tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86245574182985677882024-03-12T17:47:56.320-07:00The P.A.C SquadThe Parnormal Actvities Control Squad was created in 1984 by Ronald Reagan to be the government's first line of defense against supernatural threats. They kicked the supernatural's ass -- so you don't have to.The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-75592286979296116592012-08-30T07:04:00.002-07:002012-08-30T07:17:55.313-07:00The Reprisalizer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Many fans of the genre think that the men's action adventure books were essentially an American phenomenon -- not so. As mentioned, there was the seriously deranged <a href="http://pacsquad.blogspot.com/2012/03/shout-at-devil-sabat.html">SABAT</a> series of book in the "Satansploitation" sub-genre.<br>
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For a look at Britain's version of a tough urban vigilante, check out <a href="http://thereprisalizer.com/The_Reprisalizer/The_Reprisalizer.html">this website dedicated to Terry Finch's THE REPRISALIZER.</a>
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And of course, anybody that thinks British people can't be tough never saw THIS show.
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uB1NiNKwueE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-91142401263634967872012-04-13T04:37:00.000-07:002012-04-13T04:37:40.690-07:00Spring Forward, Fall Down and DIE!DEADLY EQUINOX is available for free as a Kindle Ebook for the next five days: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006B8D08O">GET IT HERE</a><br />
<br />
You can buy the books for 99 cents on Amazon now; I've actually moved a few units and somebody wrote a glowing review of <a href="http://http://www.amazon.com/Church-Eternal-Succubus-P-A-C-ebook/dp/B007F1TTJ0">CHURCH OF THE ETERNAL SUCCUBUS</a> recently. <br />
<br />
I'm busy with some actual working-for-the-man type work, but I vow, with Sachet Saperstein as my witness -- this summer, massive promotional blitz for the PAC Squad, even if I have to outsource it to the Chinese or Indians, or whatever. <br />
<br />
And I'll get some more PAC Squad stories posted including -- THE REVENANT, and the eagerly-awaited EGGBERT'S REVENGE.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUAcqWSjP9sTKWF3mPgZKm5aaqzpqpdAtUHZtdj_EiRR70P4usWwZA0yRfcX00YFom9z5anZySrGvC0XeQVHGub69PQYSMUXPoboCPd-C65c5yw0Am0ecPZusf4V4T666Xyw4SpFkBG0/s1600/thoughtbomb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="221" width="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUAcqWSjP9sTKWF3mPgZKm5aaqzpqpdAtUHZtdj_EiRR70P4usWwZA0yRfcX00YFom9z5anZySrGvC0XeQVHGub69PQYSMUXPoboCPd-C65c5yw0Am0ecPZusf4V4T666Xyw4SpFkBG0/s320/thoughtbomb.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Here's a little excerpt from DEADLY EQUINOX: <br />
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08:45 am<br />
Sachet Saperstein pulled his Pacer up to the curb outside Jack Rayon’s apartment. He walked up to the door and knocked, ignoring a group of street toughs nearby who shouted epithets at him, casting aspersions on his manhood.<br />
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“JACK!” he yelled, knocking harder. “C’mon man, trouble! We need you!”<br />
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Rayon wasn’t “on call” so he hadn’t been answering his phone. He was, in fact, drunk out of his mind on Jack Daniel’s whiskey. He fumbled the many locks open and answered the door, unshaven,T-shirt covered with spilled whiskey and cigar ashes.<br />
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“Jesus, Jack! What the heck’s wrong with you?” lisped Saperstein, walking gingerly into the dank apartment. <br />
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“I had a rough night,” mumbled Jack, pouring another plastic cup full of whiskey.<br />
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“It certainly seems so! You …” Saperstein noticed the crystal skull on the night-stand near the bed, which had suddenly begun to glow with an ethereal light.<br />
“Look out, Jack!” yelled Saperstein, rushing between Jack and the skull as a flowing bolt of ectoplasm erupted from it. Crackling and thrumming, the ethereal blob of energy enveloped Saperstein.<br />
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Jack rubbed his eyes blearily. “What the hell …? Did you do that, Saperstein?”<br />
<br />
Sachet Saperstein opened his eyes and smiled. “My name isn’t Saperstein. It’s Klapper. Victor Earl Klapper.”<br />
<br />
Jack stood unsteadily, staring at Saperstein through squinted, bloodshot eyes. “Who …? What? You’re Sachet, man, the queer-boy, the right brain of the PAC team …” Jack slurred, swigging his whiskey.<br />
<br />
Sachet stared at Jack Rayon coldly, his arms crossed across his chest. Then he grinned hugely, his eyes hooded in the sharp shadows cast by the glare of the unshaded light bulb hanging from the ceiling by a frayed cord.<br />
<br />
“Yes, that’s right. My name is … Sachet Saperstein, and I’m a fellow member of something called the ‘PUCK’ team group … homo, eh? Wanna buttfuck, Jack?”<br />
Sachet laughed maliciously at the expression on Jack’s face. “Just kidding, Jack,” he said, taking the bottle from Rayon and gulping down a hearty swig as he sat astride the one rickety wooden chair in the room. “Now, tell me more about this PUCK team of yours, Jack. Omit nothing.”The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-9446832491421569632012-03-15T02:42:00.001-07:002012-03-15T02:48:28.815-07:00Society Is Finally ReadyI'm very pleased to announce that after 3 days of being given away for free -- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Church-Eternal-Succubus-P-A-C-ebook/dp/B007F1TTJ0">CHURCH OF THE ETERNAL SUCCUBUS</a> has achieved the following:<br />
