The Legendary Lynx - a Mad Cave graphic novel

What better way to kick off the new year that with a brand new collection of "vintage" comic books!  But, wait! This graphic novel collects a comic book that never really existed.  Rather, as the back of this graphic novel says, this book comes from the meta-fictional world of Secret Identity, a novel by author Alex Segura about a woman named Carmen Valdez, who helped create a character named "The Legendary Lynx" for the failing comic company, Triumph Comics.  The book (Secret Identity) is more than just the tale of how this woman created a best-selling comic back in the days before women were big in comics, but it is also a murder mystery, a story of friendship and betrayal, and a romance story.  Throughout that novel, there were pages of the "comic book" created by the fictional Carmen Valdez that were supposed to have come from the "original" comics published back in the 1970s.  At the end of my review for that book, I asked the question:  when are we going to see The Legendary Lynx in a real comic?  Well, my review was posted back in 2022 ... and two years later, my question was answered!

 

The Legendary Lynx was published by Mad Cave Studios in November 2024, and it purports to collect the first four issues of the "vintage" comic book created by the lead character of Alex Segura's novel. Segura even goes so far as to have an introduction by J.M. DeMatteis (from the "Bwa-Ha-Ha-Ha" Justice League era) that talks about the comic as if it were really published back in the '70s from the small, failing company, Triumph Comics.  Everything about this book is intended to give the reader the feel and belief that The Legendary Lynx did exist as a comic book series, and that the real creator and writer of the series has remained a mystery until recent years, when speculation regarding Carmen Valdez as that creator and writer has become verified.  The packaging, the look, even the coloring of the comics would lead one to believe these are actual comics from back in the day, if one did not know any better.  (Although, to be honest, there is one big thing that gives away the fact this is not vintage at all - and that is the number of panels on each page - back in the '70s, comics boasted quite a bit of story and more than just 2, 3, or 4 panels per page - these four issues collected in this trade paperback are formatted the same as today's comics, instead of mirroring the format of comics 50 years ago - and, as with today's comics, this story that is told in four issues would have been told back in the '70s as just one or possibly two issues at the most...)

 

That being said, Segura and artist Sandy Jarrell (who also provided the illustrations in Segura's novel, Secret Identity) do breathe life into the Lynx and her alter ego, newspaper secretary Claudia Calla.  The stories are exciting and the characters fresh - and the story actually takes a much darker turn as it progresses (with one of the main characters being killed off before the end of the fourth issue!).  The origin story is somewhat fresh and unique - Claudia's twin sister is murdered, and she is not able to prevent it.  At her sister's funeral, Claudia comes in contact with a ghost who agrees to train her so that she can track down the man that murdered her sister and bring him to justice.  Thus was born the Lynx!  And she has her own male version of Lois Lane in the form of Simon Upton, a reporter who will do anything to get a story - and one who believes he has figured out that Claudia is really the Lynx!  But there is no romantic entanglement for these two, as the Lynx has a job to do bringing the criminal element to justice and stopping super-powered villains such as Diesel, Void, and others.  

 

The trade provides faux covers for the four issues, and the stories are credited to Harvey Stern as the writer and Doug Detmer as the artist, with Rich Berger listed as the editor and Jeffrey Carlyle listed as the President & CEO of Triumph Comics (all of these names coming straight out of Segura's novel).  The tone of the stories definitely has a dark feel to them, much along the lines of DC's The Phantom Stranger or Marvel's Dracula or Werewolf by Night - nowhere near as light-hearted as the typical superhero fare of the time, but still not so dark as to cause problems with the Comics Code Authority.  The art and colors definitely fit that darker tone of the story, but it's not gory or filled with sexual situations as so many of today's indy comics seem to be.  I give Segura credit for creating a unique character that may seem familiar on the surface, but believe me, the Lynx is unlike any comic character you've seen to date!

 

The one drawback about this trade is that the fourth issue ends on a major cliffhanger, and so readers are left wondering what happens next! In Segura's fictional world, a new creative team took over with the fifth issue of The Legendary Lynx, so it's rather doubtful we will ever see any more "reprints" of issues of this comic, since this one specifically ties into Secret Identity and its title character.  I do love this cross-promotion of sorts (both the book and this comic can be read separately without any problem, but if you read them both, you find they truly compliment one another beautifully and give you a fuller picture of both stories!).  A part of me almost wishes Segura would go ahead and just introduce a REAL comic series for The Legendary Lynx - bring her into the present time and give fans an ongoing series (or a series of mini-series), so we can really enjoy the world of Clauda Calla and her justice-seeking alter ego.

