tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29405780273639020732024-02-18T21:39:32.021-08:00Savage TalesIn the tradition of the rip-roaring adventures of Doc Savage and the worlds of Conan and John Carter, adventure and thrills are the order of the day when you venture into the land of SAVAGE TALES.Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.comBlogger443125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-48590510610966723082016-08-21T13:40:00.001-07:002016-08-21T13:40:58.275-07:00Pulp of the Week - The Explorers Guild Vol.1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Explorer's Guild Volume One</b></span></div>
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by</div>
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JON BAIRD</div>
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with</div>
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KEVIN COSTNER</div>
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and</div>
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STEPHEN MEYER</div>
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Illustrated by RICK ROSS</div>
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The 2015 novel, The Explorers Guild is a beautiful book written by Jon Baird with input and collaboration by actor / director Kevin Costner. It is extensively illustrated by Rick Ross. The book is a 770 page hardcover and a thing of beauty. The story follows a young Corporal Buchan in the waning days of the Great War. He is in the Cavalry, and sent on a mission that goes far beyond anything he could have imagined. There are secret cities, treacherous voyages, dashing flappers, secret passages, majestic airships and villainous rogues. <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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The book mixes images and text freely is a wonderful way. The text and art really do support each other well and both are used to drive the narrative forward.</div>
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While the book is thick at 770 pages, the narrative moves at a breakneck pace and the art is used brilliantly to save text and enhance the experience. It is not either a graphic novel or a traditional novel, but it is a wonderful book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I picked it up on the discount table at Barnes and Noble, autographed!<br />
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-67452236544479626012016-06-01T13:48:00.000-07:002016-08-21T13:56:57.477-07:00Savage Tale - Seven Tigers<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">SEVEN TIGERS</span></span></span></span></b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Art - Mike Fyles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">July 17, 1934</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The first
tiger surprised Helene Vaughn. The young aviatrix was trying on outfits in a
small dressing room at the Robinson</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s department store in Beverly Hills. She
put on a cute Tartan plaid skirt and short-sleeved white top she hoped to wear to
her pal Martha Mansfield’s birthday party. She opened the dressing room door to
get the sales girl’s opinion.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The girl wasn’t there. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">A tiger looked up at Helene and snarled.
Helene screamed, jumped back, and slammed the door in the beast’s face.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Moments
later she heard the sales girl come running, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“What’s the problem,
Miss…?” The young woman screamed - apparently she saw the problem - screamed
again, and ran off.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
grabbed her purse, stepped up on the dressing room bench and peeked over the
thin wall. The tiger sniffed at the crack under the door. Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
eyes were as big as saucers. She moved to the side and looked over the wall
into the neighboring changing room.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">An older
woman looked up at Helene indignantly, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Do you mind?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene said,
</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“No,
not really.” She looked back in her changing room and saw tiger paws pulling at
the flimsy changing room door. Helene turned back and smiled at the woman below
her and said, “I’ll need your room for a minute…” </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The tiger got both paws hooked on the top
of her door and pulled itself up. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
flipped over the partition into the neighboring room just as the tiger tore the
door off</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The beast saw Helene disappear and snarled.
Helene scrambled across the dressing room and over the next wall. The tiger
returned to the corridor and followed: jumping on one door after the next,
getting there just in time to see Helene go over the next divider.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
reached the last changing room and was relieved that it was empty. The beast
tore at the door. Helene popped up to see that she was at the end of the narrow
hall. Trapped. The tiger batted at the door. It wouldn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
last long.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
jumped up on the partition to go back the way she came from. The tiger smashed
in the door. Helene ran across the top edge of the dressing room walls. Women
shrieked. The tiger scrambled after Helene. The other women, some barely dressed,
scattered screaming into the store.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
leaped down in the last room and opened the door just as the tiger scrambled
over the wall. The Bengalese beast lunged at her. She slammed the door on its
head and it went down in a heap, out cold.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The Ladies
Department Manager rushed in. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Oh, thank goodness, you’ve saved us all.
And made yourself two hundred smackers.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene was taken aback, “What are you
talking about?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I just heard on the radio. The Barham
African Adventure Show’s got a two hundred dollar reward for each of their
escaped tigers.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Great!” </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene gave her a cockeyed grin, “</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Wait… Each tiger? How
many are there?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Seven, they had a truck accident, <span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif;">they and escaped</span></span><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="line-height: 120%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">…”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Never mind. One down. Make sure to secure
him. I don’t know how this one got in here, but I bet the others aren’t far off.”
Helene grinned as she ran out of the store.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Wilshire
Boulevard was busy in mid-afternoon but there was no sign of the tigers. Helene
had no trouble hailing a cab. She climbed in the hack and barked to the driver,
</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Griffith
Airfield! There’s an extra fin in it for you if you make it quick!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Sure thing, Miss!” He stomped on the
accelerator.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Twenty-five
harrowing minutes and a couple of stops later they arrived at the small
airfield. Helene paid the cabbie and ran with her packages to her small plane.
A wiry, middle-aged mechanic met her there.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“What’s the hurry, Vaughn?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Six tigers, Peavy.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Six? Radio said there were seven…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
grinned, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Bagged one at the Robinson’s. Knocked out cold. I called the
Circus from there to claim that one.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Nice work. They were lucky you were
there.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“It didn’t feel lucky at the time… then I
heard about the reward. Two hundred bucks a piece. That will go a long way
toward the dream…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavey
frowned. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Awww, you’re not still thinking about that are you? Too damn
dangerous.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“It’s my dream and you know it!” Helene
drew herself up straighter. “I will be the first pilot to fly solo across the
heart of Africa”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The mechanic
smiled. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Sometimes
dreams should remain just that…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Shut up, Peavy. I need a pistol and a
net.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You’re not gonna kill ‘em, are you?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
smirked, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Not unless I have to. I picked up a tranq rifle on the way
over.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Aww right!” He headed for the hanger and
Helene followed with her gear.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
plane was a stubby little number - an old but well cared for Spad XIII. Helene
had painted her a dusty pink and white and called her “Frenchie.” Helene pulled
her aviatrix suit and helmet out of the storage compartment on the plane,
stripped to her skivvies, and put them on.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
returned as Helene finished changing. He handed her his old service pistol,
ammo, and the net. She strapped on the pistol and loaded the rest into the open
cockpit.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Get me airborne!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy ran to
the front of the plane and Helene scrambled into the crowded cockpit. She threw
the ignition switch and eased the throttle back. Peavy threw the propeller and
the old Spad rumbled to life. The mechanic pulled the wheel chocks, smiled at
Helene and gave her the thumbs up. Helene pulled the throttle open and the
plane rattled into the sky.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
watched her leave and shook his head, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“One day that dame is gonna get herself in
real trouble, flying off… worse than that Secord kid…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
pulled hard on the stick and banked over the Hollywood Hills past that damn hideous,
gigantic real estate sign. It was already starting to fall apart. She still
couldn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
believe the city let them put it up. Well, at least it gave her a good
landmark.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She hoped the big cats would stick
together. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">As she reached Beverly
Hills she circled slowly - watching and listening. Sure enough, before long
there was honking. She descended to fifty feet while she watched the traffic.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Everything
was normal until she reached the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo
Drive. Traffic was snarled and people leaped out of their cars and scattered.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
grabbed her radio mic. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“This is Frenchie One. Peavy, are you
there?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">After a long
static filled silence, the mechanic got on the radio. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“What
you got, Vaughn?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Call the Beverly Hills PD and tell them
those cats are at Santa Monica and Rodeo…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Roger that.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Wait -Never mind. They bolted across Santa
Monica… Headed North East.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Roger that…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene lost
them in the thick vegetation of the Beverly Hills estates. She flew in wide
circles, spotting the cats a few times as they headed North East. She never saw
more than five at a time.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The cats
passed under the HOLLYWOOD LAND sign that Helene had flown over. They followed the
road to the radio broadcast tower. Helene stayed with them, circling. The tigers
headed East as they crossed the ridge. They were soon in heavy brush and headed
for the scrubby trees.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“How’s it going, Vaughn?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“They’re still headed North East.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
grunted, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Crap. Them golf courses will be full of players on a nice day
like this…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Yeah, I’m gonna set down there.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Head back here and we’ll drive in.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene said,
</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Negative.
I’m not gonna lose ‘em. I’ll put Frenchie down on the links and bag those
kitties.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I still think you should come here, but
I’ll meet you there…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Thanks.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy warned, “Watch yourself… Those cats
are smart.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene threw
the Spad into a looping turn and buzzed her prey. The cats were startled and
she buzzed them again, trying to push them away from the golf course clubhouse.
They scrambled along the hillside, but a few kept going toward the links.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
circled once to lock in the tigers</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’ location and then headed for the 7th hole.
She saw the fairway was free. The biplane descended. Helene buzzed twenty feet
over the tee box. A foursome ducked and cursed. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">A golf ball
ricocheted off the cockpit as Helene eased off speed. She set down on the manicured
grass. The golfers yelled at her for being a hazard, then just played through.
Another ball hit the plane and bounce off into the rough.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
turned on the golfers and yelled, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Watch it!
This plane’s expensive!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Three of the
foursome caught up as her plane rolled to a stop. The other man chased his ball
into the rough. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“What’s the meaning of this?” the tallest
man said.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Any of you duffers seen a big cat?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The golfers
laughed. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Aww, pretty lady lost her kitty?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Not exactly. You see…”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“AHHHH!” </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The duffer in the rough screamed.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
leaped out of her plane, rifle in hand, while the golfers gawked. She pushed a
tranquilizer round into the rifle as she charged toward the golfer in the waist
high grass. He screamed again and ran toward her. Helene shouldered the rifle.
The man panicked and dove into the grass.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">BLAM! The
rifle fired just as a tiger leaped out of the grass toward the cowering man.
The heavy beast flattened him. He screamed and struggled, but after a moment
the cat lay still.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The other
golfers applauded. Their friend under the tiger yelled, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Hey,
can you get this damned thing offa me?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
laughed and said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Why, you’re welcome, sir. No, it was no
trouble to land my plane and save your life. Pictures? I don’t have time.” She
marched off.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The men
stood in silence with mouths agape.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The cargo
door in the side of her plane opened and Helene pulled one of the thick rope
nets out and tightly wrapped the big cat. Then she jumped on the wing, reached
in the cockpit and called Peavey. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Hey, Helene, how’s it going?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Great, I just bagged number two in the
rough on the 7th fairway. Bring the truck over.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Roger that, I saw you flyin’ in, and I’m almost
there.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
turned around and saw Peavy</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s stake-bed truck rumbling down the
fairway. She smiled as he pulled up. “Peavy!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">He jumped
down from the cab and smiled at the men surrounding Helene. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well,
I see you found a crowd. Hello boys - why don’t you help me load this kitty on
the truck?</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The men pitched
in as Helene jogged past the rough and off the golf course onto the rugged
hillside.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I see how it is,” one of the golfers said,
“You do the work and she takes a powder.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavey said,
</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Yea,
a powder. I don’t see any of you guys going after those tigers.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">A duffers
jaw dropped, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Tigers? You mean there is another one of these beasts around?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“No…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Thank god,” the tallest man said.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
grinned. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“There’s not another <i>one</i>
of these beasts around. There’s <i>five</i>
more tigers out there, nearby, and hungry.” Peavy spun quickly. “There’s one!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The golfers shrieked, threw their clubs and
ran for the clubhouse.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy couldn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
stop laughing as he walked over to check on Helene’s Spad.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The rocky
ground slipped under Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s feet as she climbed. There was a snarl above
her. She looked up and saw a female tiger lounging on a rock about twenty feet
above her. The rock stood in front of a sheer rock face. There was little
choice for the tiger but to come at her. Helene unslung the tranq rifle and
while she was off balance, the tiger pounced. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The gun was
knocked loose and the cat and Helene went sliding down the scree. They tumbled
over each other and finally separated as they slid to a stop near the mouth of
a cave. The tiger scrambled in. Helene smiled as she got to her feet. Bronson
Cave was a leftover mining tunnel that was used in movie shoots all the time. She
had been there before.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I know something you don’t know.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene rustled her feet in the rocks, took a
few steps toward the cave and then silently backed away. She moved as quietly
as she could over the boulders, headed alongside the rocky outcrop. She reached
a second opening into the cave. Helene shouldered her rifle and moved in as
silently as she could. She hugged the wall to prevent her being a silhouette
against the bright opening and crept forward. She reached a fork and went left,
keeping to the wall. For a moment the place was black as pitch; then dim light
shone ahead. Helene kept to the wall.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">A low
rumbling breath froze the aviatrix in her tracks. She breathed silently through
her mouth, knowing full well that the cat could surely smell her.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She crept
slowly toward the cat, favoring stealth over speed. Then she heard it. Another
tiger. Behind her. She whirled around and fired, catching the leaping tiger in
the neck. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The tiger</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
chest collided with the tranq rifle’s barrel and knocked Helene over. The big
cat landed on her and pawed at her, but the beast was getting groggy. Helen
groped blindly for the rifle. Her fingers found it in the dirt. She pulled the rifle
between herself and the cat and pried it off her. She dug in her pocket for another
dart and jammed it in the gun. She whirled around looking for the other tiger.
