Dieselpunk Epulp Showcase

John Picha

Feb 2013 · John Picha

About this ebook

This action-packed ePulp Anthology unleashes four new noir tales inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Blazing brawls and gritty adventure awaits dieselpunks, nostalgians, die hard or pulp-curious fans. Hope you can take a punch, because these two-fisted tales hit hard! For young hoods, the Aether Age streets of mob-plagued Chicago present a world of opportunity. And Mack and Mickey are headed straight for the top in "That Sort of World: a Tale of the Aether Age." It's class-warfare in Citadel City as Pandora Driver and her Car of Tomorrow deliver rough justice to the elites and a douche named the Gooch in "Who are the People in your Neighborhood?" "The Wise Man Says" introduces Mick Trubble: a hard drinking, chain smoking charmer who bites off more than he can chew... then chews like hell. The Troubleshooter takes the grit and slang of a hardboiled detective and drops it in a dystopian setting that mixes Fedoras, trench coats, flying cars and android policemen. The dirty streets of Roanoketown were his home and his only family. Until he met HER. Now he'll follow HER into hell, tamahaak held high, and fight as a proud Indian against the Anglo Oppressors. He'll wager his life to be a true "A Friend of Spirits." Download if you dare!

Ratings and reviews

The Diesel Punk e-Book showcase is a fantastical collection of four stories rooted in the gritty reality of the pulp tradition. Drawing inspiration from the hard-boiled suspense tales of that era, these sagas mix a retro flavor with depictions of dystopian societies mirroring our own turbulent present. As art imitates life, and as history repeats itself, so does pulp rise again to titillate our darker natures with graphic depictions of vice and graft, not from the dime novels of yesteryear, but from the depths of the internet. In the first offering in the showcase, "Tales of the Aether Age", the USA has disintegrated into rival factions, the Union is broken, Prohibition is fueling gangsterism, and wise guys everywhere are looking to score. Jaded and world-weary, but looking to make a name for themselves, two crooks take on a big job. They are guarded street toughs, and constantly challenged to think three steps ahead of the game to sift through the layered hierarchies of allegiances and machinations of power. "Pandora Driver" harkens back to a pre-WW2 America populated by colorful immigrants chasing the American dream. One unlucky shopkeep draws the attention of a ruthless gangs

When I tore open the pages, I was wondering what kind of book is this? Will it really deliver? Good explorers like to get a good lay of the land, take a deep breath of the air, and get a feel of the soil before they venture deeply and journey into parts unknown. Did I say gangsters? Before you start to stereo type, this is not “Gangster Squad” or “Eliot Ness and the Untouchables.” This is something far different if you’re into the genre for a slant and spin in exploring the gangster mobsters around the 1920s in a new sci-fi light. The authors team up to present four different worlds of adventure. Check the characters out. We are introduced to a saboteur, a crusader, a trouble shooter, and even a super hero thrown in for good measure. Is this book a page turner? You are served with four steaming slices of imagination. Sounds like a pizza, but there’s enough in the receipt and ingredients to keep your attention and interest. As I started reading, I got drawn into these strange worlds and then became lost in the pages of gripping adventure. If you’re looking for a good blend of science fiction, twists, and mobster gangs, then this book could be for you.

I fully expected the introductions to the genre to hold a more gonzo attitude, but the more subtle approach was the perfect touch. Fans of pulp fiction, hard boiled gumshoes and film noir certainly wouldn't feel uncomfortable in the alternate world that the stories are based. A very nice surprise indeed.

About the author

John Picha was born on St. Patrick's Day 1968 in Joliet, Illinois. He was raised in Frankfort, a suburb of Chicago, but his mind always seemed to be elsewhere. The little Midwesterner was captivated by comic books, cartoons and animation, mythology and all things imagined. He made the world around him more exciting by pretending. A bicycle was a spacecraft, a bush became a dinosaur, and, of course, there was always a bath towel hidden away for a quick change into a super hero.