I finished four books during this week, as well as one pulp magazine issue.
Books
- The Hammer of Thor, by Carter Brown. Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler probes a disappearance and a jewel robbery, though soon the case expands to include embezzlement and murder. Interlocking alibis of the chief suspects set Wheeler up for a courtroom battle that promises to destroy his career unless he can trap the killers — including the ringleader. The identity of the chief crook is fairly obvious early on, but the plot plays out well. Mildly recommended.
- Tweety, adapted by Fred Abranz and Don MacLaughlin. The surprising feature of this little children’s book is how the authors contrive to make every line of the story rhyme with the word blue. Mildly recommended.
- Brak the Barbarian, by John Jakes. Conan-inspired Brak, exiled from his northern homeland, encounters adventure and menace in strange surroundings as he makes his way to far-off Khurdisan. The stories are entertaining enough, though the writing is a bit pedestrian even when describing outlandish settings and dangers. Mildly recommended.
- Greenmask, by J. Jefferson Farjeon. John Letherton, heading for a hiking holiday, finds mystery — and maybe romance — when he takes a room in a sinister inn and then finds succor at an isolated castle apparently haunted by the ghost of a long-dead highwayman. Farjeon delivers a thriller with deadly stakes and some unexpected twists but also time for gentle humor. Recommended.
Continuing Reads
- A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor Away, by humorist Irvin S. Cobb — a collection of 366 amusing anecdotes published in 1923, which I’ll be reading at the rate of one per day.
- More Heart Throbs — the sequel to the similar Heart Throbs, an anthology of prose and verse selections, often sentimental in nature, submitted by the general public and famous people, published in 1911; I’ll be reading one or more pages (as needed for the selections) per day throughout the year.
- The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, translated by Sir Richard F. Burton in the late 19th century — I hope to read all ten volumes as well as the six supplemental volumes this year.
- Orlando Innamorato, by Matteo Boiardo, translated by Charles Stanley Ross — I hope to finish this Renaissance Italian epic this year.
Magazine
- Weird Tales, April 1923
The second issue of Weird Tales is an improvement on the first for the Unique Magazine. Standouts include the lead novelette, “The Scar,” by Carl Rasmus, which is rather more of a thriller than the expected “weird” tale, and the horrifying “A Square of Canvas,” by Anthony M. Rud. The first part of the two-part story “The Whispering Thing,” by Laurie McClintock and Culpepper Chunn, shows promise as well; I look forward to reading the conclusion in the next issue.