Sinister House of Secret Love #01

DC Comics flirted with the gothic romance/suspense genre with a couple of titles in 1971. The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love was originally published in September/October 1971. The comic ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance feel for more of a horror anthology flavor under the new title Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. DC's other venture into the genre was The Sinister House of Secret Love, which also launched September/October 1971. Again, it ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance tropes with its new title Secrets of Sinister House. I wanted to give The Sinister House of Secret Love (what a name!) a try, so I read the first issue.

This debut is titled “The Curse of the Macintyres”. It was written by Mary Skrenes, a veteran scripter that also contributed to The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Young Love, and Detective Comics. The artwork is by the famed Don Heck, a talent that just about touched every comic title imaginable throughout his career. 

In the opening pages, Rachel's father is dying. On his deathbed, he tells Rachel he has a formula that will make her rich, but he stresses that she hide his journal, go live with her cousin Blair, and to beware of the Macintyres Curse. Included in the first chapter is the initial meeting between Rachel and Blair at her father's funeral service, Blair's explanation that his wife died, and that he has a young son named Jamie. He asks that Rachel be the boy's tutor and she accepts.

Days later, as Rachel is traveling to Blare's dilapidated mansion, she receives ominous warnings from the train conductor and the coachman. Inside the mansion, Rachel meets Blare's dwarf cousin, Jamie, and the family maid. She's warned to never go to the third floor, which is a bold invitation in any gothic romance paperback. Eventually, Rachel learns that Blare may have a split personality and his sister may be a giant lunatic living upstairs.

The book's narrative features several attacks on Rachel, her romantic involvement with Blare, and the inevitable origins of the family's curse stemming from genetic deformity. I enjoyed the homage to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the gothic romance overtones that saturate nearly every page – new job, stranger in a strange land, atmosphere, supernatural rumors, the giant mansion, and of course, the vulnerable beauty striving to escape her newfound prison. 

This was a lot of fun, and now I'm strapped in to read more of this series. Stay tuned for more sinister and secret love!

Bones on Black Spruce Mountain

David Budbill (1940-2016) wrote ten books of poetry, eight plays, an opera, two novels, and a short story collection. Back in 1984, when I was just eight years old, his Bantam-Skylark paperback Bones on Black Spruce Mountain (1978) miraculously found its way into my mother's shopping cart at our local Hill's Department Store. I'm sure I had read other books prior to this one, but my most vivid memory is this paperback being my first actual book purchase. My mother was skeptical about the title and colorful cover (Ramon Gonzalez Vicente), but she allowed me to buy it with my allowance money. Thank God she never read the three curse words inside. Books may have been banned during my childhood, and Paperback Warrior would have never come to fruition. 

At the time, I never realized that Bones on Black Spruce Mountain was a novel featuring characters that appeared in Budbill's short story collection, Snowshoe Trek to Otter River (1976). In the collection, 12-year-old buddies Seth and Daniel take part in three short wilderness tales. In the novel, Seth and Daniel are now 13 years of age and want to tackle a long camping trip into a nearby mountain range. Seth and Daniel convince their parents to allow them a full week alone in the wilderness hiking. When I was their age, my parents wouldn't allow me to find my way to the Sunday School class at church without chaperoning. These kids are off in the wild for a week with no supervision!

There are rumors that a young orphan boy ran away from his abusive parents and died on the mountain. Supposedly, his bones are resting in a cave on top of Black Spruce Mountain. The two boys want to locate the bones...because that's just what young boys do. Stand By Me, anyone?

At 134 pages, Bones on Black Spruce Mountain isn't the rowdy action-adventure novel that I remember. In fact, it's a really bizarre psychological character study about Daniel adjusting to his adopted parents and coming to grips with his horrific childhood bouncing between orphanages and foster families. Daniel is clearly suffering some PTSD, and gaslights Seth often. Their emotional friendship is challenging, and often the two nearly come to blows. Daniel's quest to find the boy's bones is paramount to his own self-discovery and healing from abandonment.

Bones on Black Spruce Mountain is way heavier than any juvenile fiction paperback I've experienced. Proceed with caution; it's a slippery slope to climb. Get it HERE.

Trapped in Death Cave

Oklahoma native Bill Wallace began his storytelling career by engaging his students as an elementary school teacher. He became a popular juvenile fiction author, writing 38 total novels before he died in 2012. Many of his novels, like A Dog Called Kitty, Red Dog, and Coyote Autumn, are still in print today and have permanent homes in school libraries. I can fondly remember seeing his boy's adventure paperbacks like Danger on Panther Creek and Blackwater Swamp at the school book fairs when I was a kid. The one that really grabbed my attention was his 1984 Archway Paperback (Pocket Books), Trapped in Death Cave. Martin Hoffman's vivid cover connected with me, probably because of Raiders of the Lost Ark, released three years before this book's release. Regardless, I don't remember ever reading the book, but it's never too late. I grabbed a copy and settled into 164 pages of juvenile adventure. 

