A Hearse for Dark Harbor - the second Dark Harbor Gothic Novel

"She was trapped in the old monastery with a faceless ghost ... and a cult of evil!" (cover blurb)

 

The second novel in the Dark Harbor series answered my question when reading the first book - will some of these characters introduced in Ghost of Dark Harbor show up and become featured characters in future books?  The answer is a resounding YES.  Ross (as in W.E.D. Ross a/k/a Clarissa Ross) utilizes characters and locations mentioned in the previous book as the central story in this book, albeit with some slight variations. I do like continuity, such as this, as it gives the books a more well-rounded, realistic feel to them, and also provides the reader with a soap-opera style environment, leaving us to wonder what will happen to these characters in the next book!

 

A Hearse for Dark Harbor takes place some time after the events of the first book, but there is no clear delineation as to how much time has passed.  Ross opens the story at the end, so to speak.  The reader is introduced to Rose Marks, a young woman who has clearly gone through a very traumatic experience on Pirate Island (where Dark Harbor is located), and she is in the company of Derek Mills - who readers may remember was one of the main characters in the first book.  While the whole "start at the end and tell the story in a flashback" sometimes works, I felt it was wrong for a story like this, as it pretty much gives away too much - like the fact that Rose clearly survives whatever happened to her, and whoever the villain of the story was has been defeated.  But, this was the route Ross chose to take, so I stuck with it, and by the middle of the first chapter, we start getting the back story that explains how and why Rose came to Dark Harbor...

 

Flashback:  Rose lives in New York with her roommate, Helen Grant. At a party one night, Helen meets a poet named Jules Bayliss - a man that Rose instantly distrusts. Well, as you might figure, her feelings about the man prove true, as Helen takes off one day, leaving a note explaining she has gone away with Jules to a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts, where the two will live in a commune that was one an old monastery.  When Rose loses all contact with her friend, she knows something is wrong, so she takes time off from work and heads out to Pirate Island.  She meets a man named Tex on the ferry, who happens to live in the monastery, and he agrees to take her there.  The carefree lifestyle, the free-flowing drugs, the demands for money by the man who runs the place, and the general consensus that Rose just does not fit in there give Rose reason to be cautious.  But she is determined to find her friend, no matter how many times everyone there says they never saw Helen.  Rose knows they are lying, and the more they lie, the more determined she becomes.

 

Phil Waring, the LSD-laced man who runs the place, accepts her into the commune with great caution, only allowing her to stay because of the money she offers.  He assigns to her Tex's "family," where she meets a woman named Dallas, who quickly informs her that she is Tex's main wife and Rose better not get any ideas of taking over.  Rose also meets a man named Cal, who is friendly enough, but who readily admits to staying there simply for the drugs.  Then there's the girl Susie, who is a bit of a loner, and she is the only person to truly warn Rose away, telling her the story of the Leper Mary - a ghost who is said to haunt the halls of the old monastery, her face so hideous she wears a veil to hide it.  Rose discounts the tale until she sees the ghost herself in her own room!

 

Ross does manage to build some good suspense in the story.  As Rose continues to dig deeper, the more trouble she faces - and not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions, the ghost of Leper Mary comes to Rose's rescue, saving her from certain doom - once from being drown in a locked dungeon, and twice from being pushed off the rooftop balcony!  Along the way, Rose meets Derek Mills, who comes to her aid when she is trapped on the side of the cliff, and she agree to work with him to bring an end to Waring's hold over the people at the commune.  The final climax is a bit rushed, as Ross is apt to do in his stories, and we do not actually "see" the final battle, as Rose is knocked unconscious, and we learn what happened only after Rose wakes up in the doctor's office.

 

The revelation of what happened to Helen is not too surprising, if you really pay attention as you read.  The truth about the "ghost" of Leper Mary is also not much of a surprise.  What is a surprise, to me at least, is the story Derek Mills tells about his wife.  As those read the first book may recall, he brought his wife Joyce back to Dark Harbor after she had a breakdown following the death of their child.  The story followed her fight to stay sane as someone or something was intent on making her think ghosts were haunting the estate.  At the end of that first book, it was proven there was no ghost, and everything Joyce had seen really did happen, and she found herself back in the arms of her husband, their marriage restored.  Yet, in this book, Derek relates how Joyce had another breakdown, and she went back to the mental hospital on the mainland, where the doctors have told him she will likely never recover.  He no longer wears his wedding ring, and he even admits to having feelings for Rose!  This really bothered me, as there is no explanation as to why Joyce had another breakdown, and the attention he shows Rose basically confirms Joyce's suspicions from the first book that he was cheating on her!  This definitely made me like Derek Mills even less than I did in the first book!

 

At least we also have the return of Captain Zachary Miller, who is a lovable character who always seems to offer the best advise to the damsels in distress in these stories.  I hope he is a mainstay in this series, as I find him to be one of the better characters on Pirate Island - plus, he knows so much about the history of the island!

 

Now, I do want to address a bit of inconsistency about the monastery.  In the first book, it is casually mentioned that the monastery is owned by a wealthy man, who has hippies living on the property, and whose lifestyle of drugs and possible rituals has been played down by the police on the island.  In this book, however, the man who rents the place (not owns!) is by far not rich, and the police in town, as well as the town council, want nothing more than to run Waring and his cronies off the island!  Perhaps Ross intended that the wealthy man who owns the monastery rented it to Waring, and the rich man did not actually live there?  Whatever the case, the continuity errors about the monastery and about Derek Mills' wife simply did not sit well with me while reading the book.

 

The cover art is one again, I believe, provided by Lou Marchetti.  With the monastery in the background, Rose running in that flowing white nightgown (which, by the way, she never actually wears at any time in the story), and the graveyard in the foreground, Marchetti sets the mood for a spooky, dark tale.  He even includes "Mary" on the name of the one tombstone, which one can assume refers to the Leper Mary. 

 

It's not a bad read, but if the saga of Dark Harbor is going to continue from book to book, I hope Ross does not keep changing the continuity...

 

RATING:  8 fresh unmarked graves out of 10 for pitting Rose against some deadly and very dangerous men in a God-forsaken, unrefurbished monastery that would given even the bravest of souls cause for worry!

The Mystery of the Missing Eyebrows

This is not only one of the shortest "series" I've ever seen (only one book was published in the series), it is also one of the most unusual.  The book is promoted as "The Newspaper Boys' Series" on the cover, yet on the inside book listing, it calls the series the "Renfro Horn Stories."   The cover does not identify the author; rather, it indicates the publisher is "The R.H. Gore Book Co."  The author is not identified until the title page, which lists him at Stephen Rudd.  Now, you may ask what is so odd about any of this ... well, R.H. Gore is actually Robert Hayes Gore (1886-1972), an American newspaper publisher - he owned and published the Ft. Lauderdale Daily News, acquired the DeLand Sun and Daytona Beach Sun-Record, and later started The Pompano Beach Sun Sentinel.  He was born in Knottsville, Kentucky (which is quite a coincidence, since I was born in Kentucky and now live in Florida!).  "Stephen Rudd" was merely a pseudonym, and this book was the one and only book ever published in this series and by that particular publisher. 