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)<br />
#11 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Occult<br />
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And I have given away over 700 copies now! <br />
<br />
It would seem society is finally ready for government agents and psychics versus undead nuns. I guarantee you, this is the best novel about government agents versus undead nuns that you'll read this month. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Church-Eternal-Succubus-P-A-C-ebook/dp/B007F1TTJ0">DOWNLOAD IT HERE FOR FREE FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS!</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpRTTjQ-eFUFRoycp64vrcr65hYSqZEKdOcym-Q9YqkWGPgIoaN_uPjwpUxfwK2ABLu67s9BisDmGGKTC0sKlEcvVxJJHWcPst6aKjrLakINOgmX_tShgri7sEFxq8D5MrZwO7lgORBI/s1600/bobbyfedora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpRTTjQ-eFUFRoycp64vrcr65hYSqZEKdOcym-Q9YqkWGPgIoaN_uPjwpUxfwK2ABLu67s9BisDmGGKTC0sKlEcvVxJJHWcPst6aKjrLakINOgmX_tShgri7sEFxq8D5MrZwO7lgORBI/s320/bobbyfedora.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The PAC Squad and I thank you, Amazon readers. Don't forget to leave a review there!The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-14529506465413390782012-03-08T05:06:00.000-08:002012-03-08T05:06:45.230-08:00Shout At The Devil: SABATI'm surprised this series hasn't found more of an enduring fame: I mean who WASN'T looking for stories about an exorcist and former SAS man who resigned from the clergy following a homosexual encounter, who battles necrophiles, devil worshippers, and zombies, is partially possessed by his evil brother, and, as if all that weren't enough, has a bit of a problem with chronic masturbation? <br />
<br />
I suspect this one was a bit "WTF!!" even by the standards of the late seventies and the men's adventure and exploitation novels in general. <br />
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Satanism was hot in the late 70's and early 80's -- ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE EXORCIST being two prominent examples. There was even the "autobiography" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Remembers">MICHELLE REMEMBERS</a>, in which a woman recounted childhood victimization at the hands of a Satanic cult in Victoria, British Colombia. The final episode has her suffering 81 straight days of abuse at the hands of a gang of 500 or so Satanists, and even Satan himself is on the way up, but fortunately Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the Archangel Gabriel appear to save the day.<br />
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(Let's just say that James Frey isn't the first guy to exaggerate a few details of his memoir.)<br />
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Even popular TV "news" programs of the day were full of stories of Satan worship --<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vG_w-uElGbM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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So it was perhaps just a matter of time until somebody attempted to merge this with the equally popular men's adventure genre, typified by MACK BOLAN and THE DEATH MERCHANT and others. <br />
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And who better to do than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_n_smith">Guy N Smith</a>, probably <a href="http://crustaceanhate.blogspot.com/search/label/Guy%20N.%20Smith">best known for his series of books about giant mutated crabs</a>, as well as titles such as THE SLIME BEAST and THE FESTERING? <br />
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The back story of Mark Sabat is dealt with in a few paragraphs in the prologue of the first book, THE GRAVEYARD VULTURES; as was often the case with these men's adventure novels. Had it been explained in detail, however, it sounds like Sabat has more than enough back-story to make up three or four novels:<br />
<br />
<i>"An upper-class upbringing, his future ensured by a legacy from wealthy parents, boyhood rebellion against this planned life and in a moment of weakness, a pleasurable teenage homosexual experience which had driven him into priesthood in the hope of cleansing his tortured mind. Then the discovery of his own powers, the realisation that night when he had exorcised the poltergeist, followed by the doubting of his own faith brought about by the hypocrisy of church leaders. Precipitated into yet another phase; army life that had found him in the SAS . . . and the sheer pleasure derived from killing an enemy -- legitimate murder, not once but many times. A new Sabat, so ruthless and yet still in possession of those<br />
inexplicable powers; powers that had saved his life on many occasions until a dishonourable discharge had tumbled him back into civilian life."</i><br />
<br />
Okay then!<br />
<br />
After those musings, Sabat enters into mortal combat with his evil brother Quentin, and while he emerges victorious, a portion of Quentin's soul remains in Sabat's mind, waiting for an opportunity to take over. <br />
<br />
And that's all before the first chapter!<br />
<br />
The actual story of the novel has Sabat visiting a small-town church in England where a gang of devil-worshipping grave robbers have been committing some very unseemly acts. Sabat is quick to the offense, with his powers of excorcism and astral projection, and soon finds himself battling cult members, dark magicians and Voodoo zombies as well as his evil brother's dark soul. <br />
<br />
