SWAMP THING VISITS DC

 I DON'T USUALLY GET INVOLVED WITH POLITICS BUT THIS ONE IS TOO GOOD TO PASS.

 

FIRST CHANCE by Kasey Lansdale, Blackstone Books

 

 

FIRST CHANCE by Kasey Lansdale, Blackstone Books

There is a serial killer loose in Hopeful Texas. The only thing is no one knows about it until Chance Kirby is hired for her first case as a Private Investigator.

 It has been ten months since Patience Murray’s body was discovered and her sister, Debra, feels the police have hit the pause button. She has hired Chance to investigate and find the killer.

 Chance lives with Tia, a teen-age ward with a scary background, and their German Shepard rescue, Sissy. Right now, Chance works out of the kitchen office and Tia aides her with her computer skills and Sissy is there for moral support.

 Chance has a friend in the Police Chief, Izzy Lopez, and a more than passing interest in Officer Ken Riley, who could be a suspect in the small pool that is Hopeful. Other suspects range from a high school coach, a pool boy, a pizza restaurant manager and a couple of workers at animal rescue.

 Lansdale has populated her landscape with memorable characters. She has created a marvelously painted landscape of Southern Texas that fits in with my memories of the area.

 There is plenty of good writing here and it shows that the talent runs strong in the Lansdale family.

My first meetings with Kasey go back to her musical abilities and her whirlwind tour of radio stations in the South and her fantastical stories.

 This is a fun easy read that is filled with a promise of more to come. I think FIRST CHANCE is the proper title for this volume and that I really want to have a SECOND CHANCE to meet up with our marvelous cast of characters.

 Thanks, Kasey, I’m ready to see what happens next.

 

Tarzan: The Lost Adventure Retro Paperback by Edgar Rice Burroughs & Joe R. Lansdale

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 (Tarzana, California) For nearly fifty years, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ last Tarzan manuscript lay untouched and unfinished, locked away in a vault. It was the stuff of legend until, finally, the magnificent tale was completed in the mid-1990s, with the help of award-winning author Joe R. Lansdale. We are pleased to commemorate the 30th anniversary of that historic work with the release of a new Retro Paperback Edition Tarzan: The Lost Adventure by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Joe R. Lansdale, designed to resemble and fit on your shelf alongside the Ballantine mass-market paperback editions of the Tarzan series from the late 1970s and 1980s. This new Retro Paperback Edition features a new introduction by Joe R. Lansdale and a new foreword by ERB’s great-granddaughter, Llana Jane Burroughs, whose father, Danton Burroughs, was instrumental in rescuing ERB’s unfinished manuscript from oblivion and presenting it to the world. The Retro Paperback Edition of Tarzan: The Lost Adventure is now in stock and shipping, and has two options for ordering: Unsigned book ($15) Book signed by Joe R. Lansdale and Llana Jane Burroughs, with a commemorative Tarzan: The Lost Adventure bookmark ($25) – See below—supplies limited!

SIGNED COPIES WITH COMMEMORATIVE BOOKMARK AVAILABLE—WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! We are also thrilled to announce that we have a limited number of copies of the book available that were signed by Joe R. Lansdale and Llana Jane Burroughs when we soft-launched the new Retro Paperback Edition at WonderCon this past March. Each signed copy will ship with a special bookmark to commemorate the novel’s 30th anniversary (the bookmark is NOT included with orders of unsigned copies of the book). Grab the signed copies while you can—we don’t expect them to remain in stock for long!

A LOST CITY AND AN ANCIENT EVIL... Once again the roar of Tarzan resounds through Africa as the Lord of the Jungle battles the savage creatures of the wild and helps a beautiful woman search for ancient Ur, lost city of gold. But Tarzan discovers they aren’t alone in their quest. For evil follows in his path, and terror awaits him and his fierce lion Jad-bal-ja. Incredible treasures lie in the ancient city, and horrors even more awesome hunger to destroy the mighty hero.