 

RATING:  9 razor-sharp claws out of 10 for allowing the Lynx to jump out of the pages of Secret Identity and into her own "real" comic for fans to enjoy! 

House of Imposters - a Popular LIbrary Gothic

This is my first taste of author Willo Davis Roberts' writing. While I own a number of Roberts' books, I honestly have never read one before now. Mrs. Roberts (1928 - 2004) was a rather prolific author, writing nearly 100 books over a span of 50 years for both adults and children - her first adult novel was published in 1955, and her first children's book was published twenty years later.  She wrote approximately 100 novels in her lifetime, including the "Black Pearl" series and a large number of Gothic, as well as nurse romance, novels.  (According to the Los Angeles Times obituary for Mrs. Roberts, she was completing revisions on her 100th novel when she passed away - LA Times - Willo Davis Roberts) She actually won the Edgar Allan Poe Awards for best juvenile and best young adult mysteries in 1989, 1995, and again in 1997, in addition to other awards, which should definitely say something about her writing!

 

The House of Imposters was published in 1977, near the end of the '70s Gothic craze, by Popular Library.  Unlike a number of Gothics from this period, the title to this book aptly describes the story within.  It all starts at the funeral of Melanie Bingham's aunt.  Melanie's last living relative has passed, and she is shocked to learn her aunt's fiance is to inherit the house in which she leaves - and he wants her out!  Before she can leave, he shows up drunk and begins making untoward advances.  The more she fights, the more forceful he becomes, until Melanie locates her aunt's gun and uses it.  With Harry Lowell lying on the floor, bleeding out, Melanie grabs all the cash she can find and grabs the next bus out of town.  As the night drags on, the young woman sitting next to Melanie describes her new job as a companion to an elderly woman, living in an old mansion in a small town.  Melanie pays little attention until the bus crashes off the road, and the woman is killed.  Barely able to take in all that has happened to her in less than 24 hours, Melanie (whose initials just happen to the same as the woman who died) finds herself picked up by a man looking for the other woman and whisked away with no choice but to assume the life of a dead woman...

 

And all of that happens within the first two chapters!  Thus, you can imagine what the rest of the book is like.  Roberts introduces only a few characters ... Edie Bracut, the elderly woman that is said to be not quite all there and potentially dangerous to herself.  This is the woman Melanie (who must go by the name Marilee, Edie's granddaughter) is to watch over and make sure the woman never leaves the property and stays locked in her room most of the time.  Chance Bracut, the woman's nephew who has moved in and taken control of the house and everyone in it.  He warns Melanie to keep his aunt under lock and key and stay out of his way.  Jack Glade, the smooth talking man who seems to do whatever Chance tells him to do.  His reason for being at the Bracut mansion is unclear, and he seems completely unfazed by the things going on in the house.  Otis, the gardener and handyman who appears to have no other purpose than to guard the gate surrounding the property to ensure no one gets in - or out!  Freddie Bracut is nothing but ashes in an urn, an urn that Edie will never let out of her sight, since it contains her dead husband, to whom she still converses.  Lila is the missing housekeeper that Edie insists was there when Chance first appeared on the scene, but now is nowhere to be found.  And about half-way through the book, two more characters come into play - Grebbs, the rude, take control man with a deadly mission - one he will not allow anyone to get in the way of; and Fernando, the gardener from the house next door who seems to know an awful lot about the mysterious goings-on in that other property...

 

It is pretty clear from the beginning that no one in the story is exactly who they say they are.  We know that Melanie is not really Marilee Bracut; yet, she somehow ends up assuming this girl's identity not only to escape the possibility of arrest for killing her late aunt's fiance, but also to avoid the retaliation from Chance and Jack if she does not do what they say.  Edie comes across as a dotty old woman who talks to her deceased husband's ashes - but is she as crazy as Chance and Jack say she is, or is she simply playing her own game?  After all, she seems to be able to escape from a locked room and have free reign of the house whenever she wants.  Chance has his own agenda, but what that is, no one seems to know.  He keeps himself locked in the library and is brutally insistent that no one explore the house or leave the property.  Why?  Jack is the most nonchalant of them all.  While he appears to be working for Chance, he catches Melanie and Edie in places they should not be and never tells his boss.  Is he working an angle of his own that could ultimately aid Melanie and the elderly woman?  Grebbs makes no bones about his killer attitude; but the question is, who is he there to kill?  And if Melanie gets in his way, will she wind up dead, too?  And finally, there's Fernando.  He seems nice enough, and he seems to be trapped on the property the same as Melanie and Edie.  But is that all an act?  Why is he really in the house?