Brian's family travels to rural Oklahoma every year for Easter break. This is a long weekend that allows Brian to hang out with his best friend Seth, a local kid who lives near the family's tiny cabin. This year, Seth is mourning the death of his grandfather. However, Seth reveals to Brian that he believes his grandfather was murdered. Seth explains that there are rumors of hidden gold in the nearby mountain range and that his grandfather was obsessed in locating it. After he discovered it, as evidenced on some maps left behind for Seth, he was murdered by someone hoping to cash in on the discovery. 

Like any good treasure hunt, Trapped in Death Cave provides a stereotypical legend of Native Americans possessing magic. In their wars with the U.S. Army and white men devouring their homes, the natives were able to trap people in a “death cave” as a type of sacred curse. The original gold handlers were supposedly trapped/killed in this cave with the loot they stole. It's all mostly juvenile nonsense, but it makes for a fun story.

As Brian and Seth prepare to search the mountains for the gold and to locate the murderer, Seth is captured by a man. Brian, with the help of a local widowed woman (rumored to be a witch), heads to the mountains to save Seth and solve the mystery.

As a middle-grade boys' adventure, Trapped in Death Cave is a lot of fun and quickly breezes by within an hour. I enjoyed the three main characters, the brief escapism, and the book's alluring cover brought to life on page 105. However, the finale was a bit ridiculous with cavernous plot holes too large to overlook. But, considering the age and market, these types of illogical perplexities are to be expected. 

Trapped in Death Cave is a nostalgic, rip-roaring adventure sure to please readers of any age. Get your copy HERE.

The Silver Revolver

I've covered a number of John Shirley's books here at Paperback Warrior. From series entries in the Traveler and The Specialist, to politically-charged stand-alone novels like The Brigade. I've read Shirley's stories for a long time, predating Paperback Warrior's humble beginnings in 2013. I wanted to refocus my efforts on reading more of his stories, series titles, and stand-alone novels. I was emailed his newest novel, The Silver Revolver, published by Rough Edges Press in October 2025. 

“That humid summer morning, I brushed my teeth, showered, consumed bran cereal, drank some coffee while reading the lead paragraphs on the front page of the Chronicle, and took the Muni to work in downtown San Francisco. A little later that day, I was going to the emergency room to see my son. A little later yet, I was getting drunk beside a pool of  blood.”

Just like that, Shirley invites readers into a complex criminal underworld through his conduit, a divorced father from Texas named Slim Purdoux. After his son dies from a fatal drug concoction, Slim enters a feral underworld of pimp overseers and drug servants to hunt the man responsible. Yet, his entrance into this violent, vengeful reverie is surprising. 

In the book's first two chapters, which may be the best one-two punch of recent memory, Slim patiently sits as his corporate overseer, a publishing manager, carefully explains that AI will consume most of his job for the foreseeable future. An hour or two later, Slim finds himself ankle deep in blood as the survivor of a mass shooting. This uncanny intrusion of life's unexpectedness permanently scars Slim and propels him into action. It's rudimentary cause and effect, but in the hands of John Shirley, it's an unceremonious approach to upend crime noir's most effective plot device – the man on the run.

The novel plunges both Slim and the reader into a narcotic wasteland of pimps, whores, drug runners, and their makeshift masters. It's a noxious journey for Slim, a likable ex-con gone-good forced to fast-draw (literally) his way through a twisty labyrinth of painted ladies and shady men. Shirley's inclusion of Dulcet, a sexy, enigmatic hooker, uplifts Slim's violent mission and adds a sexy exuberance to the story. It reminded me of crime fiction's most dangerous couple, Dan J. Marlowe's Drake and Hazel, albeit less affectionate. 

The Silver Revolver is a testament to John Shirley's blunt-force storytelling ability. It's an intense crime noir that transforms not only the characters, but the reader. Make this your next absolute page-turner! Highly recommended.

Get the book HERE.

We Need to Do Something

Max Booth III is a Texas-based indie horror author whose 2021 short novel We Need to Do Something was adapted into a feature film that was well-received at festivals and currently streams on-demand.

Our narrator is teenage Melanie, and her family (mom, dad, little brother) is piling into a bathroom to wait out a tornado warning. The twister and a fallen tree decimate the house in a manner that traps the foursome in the bathroom together with no ability to escape. That’s the setup. The novel takes place in the john with no food but plenty of running water.

Much of the paperback consists of watching this dysfunctional family fight and interact with cruelty to one another. Ravaged by hunger and board games, nerves begin to fray. Also, dad is a straight-up asshole. You need to be comfortable with twisted family dynamics and a failing marriage narrative told from the eyes of a teenage child. The author certainly meant this to be a reflection on the COVID lockdowns happening shortly before publication.