Nothing.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She pinned
her back against the cave wall and froze, listening. Silence. She waited.
Helene heard the faintest rustle of paw on the gravel behind her. She slowly
turned. Silence was everything now. She
stared into the dark. Waiting. Listening. She saw the faintest glint of an eye
and fired as the tiger lunged. Moments later, the tiger was out cold. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene took
advantage of her adrenaline and ran most of the way back to the plane.
Unfortunately when she burst through the brush onto the fairway, Peavey, her
plane, and his truck were all gone.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Dammit! Where, he go?” </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She whirled
around, looking for something, anything that would help. A hundred yards away
she saw the back side of the clubhouse. A garage door rolled up and a greenskeeper</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
cart rolled out. She ran for it. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Fifteen
seconds later she arrived as the old man was shutting the door. Helene hopped
into the idling cart, put her rifle in the back, and pressed the gas. The motor
sputtered and blared, but she was on her way. The old man yelled and cursed,
but Helene didn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t look back.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The cart was
much faster than walking and narrow enough to navigate the rugged trails. She
soon arrived back at Bronson Cave.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The cats
were gone. Helene carefully looked around the small cave, thinking the animals
might have crawled away. As she got to the smaller of the two rear exits, a
motor blared to life back at the front of the cave.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Her eyes probed
in the dark frantically. She managed to not bash her head in her frantic exit.
As she reached the cave’s narrow opening she raised the tranq rifle. A
three-wheeled open Cushman cart roared by. Helene fired. Her aim was true and
the driver grabbed at his shoulder. It took him a few moments to get the dart
out.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene ran
as fast as she could. The man in the Cushman swerved and weaved. The tigers
flopped around in the back of the cart. Finally, the man slumped forward and
the cart stopped. Helene caught up to him and jumped into the Cushman cart,
pushing the man into the other seat.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene sped
off down the trail. She was at the clubhouse in no time. The back was all
closed up, so she went around front.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
rumbled in, parked, and made sure that the cats were still secure. It was only
then that she became aware of her surroundings. Golfers on the practice green were
staring at her. That stare. Helene looked down and saw that her blouse was ripped
and filthy, but more interestingly to the men, it was open to her waist and her
bra wasn’t much better shape.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“What? You boys never seen a lady before?
Get over it.” She pulled her shirt shut as best she could and marched across
the green and into the “Nineteenth Hole” bar at the clubhouse.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She kept
marching until she was behind the bar and dialing the phone. The bartender
could do little but stare.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Peavy’s service, may I help you?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO? AND GET YOUR
BUTT TO THE GOLF COURSE BAR RIGHT NOW!!!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She slammed
down the phone and poured herself a gin and tonic.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The
bartender said, “You’re welcome.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Twenty
minutes later, Peavy arrived. Helene sat at an outside table on the clubhouse
veranda nursing her drink. She had tied her top shut. Peavy ran over.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene scowled at him. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“This
had better be good, Peavy. Goddamn
good.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">He gestured
at the truck and smiled. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Look in the truck.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I hope my plane isn’t in there…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Look in the truck.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene held
on to her drink and walked to the back of the truck and pulled down the gate.
There were two tigers tied up in there. She kissed Peavy on the mouth. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Where
did you get that one?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well… It and another one ran out of the
rough after you took off. They were gettin’ away so I jumped in the truck to
follow them.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“And my plane?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy looked
surprised. He looked around the parking lot and on the fairway. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Huh…
The kid was poking around the airfield and he asked me where it was and I told
him. I guess he came by and picked it up.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
rolled her eyes and finished her drink. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well, we better go pick up the other ones
I darted.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The old
mechanic said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“How many did you get?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Two more. Let’s go.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">After
muscling the two tigers that were darted in the cave into the back of the
truck, Peavy headed off the golf course. Helene flipped on the radio and picked
up the mic, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Calling Frenchie One… Calling Frenchie One…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Static</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">…</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“This is not your mother, kid… You in my
plane?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Static</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">…</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Goddammit, kid do you read me?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Static</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">…</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Answer the goddamn radio or I will shove
it so far up your aa…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Go ahead, this is Frenchie…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“YOU ARE NOT FRENCHIE!!! I AM GODDAMN
FRENCHIE!!!! WHERE IS MY GODDAMN PLANE?!?!</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Flying straight and smooth at about 500
feet.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene was
livid with the sassy kid. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You get my plane to the damn airfield
RIGHT NOW!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Silence.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy looked
at Helene and back to the road. There was an explosion coming and he did not
want to be the one on the receiving end of it.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The kid
broke the silence. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I don’t think you want me to do that, at
least not right now.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
thought Helene was going to tear a muscle or something in her neck or
shoulders. She was briefly speechless as her muscles writhed around while she
searched for words. The silence didn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t last long. “WHY THE HELL NOT?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">It didn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
take forever for the kid to reply. He underplayed it. “Because I’m flying over
two tigers right now.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene burst
out laughing. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“All right, you got me. I’ll meet you at the airfield and you
can give me my plane back.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The kid
said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“No.
I’m not kidding. I’m tracking two of the tigers as we speak.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
anger deflated. She took a couple of breaths. “OK kid, stick with them, those
are the last two. Where are they?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Working their way up the Los Angeles River.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
sighed. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“We’re
on the way. Keep on them.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy raced
up Riverside and Helene hung out the window searching for her plane. After ten
minutes, Helene lost patience. She grabbed the radio mic. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“What
the Hell is going on up there, kid?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Nuthin…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy looked
over at Helene. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was moving, but no words were
coming out. He muttered, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Oh, boy…” </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene stared daggers at the mechanic. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy continued, “Be nice…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
closed her eyes for a moment prior to thumbing the mic on. She took a deep
breath. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Where
are you and where are the tigers?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well… They went under some trees about ten
minutes ago and now I’m not sure…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You lost them?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I guess so… Sorry…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well you better find them Goddamn quick or
you will never be able to find or remove my boot from up your backside. I will
never give you another flying lesson and I will never…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
grabbed the mic out of her hands and threw it to the floor. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Just
so you don’t say something you’ll regret later…” Helene’s eyes were daggers for
a moment, then softened to simple frustration.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The kid cut
in, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Sorry.
I’m sorry Helene. I’ll keep looking…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene retrieved the mic from Peavy’s hands
and said, “Thanks, kid.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy continued
driving on Riverside for a few more minutes. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
looked at him and said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“They could be anywhere. We might as well
head back to the airfield and take care of the ones we’ve got.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
smiled. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You
got it.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene and
Peavy drove in silence. She stared out at the scrub covered hills. Her mind
drifted off, imagining she was taking off from the Liberian capital, Monrovia,
and heading East over the dark African continent. She wanted that dream so
badly, and soon it would be true. Soon… </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">What was
that poking in her side? Her mind returned to Peavy</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
truck… He was saying something…</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Back to Earth, Helene… ARE YOU WITH US?!?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She shook
the lingering dream off. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Yeah, I’m here.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Good. Did you hear that last
transmission?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene looked down.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well,
I guess not. There was some radio chatter from the Zookeepers. Something about
the keepers spotting a couple of tigers loose in the zoo and naturally they thought
their animals had escaped, so they opened up the enclosure to try and herd them
back in.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene finished the thought, “So now their
own tigers are loose as well.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
shook her head, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Great… So now there’s two extra tigers out
there… Well, at least we know where they are…”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy pulled
into the Zookeeper’s parking lot. Helene grabbed her rifle and the rest of the
tranq rounds; there were only five left. She put the box of traditional ammo in
her bag as well. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy gave
her a sharp look. She said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Just in case…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">They heard
screaming and ran toward the zoo.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">People were
frantic as they ran out of the zoo. Mothers dragged their children. Fathers
carried theirs. A young couple saw Helene and Peavy. The woman said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Stop!
Don’t go! Tigers on the loose! Keeper attacked!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
brandished her rifle and said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Don’t worry about me, sister! I’ve already
bagged five tigers today!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The couple</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
jaws dropped and they ran off.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene and
Peavy ran against the tide of frantic zoo visitors. They soon arrived at a large
park area in the middle of a rough circle of rocky enclosures and large cages.
The crowd was gone, and so were the keepers.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">They soon
found the tiger cage. It was a low, wide simulated hill with a deep trench in
front where the animals spent the day, but there was a much larger section out
of view of the public. Helene ran to a gate marked, KEEPERS ONLY, and pushed
through.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> Inside the Keepers area, men were brandishing
long poles with a ring at the end, searching for the escapees.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helen
shouted at a man nearby. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Have you caught any?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The man
snapped, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You see any in that cage?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“No.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“So get the hell out of here, what are ya,
reporters?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Nope, but those circus tigers are mine -
ya hear?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Go on lady, get out! This is dangerous.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene stood
her ground. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Yeah? How many tigers have you bagged today? Huh?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The rugged
and not unhandsome keeper looked at her sheepishly and said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“None.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“And how many did you lose?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Well… two…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
laughed warmly. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I thought so… I didn’t lose any and I’ve
bagged five of those circus tigers already, so go suck an egg. I’m getting my
last two, and if I happen to get yours, call it a gift. And stay the hell out
of my way.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She stormed
off between enclosures toward the wooded hills.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy looked
at the zoo keeper and said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Sorry. She can be a little headstrong now
and then…” The mechanic ran after Helene. The keeper followed and smiled,
shaking his head.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Soon enough Helene
came to a tall iron fence. Peavy caught up to her there. He said, “Too tall for
the tigers to climb, with nothing to grip.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene marched
uphill.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy
pointed along the fence downhill. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“They could’ve gone down there…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You wish.” She kept marching uphill along
the fence. A few minutes later Helene stopped and shot a look at Peavy that
forced him to silence. She carefully looked around. Trees and rocks. She
waited. Minutes passed. They waited.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy got
antsy. He whispered, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Look, I’ll go back and see if they’ve
caught any yet…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene almost silently said, “You will shut
up and not move.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“But…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Her look
silenced him. He went pale. She turned slowly at the waist - brought up her
rifle. She sighted down the barrel just past a large rock. She stood there
frozen for more than two minutes. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Peavy couldn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
contain himself.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">He
whispered, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I don’t see a damn…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The tiger
burst out from behind the rock, although on the opposite side from where Helene
was sighting. She adjusted her aim as the striped beast charged, and fired. The
dart hit it squarely in the chest just seconds before the tiger landed atop
Peavy. The man fought, the cat smacked him in the head with a paw. Peavy saw
stars.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helen dove
on the beast, straddling it; grabbed it around the neck and tried to pull it
off the mechanic. The beast fought back, but Helene could feel it weakening.
She also noticed a metal tag on one ear. Helene released what she now knew was
a zoo tiger as it lost consciousness.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The not
unhandsome zookeeper caught up to them. Helene was still straddling the tiger.