 

This story is chock full of Gothic tropes - hidden passages and staircases; dark, spooky attics; strange sounds in the middle of the night; a body buried in the basement; deadly secrets and unknown intentions.  Roberts does not miss a beat with the suspense, and she moves the story at a pretty fast pace.  The only flaw that I found in the story is just how weak the main character is.  Melanie comes across extremely whiny at times, afraid of her own shadow and unwilling to take any chances at all to figure out what is going on.  Edie, an elderly woman much smaller than Melanie has more strength and gumption, and I found myself rooting more for her than for Melanie.  

 

My copy of this book also has a glaring printing error on page 149.  As Melanie is eavesdropping on her "captors," the lines in the story are placed out of order.  The paragraphs, as printed, read:

 

"...there's a chance I can claim the estate after the old

doorway until it was almost too late; she slipped hastily

gal's gone"

 

Melanie didn't realize they were moving toward the

into the designated sewing room and didn't dare to

close the door for fear they'd heard the click... 

 

It took me a moment upon reading it to realize that the second line that starts with "doorway" actually belongs as the second line of the next paragraph in order for the two to make sense.  Not sure if every printing of the book has the same mistake, or if it is only the particular printing that I have.

 

The cover art is standard Gothic fare, with the young woman in a flowing dress (Melanie?) running from the dark mansion in the background, a light shining from a second-story window.  There is no signature on the cover to identify the artist, and the copyright page does not give any credit.  However, looking at the face of the woman, I do have to wonder if perhaps Hector Garrido provided the art, as the facial structure of the woman is similar to his style from other covers he has painted. 

 

Overall, I did enjoy the story, with the exception of who weak Melanie is throughout the entire book.  If she were written as a stronger character, then I would say the story was pretty close to perfect as a Gothic would be.   

 

RATING:  8 jars of pickled artichokes out of 10 for a fast-moving, suspenseful story that is very intense and gripping right from the start! 

Snoops, Inc. # 3 - The Cursed Stage

Every once in a while, you want a really quick read, but at the same time, you want a story that is enjoyable.  That may not always be easy to find, but fortunately, with the Snoops, Inc. series, I have the perfect combination of both.  Written by Brandon Terrell, with plenty of internal illustrations by Mariano Epelbaum, these early reader stories may only be 100 pages or so in length, with large font and one or two full or half page illustrations in each chapter, but they are chock full of fun mysteries.  Terrell is a self-proclaimed lover of mystery stories, and his author blurb in the back of the book reveals he has more than 200 Hardy Boys books in his collection!  That definitely gives him a heads-up in the mystery department - and it clearly shows in his writing of this series.

The Cursed Stage is the third book in the Snoops, Inc. series, and with it, I was pleased to find two of my favorite past times merged into this one mystery - comics and theater!  The book opens with twins, Hayden and Jaden Williams, and their two best friends, Keisha Turner and Carlos Diaz, who are the four members of Snoops, Inc. ("No Case Two Small ... We Solve Them All!"), hiding out in The Comic Vault in order to catch a thief.  And catch a thief they do!  The four spring a trap that catches an employee of the store who has been pilfering high-valued comics and selling them on the side to make himself some easy money.  It's always funny to see authors create fake names for books, comics, movies, and other pop culture things in order to avoid any copyright problems - so, in this story, we get Metal Miracle, Zom-Borg, and Arachno-Boy instead of Iron Man, (not sure of the middle one - a combination of zombie and cyborg, perhaps?), and Spider-Man.  And, of course, Action Man is an obvious placeholder for Superman (who first appeared in Action Comics back in the day).

 

By Chapter Two, Terrell and Epelaum move us into the actual mystery that is the focus of this book, as Hayden, Jaden, Keisha, and Carlos are helping out their middle school drama teacher with the school play for the year.  All four are working behind the scenes, but poor Jaden just cannot help but be enamored with the star of the play, a fellow classmate by the name of Frankie Dixon (gee, wonder how the author came up with that name?  If you can't figure it out based on what I told you in the first paragraph of this post, then do some research....).  Frankie is a former BFF of Keisha, but the two parted ways for reasons not explained in this book (maybe a future story?), and she is definitely a high-maintenance diva.  Frankie knows she's a star (even if her Daddy donated a lot of things to the school and the pay to help earn her that spot), and she will not let anyone take the spotlight away from her - not even the ghost that is haunting the play.

