The Revenge of Kali-Ra

by K.K. Beck

Determined to play Kali-Ra, Queen of Doom, heroine of a pulp fiction novel written by 1920s author Valerian Ricardo, actress Nadia Wentworth hires a screenwriter to create the script, but when word gets out, bizarre characters claiming to be related to the author arrive on the scene and murder soon follows. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Kathrine Kristine Beck Marris (born 1950), known mainly by her pen name of K. K. Beck, is an American novelist. She has written over a dozen books, some of which were part of the Iris Cooper novel series and the Jane da Silva novel series.

An early novel of hers, Death of a Prom Queen (1984) was written under the pen name of Marie Oliver. She wrote a series of other novels, under the name K. K. Beck, such as The Revenge of Kali-Ra in 1999. One of her most recent works, The Tell-Tale Tattoo and Other Stories (2002) is a collection of short stories.

She lives in Seattle, Washington, and was married to the crime-writer Michael Dibdin, who died in 2007.

Series:
* Iris Cooper
* Jane Da Silva

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A serviceable plot, film star reads b-movie type book, wants to make the movie, complications ensue. Just don't think the author goes far enough with it. If you're going to do a pastiche, go all in, like in the Abyerystwth books of Malcolm Price. One crazed fan stalking a couple of people didn't make it odd enough, for my taste. Did feel author did a good job piecing everything together and tying up lose ends.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure camp but I loved it. A purely guilty pleasure read.

[Stasia DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was delighted by this campy romp about an interesting cast of characters muddling their way through adapting an old hack’s books about a sadistic goddess. I think describing it as a mystery does it a disservice, since it’s really just an enjoyable and very funny story more so than a traditional mystery. I loved the parody of the characters and the brilliant “excerpts” from the original Kali-Ra books.

[Julie Kiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun, light read

I love this author! This is a different slant than her previous works. I laughed and loved this twisted, madcap romp! Thank you for the goofy, lighthearted entertainment!

[Alan]

This is a very funny quick read. Anything dedicated to Sax Rohmer (Fu Manchu books) and H. Rider Haggard is worth reading. This is very tongue in cheek and is well written. I have read 4 or 5 of Beck's books and find them entertaining reads perfect for vacation. In this one, a buxom Hollywood star with more money than brains decides she wants to do a movie based on the books of Valerian Ricardo (also known as Uncle Sid) but worries about copywrites and evil immortal temptresses threaten to derail the project. Not to mention the mafia and sleazy lawyers.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fun read with a somewhat campy story line. Set in the present, it read like something out of the movie serials of the 40's with a story within a story. There's several fun characters with twisted story lines involving a drug taking popular serial novelist of the 20's and 30's, a present day attempt to make a movie based upon his novels and campy heroine, battles over copyright ownership, threats, and attempted murder.

[Bookwoman67 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the top funny!

[Melinda Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads like a b-grade film script, funny and engaging, but perhaps not the intent of the author!!

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, quick story: I found this book at a bait shop, on a shelf with a bunch of other books you could take or trade. I grabbed it because the cover and title were luridly alluring. As it turns out, the text was just as luridly alluring, and the book was much too good to leave on a bait shop bookshelf.

The plot kicks off when Melanie, the brainy, beleaguered assistant to movie star Nadia Wentworth, hands a copy of "The Wrath of Kali-Ra" to her bored boss. Nadia immediately is drawn to the all-knowing, all-powerful character of Kali-Ra and is determined to produce a movie based on the cheesy pulp fiction series written by the decadent and depraved 1920s novelist Valerian Ricardo. Before you know it, life is imitating art (or what passes for art when Ricardo's wretched writing is involved), and murder and mayhem ensue, threatening to end Melanie's sanity and Nadia's career.

This book is a hoot and a half. My daughter and I took turns reading it out loud to each other at the lake by the bait shop, so I can vouch that "The Revenge of Kali-Ra" a perfect beach read. We also took turns reading the book out loud to my husband, who likes a send-up of a potboiler, so I also can attest that it is laugh-out-loud good. Author K.K. Beck's characters are believable, her descriptions are wonderfully written, and her multiple plots (past and present) are as frenzied as a potboiler's plot should be.

If you're looking for a profound, thoughtful take on life's tragedies, "The Revenge of Kali-Ra" is not that book. But if you're looking for a fun, fast read that takes you away from life's tragedies for a few hours, Kali-Ra fits the bill perfectly.