Series Saturday: The Blood-Thirsty Agent

This is a series about … well, series. I do so love stories that continue across volumes, in whatever form: linked short stories, novels, novellas, television, movies. I’ve already got a list of series I’ve recently read, re-read, watched, or re-watched that I plan to blog about. I might even, down the line, open myself up to letting other people suggest titles I should read/watch and then comment on.

In Cynthia Ward’s action-packed novella series “The Blood-Thirsty Agent,” Lucy Harker is a dhampir – a child born of the sexual union between a vampire and a mortal. In this case, Lucy’s mother is the famous Mina Harker, and her natural father is Dracula, Lord of the Vampires. The time is the early 1900s and the action ranges from cabin suites on the Titanic to the trenches of World War One to the Hollow Earth, allowing the author to work in winks at, and pastiches of, some of her (and my) favorite adventure characters of the time period.

The Adventure of the Incognita Countess introduces us to Lucy, her family, and her unique role as an agent of Her Majesty’s Secret Service under the direction of the man called “M.” As a dhampir, it is Lucy’s job to protect the Empire from vampires and other supernatural creatures. But her assignment on the Titanic is of a more mundane nature: bodyguard for an American carrying secret plans back to the President. Things take a more pulp/supernatural turn when Lucy encounters the beautiful Clarimal Stein, who has a secret of her own: she is the vampire Mircalla Karnstein. They also run afoul of a German “science hero” up to no-good.

Incognita Countess sets the tone for the series and gives us a good sense of the alternate history these characters live in: a world where Titanic is powered by secret heat-ray technology Britain has reverse-engineered from the Martian invasion of several years before and where the Germans are intent on stealing that technology. There’s a pulp-weird-science, almost steampunk vibe to a world that otherwise is recognizable as our own, and the stories are as fast-paced as a classic Doc Savage or Shadow tale. The novella length suits each adventure perfectly, but especially in this first book – after all, Titanic was only on the seas for so long before that iceberg hit; the impending doom of the ship (which the reader is aware of but the characters are not) lends an immediacy to Lucy’s triple missions (protect the American; find out what the Germans are up to; kill the vampire).

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of interpretations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in which the vampire and his victim, Mina Murray Harker, fall in love. (See Francis Ford Coppola’s film version, in which Mina is the reincarnation of Dracula’s lost love, or the novel Dracula the Undead by Bram’s nephew Dacre Stoker as just two examples.) Ward, to her credit, goes in a different direction: Dracula forced himself upon Mina and she only found out she was pregnant after the vampire had been defeated. There is no love lost by any of the characters for Lucy’s natural father; it’s pretty clear our lead character is the product of supernatural rape and that she’s never encountered her natural father. I find this choice far more interesting, and Lucy’s feelings about her conception far more compelling, than yet another story in which Dracula and Mina are in love and have children.

Lucy is an outsider to society, pretending to be many things she is not in order to survive and serve the realm: she pretends to be the child of Mina and her first husband, Jonathan Harker; she pretends to be a normal mortal when in fact she has tremendous power thanks to her dual heritage; she pretends to be an upstanding heterosexual woman when she isn’t. And she struggles with having to hide so much of who she is under a veneer of late Victorian societal norms.

In each book, Lucy finds herself questioning something she’s been taught as not just true but TRUE: in Incognita Countess, it is the truism that vampires are emotionless creatures capable of pretending to have feelings but in fact having no humanity at all. In The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum, it is the “fact” that being anything other than heterosexual is a sin. And in the upcoming The Adventure of the Naked Guide, it is the concept that England’s colonial expansions are a force for good in the world while Germany’s encroachment on the sovereignty of other nations is an abomination. In each novel, it is encounters with other characters that force Lucy to reevaluate her world-view, starting with the seemingly emotional vampire Clarimal Stein. And in challenging Lucy’s worldview, Ward challenges the reader’s as well. Like the authors she’s influenced by (Burroughs, Stoker, Doyle, Verne, among others), Ward couches social commentary – social criticism – in the folds of pulp adventure tales.