Not that Sabat seems to need much pressure towards bizarre sociopathic and deviant behavior. As mentioned, he seems to get erections constantly and masturbates several times over the course of the book. He rapes the local prostitute, Miranda, not once but twice - although the first time is on the astral plane, or something, as sort of a hallucinatory battle with the forces of evil, so I'm not sure that counts. <br />
<br />
And the second time, in her home, might not count either - she was in thrall of the local dark magician, and had attempted to stab Sabat after enticing him to masturbate in front of her. I think we can blame the victim, in this case if no other. <br />
<br />
But at one point he runs over a guy during a vehicle pursuit and brushes it off as "fate." Clearly all this possession and astral projection and zombie reanimation stuff has given him a rather blurred notion of the importance of life and death. <br />
<br />
Still, if I needed my local cemetery cleansed of a coven of Voodoo Satanist necrophiliac virgin-sacrificing left-hand path dark Magick practicioners, I'd probably want to call a guy like SABAT. You have to fight fire with fire, they say. I don't know but it certainly makes for some entertaining early 80's transgressive pulp exploitation stories. <br />
<br />
<br />
Buy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Vultures-Guy-N-Smith/dp/0450021580/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331211874&sr=1-1">THE GRAVEYARD VULTURES here at Amazon</a><br />
<br />
Buy the collection of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Meat-Complete-Books-Sabat/dp/1871592631/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3">four SABAT books, compellingly titled DEAD MEAT,</a> on AmazonThe PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-14033879219284806042012-02-29T00:01:00.001-08:002012-03-13T12:50:07.009-07:00Church of the Eternal Succubus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpl2FhnbOoNcs6pVFPHHIfw7-9KzdZTIN4eiC4iFfJgWdYE7nJlgse6ZmM2B20b-ZWsSNLpmCxqVmqk1pWuba5UO8TEUDK_YkChsiWnjEeKUuQtkmsWxMFTLNsprSkFFoDKv500_Uhceg/s1600/succubusfinal2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpl2FhnbOoNcs6pVFPHHIfw7-9KzdZTIN4eiC4iFfJgWdYE7nJlgse6ZmM2B20b-ZWsSNLpmCxqVmqk1pWuba5UO8TEUDK_YkChsiWnjEeKUuQtkmsWxMFTLNsprSkFFoDKv500_Uhceg/s320/succubusfinal2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Church-Eternal-Succubus-Squad-ebook/dp/B007F1TTJ0">GET IT HERE FOR THE AMAZON KINDLE FOR ONLY 99 CENTS</a><br />
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The P.A.C. Squad discovers the vilest of evils blossoming in a place where the good have lost hope . . .<br />
<br />
Jack Rayon only wants to visit his incarcerated brother, but someone has other ideas -- namely, the world's deadliest assassin.<br />
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This ice-cold killer is as supernaturally focused on his task as he is hampered in his abilities to communicate -- but he is guided by a brilliant partner, deadly and immature in equal measures, a hateful young super-genius in a frail body.<br />
<br />
But combat, violence, and death are in Jack Rayon's blood -- and Sachet Saperstein is at his side. <br />
<br />
Yet as the battle rages to an old abandoned church that turns out to be all too occupied, all of them are about to encounter something that they hate and fear even more than they hate and fear each other -- a terrifying evil as old as mankind, nursing an insatiable lust for vengeance. . . <br />
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This is #6 in the extraordinary adventures of the P.A.C Squad. Look for more adventures soon.<br />
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* * * <br />
<br />
Here it is -- the book that ended my father's writing career. <br />
<br />
I've entered all the books in the Amazon Prime Kindle thing, so you can borrow them for free -- sadly that means I can't make them available on Smashwords anymore. For now anyway. Right now I'm just trying to get the "word" out there. <br />
<br />
(Hell, you want a copy in some other format? Just email me.)<br />
<br />
Tucked in this manuscript is where I found the letter from father's publishers telling him that they would no longer be publishing any of his adventures. The word "depraved" is used.<br />
<br />
I gotta say -- it's no worse than some shit that I read in other action adventure series from the 70's and early 80's, like SABAT and the CRIME MINISTER. More on that later. <br />
<br />
Alas, it was the early 90's, and "politically correct" was the order of the day. There was no more room for autistic hitmen slugging it out with undead nuns. . .<br />
<br />
And of course, two words: vagina dentata.The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-77160392661271620492012-02-25T15:04:00.000-08:002012-03-06T12:00:18.093-08:00P.A.C. Squad Rising!Wow! I put the WRATH OF THE PUMPKIN GOD available on Amazon as a free promotion in the Kindle Prime thing . . .<br />
<br />
and I've moved more than a hundred copies in ten hours. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Pumpkin-God-Squad-ebook/dp/B005YK2C2A/ref=zg_bs_157065011_31">GET IT HERE FREE FOR THE AMAZON KINDLE</a><br />
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I don't know what accounts for this sudden popularity -- I suppose I must have gotten linked somewhere, although I can't readily locate it -- but could my father's dreams finally be coming true? <br />
<br />
Check out its ranking <br />
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<b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Amazon Best Sellers Rank:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>#1,785 Free in Kindle Store (</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/ref=pd_dp_ts_kstore_1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store</a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