TRIVIA FOR THE FANS... You will notice that we have numbered the book as "26" in the Tarzan series. What’s up with that? Aren’t there 24 books in the original Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and so shouldn’t Tarzan: The Lost Adventure be #25? And what about Tarzan and the Valley of Gold by Fritz Leiber, which Ballantine Books released in 1966 as #25 in the Tarzan series? The answer to all these questions is that, in the future, we plan to release a Retro Paperback Edition of Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs as #25 in the Tarzan series (this will also be the numbering when we eventually release the book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library). The rationale for this is that books that are entirely written by ERB go first. As much as we love Joe R. Lansdale and Fritz Leiber (and we do!), they don’t take precedence over ERB. The Master of Adventure takes priority in the beloved series that he created. And if we ever decide to release other Tarzan books by other authors in the Retro Paperback format, we’ll begin with #27 (we’re looking at you, Fritz Leiber!) and then move on to #28 (Tarzan and the Dark Heart of Time by Philip José Farmer), and so on. But we are getting ahead of ourselves! Right now, we do have plans to release Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins in a Retro Paperback Edition in the future, and that’s it. We’ll just have to wait and see what lies up ahead on the jungle trail after that! A Note to Collectors: Please note that a slightly different version of this Retro Paperback was offered by our friends at Pandi Press in their April 2026 Pandi Pack. The Special Pandi Press Edition included a special signature page and had "SPECIAL PANDI PRESS EDITION" printed on the front cover beneath the title instead of "THE ADVENTURES OF LORD GREYSTOKE." The Special Pandi Press Edition is now SOLD OUT. About the Authors The creator of the immortal characters Tarzan of the Apes and John Carter of Mars, EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS is one of the world’s most popular authors. His timeless tales of heroes and heroines transport readers from the jungles of Africa and the dead sea bottoms of Barsoom to the miles-high forests of Amtor and the savage inner world of Pellucidar, and even to alien civilizations beyond the farthest star. Mr. Burroughs’ books are estimated to have sold hundreds of millions of copies, and they have spawned 60 films and 250 television episodes. JOE R. LANSDALE is the author of fifty novels and four hundred shorter works, including stories, essays, reviews, film and TV scripts, introductions and magazine articles, and a book of poetry. His work has been made into such films as Bubba Ho-Tep and Cold in July, as well as the acclaimed TV series Hap and Leonard. He has received numerous recognitions for his work, including two Edgar Awards, ten Bram Stoker Awards, the Grand Master Award and Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association, the Inkpot Life Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Sugar Pulp Prize for Fiction, the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, the Shot in the Dark International Crime Writers Award, and others. He was recognized for his contributions to the legacy of Edgar Rice Burroughs with the Golden Lion Award from the Burroughs Bibliophiles. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas, with his wife, Karen.

2084 IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.

 

2084

by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis, USN

A gripping drama and chilling prophecy about the possible path to war for a planet devastated by climate change. A fascinating and disturbingly plausible extrapolation from current realities, 2084 deploys a global cast of characters, all protecting their interests as the fate of human civilization hangs in the balance. Individuals often seem small in the face of the forces that drive global change, but in the end human agency proves surprisingly decisive. Big doors can swing on small hinges. We have it within ourselves to write a different destiny, if only we can imagine it. 

 

$29.00 AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SELLER. 

L. Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future, Volume 42, edited by Jody Lynn Nye

L. Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future, Volume 42, edited by Jody Lynn Nye, Galaxy Press, Trade Paperback ISBN 978-1-61986-900-4, $22.95.

As someone who has been around since the first volume of these annual collections and have read many a story or novel – and even a series of novels in some cases – it is a pleasure to say that the future continues to be in good hands and from this year's crop of writers, I am proud to say there is still something new under the sun. Here in this collection is a look at the future in science fiction and art that we will enjoy from this day forward.