I also find it interesting that all three of Lucy’s adventures occur in places removed from “normal” society, and spaces to which access is tightly controlled in one way or another: the guest-rooms and deeper sections of Titanic; the trenches and other side of the enemy line in World War One western Europe; and finally the world at the center of the Earth which Edgar Rice Burroughs named “Pellucidar.” Ward never shows us Lucy in everyday society – the closest she comes is interacting with humans aboard Titanic, but even there she’s dealing with a heightened and claustrophobic version of everyday society. The settings are not “normal” because our heroine is not “normal.”

As mentioned, Ward also works in tributes to her influences. We do eventually get to see Mina Harker. Lucy’s stepfather, the “M” who heads the Secret Service, is quickly revealed as Mycroft Holmes so of course there are mentions of her step-uncle and his partner-in-business. There’s technology derived from the Martian invasion chronicled by H.G. Wells. On Titanic, Lucy spends several scenes talking to Lord Greyborough, who is rumored to have been raised by apes. And of course, there’s the upcoming third book’s trip to Burroughs’ Pellucidar, with mentions of several characters from that series. There may have been more subtle nods that I missed, but the big ones are plainly obvious and totally enjoyable. None steal the focus from Lucy herself, but in playing off of them we get to see more of Lucy’s personality and internal struggles.

I hear that the fourth Blood-Thirsty Agent novella, due out later this year or early the next, will be the last. If so, I’ll be sad to see the series end just as I feel I’m really getting to know Lucy and Clarimal. All good things do come to an end, but I hope that we’ll get to see more of Lucy’s upbringing and meet more of her stepsiblings before the end.

In the mean-time, I highly recommend The Blood-Thirsty Agent series to fans of alternate history, steampunk, pulp adventure, vampires in love, and LGBTQ representation in genre fiction. Published by indie Aqueduct Press, the novellas can be purchased in print or ebook form:

·         The Adventure of the Incognita Countess

·         The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum

·         The Adventure of the Naked Guide [forthcoming]

Review of HUNT THE AVENGER

TITLE: Hunt the Avenger

AUTHOR: Win Scott Eckert

130 pages, Moonstone Books, ISBN 9781328916280 (Hardcover and e-book)

DESCRIPTION: (from Goodreads): Out of tragedy, a hero is born! In the roaring heart of the crucible, steel is made. In the raging flame of personal tragedy, men are sometimes forged into something more than human.

A figure of ice and steel, Richard Benson is an avatar of vengeance—a chilled impersonal force of justice masking a cold genius and nearly supernatural power behind a face as white and still as arctic frost. His pale eyes, like a polar dawn, only hint at the terrible force evildoers heedlessly unleashed the day they created…The Avenger!

In the annals of Justice, Inc.’s battles against spies, crooks, and killers, only one malefactor has escaped The Avenger’s clutches not once, but twice—Baron Ulrich Blau-Montag, the half-man, half-machine known as the Iron Skull! But when Benson and his cohorts partner with the mysterious and saucy Domino Lady to hunt down the demented half-robot, and go on to clash with other supervillains, such as the Nazi spy Werner Konrad and a diabolical weapons dealer known as the Countess, a frightening pattern emerges…are they the creatures of a hidden puppetmaster? And is Benson the hunter? Or the prey?

MY RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS: If you’re a fan of the original pulp magazine adventurers or the characters who have followed in their footsteps over the decades since the pulps died, you can’t go wrong with this mosaic novel by Win Scott Eckert, one of the best of the “new pulp” writers. Hunt the Avenger is a fun combination of three previously-published short stories bookended by two new stories that create a fast-paced narrative whole.

When Eckert writes about previously-existing characters like Richard Benson, he does his research. In this case, he fully immersed himself in the original pulp Avenger novels by Paul Ernst and the handful of official 1970s follow-ups by Ron Goulart, as well as all of the Domino Lady’s appearances. He understands the history and nuance of the characters and it shows throughout the book. That being said, readers meeting The Avenger and the Domino Lady for the first time via this book will not be confused or lost. Eckert doesn’t assume his readers are as deeply familiar with the characters as he is; he works in plenty of details (without info-dumping) to help new readers understand Benson, his Justice Inc. support team, their sometimes-ally The Domino Lady, and the villains being faced. (For the record, the book’s Frontispiece helpfully lists all of the canonical Avenger works.)