<ul class="zg_hrsr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><li class="zg_hrsr_item" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="zg_hrsr_rank" style="display: inline-block; text-align: right; width: 50px;">#31</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="zg_hrsr_ladder">in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_1" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Kindle Store</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/154606011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_2" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Kindle eBooks</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/157028011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_3" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Fiction</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/157054011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_4" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Genre Fiction</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/157060011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_5" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Horror</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/157065011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_6_last" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Occult</a></b></span></li>
<li class="zg_hrsr_item" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><span class="zg_hrsr_rank" style="display: inline-block; text-align: right; width: 50px;">#75</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="zg_hrsr_ladder">in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_2_1" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Kindle Store</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/154606011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_2_2" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Kindle eBooks</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/157028011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_2_3" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Fiction</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/157055011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_2_4_last" style="color: #003399; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Action & Adventure</a> </b></span></li>
<li class="zg_hrsr_item" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><span class="zg_hrsr_ladder"><b> </b></span></li>
<li class="zg_hrsr_item" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><span class="zg_hrsr_ladder"><b> </b></span></li>
</ul>This is simply insanely high ranking for a self-published story from a completely unknown author. <br />
<br />
Somewhere up there -- or down there, more likely -- the old man is smiling. <span id="goog_1292240787"></span><span id="goog_1292240788"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt_-79nWhiYVO5IQVyeG6vU-rBuHPZiZlyB55HIyXg6WpYKxvO9koA4MeOC1Y_8TUiJJDLUmCNcyfSQjyq_uOupXFZltT43oimsszeI1_x58Pld32oFWIW1ghUTZy9V02Dld32FVYE_k/s1600/777395-mad_scientist_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt_-79nWhiYVO5IQVyeG6vU-rBuHPZiZlyB55HIyXg6WpYKxvO9koA4MeOC1Y_8TUiJJDLUmCNcyfSQjyq_uOupXFZltT43oimsszeI1_x58Pld32oFWIW1ghUTZy9V02Dld32FVYE_k/s1600/777395-mad_scientist_large.jpg" /></a></div>And Dr. Venerius and the P.A.C. Squad thank you too!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-24471378963822911442012-02-03T04:50:00.000-08:002012-02-03T11:00:26.028-08:00The Endless Battle: Barry Sadler and CASCA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">(I'm still working on getting the other PAC Squad books into ebook format; the other books are now available for free to Kindle Prime members.)<br />
<br />
Naturally my father left behind numerous boxes of the men's adventure books that he loved so much, and was attempting to make a living at writing when he died. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_LoB2iuktej0uePRl_-nc3vFNSrGtOQVDuDTvtIbY6kuhyphenhyphen7hNY6CEHuDTwI2og8gm1E8kUpfg_2nheEqVWHjXP7rL5TmhqQt4F_WId6GZOQDYxGSb_XRSSGzYMdf2tSccHFYw_a-y6Y/s1600/51UgPq5J1hL._SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_LoB2iuktej0uePRl_-nc3vFNSrGtOQVDuDTvtIbY6kuhyphenhyphen7hNY6CEHuDTwI2og8gm1E8kUpfg_2nheEqVWHjXP7rL5TmhqQt4F_WId6GZOQDYxGSb_XRSSGzYMdf2tSccHFYw_a-y6Y/s320/51UgPq5J1hL._SS500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I've been examining many of these and probably my all-round favorite is the CASCA series by Barry Sadler.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casca_Rufio_Longinius">The wikipedia entry about the CASCA series</a><br />
<br />
The very high-concept story of Casca is the tale of Casca Rufio Longinius, a Roman legionnaire who has the (good? bad?) luck of being granted immortality when he stabs "the Jew" Jesus Christ with a spear during his crucifixion, apparently to relieve the prisoner's suffering. <br />
<br />
Gradually, in the first book of the series, CASCA: THE ETERNAL MERCENARY, after being sentenced to work in a labor mine, Casca realizes that he will not age and that he can't be killed. The first book follows his fortunes and misfortunes through a couple hundred years, including slavery and a spell as gladiator.<br />
<br />
The series follows Casca as he fights, fucks, and drinks his way through the ages, encountering famous figures and becoming involved with the various great societies and armies of history.<br />
<br />