He looked at her, jaw agape. She snarked, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“You’re welcome. Have you guys managed to
catch any?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">He closed
his mouth and looked at the ground. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“No.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She sighed
and walked away, heading to the brush nearest the tiger enclosure.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The young
zookeeper asked Peavy, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Is she always like that?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Oh, no,” the mechanic assured him. “That
was nice. You don’t want to see nasty.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
almost stepped on the next tiger as she rounded the corner to the back of the
honey bee exhibit. The tiger calmly looked at her, tongue out, cooling itself.</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">
She froze. Started backing slowly. A low rumble came from deep within the
tiger. Whiskers pulled back. Muscles tightened. Helene whipped her rifle down
as a shield, barely catching the beast’s neck as it threw her backward. The
beast landed on her, snarling. It roared furiously and swiped a massive paw at
her, tearing the rifle out of her hands. Helene spun from the beasts blow and
added her own energy to it. She landed a powerful boot on the side of its head.
The tiger rolled and flopped and ran off. Helene grabbed her rifle and gave
chase.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The keeper
caught up with her and together they chased the missing tiger. He said, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“That’s
one of yours for sure, I’ve never seen him before.” They chased the tiger up a
hill and onto the wide oval lawn that surrounded Monkey Island. The tiger
looked back and roared at his pursuers. The chimps and spider monkeys shrieked
and howled, gibbons hooted.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene took a shot that barely missed, the
dart tore through the tiger’s ear. It howled and leaped over the cement wall
into the moat surrounding Monkey Island. The monkeys scrambled up their steel
pipe structure, screaming curses and throwing feces at the tiger. The Bengal
beast swam out of the moat and shook the water off. He roared at the apes.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene asked, “Can he get out of there?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I don’t think so.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The tiger plunged back into the water, and
tried to jump the wall, but couldn’t make it. He spun and snarled, but was
trapped.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Helene smiled, “That’s mine. Get him in a
cage before he has a monkey for lunch. I’m going after my last one!” She ran
off.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The keeper laughed and shook his head,
smiling as he watched the aviatrix march off.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The tiger
spun and snarled, tried to swat the dart out. The effort was fruitless; the
tranq dart</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s bite had already done it’s work.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene barked,
</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Get
that one in a cage. I’m going f or my last one!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The keeper
yelled after her, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Don’t be afraid to bag mine if you see
him!” </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The aviator
yelled back over her shoulder, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Fat chance! And if you catch mine, I’ll
tranq you and steal it away. That cat is mine!”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The keeper
laughed and shook his head, smiling as the aviatrix marched off. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
looked uphill past the exhibits onto the hillside. She thought she saw some
movement, but was it the wind, a searcher, or a tiger? She didn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
know, but she headed up past the cages full of restless animals and into the
low brush. She slowed her pace, listened more, kept alert. There was a fire
road ahead. She reached it and followed it up hill. Far ahead she saw a flash
of orange and black in the dry brush. She rushed forward, knowing that she was tapping
into the last of her reserves. She pushed harder, not caring any more, just
needing to get this tiger. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
chased the animal up the hill and through the brush for twenty minutes, getting
closer to the animal, but also close to utter exhaustion. She could see the
beast was wearing down, too. She kept on it, up and up the canyon. She reached
for her water, but the canteen was empty. She tossed it aside. Her sweat soaked
shirt was next, leaving her in a drenched white tee shirt. Her pants would have
been next, but she knew she couldn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t take the time. She caught glimpses of
orange and black; she knew she was gaining. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">A steep rock
face lay ahead. Helen e saw the tiger leap up the rocks and claw its way up to
a high ledge. Even in her exhaustion, Helene couldn</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’t
help but grin. It was a dead end. The nearest footholds were too far away for
her or the beast. The tiger looked back
at her and snarled as she drew closer. Helene raised her rifle and sighted
through the scope, trying to see if the beast was one of hers or one of the
zoos. It was too hard to tell and she wasn’t going to stop now. She would not
let it get away. She kept advancing and was about forty yards off when the cat
grew more agitated. It leaped desperately for the next ledge. At full strength
it would have made it, but in his weakened state, the beast missed by a few inches.
It clawed desperately at the rocks, but fell snarling into the thick brush at
the base of the cliff.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">As she saw
the creature leap, Helene ran forward, brush and briars be damned. Her heart
sank as the beast crashed into the rocks and dry brush. She fired two shots
from her pistol into the ground hoping the zookeeper would find them. Brush
tore into her legs, but she reached the animal. It rolled its head to look at
her, but otherwise lay still. She saw the zoo</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s ear tag while she
cradled its head. She stroked the animal’s fur gently while she looked it over.
At least one leg was broken and a branch had pierced the animal’s ribcage. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The
zookeeper arrived. He opened a canteen and poured water in her hands. The tiger
weakly lapped at it. Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s eyes welled with tears. The keeper put
his arm around her and they sat quietly until the magnificent animal passed.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I’ll take care of her,” the keeper said. “This
isn’t your fault, you know. You need to go after the others.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
looked over to him, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Thank you. I’m Helene…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The
zookeeper smiled softly, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“John…”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She gave the
tiger a last gentle stroke on the head and brushed John</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
cheek. He said, “Good hunting.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
circled along the ridge, her eyes straining to see any movement in the brush.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Where are you…” She kept moving. Then she
saw it. A slight waver in the brush. She altered direction to intersect it,
whatever it was. Helene was silent.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The
slightest movement in the brush guided her. Her angle was taking her across the
mountain to get ahead of whatever it was that was moving through the brush. She
was soon parallel with the movement below her. The rustling was reaching a
clearing. Helene braced herself on a boulder and took aim at the clearing. Her
finger touched the trigger, patiently waiting to squeeze. The soft rustling
reached the clearing. Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s finger began to tighten, squeezing. Then
she suddenly relaxed it. Branches<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46"> in her view</ins></span>
became antlers. She let out a sigh and lowered her rifle.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">A tiger
slammed hard into her. Helene</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">rifle</ins></span><span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">gun</del></span>
flew from her grip <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">and</ins></span><span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">as</del></span> hunter
and prey tumbled down through the brush and then onto a steep, rocky hillside.
The intertwined pair smashed into a boulder, the tiger taking the brunt of the
impact, but Helene screamed as her <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">wrist, her </ins></span>right
wrist, took a hard hit. The tiger <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">thr</ins></span>ew<span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">threw</del></span>
a shoulder into her and she rolled another twenty yards through the rocks.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The beast
pursued, now gone fully wild. It leaped at the aviatrix. She dodged, but
barely.It slid down the rocky slope. Helene dove after it without thinking. She
hit it hard and they rolled further down in the rocks. The tiger <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">hit</ins></span><span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">smashed
into</del></span> a group of trees and stopped. As Helene slid she got her feet
in front of her and used her arms to steer straight for the beast. She drew her
legs up against her and kicked as hard as she could at the tiger</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’s
head. The beast was still a bit dazed from hitting the tree, but it managed to
dodge the brunt of her kick. She slammed into its side.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The tiger
spun and they were now face to face; <span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">ragged </del></span>beauty
to snarling beast. Helene pushed away, trying to get clear of it. She paid for
that space by giving the tiger a clear shot at her head. She saw stars. Now the
tiger was on her, pinning her down with its mass of tightly wound muscle. She
was staring right into its snarling maw. She thought frantically. A gleam came
to her eye. She could barely</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> move. It was only a few inches to her
right thigh pocket. Which was snapped shut.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">BLAM! A loud
shot cracked and something smacked her in the calf. BLAM! Something whizzed
past her head. The tiger turned and her hand was free, pocket unsnapped, tranq
dart in hand. <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">She</ins></span><span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Peter%20Miller" datetime="2016-05-31T10:46">Helene</del></span> felt
woozy as she stabbed the muscular beast with the dart, hoping for the best as
she drifted into unconsciousness.
</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> * * *</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The world
was a dark, murky confusion of babbles and muted sounds. She listened to the
noises for a few moments and slipped back into the quiet. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene awoke
in a bed. Her eyes were open, but it was dark. She lay there in the quiet dark
place. <i>Alive, </i>she thought. <i>I guess I</i></span><i><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">’m
alive. </span></i><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">She tried to sit up, but
it hurt too much. She gasped in pain.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">There was a
light knock and a door gently swung open. A sillouette appeared, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Helene?
Are you alright?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
pondered that. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Not sure, doctor. I hurt. A lot. Can’t sit
up.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The figure
at the door chuckled, </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Not surprising. I’m not a doctor, well,
not the kind you’re thinking of… I’m not surprised you’re hurting… I mean, you
won a wrestling match with </span><i><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Panthera Tigris Tigris</span></i><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">.</span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“I don’t feel like the winner. How is she?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">The
zookeeper walked up to the bed and turned on a dim light. He sat down in a
chair by the bed. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“She’s alive. In captivity. They all are.
That was one hell of a day you had.” </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene
cracked a tiny smile, then grimaced. </span><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Had? How long was I out?”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Three days…” He took her hand. She didn’t
seem to mind. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“Oh, crap,’’ Helene thought of something, “So
who got their hands on my reward?”</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">“No one Peavy’s keeping it safe for you.