 

The Mystery of the Missing Eyebrows is self-proclaimed to be the first book in the Newspaper Boys' Series, featuring Renfro Horn as the main character.  The book is copyrighted in 1921 by the R.H. Gore Publishing Company, which was a short-lived publishing house established by Gore in Terre Haute, Indiana shortly after he became publisher of the Terre Haute Post in 1916.  It should come as no surprise that the book should be so heavily focused on the newspaper world, since Gore himself was involved with the newspaper publishing world for many years, both in Indiana and in Florida.  In fact, Gore (a/k/a Rudd) provides a one-page introduction just before the table of contents that is basically a self-serving advertisement for subscribing to your local newspaper and promoting the hard work of newspaper boys, alleging the "newspaper training is valuable, as much so as school..."  He even makes reference to the "fact" that the Renfro Horn in this book is based upon a real boy by the same name who delivered newspapers in his youth.  Perhaps he is referring to himself (since his first two initials are "R" and "H").

 

The mystery centers around the kidnapping of Helen Weir, the young daughter of a local judge who is known to be extremely stern in his sentencing.  Renfro Horn, who happens to see a shadowy figure lurking around the Weir house on two different occasions, figures out a way to stay out later to keep watch on the house by getting a job as a paper boy (although he certainly does not need the job, since it made clear his family is very upper class, and even his mother looks down her nose at children who get menial jobs such as a paper boy).  When he learns of the kidnapping, Renfro returns to the house to search for clues and finds on the window where he had seen the shadowy man looking into the house two eyebrows stuck to the ice on the window.  He uses a knife to carefully cut off those eyebrows and decides he is going to solve the case himself by simply finding the man who is missing his eyebrows (hence, the title of the book!).  His family's young "second maid," whose name is Mary, ends up lending aid to Renfro, as she had been studying detective techniques in the various stories she had been reading.  In a way, she became the Watson to Renfro's own version of Sherlock.

 

The story is pretty much a standard children's mystery of its time.  The police are inept at figuring out what has happened to Judge Weir's daughter, while Renfro stumbles cross clue after clue, through various circumstances and just plain luck, which lead him to figure out the girl's kidnapper(s) must be hiding out in the old Hall mansion, which is said to be haunted, since its owner, a man by the name of Captain Pete, has made his residence in a shack some ways away.  Renfro learns that Captain Pete's brother has been released from the prison where he has served time, and he thinks that he may be involved with the kidnapping.  Mysterious lights in the supposed empty mansion, the rather rotund man who Renfro sees with the Captain, and the mysterious woman wearing the same scarf he had previously seen on the man all lead Renfro, with Mary's help, to stake out the old house and find out the truth of who is staying there.  In the end, Renfro himself gets kidnapped, which leads him to finding Helen and solving the mystery - making him the hero of the judge and his wife, giving the newspaper a major scoop for a huge story, and encouraging Mary to decide she wants to help Renfro solve more mysteries!

 

And speaking of more mysteries, the listing in the front of the book provides a list of eleven more books "to follow shortly," it proclaims.  The stories alleged to be coming have some rather unique titles, such as The Luck of a Rainy Night, The Long Low Whistle, The Growl of the Lost Dog, The Fall of the East Side Bully, and others.  In the back of the book, there are short synopses given for the next four books that were to be published - The Luck of a Rainy Night (or, Renfro Horn Wins the $10,000 Reward); The Rise of Route 16 (or, Renfro Gets a Regular Detective Badge); The White Bag's Secret (or, Renfro Horn Trails Down the Thieving Dog); and The Clue of the Twisted Paper (or, The Mystery of the Lost Girl).  Sadly, none of those stories ever saw print, and it is unknown (at least to me!) if any outlines or manuscripts for any of these books were ever completed.  vv Broward County in Florida contains an archive for Mr. Gore in their Historical Archives, which include papers documenting his career as the Governor of Puerto Rico, newspaper publisher, real estate developer, and other activites: The Robert H. Gore Papers.  This book appears to be the one and only book Mr. Gore ever wrote, and the archive do not indicate there are any unpublished outlines or manuscripts.  I enjoyed this book sufficiently, I would definitely have read more if there were any written!

 

There is no dust jacket with the book, and I can find no evidence that it was ever published with one.  There are, however, two illustrations - one is the frontis piece, and the other is inserted between 182 and 183.  As can be seen, the illustrations come with rather lengthy taglines, much longer than you might be used to seeing in a children's series book.  The frontis piece depicts Renfro finding the two eyebrows stuck to the Weirs' window; the second illustration, which shows Renfro being kidnapped, is for whatever reason placed in between pages 182 and 183, but the action in the scene does not actually occur until 189; so I'm uncertain as to why the illustration was inserted pages before that, as it does rather spoil such an important scene in the story.  Neither illustration is signed, that I can see, and the book does not give any credit to the identity of the artist.  The title page merely indicates the book is illustrated.  

 

I always find it amusing when I am reading stories that are 100 years old, such as this one (105 years, technically), because the language used can be antiquated - words that were used in 1921 to mean one thing can sometimes mean something quite different in 2026 - which can give an entirely different spin if one were to read it applying today's definitions!  For instance, in the first chapter, when the author is describing Renfro, through the eyes of his parents, it is said that Mr. Horn "knew his son was queer" (p. 14); his mother, too, "that Renfro was queer" (p. 15); Mr. Horn even tells his wife, "Renfro is a little queer.  None of us boys was the least like him.  But he's clever with all his queer streaks..." (p. 15); and Mrs. Horn complained that if her son "had to read such queer stories, he should not do it in the middle of the night" (p. 16).  A child reading the story today might take these descriptions in an entirely different way than they were intended back in 1921 - thus proving that context is definitely required when reading antiquarian books such as this!

 

There is a major continuity error I caught that took me out of the story for a brief moment. Midway through the story, when Mary is helping Renfro by watching the old Hall mansion, she later describes how she cut eye holes into the piece of wood covering a window so that she could see inside (pp. 138-39).  Later in the story, when Renfro goes to the house in order to see if his suspicions are correct about who is living there, the author indicates "Renfro found his peep holes, which he had cut out a few nights before with his knife" (p. 176).  Apparently the author forgot he had written Mary as the one who cut the holes, not Renfro.  However, for a 241-page story, for there to be only one continuity error such as this, I think it can be forgiven.

 

Definitely a fun story, with a perky little hero and his determined sidekick - truly a shame we did not get more adventures of Renfro and Mary!

 

RATING:  9 mysterious lights over the Indian graves out of 10 for damp caves, haunted houses, courteous kidnappers, and fun-filled mystery in one of the shortest series ever published!

Peggy Lane Theater Stories No. 2 - Peggy Plays Off-Broadway

The story of aspiring actress Peggy Lane continues in this second book of the Peggy Lane Theater Stories.  The specific identity of the author, who wrote this book under the name "Virginia Hughes," is unknown, but there are some subtle differences in the style of writing between the first and second books, leading one to believe that they were written by different authors.  However, the characterization remains fairly the same, and the story actually remains in continuity and continues from the first book, which I find refreshing for the series books of this era (which mostly told individual stories with very little continuity among the books in the series).  Like the Judy Bolton series by Margaret Sutton, this Peggy Lane series appears to be one where the time line moves forward as the series progresses, and the characters grow in age, experience, and maturity, with story elements from previous books giving rise to situations in later books.  This gives the series a more sense of the real world than a fictional one!

 

Peggy Plays Off-Broadway picks up some months after the first book ended.  Where the first book took place during Peggy's first semester at the New York Dramatic Academy, this second book jumps ahead in time - Christmas and New Year's have past, and it's now coming to the end of the winter months, as Peggy and her friends prepare for casting of the play written by Peggy's friend, Randy Brewster, and directed by her other friend, Mallory Seton.  The book opens with Peggy anxiously awaiting the opportunity to read for a part in the play, and her best friend, Amy Preston, giving her moral support.  Readers are introduced to newcomer, Paula Andrews, who Peggy is certain will land the lead role in the play, as her appearance and demeanor give Peggy the impression that Randy had written the part specifically for her - even though he has never met her before in his life!