 

What, what?  A ghost?! That's right.  Terrell gives us a haunted theater (or, a cursed stage, as the title proclaims) for the Snoops, Inc. team to figure out.  Ghosts aren't real, as the kids know, but someone is clearly "haunting" the theater.  Someone does not want the production of Wagons West! to go forward ... or, is it more specific?  Does someone not want Frankie Dixon to be the star of the play?  While astute readers will be able to spot the culprit from the get-go, I must say the mystery is well-plotted, with little clues placed conveniently along the way so that the age-group for which this series is intended can have fun trying to pick them out and solving the mystery right along with the Snoops, Inc. gang.

 

Epelbaum's illustrations are beautiful and add so much to the story.  They really make me miss all of the internals that the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, and other series books used to have back in the day.  I think the publishers are really missing the mark when they do not include illustrations in their stories.  It is not just grade schoolers and middle schoolers who enjoy the illustrations - older readers like them as well! (Kensington publishers got it right back in the late '70s and early '80s when they produced the line of illustrated Gothic novels and Mystery Puzzler novels for adults!)  Epelbaum's illustrations capture some great suspenseful moments in the story, and some of them even add an element of clues to the story if the reader studies them carefully!

 

(The one thing the author did forget is the stage light - every theater always has one single light that remains on at all times - it's a superstition that goes back many, many years, and pretty much every theater I have ever seen has one!) 

 

It's rather a shame this series did not last beyond its six book run back in 2017 - not sure if that was the author's choice or the publisher's decision, but both need to take another look at it!  These kids deserve more stories!

 

RATING:  8 falling western-town-painted flats out of 10 for a hauntingly good tale of ghosts, mysteries, and tons of theater fun!

Trudy Phillips, Headline Year - the second Trudy Phillips book

This two-book series has been my introduction, of sorts, into the world of "malt shop" stories, and I must say, I rather enjoyed them.  The first book offered up a slight mystery mixed in with plenty of school days adventures and teen angst, and the second book pretty much followed the same form, albeit with an even slighter mystery.  Written by Barbara (S.) Bates (1919-2002), the series follows the life of its title character after her family moves to Tylertown. In the first book, Trudy is trying to find out where she belongs in this new town and new school; now, in this second book, she has adjusted to life in Tylertown and is ready to forge ahead with plans for her future and a brand new friend!

 

Trudy Phillips, Headline Year picks up literally where the first book left off.  For those who may not remember,  Trudy not only made friends with the very popular Gloria Holden, but she welcomed her into her home (as Gloria's parents were never really present, leaving the young teen by herself most of the time).  Now, as this book opens, Trudy is helping Gloria carry her many suitcases into the Phillips home, where Gloria will share a room with Trudy.  Quite frankly, this book is almost as much about Gloria and her growth as it is about Trudy's.  One would think that after finally admitting her loneliness by the end of the previous book, Gloria would have been somewhat humbled - but, no, in this book, Trudy finds herself at odds with her new friend a/k/a roommate a/k/a "sister," as Gloria has taken a dislike to Trudy's dog, Tucker, and even worse, she has a clear disdain for Alice Johnson, the new girl at school!  Trudy finds herself caught between the two, as she remembers what it was like to be the new girl (after all, that was just in the last book!), and she wants to make Alice feel welcome, but at the same time, she does not want to alienate Gloria after spending most of the last book trying to win her friendship!

 

Bates takes the characters from Christmas, through the New Year, on to Valentine's Day, before reaching the end during the St. Patrick's Day celebration - and during that time, Trudy and her friends face a number of challenges.  When one of the journalism students moves away, there is a spot open on the school's newspaper, The Sentinel, and Trudy decides she wants to try for the position.  She manages to win the coveted spot, and now finds she must learn to balance her time between school, the newspaper, her dog, her family, and her friends! And speaking of her dog ... poor Tucker has his own set of challenges, as Trudy desperately tries to train him, but finds herself at a loss to teach the dog to obey.  The shy new girl takes a liking to Tucker and agrees to help, but she is frightened away time and again by Gloria's actions towards her, as well as towards the dog.  Then there is the overcrowding on the school busses and in the lunch room that leads to a student revolt, inadvertently spurred on by the school paper!  On top of all of this, there are two mysteries that weave their way through the story:  (1) who is the anonymous writer who provides the paper with some well-written and though provoking articles, and (2) why does Alice always  wear a turban and never invited anyone to her house?