Over time, it becomes clear that whatever is happening outside in the world is far more insidious and dangerous than repairable storm wreckage. The reader is only provided with clues, but the uncertainty and speculation reminded me of Stephen King’s The Mist. The few encounters with the outside world also serve as the novel’s most terrifying, and highly-effective, moments.

Meanwhile, Mel has a secret and a plausible theory about what caused all this to happen, and it ain’t a simple tornado. This storyline is delivered in small bites throughout the book until a fuller - but incomplete - explanation is provided. Leave it at that.

There were parts of this novel I loved (the horror) and parts I hated (bickering family dynamics), but I was never bored. Booth is clearly a talented author, and the paperback’s film adaptation looks intriguing. The paperback is 162 big-font pages, so it was short enough to never overstay its welcome during my spooky season horror novel binge. This is not a masterpiece, but a solid choice for a few great scares. Get the book HERE.

Crash Landing

Kathryn Johnson wrote over 40 published novels in her career, most under pseudonyms like Nicole Davidson. She actively contributed to young-adult horror and suspense published under Avon's Avon Flare paperback imprint. That's where I initially discovered her book Winterkill, published by the company in 1991. I later read her 1995 novel Crash Course and discovered there was a sequel published a year later titled Crash Landing.

Crash Landing picks up the action just a few months after the events from Crash Course. Protagonist Kelly and her friends Isobel, Angel, Chris, Jeff, and Nathan have all returned to Deep Creek Lake, the location of the first book, for a ski trip hosted by their high school. But, Kelly keeps remembering the events that caused the drowning death of her best friend Brian.

In this book, readers learn that Paula, the “killer” from the first book, was sentenced to a long-term psychiatric hospital stemming from her involvement in Brian's drowning and the attempted murder of Nathan and Kelly. But, oddly enough, Kelly runs into Paula on the ski slopes. Paula offers a sincere reproach to Brian's death and says the doctors rehabilitated her and she's out now and ready to move on with her life. Kelly believes her and welcomes the girl back into the group.

Later, Paula is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. This kicks off a chain of events involving two police officers investigating Paula's murder. The investigation then connects to a drug-running investigation involving several of the high school kids on the ski trip. Kelly is arrested, but it's a ploy to get the real killer out in the open.

Crash Landing is a bit of a mess in terms of disjointed plot, but it does offer plenty of red herrings and an interesting central mystery that affects Kelly. I was often contemplating something from the first book and how the significance may play a role in this novel. Unfortunately, there aren't many things connecting the two books, which led me to suspend disbelief that these unfortunate, nearly fatal incidents, could all happen to the same people again. However, at just shy of 200-pages, the book breezes by and is fairly enjoyable. A very mild recommendation if you enjoy young-adult suspense.

Get the book HERE.

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies

David Agranoff's The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies was published by Deadite Press in 2010. It marked the San Diego author's debut and helped launch a successful writing career that encompasses eleven novels and two story collections. After reading the author's Clash Books publication, The Last Night to Kill Nazis, I wanted to explore more of his work. I'll have to admit, based on the title, I probably wouldn't read Agranoff's debut. But, after reading The Last Night to Kill Nazis and Punk Rock Ghost Story, I know what he's capable of. 

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies is a satire work that combines veganism, animal rights, and the zombie apocalypse into 200 pages of ultra dark comedy. The main character is Dani, a young woman who has recently moved to Portland, Oregon. Through her boyfriend, the charismatic Magik, she lands an editing job at Fulci House Press, a publisher that injects zombies into classical literature. Of Mice and Men with Zombies, anyone? She hates the job, but her co-workers' eating habits lead her to rethink her next bite into a burned animal corpse.

Both Dani and Magik switching to veganism is a lifesaver. No...literally. A genetic engineering company called Vir-Tech unleashes a drug that blocks the perception of pain in livestock. It's fun to eat animals that aren't aware of pain and suffering, right? In a planetary misstep, humanity eats the drugged animals and...well, you know. Brains Brains Brains. Only, it's human flesh on the menu as zombies prowl the city streets devouring prey. The survivors? Yep. Those weirdo, tree-hugging, hippy vegans. I'll conjure my Rosco P. Coltrane voice - “Dang their mangy hides!”

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies is a riot. There's a splash into pop culture as everything from Red Dawn (the best 80s film ever!) to Burial Ground is unearthed. There are plenty of zombie films, classical literature, and music (Earth Crisis for the Earth Crisis!) for me to fanboy over. But, there's an equal amount of socially important messages about animals and the various ways they are dissected, squeezed, sliced, burned, and bred to umm...heave the heavy. It's a balance beam that made me laugh while also questioning my household menu of pork chops and chicken parm. 

Agranoff's debut is an effective, funny, serious, alarming novel that has a lot to say and a short time to get there. It's worth a read...just don't blame me if you turn to enoki sandwiches. Get it HERE.