 

The entirety of the book deals with Randy's play, Come Closer.  Readers get a taste of not only what the casting process is like, but also the laborious task of building sets, establishing lighting, running lines, developing characters, blocking, rehearsing, and everything else involved in the production of an off-Broadway play. It is always fun for me to read stories like this; having been in the theater myself for a number of years (not Broadway, of course!), I have a level of understanding about all of these activities, and I can appreciate whether the author actually knows what he/she is talking about.  So far, in this series, the authors have had a fairly realistic grasp on all of the activities associated with putting on a play.  The nervousness, the anticipation, those opening night jitters, the worries of having given a bad performance, etc.  Many of the emotions felt by Peggy and her friends throughout the book (as they relate to the play itself) I have felt myself over the years!

 

A number of elements from the first book come into play (no pun intended) in this second book. The building that Peggy and Amy found in the last book has been fully renovated now by Mal and Randy, so that it not only has a theater and rehearsal space, but also has living quarters for the boys, as well as extra rooms for other actors who need a place to live (allowing them to rent those rooms out to cover the expenses associated with the upkeep of the building).  Peggy is still taking a full course load at the Dramatic Academy, and she still faces that one-year deadline that she set with her parents to find a paying acting gig that will allow her to remain in New York and pursue her dreams. With the introduction of Paula Andrews, though, we get new blood into the story, as well as a slight mystery.  It seems that while Paula is a superb actress, she is hiding a number of secrets.  When the cast is called upon to perform one scene from the play for a potential new benefactor, Paula storms out unexpectedly, crying that she cannot do it for Sir Brian Alwyne, a special British representative for the United Nations (p. 47).  This, of course, piques Peggy's curiosity, and she's determined to learn exactly what Paula is hiding, before it destroys the play's chances of getting off the ground.

 

Peggy actually does some things that I consider to be outside the scope of normal sleuthing - not only does she contrive a surprise party for Paula to convince the superintendent of her building to let her and Amy into Paula's apartment, but she snoops through literally every drawer, closet, and bookshelf in the apartment until she finds something that will give her a clue as to Paula's past.  From there, she reaches out to one of her housemates who just so happens to be on a tour out in California (at exactly the time Peggy needs someone out there - how convenient!) to visit a house she believes to belong to Paula's parents and find out more information about Paula.  She then shares everything she learns with her housemates and house mother before she ever actually approaches Paula with what she knows!  Yes, Peggy does admit to everything she's done after-the-fact, but it still seems pretty underhanded, particularly when she claims throughout the story how much she wants to be Paula's friend.  A true friend does not dig in so deeply into someone's personal life without their permission!  But, as can be expected, Paula forgives her, the mystery reaches a successful resolution, and the play's opening night turns out to be such a success that pretty much everyone involved gets offers in their various fields (with Peggy actually getting an agent - the N.A.R. [National Artists' Representatives], which is a fictional agency, likely taken from the NATR, the National Association of Talent Representatives) (p. 170).

 

The art is once again provided by Sergio Leone.  The cover, while not exactly exciting, does at least offer a bit more than the first book.  In this scene, we have Peggy studying her script, with Randy (?) standing over her.  There is only one full page internal illustration, which is the frontis piece.  The remaining illustrations throughout the book are 1/2-page, 1/3-page, 3/4-page and such.  As with the first book, the characters in the illustrations all appear much older than what they actually are in the story - in fact, the only illustration that depicts the characters in the age group in which they should be are the end pages.  In that rehearsal scene, all of the characters appear in their late teens and early twenties.

 

An enjoyable read, for sure, and now that Peggy has an agent, I'm curious to see where the series will go with the next book!

 

RATING:  9 flat, leather boxes of highly polished calfskin out of 10 for detailing the life of an aspiring actress and the joys (and pains!) of putting together a play for opening night! 

Short Lived Comic Series #39 - Steel (DC Comics)

It has taken me many years before I finally decided to pick up this series (and, quite honestly, the only reason I did pick it up was because I managed to get four of the five issues in a $1 bin and located the last issue I needed for just as cheap).  I was first introduced to the character in 1982 when he made his first appearance in the All-Star Squadron comic book published by DC Comics.  At the time, I was not even aware there was an earlier series starring Henry "Hank" Heywood as the superhero known as Steel (referred to as "Commander Steel" in the All-Star Squadron title).  When I eventually learned of it, I discovered it only lasted five issues (the sixth issue never seeing publication due to the DC Implosion in 1978 that saw the cancellation of a number of DC titles).  For reasons I can't explain, I just never picked up the series whenever I happened across an issue.  Now, though, with all five issues in hand (well, technically, all six issues, since I have a copy of the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade that printed the unpublished, not-finished issue), I figured it was time to read it.

 

The first issue of Steel, the Indestructible Man hit the newsstands in December 1977, with a March 1978 cover date. This new comic, set in the dark days of World War II, featured a brand new super-hero that was a result of writer Gerry Conway's work on the Wonder Woman run that featured the Earth-2 character during her WWII days.  According to the text in issue 2's letter column (which featured no letters, since the first issue had not even hit the stands when that text was written), Gerry did so much research about the Second World War during his run on Wonder Woman, that he decided to create a character who had fought in Germany and new the harsh realities of the situation before America even entered the war.  The text page reveals that the character was first developed as a super-soldier type of character, what with all of the technological advancements that had taken place in the 1940s, and not a costumed hero; but as his discussions with the publisher continued, it eventually developed into "the more patriotically-clad super-hero" that was eventually seen.  The series artist, Don Heck, worked out the costume with editor Al Milgrom, and thus, Steel was born!

 

With the first issue, Conway, Heck, and inker Joe Giella introduce readers to DC's newest hero, along with all of his supporting cast of characters.  Told from the point of view of Hank Heywood's journal, the story opens in August 1939, with Heywood in Munich, Germany, where he rescues an elderly man being attacked by soldiers - only to leave and have the old man shot down by those same soldiers!  Heywood returns to the States with his traveling companion, one Dr. Giles, and is reunited with his girlfriend, Gloria, who happens to be Giles' daughter.  Readers get a quick glimpse of Heywood enlisting into the Marines, serving his country, where he ultimately sacrifices his life to stop an attack on an ammunition dump - well, almost sacrifices.  He is gravely injured, and it turns out only Dr. Giles' biological retardent for transplanting artificial organs could save his life.  Unbeknownst to anyone by Dr. Giles and his select medical staff, Heywood is basically rebuilt with not only artificial organs, but grafting a steel alloy to his bones and a metal casing to protect his skull, along with micro-motors in his joints - turning Hank Heywood into a literal man of steel!  Returning to the warfront, Heywood dons a star-spangled costume to fight the good fight not as Heywood, but as Steel!  In a last panel collage, we learn that as Steel, he tracks down the saboteurs working under a madman named Baron Death, vowing to one day find the mastermind himself.  As Heywood writes in his journal, "This is just a beginning...!"