Not knowing who the winner will be at the time I’m writing this review, I am going to mention the stories that stood out to me. After you read them, you may disagree with my choices, but that’s a good thing because there is something here for everyone’s taste and I bid you good reading. So let’s dig in.

“Form 14B: Application for Certification of Consciousness Transfer (Post-Mortem)” by Thomas K. Slee starts the volume with the story of Cameron Mannagh, ho is currently a brain in a box and is in line to get his paperwork processed to get a new body. Imagine a DMV like the ones on TV. Cameron is a high net worth individual and things are about to get complicated

“Shell Game” by Zach Poulter is the story of Detective Flynn who is chasing a killer that can jump into other bodies and wears their “shells” to hide their identity and their true purpose. But Flynn must find out if he is being used as a shell as well.

“The Triceratops Effect” by S. J. Stevenson is a time-travel tale that spans 60 million years and answers the age-old question of what really caused the dinosaurs to go extinct. This is a very well-done story and is not your usual take on time travel.

“Skinny-Shins” by Orson Scott Card Inspired by Ciruelo Cabral’s The Fire Tribe – the cover painting for this volume - is the first of several tales with dragons as characters. This is one of the more humorous – at least to me – stories in the volume.

“Dragon Visits” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman tells us a story of grief and loss as thirteen-year-old Martin, who is mastering the violin and experiences the loss of his Mother and the discovery of dragons the next day when he plays the music that meant so much to her.

“In Living Color” by Michael T. Kuester describes a man who assists police by reading events from crime scene photos through touch. This case involves a serial killer, and the clues lead to an unusual suspect.

“As Long as You Both Shall Live” by Mike Strickland is a story about the transfer of consciousness into an VR environment and what happens when something dire happens and the mind cannot return to the body. Are they alive as an AI or as a person? This well-done story tells of one person going the lengths they will go to assure that the right decision is reached. You might add “A Love Story” as a subtitle.

“ A Girl and Her Dragon: A Life in Four Parts” by Joseph Sidari is my favorite dragon story in the volume and follows the growth of a young girl into adulthood and her relationship with a dragon in the zoo and her career as a newspaper reporter and her stories about their kinship.

Other stories are: “Saffron and Marigolds” by Kathleen Powell – another dragon story;  “Space Can” by L. Ron Hubbard – classic space opera;  “Canary” by Brenda Posey;  “A Ready-Made Bubble of Light” by Thomas R. Eggenberger;  "Ghost Dog” by Mark McWaters;  “Thickly” by Dorothy de Kok; and  “Bloom Decay” by Elina Kumra.

There is a lot of great writing and art in this volume and just as I finish this year's volume, and I’m already looking forward to next years.

 

JUSTIN HAYWARD April 19, 2026, Atlanta

Jim Brock and I were able to do our annual "Birthday Concert" again this year. This year it was Justin Hayward - the last surviving member of The Moody Blues.

This was THE STORY IN YOUR EYES Tour and feature mostly Moody Blues songs that he wrote. He covered their entire catalog as well as songs from his solo career. I would have liked to have heard a couple of BLUE JAYS songs, but I'm happy with it all.

This is a picture of the main group. His guitar tech would fill in on some songs to add a third guitar. Justin also did FOREVER AUTUMN from the Jeff Frane WAR OF THE WORLD'S rock adaptation. This has been a favorite of mine since its release.

I'm not sure if the flutist is doing the part from FOREVER AUTUMN, NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN or I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE SOMEWHERE, but she was terrific in her job and did backing vocals as well. Justin did a question and answer segment, and it added that extra personal touch that you don't usually see in except on the old MTV Unplugged shows.

 

 This is a shot of the whole band near the end of the show. It was a night for the ages.

Justin is now into his 80s, so I don't know if we will get to see him again. We had planned to see John Lodge again, but sadly he passed before the concert tour started.

It is sad to see your heroes and influencers pass, but you can be sure that Justin, John and the rest of the Moody Blues know of the joy and conversations their music created.