Book Review: The Adventures of Coffin Kirk

The Adventures of Coffin Kirk by Arch Whitehouse/Published by Age of Aces * 5/5 stars

This one is a collection of vintage pulp aviation stories, all published in Flying Aces magazine from 1937 to 1941.s-l1600.jpg

I’ll sum it up in one word: fun. Coffin Kirk is pulpy escapism at its best. Our protagonist is Brian Kirk, who as a child witness the murder of his zookeeper father at the hands of the “Circle of Evil.” He escaped at the time with a trained gorilla, Tank.

Now, Coffin Kirk is an adult and he’s flying across Europe and Asia fighting the Circle of Evil in six stories. Tank is now his tailgunner, with Kirk passing him off as a particularly homely human. (Just go with it!)

Writer Arch Whitehouse does a great job with the aviation scenes and his experience as an RAF veteran shows. The villains offer a nice foil without being over the top. It’s clear Whitehouse was also paying attention to the world situation as we see Germans and Japanese soldiers partnering with the Circle of Evil in the years leading up to World War II.

Finally, Age of Aces did a very nice job putting this collection together, complete with vintage illustrations.

This book is identified on the cover as a PulpFest exclusive, but also appears to be available from Amazon.

New release: Chicago Pulp Tales

Our latest book is now available in both print and ebook: Chicago Pulp Tales.Chicago Pulp

From John Dillinger to Al Capone to Frank Nitti, the Windy City is well known for its notorious gangsters and crime figures. So it’s not surprising that Chicago was a popular setting for the pulp writers of the 20th Century. This collection features nine classic pulp tales from a number of publications, with a little bit for everyone. There’s plenty of femme fatales, detectives, criminals — and even a couple of weird ghost stories included, with stories from Otis Adelbert Kline, James Duncan, Edwin MacLaren and more.

Order or find out more information here.

November best sellers

choo chooThe top-selling items through our retail arm for November. Keep in mind we specialize in collectible items and niche categories, so it’s going to look a little different than your traditional best-seller list!

  1. Charlie the Choo-Choo by Stephen King as Beryl Evans
  2. Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
  3. Inner Sanctum Mysteries television collection DVD
  4. It by Stephen King
  5. The Green Mile by Stephen King
  6. Minnesota’s 50 Greatest Baseball Players by Jonathan W. Sweet
  7. The Adventures of Captain Marvel movie serial
  8. The Shining by Stephen King
  9. Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar
  10. Captain Midnight movie serial

Review copies of Minnesota’s 50 Greatest Baseball Players now available

We’ve got free copies of “Minnesota’s 50 Greatest Baseball Players” now available for review. Minnesota's 50 greatest baseball players

The book explores the greatest baseball players who have ever played for a Minnesota team, from the minor leagues to the major leagues, including the Hall of Famers, Negro League stars and other legends you might never have known played in the Northstar State.

Ebook review copies can be requested here: http://bookreviewbuzz.com/sports-minnesotas-50-greatest-baseball-players/

If you would like a print copy for review, email publishing@chaskabooks.com and let us know about your blog/media outlet, etc. so we can get one out to you.

Review: Operator #5 – The Red Invader Radio Archives audiobook

Operator #5: The Red Invader * 2016 audiobook by Radio Archives* *3.5/5 stars*

RA569-1Listened to the Radio Archives audio version (5 CDs) of The Red Invader, the first time I’ve listened to one of the Operator #5 stories as an audiobook, so this review is two-fold: the story and the audio presentation/experience

This classic pulp features a solid story with an impressive female spy as the villain, double crosses and international intrigue that of course only Jimmy Christopher can unravel. To my ear, there was little of the uncomfortable racial/cultural tropes that infect some of the earlier Operator #5 novels. But i could have missed them, and that brings us to item No. 2.

This didn’t work for me as an audiobook. The presentation was professional and the narration by Milton Bagby was solid. In the end, I think I would chalk this up to the story not lending itself well to audio. For me, at least, this is a common problem with action-heavy tales. I’d much prefer to read them than try to follow the story as I navigate traffic and weather in the car. Your mileage may vary!

Story: 4 stars/Presentation: 3 stars