 

For anyone who thinks the series would proceed to simply be Steel fighting Nazis, think again.  While Conway certainly integrates the ravages of war into the story, he also pits Heywood against a number of costumed villains - after all, what would a superhero comic be without a crazed, super-powered villain against whom our hero must fight?  With the second issue, readers get to meet the monster who mined miracles - under a cover that proclaims:  "The Murderous Menace of The Mineral Master."  Yes, the powers that be definitely love alliteration, as most of the covers in this series feature fun taglines that make use of alliteration in spades!  In the first few pages of this issue, Conway, Heck, and new inker Vince Colletta, give us the origin of this new villain.  A poor scientist named Dr. Moag has created a machine that gives off a strange "omega" force that allows the doctor to basically create whatever he wants (and that "omega" force made me immediately think of Darkseid and his omega beams!).  A German baron and his muscle-bound bodyguard push the doctor into the field, which transforms him into Mineral Master!   Steel battles the crazed doctor, the first time being defeated, but the second time overcoming the villain by keeping him out of contact with the earth, through which he seemed to gain his power.  These battles, in the open public, introduced Steel to the world at large.

 

Oddly, the third and fourth issues both featured two stories - the first of which features Steel facing off against the major villain of the issue, and the second story more focused on Heywood's personal life (with subplots leading into the next issue).  The main stories (10 pages in length) continue with art by Heck and returning inker Giella, while the back-up stories (7 pages in length) feature art by Juan Ortiz and inker Bruce Patterson.  Issue three of "The Hardest Hitting New Hero in Town" (as the cover proudly proclaims) sees Steel facing off against the monster-sized mobster, Sledgehammer, while the back-up tale introduces the Gadgeteer, who takes center stage in the two-chapter tale of the fourth issue - which spouts the headline, "The Ghastly Grasp of the Gadgeteer!"  As one might expect, Conway has our indestructible hero defeat the villains; however, it is his personal life that takes the hit when Dr. Giles learns that Steel is actually Hank Heywood, which causes him to have a near-fatal heart attack!  Filled with guilt, Heywood must weigh his decision to become Steel.

 

The fifth, and final (?) issue of the series sort of heads off in an entirely different direction. This was the first 50-cent issue of DC's Explosion in 1978, so instead of 17 pages of story, it featured a full-length 25 page story written by Conway, of course, with art by Don Heck and yet another new inker, Frank Chiaramonte.  Perhaps this was why Heck only did 10-page stories for the previous two issues in order to be able to provide the 25-page story in this issue.  Whatever the reason, Conway opens with Steel already fighting the strange swamp monster depicted on the cover, and then flashes back to his trip across country to locate a former college classmate who holds the key to saving Dr. Giles' life.  Here things turn a bit Gothic, as Steel stumbles across a dark mansion in the swamp, where he navigates a labyrinth of traps to learn a rather heartbreaking story of two brothers - but which one is the monster?  The answer is not what you will expect, that's for sure.  The issue ends with Steel saving his former classmate's life, and the insinuation that he will get her back to the hospital where Dr. Giles is at death's door in time to save his girlfriend's father.  The next issue blurb indicates readers will learn "The Secret Origin of Baron Blitzkrieg!"  The only problem is, due to the DC Implosion, that never issue never saw publication.  Well, not under the Steel title, at any rate.  

 

You see, at some point, someone put together all of the finished and somewhat finished pages of all of the titles that never saw publication due to the infamous "DC Implosion" that occurred just three months after the Explosion that increased the page count and price and produced a limited number of black and white copies of those issues as "Cancelled Comics Cavalcade" issues one and two.  Fully penciled, inked, and lettered, issue six of Steel appeared in the second issue of this cavalcade of cancelled comics, even with a black and white cover with no logo or words!  But this was put out in very limited quantities (although, over the years, copies of copies of copies have been produced, and I managed to snag a copy of these issues from eBay some years ago).  And while it was nice to read that Dr. Giles did get the miracle medicine in time and he did survive, it would have been nice to have seen these pages in full color.  But, wait!  I did see them in full color.  Well, most of the pages, anyway.  Yes, just four years later, Roy Thomas repurposed these pages in his All-Star Squadron comic, in issue eight, where he brought Steel into the 1940s of the Earth-2 universe (this was before Crisis on Infinite Earths did away with Earth-2), and used the main story and most of the panels from this issue as a way of "introducing" readers to Steel in the All-Star Squadron team.  Some panels were omitted (many dealing with Dr. Giles and his daughter, Gloria and the entire portion where Steel finds himself in the concentration camp), while others were altered or replaced in order to fit into the All-Star Squadron story without all of the subplots from the Steel series.  And the intended cover was used as a major splash panel in the All-Star Squadron tale.  So, while the entire issue never got published as intended, at least a chunk of the story finally saw full color print.

 

From what I've read in articles about the series, it seems Conway never intended Steel to be an Earth-2 character - he had intended for Steel to be on the main DC Earth (which was Earth-1 at the time).  Personally, with the World War II connection, it made more sense to me to have him on Earth-2, which is where the JSA and other Golden Age heroes made their debut; otherwise, why would the heroes of Earth-1 have never talked about the "superhero" that existed prior to Superman's rocket crashing in Smallville?  As far as the art in the Steel series goes, I have never been a fan of Don Heck's art.  I absolutely hated his work on Wonder Woman during that final run of her original series.  For me, this art is barely a step above that art.  I can't pinpoint what it is I don't like about his art, except that his faces do not seem natural to me, too sharp and angular in many ways.  However, I did not let that detract from my enjoyment of the series.  Gerry Conway is an excellent writer. I loved his work on All-Star Comics, Firestorm, Justice League, and many other series.  This is just another example of his superb writing skills.

 

Thus, another short-lived series that deserved more of a chance gets boxed away with so many other of its kind, and hopefully this review will encourage other comic fans to get out there and track down issues of the series - it's well worth the read!

 

RATING:  9 steel-infused skeletons out of 10 for super-hero stories with plenty of super-powered battles, personal angst, and fantastic plotting and dialogue! 

 

 

Winterwood - a Fawcett Crest Gothic

After reading two of Dorothy Eden's Gothic novels (Shadow of a Witch and The Daughters of Ardmore Hall), which were both great reads, Witch being the definite winner of the two, I went into this one with very high hopes.  And I was not disappointed!  Dorothy Eden (1912 - 1982) was the actual name of the author, although she did write a couple of novels under the name "Mary Paradise."  Eden was best known for her Gothic novels, but she also contributed to various magazines.  She had her first novel (The Singing Shadows) published in 1940, and six years later, she became a full-time writer.  Her books are known not only for their well-plotted stories, but also for her greatly-developed characters.  It is easy to get drawn into her stories, and each book is a real page-turner.

 

Winterwood was first published in hardcover in 1967, and later published by Fawcett in paperback form the next year. The title of the book comes from the name of the estate owed by the wealthy Meryons family.  While the story is primarily set in England, it actually opens in Venice, Italy, where young Lavinia Hurst is watching an opera and is distracted by a family in the box next to hers - a young girl in a wheelchair, her rather dour mother, and her doting father.  The girl and father both take notice of Lavinia, which plays out the next day, when Lavinia is in the Piazza and runs into them once again.  While Lavinia finds herself attracted to the man, she knows he is married and that her own sordid past would prevent her from ever becoming attached to him, even if he were not.  Lavinia's brother had accidentally killed a man and had been sent to prison, thus tarnishing the family name, and Lavinia had left England to stay with her not-so-pretty and not-so-pleasant cousin, who took advantage of the twenty-two year old girl's circumstances to constantly belittle her.  Lavinia feels stuck, so when the man - Daniel Meryon - offers Lavinia the opportunity to be his daughter Flora's companion, Lavinia jumps at the chance.  Little does she realize the drama she is about to become a major part of...