I've only read the first few books -- some sources say Barry Sadler himself wrote the first 29 books, others say that he farmed most of them out to ghost writers -- and they are written in a glibly professional and assured fashion, moving quickly, with just the right mix of gravitas and humor. Sadler displayes a nice ability to alternate gruesome violence with a good fart joke or a roll with a lusty tavern wench and some male bonding over beers. There's enough detail about not just the militaries and weapons of the times, but also about day-to-day life to show that Sadler was probably a genuine history buff. <br />
<br />
Casca is a typical man's man, proficient with weapons as well as his huge cock; fortunately for an immortal, he's also good with languages. He is a soldier first and foremost though, and lives for the thrill of battle. (Just as well for the reader -- CASCA: THE ETERNAL GOATHERDER wouldn't be particularly compelling.) He's also not happy to stab or slice a particularly-hated opponent, when he can castrate them or jam an axe handle down their throat or whatever. <br />
<br />
There is, as would probably be expected, quite a bit of casual sexism, racism, and homophobia in the novels, from big-bootied slave wenches to leering child-raping Nubians; but Casca's appreciation of other cultures is rather profound compared to many of his 70's and 80's men's adventure counterparts, who never met a foreigner they didn't shoot. <br />
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His second adventure, GOD OF DEATH, finds him leading a shipful of Vikings into Mexico among the Teotecs and Olmecs; he is impressed by their level of civilization and culture, although of course he uses his unique abilities to put a halt to that nasty human sacrifice business.<br />
<br />
The author does make some general attempts to deal with the science and physics of Casca's condition; at the beginning of the first book, we witness Casca regenerating from being grievously wounded by an exploding shell in Vietnman. Casca fears lengthy imprisonment or being buried alive more than anything; it is explained that he can survive on the merest traces of moisture and eat practically anything to obtain nourishment. <br />
<br />
The story of author Barry Sadler is damn near as bizarre as the story of Casca.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sadler">The wikipedia entry on Barry Sadler</a><br />
<a href="http://www.barrysadler.com/"><br />
Barry Sadler's official website</a><br />
<br />
After his time as a combat medic in the U.S. Special Forces in the 1960's, where he was wounded with a feces-covered punji stick, Barry Sadler released several singles, including THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS and I WON'T BE HOME THIS CHRISTMAS, a love-letter to the folks at home written from the trenches of the jungle in Vietnam. He wrote and performed these himself, and though you may criticize the earnest sappiness and jingoism of his lyrics, you can't deny he has a rather pleasant singing voice. <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PX6RNlU-qu4" width="420"></iframe><br />
Other highlights of his eventful life include shooting country singer Lee Emerson Bellamy in the head and killing him, and training Contra revolutionaries in South America. He himself was shot in the head under mysterious circumstances in Guatamala City in 1989; even that failed to kill him quickly, though he fell into a coma and died a year later. <br />
<br />
Like his creation, Sadler was clearly a tough and interesting guy. <br />
<br />
The parallels to something like the HIGHLANDER series or films and TV shows is obvious, though the first book was written several years before the first HIGHLANDER movie. This is extremely rich material for a series of books, and fans of men's adventure, history, and fantasy will all find something to enjoy. The series continues to the present under various other authors. If they can match the level of cocky, deadpan confidence that Sadler brings to the first few books of the series, it's a very worthy series for you to invest your time in. </div>The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-30763996137976156352011-12-12T22:50:00.000-08:002012-03-06T12:00:18.093-08:00Excerpt from WRATH OF THE PUMPKIN GODSo stay tuned, PAC fans -- within the next few weeks, I will post the PAC Squad novel that was so offensive, even by 80's action novel standards, that it ended my father's writing career.<br />
<br />
Until then, some marketing:<br />
<br />
This is the first few pages of <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98473">WRATH OF THE PUMPKIN GOD, now available for FREE on Smashwords</a>. (Amazon doesn't allow authors to give works away for free, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005YK2C2A">you can buy it for $1.99 there.</a>) <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eKafq43r1YAKVRQX0EkkNlOOLL2o3km-SQ7-pHeO_n81bpoavSPN3g_wzWZXgeKGb1pgq_scVP5BYhkr9vuxCxn1xyG87U0lyiLzvSgawDiBgPXGN2tCh5WGOKagcK-d0tzVFGLR21s/s1600/scarecrow-in-corn1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eKafq43r1YAKVRQX0EkkNlOOLL2o3km-SQ7-pHeO_n81bpoavSPN3g_wzWZXgeKGb1pgq_scVP5BYhkr9vuxCxn1xyG87U0lyiLzvSgawDiBgPXGN2tCh5WGOKagcK-d0tzVFGLR21s/s320/scarecrow-in-corn1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The sky in the east began to lighten slowly. <br />
<br />
Jack Rayon hung in the darkness, staring at the stars as they dimmed with the coming of the sun. The growing light illuminated the low clouds with a blood-red light, and there was finally enough faint illumination for Jack to see the other members of the Paranormal Activities Control Squad. <br />
<br />
There was wizened gnome-like Dr. Venerius, snoring harshly and drooling all over the dirty white lab coat he habitually wore. Next to him was Tina Bouffant, still lovely in her battered state, her huge pile of red hair strewn with hay seed. There was Bobby Fedora, his battered felt snap-brim mercifully fallen over his brow to cover his face. There was Sachet Saperstein, his canary yellow Bill Blass suit streaked with dirt as his face was streaked with tears.<br />
