Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 edited by Robert Greenberger
Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book.
A lesser known aspect of pulp fandom is the creation of new stories in the tradition of the pulp magazines of old, action-packed and exciting. Thus this series of books which feature modern authors trying their hand at various subgenres such as crime, sword & sorcery and science fiction. This time there’s fifteen stories to enjoy.
“57 Seconds” by Christopher Priest starts us off with an off-shift nurse nearly being run over by illegal street racers. One of the racers is a plainclothes inspector for the Prosecutor’s Office, and accidentally kills one of the other racers with a Butterball turkey afterwards. Problem, the murder victim is an undercover cop, so now his operation is short a man. Solution, Gerry is dragooned to fill in.
But it’s not that easy. There was another racer that night who’s holding a grudge, and the nurse remembers a lot of details, though she hasn’t realized Gerry was a cop–and neither do the other cops who now have a detailed description and pictures of the suspect. Plus Gerry suddenly realizes the undercover operation has a hidden flaw. Things are about to go south for a lot of people.
Interestingly, while Gerry is a real “Adam Henry” who should have been kicked off the force years ago, he’s a pretty sharp detective. He picks up on a lot of small details when he takes the time, and comes to pretty accurate conclusions. The story ends in dark comedy.
“Doc Dresden and the Lost Hollow” by Bobby Nash is part of a series about an effectively immortal adventurer who’s trying to find an expedition that’s disappeared in the Appalachian Mountains. This one’s pretty much a straight up adventure, with a touch of “hidden land” fiction.
“The Collar’ by Charles Ardai has a criminal wake up with an explosive collar around his neck and a limited amount of time to go to where the key is before it explodes. This one is dark.
“She-Devil of Paris” by Win Scott Eckert features Irma Vep and her gang of “vampires”, who are now in the public domain. The amoral thieves are trapped into doing the bidding of an apparently immortal woman. Don’t count them out just yet, though!
“Stories to Tell When You Get to Hell” by Paul Kupperberg is about an insufferable “genius” author and his one long-time friend who thinks he has suffered enough and wants to get one over on his counterpart, making a Faustian bargain to do so. Was the trade worth it?
“Goldmark’s Universe” by Elliot S! Maggin has a comic book writer interacting with what appears to be Goldmark, the superhero he’s the new writer for. Is he hallucinating, or is reality Goldmark’s Universe? Guest appearance by Hunter S. Thompson
“The Game of Wons and Toos” by Michael Jan Friedman is a somewhat more traditional superhero tale. Professor Mystic has a hidden weakness, words he absolutely cannot say lest doom befall. But now it seems that someone has figured that out and is trying to trap him into saying those words. There’s quite a bit of Professor Mystic having to contort sentences to avoid the treacherous words, and a bit of foreshadowing in that his memory is bad.
“The Thing in the Crate” by Jeffrey J. Mariotte is a sword and sorcery tale. A sell-sword with a shady past accepts a job protecting a valuable cargo from thieves. But perhaps it is the merchant who needs protection from the cargo. This story is one where I can definitely tell the writer has more modern sensibilities than those writing in the 1930s.
“The Bonds of Friendship” by Aaron Rosenberg has a retired warrior called back to action by an old friend as their mutual party member has gone rogue, willing to maim or kill innocents and friends to avenge the death of her beloved. Content note: body horror.
“The Tale of the Never Be” by Dan Abnett is another one with an effectively immortal protagonist, though he specifies that he’s “unmortal”, not dying of age or disease, and hard to kill by injury. He’s hired to retrieve a certain artifact from a lost “tomb” of someone who attempted true immortality, the “ever be.” It didn’t work out well.
“My Crush” by William F. Wu moves us into science fiction. Scientists on an alien world bond with some of the locals, but other locals object violently.
“Gnat” by Russ Colchamiro is about four mercenaries on a crippled spaceship after a mission goes south. Each of them has hidden motives and secret orders, but it doesn’t look like any of them are getting out alive. Bleak. Content note: body horror.
“Zayne Stormrunner and the Prince of Saturn” by Mary Fan has a smuggler in debt to a crime lord get involved in the political struggles of a Saturnian moon. This one is a little more classic space opera and lighter-hearted, even with a touch of romance. (It’s actually taking place in the present day, Earth is deliberately being misled into thinking there’s no life outside it.)
“E.S.P.D.” by Hildy Silverman is set in New Jersey. A new pharmaceutical treatment can give certain humans psychic abilities, with a certain amount of downsides. A Newark officer is observing the pilot program of adding special abilities to New Brunswick cops to see if her department will want to adopt it. Esper powers are nifty, but sometimes the old-fashioned methods need to be used.
“Grey” by Liz Braswell closes the volume with a tale of science fantasy. Jinoura is a Handmaiden of the Star Princess of the Star Sovereignty, one of the two great intergalactic empires. A peace deal has been brokered, with the Princess about to wed her opposite number. But first they need to secure the Last Pearl of the Wish Nebulas as the dowry. During this adventure, Jinoura becomes less and less enchanted by the glorious space opera world she lives in. But perhaps she can have a happy ending?
My personal favorites are the Friedman and Fan stories, but most of these are good. A couple, like “Gnat”, don’t quite seem to fit the pulp aesthetic. Thankfully, the authors didn’t try to duplicate the old period sexism and racism.
Interior art is bits from old pulp magazines vaguely related to the stories, I hope all public domain as there’s not a source listed. There’s also a set of author bios in the back so you can search out their other work if you like these.
Overall, much like the experience of reading one of the old pulp magazines, and thus primarily recommended to pulp fans with a side of older comic book fans.