One of the reasons I find Eckert such a talented new pulp writer is that he respects the traditions and cadences of the pulp style without falling into the racist/misogynistic traps of the time. He retains key phrases from the pulps to describe characters (like Nellie Gray being described as a “porcelain doll,” and frequent references to the low-cut revealing nature of the Domino Lady’s outfits) but he also shows just how smart and capable these women are consistently throughout the book. Benson may be the title (and focal) character but the women in his adventures here are not just arm- and eye-candy. If the licensing could be worked out and his schedule allowed, I’d love to see Eckert write an adventure featuring the Domino Lady, Nellie Gray, Rosabel Newton, and perhaps the Shadow’s Margo Lane and Doc Savage’s cousin Patricia.

Of course, there are the by-now requisite winks and nods at The Avenger’s contemporaries. I may have missed a few but there are definitely veiled references to Doc Savage, the Shadow, and the Spider that will please fans of the interconnected “Crossover Universe” idea that Eckert and most of his peers work in. And there are nods to a variety of concepts originally introduced by the great Philip Jose Farmer as well.

Hunt the Avenger is only available through the publisher, Moonstone Books. I picked up the now-out-of-print hardcover edition. A check of the website indicates that the paperback is still available as of the writing of this review.

Book Excerpt: SIMON SAYS by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

I had a chance to read an electronic Advance Review Copy of Bryan Thomas Schmidt’s sci-fi police procedural Simon Says a few weeks back. I’ll let the book description that follows tell you all about the plot and focus on what I loved about the book: the seamless interweaving of three very different genres. The book is part near-future SF (androids that pass as human), part police-procedural (well-researched by the author through several ride-alongs with current KCPD officers), and part comedy (mostly from character interactions, but also near-future pop culture references that include Wolfie Van Halen’s band). It’s not easy to get these three genres in perfect harmony, but Schmidt manages it throughout the book. No one genre overwhelms the others. It’s an ideal read for folks who love books that blend genres. It’s also the start of a new series.

The excerpt that follows the book description is perhaps my favorite scene in the book that doesn’t involve car chases or shoot-outs. It also happens to combine all three elements, and features a guest appearance (of sorts) by my favorite rock band of the 1970s. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Master Detective John Simon is a tough, streetwise fifteen year veteran of the Kansas City Police Department with a healthy disdain for the encroachment of modern technology into his workplace. When his partner is kidnapped after a routine stakeout by thugs with seeming ties to connected, wealthy art dealer Benjamin Ashman, he’s determined to find the truth, but the only witness is a humanoid android named Lucas George. Reluctantly, he takes Lucas along as he begins to investigate and soon finds himself depending more and more on the very technology he so distrusts. Meanwhile, Simon’s precocious teenage daughter begins to teach Lucas how to sound more like a cop using dialogue from famous cop movies. If only he’d use them in the appropriate context.

As the two men dig in deeper, they find themselves and every witness they touch faced with danger from assassins as they begin to uncover a conspiracy that may stretch from the heights of the KCPD itself to South America and beyond. Can they identify the guilty before it’s too late without getting themselves killed in the process?

This exciting new mix of near future science fiction and procedural thriller captures the gritty realism of Michael Connelly’s Bosch, the humor and action of Lethal Weapon, and follows the classic science fiction tradition of Isaac Asimov’s City of Steel. From the editor of the international bestselling phenomenon The Martian by Andy Weir, and the national bestselling author of tales including official entries in The X-Files, Predator, and the Joe Ledger thrillers, comes this action-packed first entry in an exciting new series.

EXCERPT

"Who we looking for first?" Lucas asked from the seat beside him.

"Ashman's ex-protege, Mia McGuire—now one of his chief critics and rivals," Simon said, while waiting at a light in the left turn lane at Broadway.

"I thought when you called she wasn't in the office," Lucas said.

Simon nodded. "Yeah, but her assistant said she was at lunch with Japanese clients, Woo Song." He made the turn on Broadway and began scanning the right side for the restaurant.

"Really? What is that?"