<br />
All of them were, as he was, strung up on great crucifixes of corn shucks and barbed wire.<br />
<br />
They were all unconscious, heads slumped on their chests. Only Jack was awake. He had stayed up all through the night, watching the high-peaked roof of the distant black barn. . . awaiting the coming of Silas Klosterheim, the King of Corn.<br />
<br />
“We should never have come to Kansas,” whispered Jack through bloody lips. <br />
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
Outside of a 7-11 in Junction City, Kansas, Raynar looked at the map in the dim light of dawn, cursing softly to himself.<br />
<br />
The Sparrow Brothers come out of the store, tearing open the plastic safety cap of a bottle of ephedrine “white crosses,” the long-haul trucker’s best friend. They tossed double handfuls of the small white stimulants down their throat, washing them down with Dr. Pepper.<br />
<br />
Raynar concentrated, trying to get a psychic reading on the missing members of the PAC Team, but something was deflecting his psychic signals, blocking them, some great and un-nameable Force, a power beyond reckoning.<br />
<br />
It had all started a few weeks previously when the PAC Squad computer began getting readouts on unusual goings-on in Wichita, Kansas. <br />
A biker gang calling itself the Satan’s Nephews was at war with a Jamaican drug gang known as the Slimy Tide, the two battling over the city’s lucrative drug trade. This in itself was nothing to interest the Paranormal Activities Control Squad, the US Government’s primary unit in charge of dealing with supernatural enemies. <br />
<br />
Yet the way the drug war was being waged was highly unusual.<br />
<br />
Six members of the Slimy Tide gang had been found dead; in fact they had been torn to ribbons by some powerful animal. Hairs found at the scene could only be identified as wolf hair; but the bite radius and size of the claw marks were far out of proportion to any normal wolf. <br />
<br />
Eight members of the Satan’s Nephews had been found dead, also; yet their bodies had been completely unmarked. No cause of death could be determined by the coroners. However, small doll-like replicas of the bikers, impaled with pins, had been found during a recent police raid on a Slimy Tide clubhouse.<br />
<br />
Finally, two days previously, several members of the PAC Squad had been dispatched, and had not been heard from since. <br />
<br />
“Want some?” asked Johansen Sparrow, offering Raynar a handful of the white pills. <br />
Raynar shook his head as he pulled on his seatbelt and folded the map. “They might affect my psychic powers adversely,” said Raynar grimly. “And I have a feeling I’ll be needing the full extent of my psychic ability today.” <br />
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
The lower rim of the sun cleared the horizon, and Jack could see Klosterheim’s distant gothic barn clearly, and the skeletal water-tower and squat grain silos beyond. The other PAC Squad members were still silent and motionless in the humid dawn.<br />
<br />
A cold fist clenched Jack’s stomach. Far out in the corn, he could see the black peaked hat of Silas Klosterheim wending its way through the still stalks of corn towards the clearing.<br />
<br />
He glanced at the others. No use waking them; they would soon be far more awake then they would ever wish. <br />
<br />
Rayon looked out over the field at the road; the Chrysler Lebaron must have been moved into the barn during the night. Goddamit. That had been Jack’s last hope, that a passing state trooper might have seen the car.<br />
<br />
They had been driving through the great vast expanse of cornfields that is Kansas, Dr. Venerius’s shortcut leaving them totally lost somewhere near a town called Burden. <br />
<br />
They had turned onto a dirt road, when suddenly the Chrysler got two flat tires. Pilling out of the car, they found that several boards with nails in them had been buried in the dust, a very literal version of the ‘tourist trap.” <br />
<br />
The kindly old man in overalls and straw hat walking down the road did not arouse any suspicion in any of them, even Tina Bouffant, the blind psychometricist, who could touch any object and receive psychic impressions from it. <br />
<br />
The old man agreed to call the AAA, smiling and acting in a manner reminiscent of the early Andy Griffith, but had insisted that the PAC Squad first accompany him back to his farm for “vittles.” <br />
<br />
They’d accepted equinamously enough, all being very hungry, and he led them through the corn towards his farm. The giant crucifixes of twisted cornhusks that they passed had only slightly unnerved them.<br />
<br />
But suddenly, Klosterheim had disappeared into the corn. <br />
<br />
They had shouted for him, thrashing their way through the gigantic stalks, which seemed to be pressing on them, moving and whispering in a somehow malevolent way. They thrashed forward, beginning to panic as the sun sank slowly on the red horizon.<br />
Suddenly, Sachet Saperstein screamed as he came face to face with a scarecrow, a crude and ugly thing of sticks and straw and burlap. He breathed a sigh of relief, though, when he saw it was “just” a scarecrow.<br />
<br />
But then the scarecrow grabbed him, cackling evilly.<br />
<br />
More scarecrows appeared, leaping from the corn wielding pitchforks, and that had been that for the surprised and overwhelmed PAC Squad. <br />
<br />
A dozen shrilly cackling scarecrows had swarmed over them and carried them off towards the huge crucifixes, which stood in a terrifying sort of “corn Cavalry” in the center of the field. <br />