 

The various storylines provide Bates with plenty of opportunity for drama and teen angst, particularly since these kids are just at the age where they are starting to like the opposite sex.  Thus, everyone is worried about dates for the New Year's parties, for the Valentine's Day dance, as well as for the St. Patrick's Day celebration.  I, for one, was glad to see Trudy remains faithful to her glasses-wearing, college-level word spouting friend, Steve (the two of them made it to the cover of the book!), and does not fall sway to Alice's rather handsome older brother - a young man who Gloria sets her eyes on!  I also enjoyed reading Trudy's repeated attempts to make friends with Alice, despite her constant brush-offs and her secretive nature surrounding her family and her turban.  The mystery surrounding the latter is actually revealed about half-way through the book, and it is Trudy's mother who uncovers the reason the girls is always wearing something over her hair (p. 173).  I won't spoil it, but let's just say the reason given is factually accurate, as I did some research to see if it was real or not - and it was definitely real!

 

The student strike due to overcrowding was a bit much, as I can't imagine any school, particularly back in the 1950s, would have so easily given in to student demands when most of the school walks out and begins to picket rather than attending class.  Perhaps I am looking back with rose-colored glasses, but it seems to me that school authorities (principals, teachers, administration, etc.) had a much more firm control over the student body than to allow what takes place in this book.  And I do realize that a lot of it was for dramatic purposes, and part of it was a fictionalized telling of what junior high school students would probably love to be able to do in order to get their way.  At least Bates gave her title character and her friends some backbone to stand up to the strikers and find a way to get everyone back in class before things get too far out of hand. 

 

One surprise I found while reading the book was a pop culture reference, when Alice finally invites Trudy over to her house and they listen to some records - including a "new" version of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" by Frank Bye (p. 259).   While the song is definitely a real one, made famous by The Platters back in the late 1950s (four years AFTER this book was published!), and was covered by numerous artists thereafter, I was unable to find any version by someone named "Frank Bye."  The first recorded version was by Gertrude Niesen in 1933, then recorded by Nat "King" Cole in 1946, and after that, it was performed in the 1952 film adaptation of Roberta.  Numerous others have covered the song since.

 

Dorothy Grider once again provides the art for this book.  The end pages are the same as the first book, with all of the students milling outside of the school and Trudy running up to the steps on her first day at the new school.  The illustrations feature black and white line drawings with splashes of color, either pink or a pastel blue/green. Nearly every chapter has an illustration to complement the story taking place therein, and while there is nothing too exciting in the scenes (after all, this is not a fast-paced Stratemeyer series book that is dependent on lots of action and cliffhangers!), it is fun to see some of the choices made - from Trudy and Gloria carrying all of Gloria's things into the Phillips house to Alice's budding affection for Trudy's dog (in no less than three of the illustrations!) to couples at the various parties.  One particular illustration I thought was well done was where Trudy is upset by her father's reaction regarding the events unfolding at her school (p. 209) - I felt Grider really captured Trudy's emotion exceptionally well on the girl's face, such that it was clear to see just how upset she was without even having to read the story!

 

It's rather a shame this series ended with this second book.  Sure, they are not the most exciting stories in the world, but they are fun with some endearing characters that quickly grow on you (yes, even Gloria).  Trudy, Spooky, Gloria, Doug, Steve, Mike, Ginger, and now Alice - a better group of friends you are unlikely to find in any other series book!

 

RATING:  8 heavy white wool mittens out of 10 for expressing the ups and downs of a teenagers life with realistic and fictional drama woven into an engaging story that never drags nor bores! 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #24 - The Sandcastle Murder

It has been sixteen books since we last saw aspiring actress Marilyn Ambers in a Zebra Mystery Puzzler, but book 24 sees the return of this amateur sleuth in the second mystery written by Elizabeth St. Clair, otherwise known as Susan Lois Handler-Cohen. This book marks the second of three books Handler-Cohen has in this series, and just like the first one (Murder in the Act), she offers up more suspects than one person can possibly keep track of!  And, just like the first one, it kept me guessing right up until that final chapter, and the big reveal turned out to be quite a surprise; not at all what I was expecting!

 

The Sandcastle Murder takes Marilyn and her friend Serena (who is also an actress) from Hollywood where they just finished their small parts in a film to the other side of the country for a relaxing vacation in Nantucket - at the Sandcastle Hotel (which is the "Sandcastle" referred to in the title - and here I thought it was going to be an actual sandcastle on the beach!).  It seems they are not the only ones with that same idea, as the VERY famous actress, Peggy de Beers, is also at the resort with her husband, Jack de Beers ... as well as a large number of her followers:  Hector and Florence Dorchester, owners of an art gallery in New York; Roy Andrews, an extremely over-confident and self-absorbed theater actor; Tom and Monica Cannon, a couple whose marriage is on the rocks because of Tom's affair with Peggy; and Eliot Foster, a life-long friend of Peggy's who knows everything about her.  Rounding out the rather large cast are Chuck Johnson, a drifter who has anchored his boat just off the island and shows an uncanny interest in the de Beers; Mrs. Hill, who is managing the Hotel while the owner is away, doing her best to keep all of the drama from escalating; Jimmy, the young bartender who seems to stay in the background and out of the limelight; and the late arrivals, Dr. and Mrs. Mathews, whose appearance at the hotel seems to have a very adverse affect on Peggy de Beers.

