Battle Mask (The Executioner, #3) by Don Pendleton

If you like action-adventure stories, then the Mack Bolan "Executioner" series is for you. This episode has Mack Bolan infiltrating the Mafia in a very deep cover, and working his usual Mafia-defeating magic in his usual action-packed way. More non-stop action than most readers can handle. Awesome story. Go get it!

Götterdämmerung by Barry Reese

	Another great work by Barry Reese! I loved seeing all his creations (and then some) in a single volume. I loved the action. I loved seeing the Lovecraftian angle to the plot. I loved his interesting use of time travel. The one thing I disliked was the character he killed off; I hope he rectifies that in a later story. Overall, though, this was another Reese masterpiece. Go read it!

The Specialists by Joel Jenkins and Derrick Ferguson

This was an excellent book, but I have to be honest, I had a hard time getting into this book.  It wasn't that the first two stories were bad, I just couldn't get in to them.  Then, towards the end of the second story, Dead Beat in the Gobi Desert, I caught a second wind, or the stories picked up, or something, and then I couldn't put the book down.  Derrick Ferguson has got to be one of the great writers of today, New Pulp or otherwise.  He simply knows how to write a story that grabs a hold of the reader and forces him to continue reading.  If Dillon isn't the best character in New Pulp today, I'm not sure who is.  Then, add Joel Jenkins' Sly Gantlet character to the mix and the action, adventure, and adrenaline levels are maxed out.  I just hope this is isn't the last we see of Sly Gantlet.  The Specialists is another New Pulp masterpiece that you shouldn't miss.

The Rogue Gentleman by Brian Drake

Great little novel.  Steve Dane is the kind of character I love - not attached to any particular country, cause, or agency.  Just a freelance agent willing to mix it whenever he can get behind the cause of the person hiring him.  He's got the looks, the skills, the courage.  He also has the girl (beautiful former Russian spy Nina) and friends all over the world.  And all over the world is where this story takes you: Italy, Greece, Mexico, France, Finland, New York City.  What a wonderful first story in this series.  I hope the rest of the series is just as fun and entertaining!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Once again, it took me a few years to get around to reading a great book, but, at long last, I read this book and it was great.  This was one of those books that held my interest throughout, to the point that I was thinking of the book and about what might happen next when I wasn't reading it.  Gillian Flynn wove a tail of suspense that always had me guessing: who's the "good guy"?  Who's the "bad guy"?  What really happened?  Who's telling the truth?  Of course, it was hard to tell what the truth is because the author kept the truth from the reader over the course of book.  And that truth-withholding was an ingenious plot device here.  From chapter to chapter, she fills the reader in on what's really happening, then, she changes point-of-view and, at the same time, changes what's "really" happening.  This built suspense as the book went on and constantly changed which character(s) you liked and which one(s) you hated.  There was nothing boring in this book, that's for sure!

My one gripe is that I didn't like the very end of the book.  Maybe this is because of whom I liked and disliked by the end, but, if I had written this book (and boy, do I!), I would've ended it differently.  Nonetheless, I'm not going to change my overall impression of this book.  It was excellent from start til (almost) finish and I would recommend that you check it out!

The Pulptress by Tommy Hancock, et al.

This was a good anthology, but not a great one.  Some of the stories were good, some not so good.  However, the character - The Pulptress - is excellent and a great addition to the New Pulp world.  I liked the mystery of her background that is slowly revealed throughout the stories.  I wanted to read more of these stories to get more of her back story.  She's been trained by many others, including my favorite New Pulp hero, Dillon, but we still don't know a lot about her.  And despite the uneven quality of the various stories, they all had two things in common: the Pulptress was in them and they make the reader want to read more stories like these.

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

To think that this story is about 100 years old and it is still one of the best sci-fi stories ever told.  Burroughs has created an amazing world on Mars that rivals any world created by George Lucas.  In fact, I see a lot of Star Wars in A Princess of Mars.  The character of John Carter is wonderful, as he is heroic, swashbuckling, yet remarkably human. His quest to marry Martian princess Dejah Thoris drives him across Mars, with the action and adventure of his battles driving the story.  He meets numerous Martian civilizations, befriending people wherever he goes with his derring-do and benevolence.  Burroughs is a little over-the-top with the story, but he always is and makes the story work despite moments where suspension of disbelief is needed.  I suggest that anyone interested in outer space sci-fi stories should start with this one.  It's a great story from one of the 20th century's greatest storytellers.  Don't miss it!