<br />
Silas Klosterheim had been waiting for them there, his overalls and straw hat gone, replaced with a tall black peaked hat and starched Puritan collar. He said nothing, but the scarecrows moved as one, seeming to obey his commands, binding them tightly to the crucifixes with wire.<br />
<br />
As the hot Midwestern sun sank on the horizon, Klosterheim lectured them about the anger of Gaia, the wounded earth mother that refused to bring rain to his parched fields, and of the evils of Reaganomics and gigantic corporations which brought the banks and IRS men down like vultures upon the American independent farmer, the backbone of the economy. <br />
<br />
“Sacrifice! That’s what the Earth Spirit demands!” screeched Klosterheim. “Tomorrow at dusk, you die! Until then, the corn will drink your sweat and tears!” He left them there, ignoring their plaintive pleadings, his high hat weaving slowly away through the whispering corn. <br />
<br />
The scarecrows stood watch, as stiff and straight as real scarecrows, except that they mockingly moved against the wind when the breeze would blow against them. The whispering corn after a while seemed to be saying “Blood for the Harvest God, blood for the Harvest God.”The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-80413418767539816982011-11-23T08:22:00.000-08:002012-03-06T12:00:18.094-08:00Deadly Equinox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLXP8ZZhqSkJMJDDxHF222cgHmKiVL6eDEytAqKL-o80L4iAKaiQbJaEHJpCAbfz7MDcUFnkgRJbUImqBv-JrYQo4ZSOVfozLKKA54kVcfJSKxTdKDac6FIZ7fKynteunycJTKoMM83c/s1600/deadlyequinox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLXP8ZZhqSkJMJDDxHF222cgHmKiVL6eDEytAqKL-o80L4iAKaiQbJaEHJpCAbfz7MDcUFnkgRJbUImqBv-JrYQo4ZSOVfozLKKA54kVcfJSKxTdKDac6FIZ7fKynteunycJTKoMM83c/s320/deadlyequinox.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/107023">BUY IT HERE ON SMASHWORDS IN ALL EBOOK FORMATS</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006B8D08O"><br />
BUY IT HERE FOR THE AMAZON KINDLE</a><br />
<br />
Finally -- the book that answers the question -- how exactly did Tom Sparrow start thinking that he was an ocelot? <br />
<br />
There's carnage and humour in equal measures in this one, as the Equinox Killer infiltrates and takes out the PAC Squad members in increasingly bizarre ways<br />
<br />
and of course my father digs out some offensive stereotypes -- Jewish vampires swooping around screaming "Oy Gevalt!" -- and we get an interesting look into the private life of Jack Rayon, living alone in a heavily armored empty room in the industrial district of the city. <br />
<br />
interestingly, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull">crystal skull</a> is mentioned -- some 20 years before Indiana Jones encountered one. <br />
<br />
Note the GLOM supercomputer and it's "massive 200 mb of RAM." I think that might not have even been that much back in 1986, when the story was set.The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-77209131335796576862011-11-14T01:13:00.000-08:002012-03-06T12:00:18.094-08:00What is the P.A.C Squad?In my haste, I never made any explanation on this blog what exactly the P.A.C Squad is. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAnHXSjtDz1RGAFn2bbAQdbAzSmoyAEGbJknTRzq1veqdYUOuGDu2XCoJ-MOuNVykaL_z9J2gh-HdMmD8v9Ys8R5FGZV3C-KpZa7EK435BVz8cr-vskbRYl8TUQHW0yv4J0kadvadl-I/s1600/pacsquad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAnHXSjtDz1RGAFn2bbAQdbAzSmoyAEGbJknTRzq1veqdYUOuGDu2XCoJ-MOuNVykaL_z9J2gh-HdMmD8v9Ys8R5FGZV3C-KpZa7EK435BVz8cr-vskbRYl8TUQHW0yv4J0kadvadl-I/s320/pacsquad2.jpg" /></a></div>The P.A.C Squad is the Paranormal Activities Control Squad. They were created by my father in 1991 or so, in a series of twelve adventures that he wrote after returning from the First Gulf War, aka Operation Desert Storm. <br />
<br />
The first two books were apparently published by Pinnacle, although I've yet to be able to find any copies available on Ebay or any used book stores. <br />
<br />
Were they intended as satires? Yeah, I think that's obvious. Some have said they're just bizarre or ridiculous, but I think it's clear they are intended to be funny. My father took tremendous amounts of LSD and smoked a lot of cannabis at that time. <br />
<br />
In the stories, the P.A.C Squad is a governmental agency, founded by President Reagen in 1984, formed to fight supernatural menaces. <br />
<br />
(I should add that the books pre-date THE X-FILES by a couple years. The tone is rather more similar to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, which premiered a few years later. Regrettably my father was dead by that time, so he never saw either.)<br />
<br />
The members of the PAC Squad include: <br />
<br />
Corporal Rupert Donaldson, US Army, abducted when young by a family of Sasquatch<br />
Jack Rayon, the gruff and deadly Vietnam veteran and tough guy<br />
Bobby Fedora, the New Age investigator and optimist<br />
Sachet Saperstein, a former male fashion model and "left-brain" of the PAC Squad<br />
Tina Bouffant, the blind psychometricist<br />
Tom and Johansen Sparrow, Finnish twin brothers and hitmen<br />
Raynar, the Turkish psychic<br />
Dr. Venerius, the crotchey Austrian researcher and mad doctor<br />
<br />
Here's a little artist's conception.The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-66614254248771559832011-11-12T11:54:00.000-08:002012-03-06T12:00:18.095-08:00Crucible of BloodWhen I was a child I remember going to Florida with my mother and father. <br />
<br />
I asked my father why there were waves.<br />
<br />
He said to me that it was because boats were going by, far out in the ocean where we couldn't see them, and they were creating all the waves. <br />
