MYSTERY OF THE ATOMIC HAMMER
Hollywood Cowboy Detectives # 8
By Darryle Purcell
Available at Amazon
146 pgs
The three amigos, Curly Woods PR guy, Hoot Gibson former western star and Nick Danby studio chauffeur, are back again in another fantastic adventure. But this time writer Purcell, sets his action-packed tale after the end of World War II, 1946. Nick is a combat vet doing his best to return to civilian life. When Monogram’s second Charlie Chan actor, Sidney Toler, goes missing, Nick’s older brother, studio boss Rick Danby, sends Curly and Hoot to find him. At the same time he hopes they can help Nick overcome his own personal mental depression and adjust to his former fun loving personality. PTSD has always been prevalent after every war ever raged. In 1946 they called it “Shell shock.”
Only too eager to help their pal, Curly and Hoot begin searching Los Angeles’ own Chinatown and ultimately, with Nick’s help, learn Toler is being held in some kind of new hospital and undergoing some fancy new radiation treatment. They then encounter a mysterious doctor with ties to former Nazis who are now working with Communist agents. They are illegally experimenting with atomic rays. Rays that can turn normal spiders into giant mutated monsters. Once again the boys are up their necks in trouble battling forces intent on destroying America.
Purcell’s writing is flawless and his characters tons of fun. This is a series we relish and each new entry is like an early Christmas gift. If you haven’t met the Hollywood Detectives yet, what are you waiting for?