All of it. Plus a little extra from the zoo. I saw to that.”</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;">Helene smiled and drifted back to sleep. She
dreamed of flying across the magnificently green African Continent. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; line-height: 120%;"> And before
she knew it, she was.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "constantia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">copyright 2016 W. Peter Miller </span></span></div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-87008594810396490792016-05-03T16:11:00.000-07:002016-05-03T16:11:52.116-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>The Clark Tyler</b></span></span></span></div>
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In the spirit of my pulp adventure hero, Clark Tyler, I have created a cocktail in his honor. Try one next time you're reading a pulp or listening to your favorite radio drama.<br />
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Juice 1/2 a Grapefruit <br />
Juice 1 Mineola Orange (3 Tangerines may substitute)<br />
Juice 1/2 Lime<br />
1 Tablespoon Raw Sugar<br />
2 Shots Tequila<br />
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Put 6 Ice Cubes in a Shaker<br />
Pour in all the liquids and the sugar<br />
Cap the shaker and shake like Capone is on your tail.<br />
Pour into a tall glass and enjoy!!!<br />
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Goes great with Mexican food and Film Noir<br />
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<br />Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-80000269717599624662016-02-17T12:24:00.000-08:002016-02-17T12:33:40.535-08:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage - Nov 1936<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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November 1936 - Resurrection Day</div>
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Resurrection Day is a unique Doc Savage adventure for many reasons. The tale begins when Doc's five men print an announcement in all the nations' morning newspapers. The message urges the nation to look to the next day's papers for an announcement from Doc Savage. The next editions include an announcement that Doc Savage will address the nation on radio that evening. Finally, the bronze man himself speaks directly to the American people: "It is in my power to bring a dead man back to life. Only one man may be brought back to life." One person from all of history is to be chosen. Doc Savage has come forward to the public to let them have a say in who is to be resurrected.<br />
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While the public debates which person would be most worthy, and the choices are wide ranging, Doc must make the final decision. Due to the nature of creating this elixer of life, it has taken Doc 10 or more years to make enough to revive just one person. A blue ribbon panel has been chosen and after lengthy discussion, they have selected Soloman.<br />
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Well, as can be expected in a Doc Savage story, things go awry and a nefarious party swaps mummies for one of their choosing - an ancient king who's vast treasure has spent millennia hidden from even the greatest of treasure hunters and this is the man resurrected. <br />
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There is a chase and great discovery, action and thrills, that lead to ancient ruins and danger, excitement, and death.<br />
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This is a pretty good tale and I'll give it an 8.5 out of 10.<br />
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The pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer and the paperback cover is one of James Bama's best for the series.<br />
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<br />Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-52274320470655884882015-05-14T13:40:00.000-07:002015-05-14T13:41:26.668-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage Aug, Sept, Oct 1936<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well - Life has interrupted this blog….</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />While I haven’t been posting, I still have been reading (slowly) more Doc Savage stories. Here are some mini reports… </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Midas Man - August 1936 - Bantam #46</span></b> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv67O2bLS2oqhjzEWDgN60hw1rC2N3XVTGB7UC6T1TnkerkZhrjIhV8Ukgk0at9-5-SRknbCMxdDoBJ-q_8c85uFud67gD3SB-t2uJrh0EWTgPSwYAuXU8r2MoEza3NMqnQNPZWGgpcgzb/s1600/Doc+Bantam+%23046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv67O2bLS2oqhjzEWDgN60hw1rC2N3XVTGB7UC6T1TnkerkZhrjIhV8Ukgk0at9-5-SRknbCMxdDoBJ-q_8c85uFud67gD3SB-t2uJrh0EWTgPSwYAuXU8r2MoEza3NMqnQNPZWGgpcgzb/s320/Doc+Bantam+%23046.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
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This adventure is most notable for having a mind reading helmet that actually works. <br />
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There is a scene where a couple of crooks discuss what happened to a crook friend that got caught by Savage. “There’s a rumor that he don’t ever kill anybody,” explained the crook. “But he does something queer to ‘em. I know this guy that had a brother that this bronze guy got. My pal later met his own brother on the street. The poor guy didn’t even know him.” <br />
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Also Doc gas bombs a building and later has the police check on it to be sure that no one is injured (he doesn’t mention that he was the one that gassed the building, however.<br />
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At one point Ham gets hit by a bullet. “Ham’s head swam. Awful lights jumped in his eyeballs.” He was ok due to his bulletproof vest, but I liked the detail.<br />
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James Bama provided an evocative cover - the helmet is wonderfully low tech.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Cold Death - September 1936 - Bantam #21</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVmjVWtM4Om1wa69E7hyb4fqLBWHgFAxY6F_55vtJ7zYuEqm56xd6hIg7cuJzLHfjBDxpccwcL5kdPH0FIFlwWao-3Fk13Q0UWNKzBZDdFzwXc-DFNou2anzMBmR3MHIg31VjAvYQ9_Fd/s1600/Doc+Bantam+%23021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVmjVWtM4Om1wa69E7hyb4fqLBWHgFAxY6F_55vtJ7zYuEqm56xd6hIg7cuJzLHfjBDxpccwcL5kdPH0FIFlwWao-3Fk13Q0UWNKzBZDdFzwXc-DFNou2anzMBmR3MHIg31VjAvYQ9_Fd/s320/Doc+Bantam+%23021.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
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Writer Laurence Donovan brings back the Cold Light from Land of Always Night as a horrible weapon that destroys a whole city block in Manhattan.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> South Pole Terror - October 1936 - Bantam #77</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEukI8Npq1bYqqDhbbrbLtuP0q_9ngIn6M1ZE5frHTKdE0b4likr8A9ALbW1hDMeg7fMSr9DiEqzULPfGCN9Nv7U7mnt80g-XdZq7S-CDmzTGLQaS-OGUrQkDGtKcBr_uqSbNZBgHsEHLF/s1600/Doc+Bantam+%23077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEukI8Npq1bYqqDhbbrbLtuP0q_9ngIn6M1ZE5frHTKdE0b4likr8A9ALbW1hDMeg7fMSr9DiEqzULPfGCN9Nv7U7mnt80g-XdZq7S-CDmzTGLQaS-OGUrQkDGtKcBr_uqSbNZBgHsEHLF/s320/Doc+Bantam+%23077.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
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Doc and crew chase down a world threatening weapon at the South Pole. A good story by Dent and the paperback has a Fred Pfeiffer cover that also graces The Stone Man.<br />
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next up - back to full reviewsPete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-84318634044364649662014-09-15T12:07:00.001-07:002014-09-29T12:33:05.991-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage 41<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jCD4M1NQ7JPiGD3TkKBtT3v2wNlqNSqzzcdnA9V93XvfuD6FmZxIP9lE1t_m22IJlr7fQsucxVosx_rv7_uDM3rFaWVQUuN23zmpv-HiuUarhGvUj9DwKdyRUGQqiOC-pUcymgdb4yrB/s1600/doc+savage+1936.07+cleaned+smallerdone.cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jCD4M1NQ7JPiGD3TkKBtT3v2wNlqNSqzzcdnA9V93XvfuD6FmZxIP9lE1t_m22IJlr7fQsucxVosx_rv7_uDM3rFaWVQUuN23zmpv-HiuUarhGvUj9DwKdyRUGQqiOC-pUcymgdb4yrB/s1600/doc+savage+1936.07+cleaned+smallerdone.cropped.jpg" height="640" width="476" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">July 1936 - The Black Spot</span></div>
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The Black Spot starts while Pat Savage is attending a costume party
with a mobster theme at the ritzy Vandersleeve estate in tony
Westchester. The party is so high profile and the guest list so
exclusive that a newsreel cameraman is present. When the host is killed,
Pat and cameraman Red Mahoney are witnesses and get involved in a real
gangster mystery.<br />
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The Black Spot is a New York centered tale of
villainous intentions penned by Laurence Donovan. A killer has invented
an vicious and most mysterious murder technique that leaves the victim
dead with only a small black spot on their chest. The killings start out
in the ritzi suburbs of the Westchester hills outside of Manhattan. The
black spot killer quickly moves to Manhattan and continues to target
the super-rich.<br />
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This is a much smaller-scale story than
Donovan's previous effort, but ultimately far more satisfying. There is
tension here, and Donovan writes the team well, with a satisfying,
exciting finish. My favorite non-Dent Doc Adventure thus far.<br />
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The pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer and the Bantam paperback cover is by Fred Pfeiffer. I'll give The Black Spot a 9 out of 10.Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-33670990938915500762014-09-13T11:51:00.000-07:002014-09-13T11:51:37.436-07:00Pulp of the Week - Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi<br />by Rob MacGregor<br />
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<br />There is a
great used book store called Movie World in downtown Burbank that stocks a mountain of
books including plenty of Science Fiction paperbacks. The SF books cover a wall ten feet high and fifteen feet wide. In some spots they are shelved 3 books deep.<br />
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One day last year I decided to pay
attention to the novelizations that were stacked horizontally by the door. The Indiana
Jones novels caught my eye and took a look at them. They were not novelizations, but original stories. I bought a pile of them that were written
by Rob MacGregor.<br />
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<b><i>Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi</i></b> is the first of MacGregor's books. The bulk of the story takes place in 1922, but flashes back two years briefly for some antics at his college graduation.<br />
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MacGregor's series follows graduate student
Jones on an adventure that takes him from the dawn of the jazz age in Paris, to the ruins of Greece, and into an
adventure and romance or two. As the title states, Indy ends up in
Delphi where famous oracles in the ancient past would enter the caves, breathe in mystical
vapors and emerge having received prophetic visions.<br />
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Indy has been
hired (possibly just seduced) into following professor Dorian Belecamus to Greece and
into a political, ethical, and potentially fatal web of deceit and
betrayal. <br />
<br />Author MacGregor writes a great tale that despite Indy
being college age, really feels like an Indiana Jones story, not a Young
Indy story. He weaves in a few character building bits and by the end
of the tale, Grad Student Henry Jones, Jr is one step closer to being the Indy that
we know and love.<br />
<br />I highly recommend Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi. It also features a great cover by Drew Struzan, the fantastic movie poster artist, that did the Raiders One-Sheet and so many more. His cover contributes considerably to setting the tone that this is Indiana Jones. I give the book 8.5 out of 10.Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-78812174271579594662014-07-06T17:39:00.001-07:002014-07-06T17:39:26.125-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage 40<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">June 1936 - The Haunted Ocean</span></div>
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The Haunted Ocean is another Laurence Donovan tale, this time with a
lofty villian's goal: Defeating all the world's armies and using his own
to enforce world peace. The US President (FDR at this time, although not
named) telephones Doc and summons him to Washington, D.C. to discuss the disappearance of the peace commission.</div>
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At the meeting, the President stated, "The whole thing is fantastic, but it suggests such great possible calamity, it cannot be overlooked! We seem to be threatened by such a power as none of our government scientists and technicians have ever before seen."</div>
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Doc replied that science had advanced so rapidly that the threat could be genuine. "None can say what vast force can be discovered at any time. Unfortunately, the discoveries are not always made by those of balanced and straightforward minds."</div>
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The villain, The Man of Peace, seeks the same ends as the commission - to disarm everyone but themselves, although this is not acceptable to the great nations.</div>
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This was an odd story and in thinking about it, I find it is so strange that the writer and editor in 1936 would not find it strange or worry that the readers would not like the commission members to be Great Britain, France, the United States, Spain, Italy, and Germany! This is only 15 years after the Great War! William Harper Littlejohn (Doc's aide Johnny) was currently the US delegate and has gone missing.</div>
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There are plenty of planes and ships and submarines involved in the action, but I didn't find it all that engaging. I'll give Donovan's tale a 7 out of 10. The pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer, and the Bantam paperback cover is another great James Bama painting.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-41830059625548913112014-07-03T13:48:00.003-07:002014-07-03T13:51:14.599-07:00Awesome Custom Playing Cards<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/786438508/plugged-nickel-playing-cards-printed-by-uspcc">Plugged Nickel Playing Cards</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4xYfcWSRuTHchgwalHOoTHFH30E5WFzf5L8japyg8FMw9GzCZ1dzaKgVU9kgnf3KmVYUAMHgg-xUYXfFcexGe34LqWGT_aurSz1Aho-VkZtqY6zpXd-EsN5NBpP1qomVCZbLmXNJ6r_0/s1600/boxpluggednickel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4xYfcWSRuTHchgwalHOoTHFH30E5WFzf5L8japyg8FMw9GzCZ1dzaKgVU9kgnf3KmVYUAMHgg-xUYXfFcexGe34LqWGT_aurSz1Aho-VkZtqY6zpXd-EsN5NBpP1qomVCZbLmXNJ6r_0/s1600/boxpluggednickel.jpg" height="412" width="640" /></a></div>
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My friend Matt Drake has created a bitchin' pair of playing cards decks with an undead west theme. I really like these and have ordered on kickstarter already. I bought the dice, too.</div>
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So I really want all of you to go buy them so these things get made!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/786438508/plugged-nickel-playing-cards-printed-by-uspcc">Click HERE </a></span></div>
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The Rusted Tin Style</div>
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The Wanted Poster Style</div>
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Skull-erific Dice! </div>
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/786438508/plugged-nickel-playing-cards-printed-by-uspcc">Check out my friend Matt's awesome undead west playing cards on kickstarter NOW!!!</a></div>
Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-33439183289614223352014-04-27T16:09:00.001-07:002014-04-27T16:09:10.468-07:00Pulp of the Week - Green Lama: Scions<br />
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<b>The Green Lama: Scions</b> by Adam Lance Garcia</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Adam Garcia's third Green Lama tale is a terrific addition to the saga. Scions (and planned future books) are published by Moonstone Books and feature the mysterious Green Lama facing off against a bizarre, monsterous, foe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />The story begins with the crash of a passenger ship into Liberty Island. All on board are dead, save one. Dead long before the crash at their own hands. A bloodbath of unspeakable horror. A portent of Lovecraftian delights to follow in this and other adventures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />The Green Lama is joined in this adventure by Jean Farrell, Lt. Caraway, Ken Clayton, and Gary and Evangl Stewart-Brown all get involved, Jethro Dumont puts in an appearance or two as does reporter Betty Dale (from the Secret Agent X stories). She also refers to fellow reporter Din from the Planet (she is the reporter in the Foster Fade stories) and to the Spider. Adam seems to be having a ball with the references and I found it fun, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />For those interested in such things, there is a handy timeline in the back of the book that shows where Scions fits into the Lamaverse. One of the nice things about the Green Lama saga is that were only around a dozen original stories published in the pulps of the 1930s (unlike the hundreds of Shadow and Doc Savage stories which gives Garcia much less existing canon a lot of space to work in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />I will close by saying that Adam Garcia has another fun pulp tale and really gets the Green Lama and his supporting cast. I eagerly await future volumes. Enjoy this little excerpt of reporter Betty Dale speaking to Dumont's manservant, Tsarong:</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: small;"> "When are you expecting Dumont back?"</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> "I couldn't say Miss Dale, I am not his keeper."</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> "Guess we're just gonna have to wait, then." She dropped down into Jethro's desk chair. She waved at the rows and rows of books lining the walls. "Does he read all those?"</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> "Not all at once, and usually one page at a time."</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> "Now that's interesting," she said, ignoring Tsarong's quip. "By every account, our friend Dumont is little more than an immature womanizer who won't crack open anything that doesn't have two legs and here he is with more books than the Library of Alexandria."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I give "The Green Lama: Scions" a 9 out of 10 and the cover is an awesome painting of Adam by Doug Klauba. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Green-Lama-Adam-L-Garcia-ebook/dp/B00JTD8W8Q/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1398639464&sr=8-1&keywords=green+lama+scions"><span style="font-size: small;">You can buy Scions in print here</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Green-Lama-Adam-L-Garcia-ebook/dp/B00JTD8W8Q/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1398639464&sr=8-1&keywords=green+lama+scions"><span style="font-size: small;"> ebook here</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.scion.com/">4 wheels here </a></span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br />Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-82578989308798021602014-04-07T19:00:00.001-07:002014-04-07T19:04:20.712-07:00Pulp of the Week - The Return of Foster Fade<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLiVsNi6z3gbChBpBm2TLos8JmnbjuoP6AnZElPvL99JuFz8yYD0_JYQ01SBiMv5nEGrz5_QQgYzG-SocauaP7kfODjOtXpQ3Kb9RH7xKzBraIWXzEpLuDrIIjmyWPy8QgIrWMFVZFcgU/s1600/Foster+Fade+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLiVsNi6z3gbChBpBm2TLos8JmnbjuoP6AnZElPvL99JuFz8yYD0_JYQ01SBiMv5nEGrz5_QQgYzG-SocauaP7kfODjOtXpQ3Kb9RH7xKzBraIWXzEpLuDrIIjmyWPy8QgIrWMFVZFcgU/s1600/Foster+Fade+cover.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></div>
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The New Adventures of Foster Fade - Pro Se Press - Digital and Print</div>
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I picked
up this volume of pulp tales featuring one of Lester Dent's lesser known
characters for a few reasons. One, I like Dent, and two, it features a
couple of stories by Adam Lance Garcia. Garcia is one of the best of the
New Pulp writers out there and his main story in this anthology doesn't
disappoint.<br />
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For those not familiar with Foster Fade, he was
featured in a number of stories by Lester Dent prior to Dent's work on
Doc Savage. Foster Fade is a sort of Sherlock Holmes with gadgets. The
love of gadgets is the source of any similarity to Doc Savage.
