James Reasoner

Doom of the Dark Delta is the first entry in a series of novelettes that appear to pay homage to the old-fashioned pulp stories of adventure from many decades ago. The first one was great fun for the most part, and since I enjoy old-fashioned pulp stories of this nature, especially well-written ones, I picked up all three. I ended up thinking the first one was kind of a blast, but…

Doom of the Dark Delta begins with a bang as our hero Jorras Trevale washes up on a strange shore in the Gulf show more of Matoxia, after the ship he was on was attacked by pirates. The first person he sees of course is a green-eyed beauty emerging from the jungle on the run from someone — and she’s completely naked. Knowing a lot about pulp, I immediately assumed this was heading for spicy pulp adventure territory, with some innuendo and mildly racy suggestion. I was fooled.

While Eldrisse, who is on the run from a wicked soccer who rules this part of a strange string of islands, remains without clothes for the entirety of the story, it’s almost, dare I say it, not something which adds anything of consequence to this pulp-style adventure. While there’s one good moment when Trevayle first catches sight of her, the naked promise — pun intended — goes unfulfilled. James Reasoner chooses not to go the spicy pulp route, instead focusing on the action and adventure as the two make their way on the run together, fighting and being captured (Eldrisse), and rescuing (Trevayle). And of course there are those gargantuan water serpents called Nloka Maccumbo to deal with, as well as an army of swordsmen.

The wall-to-wall whiz-bang type action is wonderfully written by James Reasoner, who excels in the deadly combat and thrilling action aspects of this pulp homage. It is in fact that skill which prompted me to pick up the other two short adventures of Trevayle, which I’ll be reading when I’m in the mood for something fun and quick, a reminder of pulp from days long gone. However…

When I realized this break-neck speed pulp adventure wasn’t going in the spicy direction, I thought perhaps a few concise but well-placed moments between Trevayle and Eldrisse would give this a romantic adventure flavor. But Reasoner seems more comfortable with the swashbuckling and action — which is done incredibly well, very exciting fun — so he placed a token kiss and a scene of awareness when they find themselves locked up together by the evil sorcerer with the serpent arm; by this point they are both sans clothes.

Overall this is a very fun old-fashioned pulp adventure homage, and I enjoyed it a great deal. Because James Reasoner chose not to write it as a spicy pulp however, or add some real moments of romance — or perhaps wasn’t comfortable doing so — it seems a tiny bit wanting. A solid four-star read rather than the five I was expecting to give it after that fabulous opening to this series of pulp novelettes.

This is good stuff from James Reasoner, make no mistake, meat and potatoes adventure pulp. I do look forward to reading the next two in the series. But if you’re looking for some pulp dessert with those meat and potatoes in the form of some spicy dialog or touches of real romance integrated into your exciting pulp-style adventure, you might come away not quite full. show less

Picking up immediately after the events in the first entry of The Snakehaven Chronicles, Doom of the Dark Delta, James Reasoner gives us another exciting and action-packed pulp style adventure of old in Fear on the Fever Coast. In this entry we learn more about the mysterious string of islands where a group of sorcerers — one of whom our hero Trevayle extinguished in the prior entry — have a stranglehold. There is a reason it is called the Fever Coast, as Jorras Trevayle will soon show more learn.

There is a malady created by the sorcerers for which notorious pirate, Decko Foran, desperately needs a cure. But if there is a cure to be found, it lies in a seemingly impenetrable sorcerer’s abode. The Sorcerer, Zhurach, has many fighting men, his magic, and those vicious and huge Nloka Maccumba snakes protecting his little piece of the world. After some wall-to-wall-action, Trevayle meets Decko Forann in rather precarious circumstances. Jorras has his arm twisted by the pirate to come along and help get the cure.

From start to finish this is an exciting pulp adventure full of action, betrayals, double crosses; for good measure, some weird-menace pulp is thrown in when the Ngoda sensually dance — literally — with the Nloka Maccumba in a strange ceremony. Fear on the Fever Coast is a fun, well-written homage to the adventure and weird menace pulps of old. There’s no teasing of a spicy pulp adventure with this one, but quite a bit of derring do and intrigue, making it even better than the first entry.

The breakneck speed in this second entry makes for an exciting read for fans of old pulp adventures. Great bare-bones, meat and potatoes pulp fun, with well written scenes of action and even a few tender moments — pulp style — before this second entry in The Snakehaven series wraps up. Fear on the Fever Coast is a novelette that anyone who enjoys a thumping good pulp adventure will enjoy. Highly recommended. show less

I have a deep and unending love of westerns. There's something so unbelievable about the truth behind the legends of that time, the fact that so many were drawn from what truly happened and nowhere near as embellished as one might think. There's a wildness to the stories, and yes, a romance even behind the crazed sociopaths that ran across the country and territories with guns blazing. So many thought they were in the right - so many courts acquitted them accordingly. How was this only a few show more generations ago?

[b: Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West|330769|Draw The Greatest Gunfights of the American West|James Reasoner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407354263s/330769.jpg|321342] is a surprisingly slim volume that goes into far more detail than one might expect. Between these pages are indeed summaries of the greatest gunfights, histories of those involved, and a bit of speculation on the part of the author about the circumstances. There are fascinating asides now and then, and even a few pictures. I learned a lot from this volume, as it seeks to dig into more than just the 'old favorites'. I was particularly pleased to see the absurd story of the execution of Black Jack Ketchum included, as his has a particularly gruesome ending that never ceases to amuse.

This book is darkly humorous, and I read it with the same surprise I tend to view these stories. It was so recent in the past, and so insane a time. How many died over trivial things? How many were shot just for snoring too loud, or by accident? I'm only amazed that there weren't more civilian casualties in all the mad shoot-outs. Then again, the civilians more often than not were involved in them... Isn't it incredible we lived through such a time? show less

Reasoner's first novel is a page-turner from start to finish. A Fort Worth private eye is hired by her stepmother to find a missing daughter before her husband returns from a business trip. There are a lot of interesting characters here that Reasoner makes you really care about, and Fort Worth and its vicinity are brought to life effortlessly. Despite some of the violent subject matter, this must have been a good book for Fort Worth tourism, especially with its evocative descriptions of the show more Amon Carter museum. Reasoner's prose never reaches the level of Chandler or his better imitators, but it is brisk and literate and propels the story forward without a dull moment. The book's only weaknesses are a somewhat too simple plot with the clues being fairly obvious for a reader of mysteries and the expected private eye novel situational cliches--such as getting beat to a pulp. Not quite up to par with TRACTOR GIRL, Reasoner's take on a Gold Medal pulp novel of the Fifties, but definitely recommended. It makes me want to devour a few more of Reasoner's novels of the past thirty years. show less