 

Eden sets up a dark and disturbing mystery involving Charlotte Meryon's aunt, Tameson, and her cousin, Jonathon Peate.  The Meryons' bring Charlotte's aunt, as well as Lavinia, to Winterwood, were Lavinia meets the Meryons' youngest son, Edward.  She quickly learns that Charlotte detests her own daughter because of her disability and favors her youngest son (the Meryons' oldest son, Simon, is away at school).  Flora is aware of her mother's dislike for her, and she gradually develops a love/hate relationship with Aunt Tameson.  The suspense builds as Lavinia comes to learn that Jonathon and Charlotte are plotting, and when Aunt Tameson drafts a new will, it becomes clear the purpose of that plotting.  But everything changes when the dying aunt secretly crafts a new will with the help of Lavinia and one of the staff, Eliza, which leaves everything to young Flora.  Upon her death and the revelation of this new request, the danger increases, and Lavinia becomes concerned for Flora's safety after an attempt on her life leaves a chimney sweep seriously ill.  And amidst all of these worries, Lavinia must deal with Charlotte Meryon's animosity towards her, Daniel's growing attraction for her, and Jonathon Peate's attempts to make her his wife (under threat of revealing the truth about her past to the Meryon family!).

 

The mystery element is not overly difficult to figure out, if you are an avid mystery fan, but Eden does not make it overly obvious.  Her characterization is superb, as always.  Flora is a somewhat demanding and precocious child, and even though her manners are lacking, you can't help but fall in love with her (as Lavinia does in the story).  Even the gruff attitude of the aunt does not turn you away from her.  Eden portrays the mistress of Winterwood as cold, calculating, and manipulative, using her weak constitution as a means by which to get her way whenever she wants - although, as would be appropriate, many of the household staff see through her ploys.  The growing feelings between Daniel and Lavinia progresses slowly and naturally, and despite his marriage to Charlotte, you easily find yourself rooting for the two of them.  Lavinia's desire and efforts to protect young Flora remind me a great deal of Eden's other book, Shadow of a Witch, in which the main character must save the young daughter from devious machinations. Despite the similar plot elements, both stories are uniquely different and not simply mirror copies of the story with different settings and characters.

 

There is no identifying signature or other means by which to know who the cover artist is.  It is an interesting mesh of pink, purple, and blue pastels. Surprisingly the scene does not create any sense of terror, fear, or urgency; rather, you simply get a young woman (intended to be Lavinia, no doubt) making her way away from the great mansion while holding on to the scarf covering her hair.  The same cover, albeit chopped down in size, was used on a later Fawcett printing, which featured a white cover with the painted art reduced to a box at the bottom. The British cover published by Coronet features entirely different artwork, with a blond haired woman standing before a much grander mansion in the background. The original dust jacket art for the hardcover edition more closely resembles the paperback art, with the castle-type mansion in the background, and Lavinia in the foreground, a scarf over her head - but in this instance, she has a concerned/worried look on her face, an obvious expression of fear over what is going on in that house!  The cover of my particular copy has a tagline from Mary Stewart (another great suspense and Gothic author) giving her recommendation of Dorothy Eden's stories.  The back cover offers even more recommendations from The New York Times, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the Los Angeles Times. 

 

One tidbit I did find amusing was the name of the prison where Lavinia's brother, Robin, was incarcerated.  Robin Hurts was "now in Pentonville prison" (p. 11).  While many people may not understand why this prison name hits my funnybone, any fan of General Hospital will immediately recognize it as the one and only prison in the fictional town of Port Charles!  Of course, that prison did not appear in Port Charles until the 1990s, so Eden clearly was the first to use it (raising the question - did the writers of the soap pull the name from Eden's book for use on the show?).

 

This book is definitely another winner, proof that Dorothy Eden deserves the accolades she received as one of the best Gothic authors of the time!

 

RATING:  10  poisoned cups of hot chocolate out of 10 for mystery, suspense, and great Gothic writing!

Nancy Drew: The Secret of Bridleway House (a Fan Fiction mystery)

I first heard about this book on Facebook, in a fan group to which I belong.  Since the first our Nancy Drew books went into public domain, it seems quite a few people have been publishing their own versions of those books, with various covers (many with AI-generated art).  This, however, is the first all-new story that is taken from those early books, with an attempt to tell the story in the way those first few books did.  While the published book does not identify the writer or artist, Amazon lists the author as "Jared Raymond Vuolo," who was also the person who posted about this book in the fan group, which brought it to my attention.  Sadly, his promotion of the book brought some negative comments from people, and any posts about the book have been met with immediate moderation of the post.  My friend, Kevin, read the book and said he rather enjoyed it (pointing out he had a few problems with it, things I also noticed which will be mentioned below), so I figured I might as well give it a chance.  After all, with the stories coming out from Simon & Schuster these days, this fan-written story could not be all that bad...

 

The Secret of Bridleway House is, in many ways, a tale of Gothic mystery and suspense.  It has the old mansion, filled with hidden rooms, a light in the upper tower, and more mysteries than you can throw a stick at.  It has the Whitcombe family, who have lived in the house for generations, but a long-ago feud between brothers has resulted in dark secrets that hold everyone in the family captive.  It has a mysterious stranger with a hat, grey coat, and gloves that seems to be able to slip in and out without anyone every catching him.  And it has a young woman who becomes central to it all, determined to reveal all of the secrets and prevent a villainous evil from destroying the family's legacy - and that woman, of course, is Nancy Drew!  Even the cover art somewhat resembles those old Gothic covers from the 1960s and '70s, with the young woman in the foreground, the old house in the background, a light shining from one of its windows, and a shadowy man watching in the distance.  The book definitely has all the elements for a good old-fashioned, spooky mystery. 

 

The story centers around the sale of Bridleway House.  Elderly Mrs. Whitcombe is set to sell the house, with Victor Hale representing the interests of the purchasers.  But Carson Drew has found some irregularities with the history of the property's title, and with his daughter's help, he intends to clear it up so the sale can go through.  But Nancy quickly begins to realize something is amiss.  Pertinent papers disappear or are torn, so only small portions remain.  A aging photograph of the family goes missing from her father's briefcase.  And with every clue she finds, it leads her to another; however, each and every time, she gets there just a moment too late, with someone staying one step ahead of her.  Thus, with only bits and pieces of clues, and with Victor Hale insistent the sale move forward as planned, claiming the issues with title are only imagined, Nancy has little time left to uncover the truth about what happened all those years ago and what promise was made regarding the property boundaries.  (Plus, just for good measure, there's that little discrepancy of the birth date for one of Mrs. Whitcombe's ancestors - and the truth about that changes everything about the situation - literally!)

 

The cover art and the interior art are clearly created by AI.  There's no denying how gorgeous it is, and I am certainly not against independent authors like this using AI to help spruce up their work with art.  But There are a few issues that I wish the author had caught before sending this through to publication.  First, while I love that every chapter has an illustration to go with it, the fact that sixteen of the twenty illustrations show Nancy with other people bent over a desk or other object looking at a clue makes the reader feel like they are looking at the same image, just different setting.  There were a number of scenes throughout the story that would have made much more exciting illustrations, so I'm unsure why the same basic scene was chosen for each chapter.  The illustrations for chapters two and three are different, and they display tense moments when Nancy sees (or thinks she sees) someone in an upstairs window (chapter two) and when she hears footsteps behind her (chapter three).  Second is the illustration for chapter nine.  While I love that it plays on the cover art for the original Lilac Inn,  I had a chuckle at an obvious error in the AI-generated art - Nancy's left arm is leaning up against the all next to the window, with her hand grabbing on to the molding around the window pane - the only problem is, that hand is a right hand, not a left hand (the thumb is not in the proper place!).  A great reminder that if one is going to use AI-generated art, one must be careful to review it before using it.