 

Marilyn becomes intrigued with the drama unfolding before her, since it seems that most, if not all, of the cast have some connection with Peggy de Beers.  Which, of course, makes it all the more difficult when the beautiful, but aging, actress is found dead on the beach.  It is assumed by everyone she drowned, having walked out into a dangerously foggy night and failed to see the incoming tide.  But Marilyn knows otherwise, and she sets about, with Serena's help, to unmask the killer.  As with any good murder mystery, all of the characters have secrets, and it is up to Marilyn to ferret them out, sift through them all, and figure out which ones point to the actual murderer.  There are certainly no short supply of motives, as it seems everyone had a reason to want the demanding actress dead.  The affairs, the lies, the betrayals, the threats, the hidden agendas - all the good makings of a great soap opera!  Handler-Cohen (St. Clair) can definitely write a super whodunnit, as my guess as to the killer's identity kept changing with each chapter I read.  At one point, I even had to wonder if Marilyn's friend Serena was in on the plot to kill the actress (and I'm not saying she isn't, but I'm not saying she is either...).

 

The cover art is provided by Bruce Emmett, who has provided the cover art for a number of the Zebra Mystery Puzzlers (books 6, 10, 11, 14, and 16).  The scene depicts the moment when Marilyn joins the crowd of people surrounding the body of Peggy de Beers on the beach.  The clue on the cover, as well as those in the internal illustrations, are very subtle and are not really clear until near the end, when Peggy de Beer's past is revealed and the identity and motive of the killer are made known.  Unfortunately, none of the internal illustrations are signed, so I have no way of knowing who provided the art for those; however, the first one bears a slight resemblance to the art of Paul Frame, who did a number of children's series back in the day (Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew, to name a couple).  However, none of the other internals resemble his work, so it is unlikely Frame provided the art for the interiors.  (One thing I did find odd is that the first illustration has a name plate for Mrs. Hill, but the lettering on the name plate is backwards, making me think the publisher reversed the image when it was printed, not realizing the lettering would be backwards!)

I am definitely enjoying the Marilyn Ambers mysteries, and it's a shame that there is only one left to read in this series.  I suppose I will have to track down the remaining Gothic books Handler-Cohen wrote (as St. Clair), so I can enjoy more of her writing!

 

This book, as with the previous three, has the misprints on the front listing and the order form in the back, with the titles for books 21 and 22 switched on the front list and book 28 incorrectly listed as book 25 on the order form (bumping books 25, 26, and 27 into the incorrect 26, 27, and 28 spots).  I can only assume that since these four books were published simultaneously, that is why the same misprint appears in all four books.  Unfortunately, glancing ahead, it seems the misprints continue into the next four books... 

 

RATING:  10 exotic colorful shells out of 10 for crafting another superbly-plotted mystery that is neither obvious nor unsolvable - all the clues are there if you just know how to look for them! 

 

Secrets of Peyton Place - the fourth Peyton Place novel by Roger Fuller

I can't believe it has been more than a year since I read the last Peyton Place novel by author Roger Fuller!  It does not seem that long, but apparently time has just flown by.  So, it was with great relish that I pulled out the fourth book in this series, curious to see what scandals would rock the small New England town this time, and which of Grace Metalious' original characters would make appearances in the story.  Each book has dwelt on a different family in this anything-but-average community, and this book is no different - another new family moves to Peyton Place, and another female character is caught up in the sinful desires that seem to take hold of everyone in town at one point or another! 

 

Secrets of Peyton Place introduces readers to Phil and Nancy Merriman, a young couple from Sampson, South Carolina, who move to Peyton Place to pursue Phil's budding engineering career at Sono-trol, an up and rising company who has grown swiftly, taking on government contracts, as well as numerous private contracts.  Nancy is supportive of her husband's career, but this sudden move has left her feeling out of place.  The Merrimans move into a subdivision in which all of the Sono-trol families reside, and Nancy finds that she must do whatever it takes to fit in with the other housewives, as their actions have a direct reflection on their husbands' careers.  One wrong step could end a career. And the last thing she wants to do is hurt her husband's career - despite how badly she wants to return hom to Sampson!

