Shockwave

Johnny Fedora #13: “Shockwave” by Desmond Cory. Johnny is in Spain in response to a call from a girl he knows. An actress friend is reported to have committed suicide, but she believes the girl was murdered. Johnny doesn’t like being a detective, but he promises to look into the case. Before he gets far into the investigation another odd death occurs with a witness he just talked to, and now he suspects murder also. Contacting the dead actress’s sister, he’s led to a rich man with many contacts who is suspected of the murder of the actress. But the case goes deeper than what is on the surface. There’s another plot much bigger than a few murders, and it involves the destruction of Madrid by an H-Bomb. This was really a good story after it gets started, and Johnny is more the professional spy than I’ve seen him in previous stories where he just stands around looking mean. This time he proves how mean he can be. Very good, and highly entertaining.

Death Charge

Colonel Tobin’s Private Army #6: “Death Charge” by Alan Caillou. Mexico and the South American states are suffering a rash of kidnappings of American businessmen for ransom. The abductors made their demands, and if they are not carried out completely the hostages die. Colonel Tobin is asked to bring his private army in to take down the rebels, but they are hidden in the mountains of the Sierra Madres, and not easily assessable. This time many men are killed in the operation, including the higher rank of the army, and it may be Colonel Tobin’s last battle. It should have been the final battle, but I think there is one more book in the series.

Profit Motive

The Destroyer #48: “Profit Motive” by Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir. It seems like a good idea at first--a bacterium developed to consume oil spills at sea. But when the bug mutates, threatening to convert all the petroleum in the world into wax, Western civilization is suddenly up for grabs. And a lot of slimy characters are determined not to let it slip through their fingers. Which is where Remo and Chiun come in--that is, until the Master of Sinanju cuts out ... joining the opposition. It seems that black gold generates a lot of the yellow kind and someone's offering to send a little something extra to a certain Korean village ... Remo's left in a real bind. And with his mentor bent on wiping out all that the ex-cop stands for, now, more than ever, it looks as if the Destroyer and CURE are nearing the end of the road. Well, not really, it’s all a plan to stop the madness, but the novel is a little sillier than normal, and the extra length (it is a super novel, after all) doesn’t help the reader any. Usually I don’t mind the silliness, but this was a bit too much. Not one of the best.

Early Autumn Giveaway

Early Autumn Book Giveaway: Marie Lavender is offering a huge giveaway of several authors’ books on her Blog over the next few days. I am offering one print copy of TALES OF MASKS & MAYHEM V #1, and five PDF copies of it. It is under Action & Adventure. There are many more books available. Stop by and enter for free giveaways. No one has asked for my book yet (hint, hint). http://marielavender.blogspot.com/2017/09/400th-anniversary-post-early-autumn-mega-book-giveaway.html

Dead Sea Submarine

Colonel Tobin’s Private Army #1: “Dead Sea Submarine” by Alan Caillou. The private army consists of the colonel, Matthew Tobin, his Son, Major Paul Tobin, Captain Rick Meyers, Major Bramble, Cass Fragonard, Ahmed Idriss, Edgar Jefferson, and many others that will be used throughout the series. Some will die along the way, but these are pretty well study. In addition, there are two main women, Pamela Charles and Betty de Hass, behind the scenes; Charles is Colonel Tobin’s all-around house keeper and help mate; Betty is a mapmaker. Other women are agents set in many trouble spot, keeping the colonel advised on happenings. In this first adventure Colonel Tobin has been hired to locate a submarine being pulled through the desert by camels, with missiles aimed at Israel. His men are in place, and finally locate its movements and know its destination, the Dead Sea. The Arabs plan on launching the submarine and keeping it underwater until night, then strike at Israel, finally destroying them as a nation. But Tobin’s private army never fails. A really nice read.

The Corsican Cross

Adrano For Hire #1: “The Corsican Cross” by Michael Bradley. Johnny Adrano was running numbers for the Mafia by age 14, and before he finished high school he was collecting and enforcing for the mob. His patrone sent him to Harvard for an education and to become a lawyer, but now he was merely a button for Don Carmelo Tirizzi, and going nowhere. Sitting in on a meeting with the New York Dons, they discussed eliminating the New Jersey Don, Samuel Benacci who had cornered the heroin trade. Johnny decides it’s time he made his move and contact Don Benacci with a plan. This was an interesting series to start with. First, we have the Mafia without outside interference, just their own inside network of hoods and killers. Johnny Adrano was patterned somewhat after Johnny Cool, but fails to capture that novel. Most of the story is slow, though when there is action, it is pretty good. Johnny disguises himself as a rare book dealer, which was a neat angle, then travels to Marseille, France where he contacts the Corsicans handling the heroin shipments to America. It was a fun read, just slow in parts.