<br />
Even now I can't go to the beach without remembering my father and his idiotic explanation.<br />
<br />
I've posted #10 in the adventures of the PAC Squad: <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nb0ZhanmDjW6U22f6QvMkp2pI0BUgGHVeEbFPuev40VsdibLzN3WPxXLexOh0MMc244PW1w6dm6yX_d7LJI8tZKM4QVdo7_oBp5LhtCyhBpNiih7SJJHHiV1RjyXnOjDWiZ25uZMcxI/s1600/crucibleofblood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nb0ZhanmDjW6U22f6QvMkp2pI0BUgGHVeEbFPuev40VsdibLzN3WPxXLexOh0MMc244PW1w6dm6yX_d7LJI8tZKM4QVdo7_oBp5LhtCyhBpNiih7SJJHHiV1RjyXnOjDWiZ25uZMcxI/s320/crucibleofblood.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Why did I choose this one to post next?<br />
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I suppose of all the PAC Squad characters, Dr. Venerius is probably my favorite. <br />
I see a lot of my father in Dr. Venerius, although my father was a relatively young man, of course, and he was no scientific genius.<br />
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But he was pretty crotchety, the old man. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnDkrXFW5jXOeBRGHkBKg-VgWfC7TwZb-bQYF2_jUPkOkTLwbSj1817V8qGfRjA5YY1-v14z5nzxDUxncNS2FcLRsLTDk0aewofWvykz_fT5RUi0c6gXW0Q735lvcmUFk5Z471bmGlf4/s1600/superstar-magazine-mad-scientist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnDkrXFW5jXOeBRGHkBKg-VgWfC7TwZb-bQYF2_jUPkOkTLwbSj1817V8qGfRjA5YY1-v14z5nzxDUxncNS2FcLRsLTDk0aewofWvykz_fT5RUi0c6gXW0Q735lvcmUFk5Z471bmGlf4/s320/superstar-magazine-mad-scientist.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It's a pretty rousing adventure, as well, this story -- with all the bizarre bad-guys, including Changeling Brown, one of the few recurring villains in the stories. I also particularly liked the Hellchair -- and the untimely end that it comes to. <br />
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So of course, the question arises -- is Dr. Venerius a Nazi? <br />
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Well, we can safely say he's a former Nazi. Although his specific activities during the war are never described, we learn in this book that he escaped to Argentina on "stolen Nazi gold" so at least we know that things didn't end well between him and the Third Reich. <br />
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99803">YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON SMASHWORDS</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crucible-Blood-C-Squad-ebook/dp/B0060MU9HG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1321127600&sr=1-1">YOU CAN BUY IT HERE FOR THE AMAZON KINDLE</a><br />
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Also, I made the first book, <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98473">WRATH OF THE PUMPKIN GOD</a>, available for free on Smashwords. But you can still pay $1.99 for it on Kindle, if you prefer.The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624557418298567788.post-25318653395550930202011-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:002012-03-06T12:00:18.096-08:00The Wrath of the Pumpkin God<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98473"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgoFvbY_-bchQBaegoolZcuomqR9GMA9F8uGwa_kq_Urwm_InXDJO4Gue4G9qo3-JwWPzbimf4GjACMvD6Wlw02OWF9nUxQ88m5Ghl2E-aB8Dy5A5CStepu7DezBfsyLsn1imnl7wUJIk/s1600/pumpkinking4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgoFvbY_-bchQBaegoolZcuomqR9GMA9F8uGwa_kq_Urwm_InXDJO4Gue4G9qo3-JwWPzbimf4GjACMvD6Wlw02OWF9nUxQ88m5Ghl2E-aB8Dy5A5CStepu7DezBfsyLsn1imnl7wUJIk/s320/pumpkinking4.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></a><br />
<br />
</div>I have a lot to say on the subject of the P.A.C Squad, and my father, Arvin Stevens Sr.<br />
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I hope to use this blog to say it.<br />
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Until I start doing that, let me just state that I recently posted the first P.A.C Squad book as an eBook. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98473">BUY IT HERE ON SMASHWORDS</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005YK2C2A">BUY IT HERE FOR THE AMAZON KINDLE</a><br />
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It's actually not the "first" book by any stretch -- it's actually #7 in the series. I did this for two reasons -- it's probably my favorite of all of them, and it's nearly Halloween.<br />
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There might be a third reason -- it's also one of the shortest of all the books, barely qualifying as a "novella," more of a long short story. (And not even a particularly long short story, at that.) So it took me less time to transfer it to eBook format. <br />
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The original title was THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME. I'm not sure what my dad was thinking with that. What things? Religion? The environment? Drug use? These are all topics touched on in the book.<br />
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Obviously Dad lifted quite a few ideas from the Stephen King short story (and the later films) CHILDREN OF THE CORN. Except there aren't any children here. Just werewolves and the PAC Squad, and a voodoo drug gang.<br />
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Some people who have read these say the portrayal of the Jamaicans is rather racist. Certainly it's simplistic. I can say my father didn't like anybody very much -- the portrayal of white people in the country in this novel isn't particularly pleasant, either.The PAC Squadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697324304884829109noreply@blogger.com0