 

Fuller once again delves into the depravity of these outwardly small-town people.  The "good" people of Peyton Place give the outward appearance of piety and purity, yet their devious and sexually deviant natures make the poor people of Shacktown look downright innocent!  Yes, Shacktown comes back into the forefront for this story - in fact, there are tons of moving parts that all eventually intersect to nearly turn the entire township upside down and nearly bring an end to Leslie Harrington's long-time reign as the one who pulls the strings of everything that happens in Peyton Place!  It seems Harrington finally has some competition in the form of Allen McCampbell, or "The Man" as he is known by all of the employees of Sono-trol.  It seems the outwardly handsome, smooth-talking Mr. Campbell is hiding plenty of secrets - from his political aspirations to his insatiable desire for women (particularly married ones!) - and he is a sly chess-player that knows exactly how to maneuver all those around him to get exactly what he wants.

 

And when a young college girl of Indian descent is nearly brutally raped in Shacktown, it becomes the catalyst for plenty of changes in a lot of lives in Peyton Place. Reverend Tibbs suddenly steps out of his role as the timid pansy and nearly beats the rapist to an inch of his life ... Nancy Merriman realizes she finally has a purpose in Peyton Place, and that is to help the people of Shacktown, what with the attempted rape and the swiftly spreading typhoid fever ... Doc Swain sees this as an opportunity to open the eyes of his fellow citizens of Peyton Place as to the poor conditions of those living in Shacktown ... and Allen McCampbell sees this as the perfect opportunity to remove the sheriff, take power away from Harrington, and take complete control of Peyton Place!  And all along the way, Nancy sees McCampbell as the savior this town needs, doubting all the stories of his liaisons with married women - until one fateful night he makes the mistake of making a move on Nancy.  Her husband has been away on work projects for so long (at the behest of McCampbell, of course!), and he is handsome and powerful and able to bring some hope to those people in Shacktown, but what good Christian woman would ever give in to that kind of temptation?

 

As the blurb on the back cover of the book says, "An innocent bride learns the ways of the world in a small New England town..."

 

Fuller brings in Doc Matt Swain and Sheriff Buck McCracken ... we get some brief moments with an aging Leslie Harrington ... we do get the brief mention of the farmhouse where the Fiske family tragedy took place in the last book ... so Fuller keeps the continuity strong and the story moving in a forward direction.  These books are not stand alone, even though the stories are somewhat self-contained.  The books continue the soap opera format of Metalious' original novels, and expands the cast and definitely darkens the stories.  While the last book shied away from explicit sexuality, despite its plot, this book brings back some pretty sexually explicit scenes, particularly for the decade in which the book was published.  I am actually surprised this was not censored, as I cannot imagine your standard publishers in 1968 were so open about explicit scenes like those in this book. Yet, Fuller managed to get away with it, and Fuller manages to include some very steamy scenes with Nancy and her husband, as well as with Allen and one of his mistresses.

One surprise I did find while reading this book was Fuller's reference to the Bible - which, I suppose, should not have surprised me so much, since Nancy Merriman from the get-go is described as a Christian woman.  When Nancy is first offered an opportunity to go help the less fortunate in Shacktown, she is hesitant - but then she recalls the admonition of the Lord:  "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ... ye have done it unto me" (p. 104).   This comes from the verse Matthew 25:40 from the New Testament.  For all of the sin and debauchery going on in this town, it was actually refreshing to find a character who actually wanted to serve others as she believes the Lord would have her do - and when ultimately tempted, she overcomes and actually makes the right choice!  Hurray for Fuller for not making everyone bad!

 

Interestingly, this book does not give a solid ending.  While we do have resolution for Nancy and her husband, Allen McCampbell's future is not necessarily a given, and Harrington's vow to regain his power in Peyton Place leaves me to wonder if these characters are not going to resurface in later books (as this was far from Fuller's last book in the world of this New England town).  After reading this book, the television series from the late '60s is extremely tame in comparison!

 

RATING:   7 games of high-stakes bridge out of 10 for keeping the drama in Peyton Place as high as it has ever been, but proving that some people are strong enough not to be pulled into the wicked ways of this town!

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32016 - Mirage on the Amazon

From an isolated island in the last Harlequin Gothic to a trip down the Amazon River in this book, it seems the series is expanding the locations that are typically found in Gothic novels far beyond the dark, brooding mansions one would expect to read about.  This book introduces a new author in the line - Mary Kistler.  She appears to be one of the few Gothic authors to use her real name.  It took some digging, but I found a hardcover edition of one of her books that has a short author bio on the back dust jacket flap, indicating she has authored a number of short stories, as well as several novels (most of which appear to be Gothic in nature).  Judging by this book alone, Kistler appears to have a grasp on the Gothic genre, and it's a shame she didn't write more than the few that she did.  This is her only contribution to the Harlequin Gothic line.