 

 As far as the story itself - I have seen some comments on Amazon and in the groups that allege this book is entirely AI-generated.  I obviously cannot say for sure, but having read the story from beginning to end, I am more likely to believe this was written by human hand and not computer created.  Yes, there are some repetitive scenes (for instance, numerous times in the story Victor Hale gets frustrated and makes snarky comments, to which either Nancy or someone else calls him out, and he then glares in silence - this happens almost in every chapter), but I did not find the dialogue unrealistic or choppy, as some have claimed.  In fact, I thought the author did rather nicely with keeping Nancy pretty much in-character, as someone not afraid to stand her ground and filled with determination to help others.  (I do think, however, he made her a bit overly cautious - the Nancy Drew I know would have gladly taken the risks and ignored her father's warnings and climbed up into the upper tower room without waiting for the stairs to be confirmed safe to climb.)  The tension builds slowly, and the mysterious stranger that seems to appear here and there, but remains elusive until the end, is well-played.   Overall, it's not a bad read, and it has the "feel" of some of the early Nancy Drew books.

 

Now, that being said, I do have some major questions about the time period of this book.  Based on the hairstyles and clothing, I would guess the story must be set sometime in the 1940s; however, if you pay close attention to the dates in the story, this could not possibly be the case.  Mrs. Whitcombe is described as "small, silver-haired" and stands "with the help of a polished cane," as "age had bent her shoulders" (pp. 19-20).  Such a description would seem to indicate the matriarch is in her 60s at the very least.  Then, taking into account that Silas Whitcombe, Mrs. Whitcombe's grandfather, was born in 1871 and did not marry until 1898 ... and Adelaide Margaret Whitcombe (the aunt for whom Mrs. Whitcombe was named) was not born until 1901 ... then in order for Mrs. Whitcombe to be, at the very least, in her 60s, then the time frame for this story would have to be in the 1980s or thereafter.  Yet, the descriptions in the story and the dialogue definitely give this more of a '40s or even '50s feel.  I give the author credit - he carefully avoids any references that could potentially date the story, making the story, in a way, "timeless," allowing the reader to identify whatever time period they would like with the story.

 

Last, but not least, I applaud the author's subtle drops of Easter eggs throughout the book to the various Nancy Drew mysteries over the years.  There are references to old clocks, hidden staircases, candles (albeit, not twisted), oak trees, old attics, trunks (although not specifically brass-bound), etc.  Each one I happened upon made me smile, as the references were distinctly a part of the story, yet gives readers a very nice nod to the classic stories read and loved by millions.

 

Would I recommend this book?  I would have to say yes, as long as it is read in the spirit in which it was apparently written - as an homage to the classic Nancy that so many fans love.   With any luck, we'll get a sequel to this one of these days.

 

RATING:  8 inscribed antique compasses out of 10 for giving fans a "vintage" type Nancy Drew story that is fresh and enjoyable1 

The Brownie Scouts at Silver Beach - Book Five of the Brownie Scout Books

It's a week at the beach for the Brownies in Mildred Wirt's fifth Brownie Scouts adventure (I hesitate to call this a "mystery" series, as the books are more about the young girls' adventures and learning experiences than they are about the actual mystery aspect of the stories).  I have to admit, this series has been a much more enjoyable read than I had originally anticipated.  A series about a group of pre-teen girls who are enjoying outings as Brownie Scouts did not exactly scream out to me as readable stories, and the only reason I actually bought them was because (a) they were all purchased relatively cheap, with their dust jackets in tact, and (b) it was another Mildred Wirt series.  I just assumed they would sit on my shelves, unread.  But, when a friend suggested I read and post about them, I thought, "Why not?"  And, quite frankly, I'm glad I did.

 

The Brownie Scouts at Silver Beach finds out favorite little Brownies enjoying the sun and fun at Silver Beach, said to be "along the Atlantic Coast" (p. 3).  Veve (whose spelling is changed to "Vevi" in this book for some reason) McGuire and Connie Williams are once again front and center in the story, with Jane Tuttle, Sunny Davidson, and Rosemary Fritche rounding out the troop.  Miss Gordon, the troop leader, is, of course, on the scene, as is Mrs. Williams, Connie's mother, who is helping to chaperone the girls.  Vevi and Connie are bunked with Mrs. Williams in the rental, Starfish Cottage, while the other girls are staying with Miss Gordon in a "vine-covered cottage overlooking Silver Beach" (p. 3) that the troop leader owns.  By the end of the first chapter, we get the beginnings of a mystery, when Miss Gordon's watch, which she left in the pocket of her beach robe with the rest of the troop's belongings on the sandy beach while they enjoyed the ocean water, is stolen!

 

Readers quickly learn there have been other thefts recently in that area of the beach, which has caused a number of summer visitors to migrate over to the beach belonging to a nearby hotel.  That mystery, however, is put to the side as the girls begin to explore the beach, discover shells, discuss the various types of water birds seen in the area, watch a turtle race, and discover a small house built to look like a ship not far from their cottages.  Along the way, Vevi and Connie get lost in the fog (which is when they stumble across the ship-shaped cottage and discover another mystery - who is using the small house as a place to stay?), the girls have fun adventures trying to catch a turtle so they can enter the next turtle race, they collect shells so that they can put together and showcase a shell display, and they learn all about carrier pigeons, with Vevi nearly getting her very own pigeon that she names Snow White!  And during all of these fun activities, the girls also hear about more thefts and inadvertently witness the thief on more than one occasion attempting to steal items from tourists who are visiting the beach.  Even worse, poor Vevi and Connie wind up on a boat put adrift at sea, with no one knowing where they are!

 

The mysteries, as usual, are not overly complicated, nor are they difficult to solve (at least, for the discerning reader).  The identity of the thief is not at all hard to spot, pretty much from the get-go.  The identity of the person using the ship-shaped cottage is also easy to figure out, as Wirt does not make it hard to see where the story is going.  The mixture of the two lifeguards, the former ship captain, the young boy whose father is a lifeguard at the other hotel, and the man who handles the homing pigeons are fairly straight-forward characters who may be able to hide all of their secrets from the Brownie Scouts, but none of them are so subtle that even a casual reader could not spot them a mile away.  None of that detracts from the enjoyment of the story, though - it's not about actually solving the mysteries; rather, it's more about following along with Vevi, Connie, and the other Brownies as they hop from one exciting escapade to another.

 

Wirt casually included a moment in the story that is definitely a very valuable teaching lesson for young children.  When Vevi and Connie venture out to find Cabell's pond, where there are said to be lots of turtles to be found, a layer of mist begins to roll in from the ocean as dusk draws near.  As they are walking, a "driver stopped for a moment offering the girls a ride.  Vevi and Connie did not know him, so they turned down the offer" (p. 23).  A shining example of the old maxim, "never get in a car with a stranger."  I smiled when I read these lines, thinking how smart Wirt was to integrate a moral lesson into the story without making it overly obvious and beating you over the head with it.  One has to wonder how many children read this back in the day and took this lesson to heart.