"It's a restaurant, karaoke. I don't think the slip was intentional."

"What's karaoke?"

"People singing along to favorite songs," Simon said. "Crazy human antics. You'll love it."

Lucas pursed his lips and mumbled, "Hmmm."

Simon pulled into a small lot and found one of two open spaces, parking the Charger. Woo Song was to the north. He and Lucas got out and headed for the doors.

"Look, it would help me out if you can distract her clients somehow, while I talk with her," Simon said. "We don't want word spreading around about investigating Ashman any further than it already has."

Lucas nodded as Simon grabbed the door handle of the glass front door. Lights fluttered inside from the dance floor and pounding music leaked through to the street.

"I'll see what I can do," Lucas said.

"They're Japanese," Simon suggested. "These people love robots. Improvise."

Lucas shot him a quizzical look as Simon opened the door and they stepped inside.

The place smelled of Chinese food buffet and exotic spices. Half the tables were empty, but Simon immediately spotted two Asian men dancing and singing to Madonna on the stage. They didn't look like "Material Girls," but they were enthusiastic about making the claim.

Scanning the room, he found a dark-skinned woman in an expensive, tailored business jacket and skirt, sitting with three other Asians at a table on the right side, two away from the stage. There were six plates filled to the brim with Chinese food. The three Asians were eating with chopsticks and laughing. The woman—Mia McGuire, he hoped—was using a fork and watching the performers on the stage with amusement. The woman looked to be in her early forties, about right for a person who'd started with Ashman in her twenties and been pushed out a little over a decade later. Now they were rivals and she had her own company, smaller, but still competitive. Her lips were full, round, her eyes intense, focused, very blue, and she wore just enough makeup to highlight her features well but not seem obvious. She was important and she dressed and acted like it.

As Simon headed for the table, Lucas stood to one side, watching the stage with curiosity. The two Asians performing weren't awful as karaoke goes, and Simon had to admit he loathed karaoke, especially when it involved people with voices like cats serenading an alley. The Asians wore business suits and ties, like their three companions, but that didn't stop them from awkwardly moving enthusiastically to the rhythms in some kind of attempt at real choreography. Their voices were far better than their moves.

Simon stopped beside the table and smiled. "Mia McGuire?"

She looked up, surprised. "Yeah. Who's asking?"

Simon was reluctant to flash her a badge in front of her clients. "I need to talk with you about something important."

She frowned. "This is important. I'm with clients." She panned the table with her hand.

"Yes, but official business," he said, emphasizing the third word and locking his eyes on hers, trying to get the message through.

"Official like what? You an agent or something?" She shifted nervously in her chair, looking at the Japanese, who had quickly gone back to watching their friends and ignoring Simon as soon as they realized he wasn't talking to them.

"Yeah, something," Simon said.

The Madonna song ended, and the three Japanese applauded their friends vociferously and stood, bantering in Japanese—obviously deciding who would be next—as the others stepped down from the platform and came back to the table.

McGuire had kept her stare focused on Simon, even as she put on her best smile and joined the applause from her clients and others at nearby tables. "This isn't a good time," she said through clenched teeth.

Before any of McGuire's group could get to the stage, Simon heard the familiar strains of Styx and turned to see Lucas standing before the microphone. The Japanese businessmen brightened with recognition and began conversing, then Lucas launched into:

"Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, Mata au hi made... Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, Himitsu wo shiri tai..."

The android’s Japanese sounded perfect, incredibly so. Then he did the best Robot Dance Simon had ever seen. The Japanese businessmen enthusiastically raced to the stage to cheer him on and Simon found himself alone with McGuire.

He badged her. "It's about Benjamin Ashman."

McGuire scowled at the name then looked toward the stage and her clients. She sighed. "Can we make it quick?" Her gaze found his again with a look that said: not in front of the clients, please.

Lucas launched into the verse now with the Japanese handling the echoes: "You're wondering who I am (secret secret I've got a secret)..."

Simon nodded and sat down beside her in one of the vacated chairs. "You were Ashman's protégé, yes?"

"You clearly know that or you wouldn't be here," McGuire said. "My guess is we have about three minutes. Is that really the stuff you want to ask me?"