 

Mirage on the Amazon takes its title from the fact that when traveling down the Amazon River, one might actually see mirages, such as islands or landforms in the distance that are not actually there, or boats seem to stack or be distorted, or even phantom coastlines that should not be where they are.  Science has shown that these illusions, or mirages, occur because of the high humidity in the Amazon mixes with varied temperatures to create layers of air with different densities, and when light travels through these varying densities, it distorts the image of objects in the distance.  However, the title is also a subtle hint to the reader that the characters in the book are not what they appear to be, and the truth surrounding each one might be distorted by the Amazon jungle in which they reside...

 

The story is set in 1912 and centers around Julia Scott, a native of England who travels down to South America with her old nurse, Laney, in order to see her sister, Claire.  It seems Claire, the rebellious half-sister from their father's first marriage, left England to become an actress and ultimately married a very wealthy landowner who owned a plantation along the Amazon River.  However, years passed without any word, and suddenly Julia receives a letter from her sister, who has fallen ill and believes the illness is not natural - she believes someone is trying to poison her, and she needs Julia's help!  Of course, this being 1912, it takes Julia and Laney some time to cross the ocean and make their way down the Amazon River to the plantation home of Patrick Courtney (Claire's husband).  And it is one this boat trip, before Julia ever reaches her sister, that things begin to happen.

 

Julia is convinced that her sister is in dire jeopardy.  She has a sense of foreboding that she may already be too late.  The more she learns about Patrick Courtney from the boat's captain and first mate, the more she questions her sister's decision to marry the man.  Then, at a stop along the river to restock the boat, Julia is nearly pushed into the piranha-infested waters!  Was the push intentional or an accident?  Why would someone push her, unless they wanted to stop her from reaching her sister.  Then, upon reaching the village of Iquitos (which, by the way, is a real city in Peru!), Julia is not only shocked to see the same man who she thinks pushed her towards the river, but she also finds the captain of her boat talking to Dalma, the regal-looking housekeeper at the Courtney residence!  But he said he barely knew the Courtneys, so why would he be having such an intense conversation with the household help?  More surprising than this, however, is Julia and Laney's introduction to a young girl by the name of Dominique Courtney - Patrick and Claire's daughter - a daughter Julia's sister had failed to mention even existed!

 

Kistler creates even further tension and intensifies Julia's fears when they arrived at the Courtney plantation to discovery Patrick and Claire are not in residence - Patrick has taken his wife to a hospital far up the river, claiming the doctors there can better care for Claire's continued fever.  Yet, the hospital is not named, nor is the doctor, and Patrick provides no means by which Julia can communicate with her sister.  Now, more than ever, Julia is convinced something is very wrong, and the truth is being carefully hidden from her.  When a man in a dark robe breaks into Julia's room in the middle of night, clearly intending to kill her (fortunately, she is saved by a conveniently timed vase falling from an upper floor!), Julia knows for sure dark forces are at work, and someone is determined to keep her from finding out what has really happened to her sister.

 

The author keeps the reader in suspense, barely hinting at the real truth behind everything going on.  There are plenty of misdirects that the reader does not even realize are nothing more than red herrings until much later in the story, when Julia comes face to face with the real threat behind everything going on - and all of her ideas, as well as those of the reader, are suddenly turned upside down, as it turns out nothing at all is what it seems in the isolated mansion deep in the Amazon jungle!  I readily admit, I was thrown for a loop, as I did not see this twist coming at all - which made it all that more juicy to read!  Bravo to Kistler for keeping the truth hidden right beneath the surface of everything going on in the story, providing for a great shock there at the end!

 

The cover art is provided by Len Goldberg, who has provided the cover art for a number of titles in this series (Castle at Jade Cove, The Blue House, Shadows Over Briarcliff, The Devereaux Legacy, and this one).  As always, Goldberg manages to capture an expression of fear on his damsels in distress.  I love how he captures the reflection of the moonlight in Julia's hair on the cover, giving her an almost "angelic" look with the mist-shrouded jungle behind her giving off a sense of evil just waiting to destroy her.  I would give anything to find the original art for these covers - I can only imagine how much more beautiful they appeared on canvas!

 

As with the first 15 books in the series, this one is another winner as far as I'm concerned.  

 

RATING:  10 well-read copies of The Wind in the Willows out of 10 for proving the Gothic tropes can be placed in pretty much any setting and still tell a suspenseful story full of mystery, intrigue, deception, and terror!