May 22 - "Jack Jaw and the Arab's Ape"

“Jack Jaw and the Arab’s Ape”
by Ryan Oakley
Hardcore Hardboiled (2008)

* * * * (Great) Pulp

Jack Jaw uses the ape he buys from the Arab to compete in underground fights for money.

I’ve always said: all any good story needs is a monkey ripping a man’s arms clean off – blood spurting – swinging those bastard limbs over its head. (Okay, I’ve never said such a thing, but after reading this story and digging the ultra-violence, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.) For all the fun elements of the story, from the strung-out killer monkey to the funny names (Jack Jaw, the Arab, and Mr. Skippy), the story does have its faults. The writing is unclear in spots, and some of the sentences lack style. This can be forgiven when the story is as entertaining as this one.

May 3 - "The Little Sisters of Eluria"

Sundays with Uncle Stevie“The Little Sisters of Eluria”
by Stephen King
Everything’s Eventual (2002)

* * * * * (Excellent) Pulp

After an unfortunate encounter with a gang of green folk – slow mutants – Roland, the Gunslinger, is nursed back to health by the sinister Little Sisters of Eluria.

A missing chapter from the Dark Tower saga, this not-so-brief adventure takes place before Roland catches Walter, the man in black, of the first novel, The Gunslinger. King does an excellent job setting the scene as Roland first enters Eluria, the eeriness of it all creates such a sense of dread you can’t help but wonder – and hope for – the evil hiding in the silence and shadows. The time Roland spends in the care of the Little Sisters is also a delightfully tension-filled collection of pages. There’s a reason King is a master of suspense, his craft is exceptional. My only complaint with the story is that the language of the series, the narrator’s manner of speech (Do ya ken it?), seems absent. This could be due to the fact that King wrote this tale before finishing the final books, where the language of Roland’s time in Hambry and the Calla seemed to more deeply permeate the narrator’s voice.

January 19 - "Countdown"

“Countdown”
by Jonathan Maberry
[free download from Macmillan Trade Publishers] (2009)

* * * (Good) Pulp

While listening to tapped phones for Homeland Security, Baltimore PD officer Joe Ledger heard a brief conversation mentioning the terrorist El Mujahid. This mere mention is enough for S.W.A.T. to storm a suspicious warehouse on the docks. In the firefight that ensues, something stumbles out of a mysterious blue box surrounded by armed terrorists.

I have been tempted to read Jonathan Maberry for a while now. He has won the Bram Stoker award (a prestigious award for horror writing), and I’m always looking to discover new, talented authors. I happened across this promotional short story for his new book, Patient Zero, and thought this sounded like just my chance to sample his writing. And it’s quite entertaining. The action is well written and exciting, and the pulpy feel of this short story was a pleasant surprise. It even included a memorable line of dialogue from the movie Silverado: “I don’t want to kill you and you don’t want to be dead.” Any story that manages to quote one of my favorite westerns is bound to score some bonus points with me. I’m looking forward to the March release of Patient Zero, which will continue the tale of Joe Ledger and the surprise he found in the large blue box.

January 17 - "Untitled Story" (previously, "Exile of Atlantis")

“Untitled Story” (previously, “Exile of Atlantis”)
by Robert E. Howard
Kull: Exile of Atlantis (2006)

* * (Okay) Pulp

Kull arrives back to his adopted village to find a young girl bound to the burning stake. After a night of discussion bordering on the blasphemous with his hunting companions, Kull, strengthened by visions of future sovereignty and the incredulity of a people who would kill one of their own for such petty reasons, springs to action.

This was my introduction to Robert E. Howard. I decided to begin with Kull instead of Conan simply because Kull came first. I enjoy experiencing it as an author grows with his or her work. This very short story supposedly serves as introduction to Kull – yet was not published until well after the first tales of Kull appeared. Brief as it is, the story is somewhat confusing – almost as though the reader would already have an understanding of the character, time, and setting. It's as though a larger portion of the story is missing - maybe why this tale wasn't published until long after Howard's early death. That said, I’m interested to jump into this world and follow the exploits of the exiled king of Atlantis.

January 9 - "The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds"

“The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds”
by Neil Gaiman
M Is for Magic (2007)

* * * (Good) Pulp

There’s been a murder in Nurseryland, and private dick, Jack Horner, is on the case. It wasn’t that the deceased Fat Man – Humpty Dumpty – deserved justice, in fact, he was a real bad egg, but times were tough and the dame, Dumpty’s sister, was a knockout. It is only after the third murder in less than a week, and the mysterious lead about the four and twenty blackbirds, that Horner realizes Dumpty’s sister knows more than she let on when first hiring him to put the pieces together.

I find it amusing that in a collection of stories for younger readers I find a pulp tale of private dicks, dames, hooch and murder. More amusing is the setting and characters. The tale is populated by familiar nursery rhyme folk gone bad. Gaiman does a great job taking these characters and transporting them credibly into a world of shadowy noir. However, the ending was a bit too pat, with clues only sparsely seeded throughout. This is true of a lot of mystery fiction, but only more obvious in a story of shorter length. As a fan of flights of fancy involving fable folk (i.e. the great Fables comic series) and hardboiled detective fiction, I still enjoyed this simple little story of tiny dicks - midget detectives - and bad eggs.