Simon grunted, accepting the challenge. "In your time with Ashman, did he ever involve you or himself in anything that pushed boundaries?"

McGuire raised a brow. "That's what his business is about—pushing boundaries, getting there first."

Simon clarified, "Legally."

She chuckled. "Ah, of course." She thought a moment. "Actually, he was pretty clean. In fact, shockingly so for one so rich and powerful in my experience. Didn't even make lewd comments, hit on me—like the others did. In fact, he called them out for it a time or two."

"Really?" Simon knew that wasn't always the case, even in the 21st Century, despite all the progress society had supposedly made. "So, he wouldn't be involved in illegal nanochips, data, forged art..."

McGuire turned back from the stage, stiffening and straightening in her chair. "Are you saying he is?" She seemed totally shocked at the idea.

"I'm saying someone might be," Simon said.

"At Ashman Industries?" she asked, clarifying.

Simon nodded.

She shook her head. "Wow. That would blow my mind if it's Benjamin. I mean, I am pissed at the guy for the way I got tossed aside and written off, and he's a tough competitor, doesn't make it easy for me going out on my own like this, but—" She paused, thinking a moment.

Simon waited, not wanting to interrupt her and break her train of thought.

Lucas and the Japanese hit the chorus now: "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo, Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo..."

"You know, most of it was Paul," she said then.

"Paul Paulsen?"

She nodded, her eyes darkening at the mention of his name, flashing a bit of anger. "Yeah, he's the one who really pushed me out. Ashman hired him out of college like me. Supposed to be his next big protégé."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto, For doing the jobs that nobody wants to. And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto. For helping me escape just when I needed to..." Lucas sang.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," McGuire's clients sang in pronounced accents. "I want to thank you, please, thank you..."

"But Paul hated me from day one," McGuire continued. "Hated women, I think. But he resented me for sure, and I thought he was a cocky, smartass kid who should have respected my position and accomplishments and let me teach him. It started that way, too. Ashman encouraged it." She took a sip of her soda and leaned back in her chair. "But Paul worked on him, earned his trust, his ear, had a couple of impressive successes that didn't involve me, showed me up once or twice—and that was it. I was out, he was in."

"So he replaced you?"

"In Benjamin's favor, yes...and then eventually in my job, too," she agreed. "I wasn't asked to leave. I felt I had no choice. I wasn't going anywhere in Ashman's company anymore, you know? And I had ambitions, goals...I was almost as good at what Benjamin does as he was, and everyone knew it. Maybe Paul targeted me because of it..." Her voice trailed off as she looked down, lost in sad memories.

Simon watched Lucas dance for a minute, amazed by the android's well designed choreography. They'd heard the song on the radio the other day but where did he get that?

"The problem's plain to see: Too much technology."

"Your friend isn't bad," McGuire said with a chuckle.

Simon nodded. "Yeah, I had no idea."

"My clients love it," she said and sounded pleased.

"So if I look at illegal activities, you think I should start with Paulsen?" Simon asked, getting back to business as the song entered repeated choruses, winding toward the end.

"Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo..."

"Yeah, I would," she said, sounding sad. "Hell, for all I know he could have corrupted Benjamin by now. We don't see each other or interact much and haven't for years now. But I know who he used to be, and the old Ashman wouldn't risk his hard work with such crap. But Paulsen...yeah, he's capable of anything."

She grew silent then, watching her clients dance and cheer as Lucas finished the song. Then they all gave him high fives as the android stepped down from the stage.

"Purrfect," Simon heard one of them yell.

Lucas thanked them as they followed him back toward their table and McGuire. Simon stood.

"Get what you needed?" Lucas said softly as he stopped beside his partner.

Simon laughed. "Yeah, for now."

The Japanese men were chattering and circling round Lucas like he was a celebrity.

Lucas shrugged. "You wanted them distracted."

"Where'd you learn that dance?" Simon asked.

"The Robot? It's in my programming," Lucas said sotto voce.

Simon thought it was a joke but couldn't tell for sure. "Really?"

Lucas winked.

If you enjoyed or were intrigued by that excerpt, here’s a look at the cover to Simon Says. Of course, the book is available via all online outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.