Tuesday, August 19, 2014

New Friends in the House, and School

Just to note, I start back to school tomorrow. So at least for a while I won't be visiting blogs quite as regularly as I have during the summer. That's not what I want to talk about, though. I want to talk about books. Here goes:

New Friends in the House:

I mentioned the wonderful Mystery Cove Book Shop that we found on our Maine trip. Let me tell you what I picked up there. I would have bought a lot more if we’d not had luggage constraints. But they do have a webpage so I will probably order more through that.

First up, I got The Rat Bastards #4: Meat Grinder-Hill. They didn’t have #1 or I’d have gotten that one. This series was published by Jove Books in the 1980s and there were sixteen total books. They were written under the name John Mackie, whose real name is Len Levinson. Levinson talks about these books on his blog, and the whole series has been rereleased as ebooks. I’d heard about this series for a long time but had never actually seen a print copy. I was glad to pick this one up and look forward to reading it.


Second, I got Renegade #14: Harvest of Death. The blurb on the front reads, “Captain Gringo cuts a hot path of love and fury through a jungle in hell!”  How could I resist? This was a series of western novels written by Lou Cameron under the name Ramsay Thorne. There appear to be 36 volumes in the series. Again, I’d heard of this series for years but never seen a print copy of one. They only had #14 so that’s the one I got. I’ve read quite a lot of Cameron under his own name.

 Third, I picked up Nazi Paratrooper: Storm Belgium. This is the first in a series by Gunther Lutz. I’d never heard of this series before, but apparently there are at least five books in the series, and they tell the story of WWII from the German perspective. I couldn’t find anything on Lutz himself or on this series. The one I have is published by Sphere Books. I’m pretty curious about this but so far nothing informative has turned up. (Note: I've actually started reading this one and it is pretty weak.)



Fourth, I got Phantom Regiments, a collection of ghost war stories. The stories were selected by Robert Adams and there’s a great cover by Ken Kelley. Baen did quite a few of this kind of collection and I’ve generally enjoyed them. I see this one has quite a few negative reviews so I’ll have to see what my take is on it.

I do love talkin' 'bout books!

22 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

At least two weren't in the middle of a series.
Good luck with your first day back tomorrow.

Victorian Barbarian said...

ABE says Gunther Lutz is a pseudonym of Charles Whiting, who also wrote as "Leo Kessler." Wikipedia has an entry on Whiting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whiting

Paul R. McNamee said...

I have that Adams anthology.

Interesting series you've highlighted. Gunther Lutz sounds a bit like Sven Hassel's Legion of the Damned. (mentioned by Tim Willocks, author of The Religion, so I really want to read at least one in the series.)

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I'm sure I'd enjoy reading all these novels if I could. The Gunther Lutz book particularly looks good to read right away.

Brian Miller said...

only one i have read is renegade...and it may not be that one...my father in law loves westerns and passes them on to me...he has been reading them since he was a kid so quite a few are old series....

Brian Miller said...

and best wishes heading back...it takes a bit to get your sea legs back...ha...

pattinase (abbott) said...

I love that you bought those books. Friends that have no book tastes in common but the fact we love books.

Cloudia said...

You should do a pod cast!




ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

Randy Johnson said...

I've read quite a bit by Adams. Met him once at a con, but not familiar with that one at all.

Rachel V. Olivier said...

Hope you enjoy the new finds.

Charles Gramlich said...

Alex, yeah, I like to start with one when possible but lots of times that is hard to find.

Victorian, ahh, I know Whiting. Have read some of his stuff.

Paul, this might not be the one in the series to read. Pretty weak so far.

Prashant, that's why it was the first I started.

Brian, I have heard of that series a long time but this was the first ones I saw in a bookstore.

Patti, I think there are a few we like in common. :)

Cloudia, ah, if I had the time.

Randy, I've read all of Adams that were written by him, I think, and have several anthologies he edited. NEver had seen this one before though.

Rachel, oh I will. Even if I don't like 'em I'll have fun talking about 'em.

Riot Kitty said...

Bookstores like that are such a treasure. These covers alone are awesome, too!

the walking man said...

So the man goes on vacation to Maine and what does he bring back? Sea shells? Ceder doodads? Tourist trap whale memorabilia? War stories. Dude you need a chaperone when on vacation.

Charles Gramlich said...

Riot Kitty, yes, love these covers.

Mark, I did bring back some seashells. They weren't as pretty as these books, though. :)

Ty said...

Oh, the heady days of the '70s and '80s, when series upon series of short novels filled with action and adventure weighted the shelves of every little book store. And always for less than a few dollars.

Sigh.

BernardL said...

Interesting selection. I know you'll have fun reading them.

Oscar Case said...

You'll have combat fatigue when you finish these.

David Cranmer said...

The words BACK TO SCHOOL still shoots sharp fear down my spine.

Charles Gramlich said...

Ty, yeah I would have loved to be writing then.

Bernard, as always.

Oscar, possibly!

David, as well they should.

sage said...

Enjoy being back in school! At least you have some books that will divert your attention from work.

Snowbrush said...

Robert E. Howard lives on, I guess, because although he didn't write about war, he wrote some stuff that is surely just as weird.

Charles Gramlich said...

Sage, indeed true.

Robert E. Howard, wrote a great variety of things, westerns, horror, fantasy, hard boiled. A very versatile writer, I think.