Otherwise, Fade is quite different. He's tall, lanky and a bit of a
prankster. He has little time for figures of authority. And he knows just
how good he is.<br />
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Part of me wonders if Adam Garcia has modeled his
Fade a bit after the Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock, but regardless,
the character is fun and smart.<br />
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Foster Fade occupies a large
space in Planet Tower, the skyscraper in Manhattan that houses The
Planet, a very popular Manhattan daily newspaper. (Perhaps yet another
debt that the Superman creators owe Dent.) Fade has an office, living
quarters, and the laboratory where he creates his outlandish crime
solving gadgets.<br />
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The Planet gives away this prime real estate to
Fade in exchange for having exclusive access to the Spectacularist
(great word, isn't it?) and his exploits. Also included in the deal is
that writer Dinamenta Stevens has full access to Fade and is the
official writer of his tales. The relationship and banter between Din
Stevens and Foster Fade is the most fun part of these tales, and the
stories are indeed fun. Pro Se Press should be proud of this volume.<br />
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The collection opens with Adam Garcia's mystery as Fade and Din track a
cop killer that is sending Fade the murder weapons. Pro Se has put its
best foot forward and Garcia's tale is the best in this collection. The
other tales are good, but don't match the level of Garcia's prose. The
second tale, by Derrick Ferguson is the other standout.<br />
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After
reading this book of original tales, I will be seeking out the
collection of original Lester Dent stories (available from Altus Press)
as well.</div>
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I'll give The New Adventures of Foster Fade a 7 out of 10, but Garcia's first tale scores a 9, and finally, the cover by the Spectacular Mike Fyles scores a 10. Great work with dynamic characters. One of his best.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-56502227713165543692013-10-07T15:34:00.001-07:002013-10-07T15:44:32.830-07:00Pulp of the Week - Death Note<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Death Note is a great Manga series written by
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugumi_Ohba" title="Tsugumi Ohba">Tsugumi Ohba</a> and illustrated by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Obata" title="Takeshi Obata">Takeshi Obata</a> that has spawned anime, video games and live action movies in Japan. Shane Black and his writing partners are working on an American adaptation. The story follows Light Yagami, college aged son of a Tokyo police detective, after he has been given a strange notebook.<br />
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After touching the notebook, a strange demonic creature, a japanese shinigami named Ruyk, appears and stays by Light throughout much of the story. The holder of the Death Note is the only one that can see the Shinigami. This gives Light someone to talk to about the Death Note.</div>
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Light decides to test it out on convicted killers that are in prison. It works. He expands his tests to more and more people and finally sends a message, naming himself Kira, out to the world. Kira makes it clear that he will rid the world of evil, that good people need not fear him, and that he will rule this utopia.<br />
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Then it becomes clear to Light that there is another Kira, and the twists and puzzles mount. A task force is formed, with the mysterious L serving as lead detective. L has mysteries of his own and there is a battle of wits as L and Light serve on the task force. As this is a 12 book manga series, this is just the beginning.<br />
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I highly recommend Death Note. It is exciting, adventurous stuff that is exceedingly well written given the twists and turns of two geniuses in intellectual battle. <br />
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Death Note deserves a rating of 10. It is great. Warner Bros has optioned it for Shane Black to direct as an english language movie (Japanese versions already have been made) and I certainly thought it would make a great movie as I was reading the books. Check out Death Note.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw86MEjAwG7uoehqUbUjkmbxtdlDnxogmrrjIpZe37Z7n6X9GL8jvY3W6FWmiEeh76AiQCzsDOAIshK0jglcgzrj69bErGDLK4adbQRHu4myqxMZCLMaj1WgTXsuwi2W17MKtA-wI4Aoaq/s1600/0025-020.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw86MEjAwG7uoehqUbUjkmbxtdlDnxogmrrjIpZe37Z7n6X9GL8jvY3W6FWmiEeh76AiQCzsDOAIshK0jglcgzrj69bErGDLK4adbQRHu4myqxMZCLMaj1WgTXsuwi2W17MKtA-wI4Aoaq/s400/0025-020.png" width="271" /></a>Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-8072790965448673112013-09-18T10:51:00.000-07:002013-09-18T10:51:27.405-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage 39<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBcULDPlJICfC49i4KIZtFPLDAKtIjCI6A7OP-0BGmWmUu6ch0it2jbiLrqGDAfKNWYAf8yR5KSbWKYNnQdwrrBGfDws0h1Vo2XbxRx1BGfaliQaVzwdOfDYC9WxCm8wvo0Pnq9TX6zM6/s1600/DocMay1936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBcULDPlJICfC49i4KIZtFPLDAKtIjCI6A7OP-0BGmWmUu6ch0it2jbiLrqGDAfKNWYAf8yR5KSbWKYNnQdwrrBGfDws0h1Vo2XbxRx1BGfaliQaVzwdOfDYC9WxCm8wvo0Pnq9TX6zM6/s640/DocMay1936.jpg" width="438" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Seven Agate Devils - May 1936</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This Doc adventure has a couple of firsts - Doc in Los Angeles for an extended period and a bald femme fatale. The story involves a series of killings where a carved agate statue is found next to the victim. This is especially peculiar because the statue's face matches the victims.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /> After racing around Los Angeles and a faux Malibu, Doc, Monk, and Ham go to a movie location far in the desert out by Palm Springs where the trail of the agate statues has led.<br /><br />This odd and almost great adventure especially suffers from common ailment of a Doc Savage story running out of pages too fast. The authors (Lester Dent and Harold A. Davis) didn't leave enough room for an adequate conclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /> The story has thrills and chases, Pacific cliffs and western canyon hideouts. It all rushes by too fast and misses many good opportunities. Hopefully Doc and company will return to Hollywood for a proper classic movie studio adventure. This is not that.</span></div>
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For this review I read the Bantam paperback published March 1973, likely purchased new a few years after that. The evocative paperback cover is by Fred Pfeiffer. I find myself liking the Pfeiffer covers more and more. The pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer. I got the pulp image from <a href="http://mycomicshop.com/">mycomicshop.com</a>. I'll give The Seven Agate Devils a 7 out of 10 - low due to the missed chances and the utterly unsatisfying conclusion. The scenes are exciting, but the story never gelled.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-2734324035054335962013-09-13T11:56:00.002-07:002013-09-13T11:59:32.149-07:00Man LitterI saw this on the way to work today.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh24ZSlloSBhnrtjhyphenhyphenvC-K2lpd4KrcIpAxdQvrvdMua5AfehV5x-NpCRljN7vuRevgFK-qS3QSEL4ahVjd4zkmUsbyiv8isMdFUN1rVjPoVvo2Oo2k4LE_xi-KxpxucYdf6JKh3X3ErmCj/s1600/manlittercloser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh24ZSlloSBhnrtjhyphenhyphenvC-K2lpd4KrcIpAxdQvrvdMua5AfehV5x-NpCRljN7vuRevgFK-qS3QSEL4ahVjd4zkmUsbyiv8isMdFUN1rVjPoVvo2Oo2k4LE_xi-KxpxucYdf6JKh3X3ErmCj/s320/manlittercloser.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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It seems there is a new product on the market called Man Litter... For the man on the go.<br />
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As it turns out, this is an ad for adult swim... I saw it and thought, wtf? Well, they got me to look it up... Success!<br />
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I know this is off topic, but hey...<br />
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<br />Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-11017071275325515272013-09-08T16:15:00.003-07:002013-09-08T16:15:26.736-07:00Doc Savage Comic Series Coming From Dynamite!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsnPfQMU-9SZOR-An5_I40-HMbjlTaexP7gPUb34aijuL_asTP3A9Qtm8m_BGy6zEfcr6pLnvDBHqAlwKQJfnm1e_M1YsdWPQOAna3TSOAfSnckQZn7dzlk5f7WqWgm9SHKmkRxBirqQl/s1600/DocDynamiteBantam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsnPfQMU-9SZOR-An5_I40-HMbjlTaexP7gPUb34aijuL_asTP3A9Qtm8m_BGy6zEfcr6pLnvDBHqAlwKQJfnm1e_M1YsdWPQOAna3TSOAfSnckQZn7dzlk5f7WqWgm9SHKmkRxBirqQl/s400/DocDynamiteBantam.jpg" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg746wPzZih6YVRKBaZMGRc5c3I341pgc5Z735dSnqQi4WDEqC3RY7MtVWBugBF80t6S9WiUYkFa4QLYsVcudlpsp2FtzzseQ_8V3fhA02FjvHSBztnzc5ABpNdSMxGn05m7UjgtidYl-O1/s1600/Doc1dynamite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg746wPzZih6YVRKBaZMGRc5c3I341pgc5Z735dSnqQi4WDEqC3RY7MtVWBugBF80t6S9WiUYkFa4QLYsVcudlpsp2FtzzseQ_8V3fhA02FjvHSBztnzc5ABpNdSMxGn05m7UjgtidYl-O1/s400/Doc1dynamite.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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Doc Savage Comic Books are on the way. Again. Doc has appeared in may comic book series, most recently in well meant, but not well received run from DC. Doc first appeared in comics in the 1940s from Street and Smith. Following that were runs in Gold Key, Marvel, DC, Millennium, Dark Horse, and DC again.<br />Now, at Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend, <a href="http://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/">Dynamite Comics</a>, in an announcement that shouldn't have shocked anyone who likes pulp comics, announced at least one Doc Savage comic book series starting in Dec 2013. (I say at least one because in the past Dynamite has run multiple series featuring the same character at the same time. These Dynamite comics will feature new stories with the Man of Bronze. The ambitious series will bw written by Chris Roberson (his last name coincidentally only an 'r' away from the original series house author name Robeson) will start with a story that takes Doc from 1933 to the present. Roberson was previously the writer of the Shadow and the multi-pulp-hero series Masks for Dynamite.<br /><br />The series will be illustrated by Bilquis Evely, a Brazilian, and the samples on her page on deviant art.com look very good. I wonder if she is the first woman to illustrate Doc. The covers will be by Dynamite pulp regular, Alex Ross, and the ones for the first couple of issues (seen above) look great. Below you can see some spectacular samples of Bilquis Evely's art from her <a href="http://bilquisevely.deviantart.com/#">deviantart</a> page:</div>
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Here are some snippets from an interview with writer Chris Roberson posted on <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=47734">CBRnews</a>:<br /><br /><b>What does it mean to you to be a part of this character's history?</b><br />Roberson: <i>... Growing up in the '70s, it was impossible to miss the ubiquitous Bantam reprints with those amazing James Bama covers. I started reading the novels when I was still in middle school, if I recall correctly, and Doc quickly became (and remains!) my absolute favorite of the bunch.</i></div>
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<i> </i><br /><b>Tell us a bit about the story you have planned for Doc Savage. Who are the major players and what kicks things off to start your series?</b><br /><i>This is a big story that we're telling in these first eight issues, starting in 1933 at the point where readers were first introduced to Doc Savage, and continuing on through the years to the present day. Just because the Doc Savage Magazine ended publication in the late '40s didn't mean that Doc's adventures ended there.</i></div>
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<br /><b>Doc Savage has had many incarnations over the years. How did you walk that balance of combining the classic character that fans love with your own, unique spin on him?</b><br /><i>I've been extraordinarily lucky in my brief comics career, in that I've now gotten the chance to work on virtually every character and concept that meant the most to me growing up. And I'm approaching Doc Savage the same way I approached all the others. Not by worrying about new readers or old readers, per se, but by taking the core elements of the character that appealed most to me when I first encountered him, and then using those as the foundation for telling the kind of story that I would most like to read.</i></div>