 

There is another scene, however, that caught my attention more than the "stranger danger" scenario.  When Miss Gordon and Mrs. Williams take the girls to Brant's Point for a picnic and for an opportunity to search for more shells, the tide starts to come in before they realize it, and soon enough, Mrs. Williams' car is stuck in the sand, unable to get any traction.  As the tide gets closer and closer, my mind kept telling me, "I've read this scene before - but where?"  Thanks to the memory of a very good friend, I found it - in Wirt's Penny Parker mystery, Voice from the Cave.  In that book, Penny and Louise are on a beach near a lighthouse (same as the Brownies are in this book), and like the Scouts, Penny's car gets stuck and the high tide keeps coming in with no help in sight.  The similarities do not stop there:

 

PP 95 - "Even if the car isn't washed away, the salt water will ruin it."

BS 88 - "Salt water ruins a car very easily ... We must get out somehow."

 

PP 95 - The motor began to labor.  Then the car stalled completely.

BS 85-86 - Slower and slower crept the car, its engine laboring ... The car would not budge...

 

PP 95 - "I'll run to the lighthouse," Penny decided desperately...

BS 88 - She glanced hopefully toward the lighthouse.  Connie offered ro un there and ask for help.

 

PP 97 - Penny and Louise seek help from a man they know who is wading through the reef; he sees them, but he turns and walks away

BS 90 - The Brownies seek help from a lifeguard they see in a boat out in the ocean; he sees them, but he turns and speed away in his boat

 

PP 99 - Jerry Livingston shows up on the beach and helps the girls push the car out of the sand

BS 91 - Captain Tarwell shows up on the beach and helps the girls push the car out of the sand

 

The scenes so closely resemble one another, only the names have been changed and some of the wording.  As the Penny Parker book was published in 1944, and this one in 1952, so perhaps Wirt "borrowed" the scene from the earlier book with the thought that readers of this particular book (who would be younger than the intended audience of the Penny Parker book published eight years prior) would not recognize the passage.  (Wirt seems to have had no problem in lifting scenes from previously published books of hers and retooling them into later stories - her Madge Sterling series provided her with a plethora of scenes that she later used in her Penny Parker books, her Mystery Stories for Girls books, and others.)

 

Marguerite Gayer provided both the cover art and interior illustration (the frontis piece being the only interior art) for this book.  The cover art actually depicts a scene related to the mystery surrounding the thefts at the beach, as the girls find a stolen purse buried in the sand (p. 146).  Meanwhile, the interior illustration merely shows the scene where Vevi and Connie happen across the small cottage in the mist while trying to find the pond (p. 34).

 

RATING:  8 dusty old Bibles out of 10 for keeping the Brownies faithful to their code, always helping others, while also learning about nature and valuable lessons at the same time.

Barnabas Collins - the 6th Paperback Library Gothic Novel based on ABC-TV's suspense drama (Dark Shadows)

And we finally reach the introduction of Barnabas Collins in the Paperback Library Gothic book series.  Published in November 1968, well over a year after Jonathan Frid first appeared as the vampire on the television show back in April 1967.  I'm not really sure why it took the book series so long to catch up to the television show, character-wise; perhaps because the character was never intended to be long-lasting (originally he was intended only for a 13-week stint, and then he was to be killed off), or maybe it was simply that the books were more Gothic than supernatural.  Whatever the reason, it was clear the character of Barnabas Collins was a huge hit on the TV show, so thus, it would only make sense the publisher would want the best-selling character to appear in the books.  Of course, this meant reducing the role that Victoria Winters plays in the books, and to me, that was a major loss...

 

(It should be noted that the month this book was published was the same month that Alexandra Moltke, the actress who originated the role of Victoria Winters in the television show, left Dark Shadows, being replaced briefly by Betsy Durkin and then Carolyn Groves, before the character was completely written out in January 1969.)

 

Barnabas Collins is the sixth book in this series, and it introduces readers to the Barnabas Collins of this book series, which I have come to believe is simply another of the many parallel times that exist within that room deep within Collinwood's haunted halls.  Rather than introducing Barnabas by having Willie Loomis try to rob his gave, only to get an unexpected surprise, we get instead a story told by the ghost of Elizabeth and Roger's grandmother of events that took place at the turn of the 20th century.  In the book universe, there is no Willie Loomis, there is no Mrs. Johnson, and we barely see David Collins and Carolyn Stoddard.  Victoria Winters, who has been the main focus of the first five books, now takes a back seat, as she appears only in the prologue and epilogue, as she sits with Elizabeth to listen to the story of "Barnabas Collins," a name she happens to see while reading a journal of one Jonas Collins.  Elizabeth knows scant details, only what her grandmother told her. With the first chapter, we get a brief introduction of Margaret Collins, whose spirit speaks from beyond the grave to tell the full story of what happened back in 1902 and the ensuing years...

 

Jonas Collins is the head of the family, and his wife Margaret is the mistress of Collinwood.  Their grown son is off on his own, and the only other member of the family on the estate is their invalid daughter, Greta.  Ross never actually states what disease the poor girl has, but she is confined to a wheelchair and said repeatedly to be in poor health.  While not a happy household, there is no real unhappiness - merely melancholy and acceptance.  An elderly housekeeper remains on the property (Granny Entwhistle), as do the sister maids, Ada and Patience Griffin.  The family retains a houseboy, Luke Sinnot, who is mentally handicapped, as well as an unnamed groom.  All is normal and routine on the estate until the day he appears.  While standing at Widow's Hill, looking out over the ocean, she feels his presence, before she sees him.  Barnabas Collins.  An enigmatic man who claims to be the descendant of the original Barnabas Collins, who has come home to the family estate for some peace and quite to conduct "experiments" without interruption (this is the excuse he gives why they will never see him during the day, and why he cannot be disturbed in the Old House).  As you might suspect, once Barnabas arrives, everything changes.

 

Greta is instantly drawn to her cousin, particularly when he shows her special attention, remarking on her resemblance to Josette Collins (gee, can you see where this is going?).  Jonas is just happy to have someone renting the Old House.  Margaret, on the other hand, cannot make up her mind about their new found family member.  He is cordial enough, but there is something about him that unsettles her.  And his servant, Hare, is an ogre of a man, said to be both deaf and mute and rather rough when it comes to strangers.  Then there is Granny Entwhistle.  She is old enough to just barely remember stories of the original Barnabas Collins.  She knows the rumors.  She knows the stories.  And she knows evil when she sees it.  She tries to warn them.  She tries to help them.  But in the end, it does her no good - especially when she ends up dead at the bottom of the stairs to the third floor!

 

This book definitely has a body count.  The Barnabas Collins of this book is similar in nature to the Barnabas Collins as he was originally introduced on the television show.  He has a welcoming, cordial facade that hides a determined, sinister nature that is willing to do anything necessary to achieves his goals.  What did surprise me was how Ross integrated Barnabas' origin into the book, providing just a few scattered details here and there about Angelique being a witch, tricking Josette into believing she loved Jeremiah, and ultimately cursing Barnabas with eternal life as a vampire after he shoots her and she believes she is dying.  Ross even references the duel between Barnabas and Jeremiah - but in this parallel universe, Ross reveals that Jeremiah did not die, and neither he nor Barnabas were severely wounded (p. 73).  And that's it.  While the show spent weeks in 1795, giving viewers a detailed look at how Barnabas came to be the man he is, the book spends only a few sentences.  Clearly, Ross (and likely the publishers, as well) believed those who read these books would already be familiar enough with the television drama that they did not need to repeat what was already.

