who can always rise to the top when decent people are being “right-sized” all over the place.

A few chapters into the novel, a new twist is thrown at the refugees. A microbiologist named Jacob has made his way south at the command of one of the last NE coordinators. He has important news for Capt. Harden: the infected are devouring everything they can in the northern states. Like a plague of locusts, they are moving south in search of anything edible. Unlike the zombies of the 28 Days movie and sequel, these infected won’t be satisfied to starve to death. The FURY bacterium is also mutating, creating a new kind of victim with little intelligence, but an over-powering will to survive.

And there is are several sniper attempts to kill Capt. Harden by persons outside the camp. The reader also learns of a mob of religious fanatics known as “The Followers” who forcibly draft any uninfected human into their army or crucify them. Dismissed as idle talk at the beginning of The Remaining: Refugees, the truth of the rumor builds toward the book’s end.

Harden makes a fateful decision  blow the bridge crossings across the Roanoke River and stop the invasion. The infected won’t sweep into the mountains or the sea and the river will create a natural barrier. But his plan sets off a tidal wave of repercussions which leave The Remaining: Refugees unresolved at the end. D.J. Molles’ fans await the fourth book in the series to see how it all turns out.

The previous Remaining books were plot driven. So is The Remaing: Refugees, but the individual characters are starting to have a life of their own. Even Capt. Harden’s enemies in the encampment have motives which make perfectly good sense to them. Once you learn their back story, they become understandable, even if their reasons are reprehensible.

The novel still pays close attention to the technical aspects of warfighting and guns. There’s a discussion of the right caliber of ammo needed for the camp. Also the proper way to prepare yourself for a grenade blast. And the devastating effects of a 50 caliber machine gun. Finally, the field care and extraction of a bullet hit victim is drawn in a very detailed account. It’s amazing how much a person can bleed and still survive  but you won’t see it on an episode of MASH.

As ever, the author finds a time to reflect:

Scavenging from these houses, Lee felt like an archaeologist, staring in wonder at the things humanity had once held dear to them. Ornate clocks and sets of fine china. Placards and degrees and trophies. The things people were most proud of, the things displayed on mantle’s and walls, were now the things that were the first to be left behind

All the disparate elements of the novel collide in the last few chapters. I’m anxiously awaiting the fourth installment.

 

FALLING ANGEL by WILLIAM HJORTSBERG

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 FALLING ANGEL by William Hjortsberg (1978, Harcourt)

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#5 Falling Angel. This Chandleresque private eye novel may well be the finest American horror novel of this century.

- Karl Edward Wagner, 13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels (Twilight Zone magazine 1983)

I first read Falling Angel in 1983. Right after the KEW list was published in the old Twilight Zone magazine. Naturally, I went to the public library in search of the books on the list. Wagner being the obscure literature fan, I didn’t find too much. The exception was Falling Angel, which I took home and read over a matter of days.

In preparation for this review, I read the book again. I don’t usually re-read books as there’s too much out there I haven’t read. But I felt the passage of 30 years would dull my memory to the point of writing a bad review. I gritted my teeth and went back to the book.

Astonishingly, I enjoyed the book more this time than on the first read. Hjortsberg, on his website, talks about why he set the novel in 1959: these were the most vivid years he could remember in his hometown of Manhattan, New York City. Manhattan in the 50′s comes alive in these pages. Coney Island, Harlem  all these places were written through the eyes of someone was there. It makes for a very vivid background.

Harry Angel, private investigator, is working the gumshoe trade in Manhattan, 1959. One day he’s contacted by a powerful lawyer on behalf of a mysterious client. The client, an eloquent gentleman named Louis Cyphre (pay attention to the name), wants Angel to find a missing crooner from the 1930′s: Johnny Fortune. It seems Mr. Cyphre sponsored Fortune’s musical career before WWII until the singer was wounded in the war. He’s been convalescing in a private sanitarium since the incident, barely conscious.  Cyphre has discovered Fortune is missing from the place and wants him located.

In true hardboiled PI fiction, Harry Angel strolls down the mean streets of Manhattan looking for the missing Fortune. He runs into many people who knew Fortune, but few who remember anything about him. This was before the Net and massive data information on every particular subject. Angel is forced to visit reporters, libraries and consult things known as phone books. It was a different time.

The closer he gets to finding Fortune, the more the dead bodies start accumulating  First, it’s a doctor at the sanitarium, then more and more. Each know a little bit about why Fortune disappeared, but they won’t talk. And each have an upside down star or inverted pentagram on their person. Soon, Angel begins seeing Mr. Cyphre in his dreams.

The book is full of bizarre occult references to New York City. There’s a voodoo ceremony in Central Park. One of the witnesses he consults is a socialite astrologer. And there is the required black mass. I’m not sure what Hjortrsberg was trying to say about the forces of darkness, given the grim ending. My guess is a warning to stay away from things far more powerful and sinister than you can imagine.

Of course I saw the 1987 movie version, Angel Heart, when it hit the screen. Having read the book before and after the movie was released, I can say that it is a good adaptation. Mickey Rourke made a decent Harry Angel, but the personality of Angel in the book is too Ross MacDonald to get a visual. On the second read, I kept seeing Lisa Bonet as Epiphany Proudfoot, Angel’s love interest. I should mention the entire book takes place in Manhattan, unlike the movie which has a side trip to New Orleans.

The book isn’t difficult to find and has been reprinted many times. It’s easily the best merger of PI fiction and supernatural literature.