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<br /><b>A new ongoing series for Doc Savage opens up a lot of potential for unexplored aspects of the character and his mythology. What are some pieces of that unexplored territory that you hope to bring to light during your run?</b><br /><i>Understandably, many readers over the years have found the whole idea of the "Crime College" a little troubling. And that's something that we're going to be exploring.</i></div>
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<br /><b>Why do you think Doc Savage as a character has managed to endure throughout the years? What do you feel is his biggest strength when it comes to character?</b><br /><i>… You can see elements of him in Superman, Batman, and the Fantastic Four, but he also arguably was a big influence on characters like Indiana Jones and James Bond. I think one of the most appealing aspects of Doc Savage is that, in him, we get to see those kinds of adventure hero elements in their original form, stripped down and lean, without encumbering mythologies and continuities. And speaking only as a reader, those original adventures are just so much fun that it's impossible not to revisit them over and over again. Our hope with this new comic is to try to communicate some of that fun and appeal to contemporary readers.</i></div>
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I am cautiously optimistic<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="hdrrmn" style="float: left;"><span></span></span>.</span></span> Thanks to the ever-on-it <a href="http://www.pulpcomingattractions.com/">Coming Attractions</a> for bringing this news to my attention. They provide a weekly update of upcoming pulp goodness.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-45649562353144548672013-09-05T17:08:00.000-07:002013-09-05T17:08:10.795-07:00Pulp of the Week - The Astounding, The Amazing, and The Unknown<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />The Astounding, The Amazing, and The Unknown<br />by Paul Malmont</span><br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Following up on the terrific Chinatown Deathcloud Peril (CDP), Paul Malmont has written an equally good, if not better novel with The Astounding, The Amazing, and The Unknown. In CDP, Malmont wrote a story about 1930s pulp magazine writers having a pulp magazine style adventure. The results were wonderful as real writers Lester Dent, Walter Gibson and L Ron Hubbard faced grave danger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />In The Astounding, The Amazing, and The Unknown (AAU), Malmont continues in the same alternate history universe, but this time focuses on the science fiction writers having a science fiction adventure. The main characters are Bob Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Isaac Asimov, along with the returning Ron Hubbard, Walter Gibson, Lester Dent and their wives and girlfriends. The setting is New York, Philadelphia, and the surrounding area late in WWII.<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As in real life, in the AAU, Heinlein is running a think tank at the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard. This group is composed of a mess of scientist SF writers that are assigned to dream up the future of warfare. They have some crazy ideas and some of them even work. I hate to go into too much detail, because with a book like this, discovery is half the fun. Everyone gets the chance to be a hero and everyone plays a vital part, which is quite a feat with this many characters. Kudos to Mr. Malmont for achieving that delicate balance.<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Needless to say, I think that AAU is a wonderful book that anyone interested in the golden age of Science Fiction or adventure stories should read. If you grew up reading SF in the post War era, you will love it. I started reading SF with Lester del Rey and Ray Bradbury and Asimov in the 1970s and I loved this book. The balance of truth and fiction is great (just enough truth to get you wondering about the rest.) We need more Malmont stories. If only he would give up the advertising game and write full time...<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Astounding, The Amazing, and The Unknown gets a 9 out of 10. This is a great book.</span> Except for the tragically boring cover.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-10015681188501148002013-09-02T21:00:00.000-07:002013-09-02T21:14:59.304-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage 38<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">THE MEN WHO SMILED NO MORE </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">APRIL 1936</span></div>
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The Men Who Smiled No More is a
very different Doc Savage tale for a number of reasons. It takes place
entirely in New York state. It does not involve foreigners. And 95% of
it has no super-science. Yet the plot is entirely about two completely
different aspects of super-science. Writer Laurence Donovan contributed
this tale.</div>
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The story begins with a humble shoe shiner. "Smiling Tony"
Talliano was the first to quit laughing" is the first sentence of the
story. What follows is a wild story where even Doc himself is afflicted
with a strange condition where people become emotionless, flat versions
of themselves. It's like they were replaced with a robot replica. The
violence is also at a high level with killings perform is a callous and
brutal manner. What intrigued me about this is that many people perceive
Doc himself to be emotionless like this all the time anyway. That is
not true. Doc has emotions, but he rarely displays them openly. Donovan
also enhanced Docs' humanity to emphasize the difference when Doc is
afflicted by the strange emotionlessness.</div>
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Donovan also brings the
whole cast of regulars into this adventure, so we get to see Monk, Ham,
Renny, Long Tom, Johnny, and Pat Savage struggle and change into
lethargic shells, with no humor, or passion in their lives. Chemistry is
the only one left out.</div>
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The bulk of the tale is set in the Shinnecock
Hills on Long Island in New York. Monk, it turns out, has a cabin
retreat in the woods and strange things are going on in a neighboring
cabin. The man there has a duck pond and gets particularly furious at
anyone who comes near his ducks. Then everyone starts getting the
affliction. One by one the cast loses their drive, their will to live or
to be active about anything. Finally, Doc himself falls under its
spell.</div>
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The Men Who Smiled No More itself is told far more like a
mystery story than any of the other Doc Savage tales I have read so
far,and it includes Doc giving a long, detailed wrap up at the end.</div>
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I'll give The Men Who Smiled No More an 8.5 out of 10. This is a fun story with a welcome stylistic change of pace - harder, more savage.<br />
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For
this review, I read my Bantam paperback dated February 1970. The Pulp
cover is by Walter Baumhofer and the Bantam cover is by James Bama.
Interestingly, that cover seemed to have nothing to do with the story
for a very long time. It is an illustration of action from the story,
however. Page 124 to be precise. I'm not sure that I have ever read a
story with the cover happening so close to the end. Cherie Priest's The
Inexplicables is the closest in recent memory, but even that cover was
not nearly as close to the end as was the one for this Doc Savage story.</div>
<br />Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-17097580802426906072013-08-12T17:29:00.001-07:002013-08-12T17:29:56.724-07:00Elysium<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Elysium</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Unsustainable Future</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />The following essay is not intended to be a review of Elysium (which I liked quite a bit) but rather an exploration of the themes and events in the film.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do not read this if you are intending to see the film. There are <span style="color: red;">spoilers ahead</span> and specifically discussion of the ending of the film. See the movie, then discuss...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Elysium imagines life 150 years in the future. In the intervening years the population on Earth has exploded and the world is a crowded, dirty place. Downtown Los Angeles was wonderfully rendered with shacks on top of high rises and freeways, and in fact, everywhere. The visual effects are very well done and the world of shanty towns seemed real.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />The super-rich, the one percent of the one percent live in what is outwardly a utopia. Elysium has beautiful homes and wonderful yards with robotic servants and medical machines that can cure any ailment or repair any injury. Those medical miracle machines are not available on earth. All the citizens of Elysium are given a unique barcode which lets them onto the space station and access to all the goodies - including the medical pods. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Enter our blue collar hero, Max, played by Matt Damon. He has been radiated in an industrial accident and will do anything to get up to Elysium. His former girlfriend is now a nurse and has a daughter. They reconnect when Max goes to the hospital.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Max takes a job from a shady fixer and attacks the industrialist (down on Earth troubleshooting) that created the software that runs Elysium. Max has been equipped with a very low-tech cyberlink and he downloads the full Elysium software package from the industrialist's brain. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Now everybody is after Max. He gets on a shuttle and makes it to Elysium where he and the fixer pull the software out of Max's head and permanently modify it to make all the people of Earth citizens of Elysium so that the sick little girl can use the medical pod. The Elysium government is disrupted and Elysium is now open to all. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />The End.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />However... I find this ending troubling because what good would it really do to allow everyone onto Elysium? It would quickly become overcrowded and unsustainable. And what good would bringing the medical pod technology down to Earth really do? Imagine a world of massive overpopulation suddenly given a massive increase in life expectancy. There would be food wars and turf wars and end up with even worse problems. Soon enough someone would reduce the population via nuclear weapons and Elysium would likely be destroyed.<br /><br />This is why I find the ending troubling and why I am not sure about the message of the film (if any) and where we go from here. Would the super rich truly be happy living quiet lives of parties and luxury? Not being super rich I can't be sure, but a boredom level would have to take effect at some point.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />I think that 25 years in Elysium's future will be a world in chaos and strife with turf wars and the world splintered into thousands of factions all fighting for a tiny piece of the pie.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />I think that having Elysium there gives the people of Earth something to strive for, something to dream about, something to live for. It might even give them hope.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Hopefully we will make our future better.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not reflect on those of any other person, my employer, etc. 'Nuff said.</span></span></span> </span></span></div>
Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-82846567871370864192013-07-29T15:20:00.000-07:002013-07-29T15:25:02.258-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage 37<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Metal Master - March 1936</span></div>
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WARNING - EXTRA SPOILERIFIC!<br />
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Bring on the super-science! There are no charlatans here, this stuff is all real. This supersaga begins with a young woman escorting an old man to Doc Savage's 86th floor office. The woman, Nan Tester, thinks that Seevers is a bit nuts, but she'd like to meet Savage and see if his reputation is accurate. When they get to the office, they are attacked and Seevers is taken, but Doc gets the girl and hides her in a secret room in his laboratory. Doc pursues Seevers and when he finds him it is too late. He is partially protruding from a blob of metal that used to be a car.<br />
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A gang has gotten their mitts on a a piece of gear that causes metal to liquify while it is exposed to the beam. Not good if you are in a car, for instance. The leader of this gang is, of course, The Metal Master.<br />