 

There are some things in the story that are worth mentioning.  When Barnabas first arrives at Collinwood, he talks about how little the estate has changed, saying "Still the sad setting for the widow's wail and the appearance of the Phantom Mariner" (p. 15).  The legend of the phantom mariner was used as a plot device in the fourth book in this series, The Mystery of Collinwood.  It is actually pretty great to see that Ross manages to keep some continuity in his books.  There is also the moment when Margaret discovers the truth about Barnabas' real nature, when she sees him and Greta go past "the great mirror by the door" and is shocked to see that "there had been no reflection of Barnabas Collins at all!" (p. 39).  This is obviously a nod to the television series, in which Dr. Julia Hoffman uncovers Barnabas' secret when she finds he has no reflection in the mirror of her compact she is using (Episode 288).

 

One aspect of the story that really bothered me while reading this was the introduction of young Judith, a child who Barnabas decides he is going to adopt, mostly because of her strong resemblance to a young Josette DuPres Collins.  This was extremely uncomfortable, because Ross has Barnabas inform Margaret of his reason for adopting her:  "In ten years, little Judith could become my bride.  In the interim I'll see she has the life of a rich man's daughter.  Every luxury and advantage will be given to her.  So in the end she will be the same great lady Josette was" (p. 77).  I don't know about you, but the fact that a grown man is looking at a little girl (no more than 8 or 9 years old!) and envisioning this child as his future wife bothers me considerably.  I am surprised not only that Ross would incorporate such a thing into his story, but that the publisher / editor would allow it be stand as written!  It almost makes Barnabas come across as a sexual predator, and I think the story would have been better without this aspect in it.

 

The story was a definitely different take on the introduction of television's greatest vampire, and aside from that one uncomfortable plot element, it was a fairly good read.

 

RATING:  7 sapphire star pendants out of 10 for providing readers an entirely new tale of Barnabas Collins' arrival at the great house of Collinwood, riddled with vampire attacks and coffins in the basement! 

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories # 145 - The Missing Horse Mystery

"Danger's riding high ... and Nancy's in its path!" (cover blurb)

 

"A search for a missing horse leads Nancy to a dark discovery!" (back cover blurb)

 

I've noticed a trend in recent digests that I have read that seems to lean toward more mature mysteries, often using deadly weapons and individuals within the stories becoming gravely injured.  Two of the last three books that I've read involved serious attempts on Nancy's life, well beyond the normal foibles of getting knocked unconscious or run off the road - and this book is no exception.  I've often heard people say that once the Nancy Drew Files ended in 1997, some unused manuscripts and plots were integrated into the digests; and, after reading these recent bout of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories (142, 143, and now 145), I would have to agree.  These plots definitely seem more fitting for the older audience at which the Files were aimed.

 

The Missing Horse Mystery takes Nancy, Bess, and Ned to the Illinois Horse Park for the Midwest Grand Prix Dressage Championship. Surprisingly, there appears to be an actual Illinois Horse Park located in Triumph, Illinois, made up of approximately 80 acres of historic farmland about an hour away from Chicago.  Not too often does the Nancy Drew series use actual locations such as this (excepting the use of real cities).  Whether the author intended this to be the same "Illinois Horse Park" or not is unknown.  However, the fact it is specifically set in Illinois once again gives rise to the ongoing consensus that River Heights is located somewhere near Chicago (and since The Case of the Capital Intrigue specifically indicated Chicago is the nearest big city to River Heights, this book simply reiterates it).  George is off-screen in this book, said to be "having a great time teaching at a soccer clinic" (p. 2).  This is another aspect I have been noticing about the series as it progresses:  the ghostwriters appear to prefer using either Bess or George in the stories, not as often using both of Nancy's best friends.  Perhaps the authors simply don't know how to utilize both characters alongside Nancy with these shorter mysteries (this book clocks in at only 147 pages), and so it is easier to use one cohort rather than two.  Even at that, Ned is actually more involved in this mystery than Bess - she meets a foreign competitor named Gunter and spends most of the book going out with him instead of helping Nancy!

 

As with most of these "vacation mysteries," Nancy has come to Illinois Horse Park to enjoy a weekend getaway, not to be involved in a mystery.  Even when she catches wind of a fire in the stables by the end of the first chapter, she resolves not to look for a mystery where there may not be one.  But, of course, as always, there is a mystery, and soon enough, Nancy is in the middle of it.  A valuable horse vanishes, and the groomer is seriously injured and taken to the hospital, where she lies in a coma.  The night before, however, the groomer had given Nancy a small bit of information that plays a very large part in this mystery - in fact, for me, it basically gave away the entire plot and the culprit.  But, I am not the intended age group for reading this kind of mystery, so perhaps the intended readers might not find the clue quite so revealing.

 

The author does throw in a number of possible suspects.  From one of the competitors who has made it clear that he will do anything to win the competition to one or more of the security guards who are not necessarily all they appear to be to rival horse owners who want to win the big prize.  It seems there is quite a lot of money on the line, and the question Nancy must figure out is who benefits the most from the prize horse's disappearance?  Nancy and Ned must face off against some violent rottweilers, and they find themselves at gunpoint, their deaths certain as the real villain lets them know in no uncertain terms that they will not foil his plans.  The grievous blow to the groom's head, the rottweiler attack, the beating of an accomplice, and the threat of gun violence definitely set a much darker tone for this mystery.  The stakes are higher than Nancy Drew's normal cases, and Nancy and Ned take some dangerous chances by sneaking into the security guard's offices, as well as the private offices of another suspect,  However, despite all that danger, Nancy reveals the true criminal by the end of the story (although, surprisingly, she actually believes the crook's excuses several times before realizing what he was truly up to, which is something the Nancy Drew everyone knows and loves is not prone to do!).

 

Interestingly, when talking with their friend, Lee Anne Suna, who invited the girls to come watch the show, Bess makes the comment, "Nan and I have been riding since we were about eight" (p. 9).  I automatically assumed this was a references to the Nancy Drew Notebooks series for young readers, which began about four years prior to the publication of this book in 1998.  In that series, Nancy and her friends are eight years old, and at least two books in that series deal with horses (books 26 and 37).  And, since this book has advertisements in the back for the Nancy Drew Notebooks series, it is an easy assumption that the author, and potentially the publisher as well, wanted to promote that series. 

 

Another somewhat factual point raised within the story is the distance from the Illinois Horse Farm to the Iowa state line, which Nancy and Ned must cross over in order to follow-up on a clue.  Nancy casually mentions to Bess that "Ned and I are going to tour a farm in Iowa," (p. 103), leading one to believe it could not be far, if they planned to simply "visit" the farm and be back the same day.  When the two actually head out, it is stated the farm was only about "a half hour's drive" (p. 110).  In reality, Triumph, Illinois (the home of the Illinois Horse Farm) is approximately 83 miles from the closest point of the Iowa state line - so, for Nancy and Ned to make it to that point in a half hour would have to mean they were driving nearly 160 miles per hour!  (Of course, they are not in the real world, so in the book, the Illinois Horse Farm must have been located considerably closer to the state line...)

 

The ghostwriter for this particular mystery is Alison Hart.  If this is the same Alison Hart who has written a number of horse-related novels, including books in the Horse Diaries series, then it would not be surprising, considering the subject matter of this book.  This is actually the fifth of six books that Ms. Hart has written for the series (the other being Magnolia Mansion, Stranger in the Shadows, Masked Rider, Twin Teddy Bears, and Gold Doubloons).  The cover art is again provided by Ernie Norcia, depicting a scene early on, when Nancy smells smoke and releases a horse from its stall where the first has been set (p. 11).

 

Not a bad read, but as indicated above, the solution was given away too early.  Better than a number of the digests, but not within my top ten.

 

RATING:  7 long metal rasps with blood on it out of 10 for trying to mislead readers with several very unlikable characters who you would almost want to be the villain of the story!