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In one section, Nan Tester asks Doc about the fights between Monk and Ham. He explains, "Years ago, it became evident that the only thing that will stop Monk and Ham from quarreling is for one of the other to get killed."<br />
Nan replies, "Oh! Then they've been like this on other occasions?"<br />
"On practically all other occasions," Doc explained.<br />
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There is a lot of good in this Lester Dent book, and really only one fault. They bring back the monkey. Yep, Ham Brook's pet ape returns, just when its seems that we forgot about him. Oh, well, it was good while it lasted. The story explains that Chemistry was quarantined for many months in with customs…<br />
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After some globetrotting and gun play, the secrets of the Metal Master are revealed. Oh, and a decent twist plays out for a good bit before being revealed.</div>
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I'll give The Metal Master a 7.5 out of 10 due to a few sections where Dent was on autopilot and the monkey. Everything to do with the melting of metal is pretty great. The Pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer and the Bantam Cover is by Fred Pfeifer.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-37696260535900445862013-06-26T19:57:00.000-07:002013-06-26T20:06:42.520-07:00Pulp of the Week - Joyland by Stephen King<br />
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<b><i>Joyland</i></b> is Stephen King's new novel from Hardcase Crime. This paperback original tells the tale of Devin Jones, a college student who gets a summer job at a small seaside amusement park (the titular Joyland) in South Carolina. This being Stephen King, there is a lot going on, something beyond the unexpected and heartbreaking exit of his girlfriend who is transferring to another school and ultimately to another man.<br />
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There is a single, lone dark ride at Joyland, a ramshackle car in the dark called, The Horror House. Years before, a young woman was savagely murdered there by her date. People say the ride is haunted by the girl that was butchered there. The killer was never found. In the back of his mind, Devin would love to solve this horrific crime, and his sympathetic college friends pitch in to help. They are the mostly off stage research assistants. <br />
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Despite being sullen and withdrawn, Devin can't help but notice the boy in the wheel chair that sits out in the yard of a magnificent home along the beach. A boy that is whisked away at the sight of strangers by an attractive young woman. There is a moment of opportunity and the boy engineers a meeting with Dev. <br />
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As the weeks go by his relationship with the boy grows, Dev learns how to play by the young reluctant mother's rules. He also learns how to be a carny, and speak like a carny. And, despite it being forced on him, loves his new found role playing the park's mascot. Hiding behind the mask sets him free and the kids love him. <br />
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This being a King book, not everything is as it seems and there is something odd going on in Joyland and with the people Dev meets. Something that lurks in the dark places of the heart. This story has a lot of magic to it, and a bit of 'the fog of memory' in its telling. Joyland is a really good book and I highly recommend it. <b><i>Joyland</i></b> is a quick read and it's funny how fast you can read a book when it is really good (and not 1500 pages long.)<br />
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While <b><i>Joyland</i></b> is short for a King novel, its length falls in line with the majority of books on my shelf—books accumulated during the 70s, 80s, and 90s—books I think of as a regular size, around 250 to 300 pages. I realize that those days are over and now books are much longer, but his is the length I like. Maybe that is why I am drawn to pulp and YA novels like <b><i>Leviathan</i></b> and <b><i>The Hunger Games</i></b>. The stories are fast and to the point. King fits everything needed in this book. Love. Loss. Joy. Sorrow. Longing. Redemption.<br />
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The setting along the shore reminds me of the childhood vacations at Cape Cod mashed up with the carnivals and thrill rides of the old quaint Euclid Beach Park or the early Cedar Point, before it exploded into a mega coaster mecca.<br />
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Thanks, Stephen, for still writing great, personal stories and for supporting a brand like Hard Case Crime. I'm not sure when Hard Case went to trade paperbacks (or if they always were), but despite the larger size, I still love paperbacks. The package that they have put together is outstanding, from the juicy titles and cover copy to the lurid and fantastic Glen Orbik art.</div>
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I give <b><i>Joyland</i></b> an 9 out of 10.</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-50569772648801371172013-06-21T17:58:00.000-07:002013-06-26T19:59:06.460-07:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage: Skull Island<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNHXzr6cjewRHd0ewJ9FcGDjvK1ssug3vakZtGL5vcptdx5lXY8jOBajg5Qg6yiqMUBMs_PJPXl7i_he49apEHb_nLfzy2W7ar8Db7LkkTXlhdEzn4rwge8o4vk5XEc1RtOnzX2KX97HU/s1600/Doc-Kong-SC.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNHXzr6cjewRHd0ewJ9FcGDjvK1ssug3vakZtGL5vcptdx5lXY8jOBajg5Qg6yiqMUBMs_PJPXl7i_he49apEHb_nLfzy2W7ar8Db7LkkTXlhdEzn4rwge8o4vk5XEc1RtOnzX2KX97HU/s640/Doc-Kong-SC.jpg.jpg" width="481" /></a></b></div>
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<b>Doc Savage: Skull Island<br />by Will Murray</b></div>
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<b>Based on a concept by cover artist Joe DeVito</b><br />
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The new Doc Savage novel by Will Murray contains a record number of authorized firsts for the character. Murray digs deep into the Savage family history, Doc's relationships with his father and grandfather, and Doc's personal journey toward becoming the man we know.<br />
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This book starts in 1933 New York - most likely just a few months after the events of "The Man of Bronze" and "Land of Terror," but the story soon spins into an extended flashback to over a decade earlier as Doc tells his five friends of the tale when he and his father went on a quest to find Doc's grandfather, Stormalong Savage.<br />
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Stormalong is a sailing captain of the old school and his ship has vanished in the vast South Indian Ocean. Doc's father is a sailor as well and summons Doc to join him on the Orion, the very ship he was born on. Captain Clark Savage, Sr. is a stern man with a crew of Mayans that make the trip in search of Stormalong's ship, the Courser.<br />
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The journey to Skull Mountain Island involves much adventure as well as sailing for many uneventful days. Doc spends his time tinkering in the small machine shop, learning Mayan from the crew, and getting on his father's nerves. In the shop he is adapting a service automatic to fire full auto.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuD1T597euSM2ptspgKVYAiikKPLyR7hkL5Xve8UjMh1QWucVt82ECb4H7wC3x6QLn-sdVTRdOXNA7iJSAe_EqmL7OtzwW9Ezppw1Wum-JO7TiiQsz59fasyiCVdTkNmJAC8ZpNLMHQ6zQ/s1600/Skull+Island+hardcover+550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuD1T597euSM2ptspgKVYAiikKPLyR7hkL5Xve8UjMh1QWucVt82ECb4H7wC3x6QLn-sdVTRdOXNA7iJSAe_EqmL7OtzwW9Ezppw1Wum-JO7TiiQsz59fasyiCVdTkNmJAC8ZpNLMHQ6zQ/s400/Skull+Island+hardcover+550.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deluxe Hardcover wrap around jacket</td></tr>
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Soon enough Doc arrives at Skull Island and clashes with island natives, dinosaurs, and other denizens of the island, all leading up to Kong. While there is quite a bit of plot about a band of headhunters stalking Kong, we all know that they won't get him because Kong is in New York at the start of the book. Thus, the suspense with Kong's life is lessened.</div>
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There is also a smaller, white ape (like the one in Son of Kong) whose presence is not explained and in fact is a bit confusing considering its fate.<br />
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Stormalong is a wonderful character and I wouldn't mind reading a Murray novel or two featuring him. He's crotchety and set in his ways and fun. Clark, Sr. is a bit of a stick in the mud and Clark, Jr. (Doc) questions him about sending a child (Doc himself) off to live with professors and scientists instead of taking care of the young boy himself.<br />
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It is this material, the family stuff that is the heart and reason for this story. Dinosaurs, headhunters, the voyage, and Kong himself are secondary, but fun, parts of the book. <br />
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Will Murray has done a fine job with this book and I commend him for expanding the canon. The cover by Joe De Vito is terrific as is the presentation as a whole. I'll give Doc Savage: Skull Island an 8.5 out of 10. </div>
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There has been a lot of fan interest in this match up for a long time. There is a lot of material at <a href="http://ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.com/">Rip Dagger's Dojo</a> blog. Doc Savage cover mashup expert Kez Wilson did a great one on <a href="http://docfantasycovers.com/">his blog</a>, mashing up two James Bama paintings.</div>
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And more art...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKBG9ii69BCQJAXThq082URVjNr8YgMH2zUkrvvgk4Lxp2vLnUN0mWR7roYqOMLYOzXhaiN5vsZuHZvOO6J0oGdHFiE_YkSLv57q0MVM2pYUTRm3PBg8ZM5CaBnlmF3SG4zUNVAu0vVzK/s1600/DocSavageKong3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKBG9ii69BCQJAXThq082URVjNr8YgMH2zUkrvvgk4Lxp2vLnUN0mWR7roYqOMLYOzXhaiN5vsZuHZvOO6J0oGdHFiE_YkSLv57q0MVM2pYUTRm3PBg8ZM5CaBnlmF3SG4zUNVAu0vVzK/s640/DocSavageKong3.jpg" width="387" /></a></div>
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Next up - Doc Savage meets Tarzan? Doc and The Shadow? Doc and the Avenger?</div>
Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-15881528754117596852013-06-19T15:18:00.001-07:002013-06-26T20:00:43.087-07:00CTHULHU WARS<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNEHb-6_03hhP5QokyqPQfoe-OA_EhTUTl7Oxetdql0oRbp6Uaoa21bLyV7zLl0PrHL451qwiSQUlfeUMVtTCQLHK2_OIezgIxVT8ADgccYbhWN3bjeptunNZyh2fP_RoZxxwyAbT2O2Y/s1600/photo-main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNEHb-6_03hhP5QokyqPQfoe-OA_EhTUTl7Oxetdql0oRbp6Uaoa21bLyV7zLl0PrHL451qwiSQUlfeUMVtTCQLHK2_OIezgIxVT8ADgccYbhWN3bjeptunNZyh2fP_RoZxxwyAbT2O2Y/s400/photo-main.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Cthulhu Wars!</div>
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Cthulhu Wars is a game of epic struggle as the Great Old Ones clash to determine which one rules the Earth. No matter the outcome, it seems that humanity loses. The game is currently on Kickstarter with more than 2 weeks to go and it is way past the funded level and will be made. The figures are all sculpted in the standard miniatures game scale of 28mm. The monsters are quite large.</div>
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The game is designed by Sandy Peterson, a guy that knows a thing or two about Cthulhu, having written the classic pen and paper RPG Call of Cthulhu.<br />
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The Kickstarter has options to just buy the figures by Faction, special 1st player marker sexy figures, sculpted gates, custom dice, posters, t-shirts, and additional factions. You could just buy in on a faction and play with your friends using your own figures, or use the figures for horror RPGs. As minis go, these are a good value, look great and should paint up well. <br />
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There are lots of extra factions and choices including additional Great Old Ones. They are planning 13 additional Factions. These are $48 each. The first is Yog Sothoth. Others planned include: Tsathoggua, Ithaqua, Azathoth.<br />
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There are also 3 map expansions including the Dreamlands with a new maps and plastic pieces. These are $40 each.</div>
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Cthulhu Wars is played on a huge world map (ala Risk) and each player gets a unique army led by one of the Great Old Ones. The base game factions are: Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, and Hastur. Other figures are listed in the complete list below.<br />
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I am quite impressed with the figures and the game design itself.</div>
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One of the interesting features of the rules is how first player and turn order are determined. The player with the most power goes first, but they get to choose if the round is played clockwise or counter-clockwise around the table. Neat. Power is determined by how many people and gates the player controls. This includes cultists captured in the turn before! Those guys are then killed and returned to their player's off board unit supply.<br />
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On your turn you may do one of the following:<br />
Recruit a single Cultist (get more dudes on the map)<br />
Move your dudes (spending 1 power for each) to an adjacent territory<br />
Create a Gate (a portal to bring in Monsters) (only one per territory)<br />
Capture Cultist - your monsters can help recruit your enemies forces to your side<br />
Battle - fight enemy units in the same territory<br />
Summon Monster to a territory where you have a controlled gate<br />
Control Gate<br />
Ritual of Annihilation<br />
Awaken Great Old One<br />
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Players recruit Cultists and summon monsters and gain power and Spellbooks until they have enough power to win.<br />
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I will probably always think of this as Cthulhu Risk and to me that is a good thing. A 15 page text only rulebook is posted on the Kickstarter and I think it reads pretty well and the components are great. With Sandy Peterson involved, this is likely a pretty good game. But the price - $150 for the base game. Woah.</div>
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Here are the factions in the base set:</div>
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The game includes the following (quoted from the rulebook pdf):<br />
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Rulebook<br />
Player Hints & Tips<br />
Mapboard of Earth (in two pieces, printed on both sides)<br />
4 Faction Cards<br />
4 Power markers (faction-specific)<br />
4 Doom track markers (faction-specific)<br />
1 Ritual of Annihilation Marker<br />
Starting player tile (circular)<br />
24 Spellbooks (6 per Faction)<br />
~12 Desecration markers (yellow sign)<br />
16 Gates (cardboard, large)<br />
30 Elder Sign chits (two-sided: one side has the Elder Sign, the other has a number – either 1/2, 1,<br />
or 1 1/2)]<br />
· Thus, a third of the Elder Sign chits say “1/2”<br />
· A third read “1”<br />
· A third read “1 1/2”<br />
20 six-sided dice<br />
Plastic:<br />
24 cultists, six each in four colors; BLUE, GREEN, RED, YELLOW<br />
5 Great Old Ones; Cthulhu (GREEN), Nyarlathotep (BLUE), Shub-Niggurath (RED),<br />
Hastur (YELLOW), The King in Yellow (YELLOW)<br />
4 Deep Ones, 2 Shoggoths, 2 Starspawn (all GREEN)<br />
3 Nightgaunts, 3 Flying Polyp, 2 Hunting Horror (all BLUE)<br />
2 Ghouls, 4 Fungi, 3 Dark Young (all RED)<br />
6 Undead, 4 Byakhee (all YELLOW)<br />
Total types of figures: 18<br />
Small figures = 39 (cultists, deep ones, nightgaunts, ghouls, undead)<br />
Medium figures = 14 (shoggoths, flying polyps, fungi, byakhee, King in Yellow)<br />
Large figures = 7 (starspawn, hunting horror, dark young)<br />
Huge figures = 4 (Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur)<br />
Total figures: 63 + 16 Gates</div>
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-89810020521575191852013-05-31T13:50:00.002-07:002013-05-31T13:50:53.960-07:00Wow it has been a long time...<br />
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It is amazing how time flows forward, either taking all of us for a ride, or leaving us in its wake. I'm not sure what happened, but I have taken a lot of pictures for articles that never appeared (X-Wing wave one, new Adventurers, Netrunner rerelease) and life goes on.</div>
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Rather than chase the past, I will be chronicling the future (or at least the present) as it arrives. I am currently reading <b>Doc Savage: Skull Island</b> from Will Murray and Joe DeVito, and <b>The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown</b> by Paul Malmont. Reviews will follow.</div>
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I have 2 more Clark Tyler novellas that are working their way toward publication. The copy editor has had at them and I'm working on the final pass.</div>
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Thank you all for continuing to visit the Savage Tales blog and I will try to get you some good stuff.</div>
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Pete</div>
Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-19892451648672733962013-04-16T12:39:00.000-07:002013-04-16T12:39:46.768-07:002013 Pulp Factory Awards - Winners!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>2013 PULP FACTORY AWARDS ANNOUNCED</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlkvHv-1FwgqbRzmtJyLEKpNR7fgyraqaoThWvdECBQaDstlarPWU_C2bH3rH6HlGV-VLrd5ICYQt2cQSLwSFCk2XojkciBLFWVunXuRoUTyFO7DPHrKB8b7mDNFEp4QxKBcC3Z7IK5U/s1600/2011+pulp+factory+Awards.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlkvHv-1FwgqbRzmtJyLEKpNR7fgyraqaoThWvdECBQaDstlarPWU_C2bH3rH6HlGV-VLrd5ICYQt2cQSLwSFCk2XojkciBLFWVunXuRoUTyFO7DPHrKB8b7mDNFEp4QxKBcC3Z7IK5U/s400/2011+pulp+factory+Awards.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFSJgbCxz-A7LUBL_PvWIJ758gP-yWmGGYvQpAE4K9aOQ-8gJJCL5-8sX0G0wsiYAWxZ71DtfV-L5nmtL5wGJVM8kiuzPvaLZbVuf2a8fLk1VdGFhqWJxCZ34aKUL0zxy8hMs0iY5KM1Q/s1600/wc_2013_header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFSJgbCxz-A7LUBL_PvWIJ758gP-yWmGGYvQpAE4K9aOQ-8gJJCL5-8sX0G0wsiYAWxZ71DtfV-L5nmtL5wGJVM8kiuzPvaLZbVuf2a8fLk1VdGFhqWJxCZ34aKUL0zxy8hMs0iY5KM1Q/s400/wc_2013_header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For the fourth consecutive year, the Pulp Factory Awards were presented at this year’s Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention.<br /><br />These awards are given to the best in new pulp fiction and art published during the previous year as voted on by the 111 members of the Pulp Factory; an internet group made up of pulp writers, artists, editors, publishers and dedicated fans.<br /><br />Writer William Patrick Maynard and artist Rob Davis once again co-hosted the award presentations, handing out the sculptured trophies done in the shape of a quill pen set against factory-like gears. <br /><br />The pen represents both writers and artists, the gears paying homage to the assembly-line production of the old pulps of the 1930s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />This year’s winners for the best in fiction and art for 2012 were:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcHHxLYelTWZ9QzOCKTYHnU7QpaG4jGNoUOM-mw22p1X6xz_p5OVWfMl9JNhfHAb2ltr3nl95pXEYcEZnSU5YqsgReZzuNtgegEN2f9Ait6pIVxrgzSXI3ZHyGGwVzoFPbFT3HMm1Cec/s1600/RangerB+vendetta.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcHHxLYelTWZ9QzOCKTYHnU7QpaG4jGNoUOM-mw22p1X6xz_p5OVWfMl9JNhfHAb2ltr3nl95pXEYcEZnSU5YqsgReZzuNtgegEN2f9Ait6pIVxrgzSXI3ZHyGGwVzoFPbFT3HMm1Cec/s400/RangerB+vendetta.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
For Best Pulp Novel –<br />
THE LONE RANGER – VENDETTA by the late Howard Hopkins, published by Moonstone Books.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsm9JL_6tqG3by7a6WIybo12HyGmeLBj-dpwUsTWGAXVvfyJMm2ZlDS8dWfhlBmd0ZqOd4q0eHg4iJnRviyxZJddYz7E0eEsdSsN3EcqC1fT4KSOXBKlqlKXFrHWYzXLjFTpCI-r152vU/s1600/Monster+aces.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsm9JL_6tqG3by7a6WIybo12HyGmeLBj-dpwUsTWGAXVvfyJMm2ZlDS8dWfhlBmd0ZqOd4q0eHg4iJnRviyxZJddYz7E0eEsdSsN3EcqC1fT4KSOXBKlqlKXFrHWYzXLjFTpCI-r152vU/s400/Monster+aces.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
For Best Pulp Short Story –<br />
"The Ghoul" by Ron Fortier from the anthology, “Monster Aces,” published by Pro Se Productions.<br />
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For Best Pulp Cover –<br />
Joe Devito for THE INFERNAL BUDDHA published Altus Press.<br />
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For Best Interior Illustrations –<br />
Rob Moran for THE RUBY FILES published by Airship 27 Productions.<br />
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This year’s preliminary nominations and final ballot represented a total of twelve New Pulp Fiction publishers.<br />
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The Pulp Factory membership congratulates all the winners for their exceptional work.<br />
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Congratulations to the winners!<br />
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940578027363902073.post-11272954654480028012013-03-02T11:00:00.000-08:002013-03-02T11:00:36.655-08:00Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage #36<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LFi4Cy13UpESG7pMqzNzkEVmMNQQhUoDKM3JjNUCkzsC3KhT9n09lqWt-jNsteNDvNjU1NWLltRh5Zt6RMwbfryFprzaockdUgElaSVMK3qhUxtIcj_CKF8ouhNXmCcBaqT7gdVYwoei/s1600/mystery+under+sea+pulp+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LFi4Cy13UpESG7pMqzNzkEVmMNQQhUoDKM3JjNUCkzsC3KhT9n09lqWt-jNsteNDvNjU1NWLltRh5Zt6RMwbfryFprzaockdUgElaSVMK3qhUxtIcj_CKF8ouhNXmCcBaqT7gdVYwoei/s640/mystery+under+sea+pulp+cover.jpg" width="440" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">MYSTERY UNDER THE SEA - FEBRUARY 1936</span></div>
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This adventure starts with another great Doc Savage story opener. A fully clothed man comes ashore on Long Island Sound and refuses help. He manages to grab a train into the city and escapes his would be rescuers. Shortly thereafter, a boatload of pursuers arrives at the same beach.<br /><br />After a number of chases and an unpleasant journey on an ocean liner, Doc and his men Monk, Ham, and Renny arrive at the destination just after two factions of sea borne skallywags. There is much fighting and underwater adventure in this novel. I found the premise far more compelling than the telling and the rich treasures more interesting and clever than usual. The femme fatale, Diamond Eve is also charming and interesting.<br /><br />What is beginning to bother me about some of the stories (like this one) is that just when we finally get to some wondrous place, in this case a lost city called Taz, the story is almost over. There is little time to explore, no time to enjoy the incredible place the writers have (at least partially) imagined. There is often far too much getting there and not enough there. I will have to remember this in my own stories.</div>
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The ideas within this story are fantastic and I wish we could have spent far more time in these fantastic undersea ruins. Further research shows that 30 issues later, Doc returns to the underwater lost city of Taz...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJhuKvKYou0rY7OdbGo9lE45ZEa_H159RCXkytrht2VSYrJrfxn5UAo0IWTefQSCDrKv0yzeid5yZO6u8crc9xqDUE_u3c_9msdeG-x19iL-MmqzBAd6-sh4pCOCR98BGATKUNmeTZXVA/s1600/baumhofer_doc_savage_0236_mystery_under_the_sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJhuKvKYou0rY7OdbGo9lE45ZEa_H159RCXkytrht2VSYrJrfxn5UAo0IWTefQSCDrKv0yzeid5yZO6u8crc9xqDUE_u3c_9msdeG-x19iL-MmqzBAd6-sh4pCOCR98BGATKUNmeTZXVA/s320/baumhofer_doc_savage_0236_mystery_under_the_sea.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ-81F5M1EdGPc-qQOgt1VF9HEkAKJtXMmzc6rg-mll-avsjiFhlqVnJihszdHTVuI10yxgWDCeUlbDOoHWeIj2QLiJOCVykJNeQXUzufmULxq_IY6kR2FfrB0K3doWUPgKaPRP2ZK-Nv/s1600/bamamysteryseadoc.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ-81F5M1EdGPc-qQOgt1VF9HEkAKJtXMmzc6rg-mll-avsjiFhlqVnJihszdHTVuI10yxgWDCeUlbDOoHWeIj2QLiJOCVykJNeQXUzufmULxq_IY6kR2FfrB0K3doWUPgKaPRP2ZK-Nv/s320/bamamysteryseadoc.tiff" width="238" /></a><br />
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Here are the paintings that Walter Baumhofer and James Bama did for their covers of the February 1936 issue of Doc Savage Magazine. It is rare that I can find the paintings for both publications of the novels.</div>
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For this review I read my copy of the Bantam paperback from August 1968 that I bought used for $2 in the late 1970s...<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfU7-xzpeUfcW7bTPV0CUrhcMLfVTl5Hck6NOh9zPAy038pFpq03hz3ltzcrF31UlGaparSlVvGn2hNmLqGQ4xzrj51JmkDg2yaFRBB8qrIj43Ap9nzrl9mL4_H73MqJM9up-B1iKtW_bj/s1600/MysteryUnderTheSea652.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfU7-xzpeUfcW7bTPV0CUrhcMLfVTl5Hck6NOh9zPAy038pFpq03hz3ltzcrF31UlGaparSlVvGn2hNmLqGQ4xzrj51JmkDg2yaFRBB8qrIj43Ap9nzrl9mL4_H73MqJM9up-B1iKtW_bj/s320/MysteryUnderTheSea652.png" width="198" /></a></div>
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I'll give Mystery Under The Sea a 7.5 out of 10. The story had much promise and some good ideas, but just didn't get there... Research for this post was aided by Chris Kalb's <a href="http://heropulp.com/the86floor/index.html">great site</a> and by a new to me <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/126882289/Doc-Savage-Authors#outer_page_01">post</a> on SCRIBD that is great.<br />
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Pete Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12661558105341125897noreply@blogger.com0