Phantom Detective #1

by John Gregory Betancourt

A facsimile reprint of the very first issue of the classic pulp magazine, THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE. (Original publication February 1933.) This issue contains a complete novel about The Phantom Detective, plus 3 short stories and an editorial ("Introducing the Phantom Detective"). A Wildside Pulp Classic!

132 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2004

About the author

John Gregory Betancourt is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and mystery novels as well as short stories. He has worked as an assistant editor at Amazing Stories and editor of Horror: The Newsmagazine of the Horror Field, the revived Weird Tales magazine, the first issue of H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror (which he subsequently hired Marvin Kaye to edit), Cat Tales magazine (which he subsequently hired George H. Scithers to edit), and Adventure Tales magazine. He worked as a Senior Editor for Byron Preiss Visual Publications (1989-1996) and iBooks. He is the writer of four Star Trek novels and the new Chronicles of Amber prequel series, as well as a dozen original novels. His essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in such diverse publications as Writer's Digest and The Washington Post.

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Emperor of Death is the first adventure of The Phantom Detective. I was unfamiliar with this character so I did some digging. Trivia: The Phantom Detective (in the books he is just called The Phantom) was the second pulp hero of the nineteen thirties to see print. (The Shadow beat him by a month-Doc Savage saw print a month later.) However this character stayed in publication longer than either of those two esteemed gentlemen, finally ceasing publication in the nineteen fifties. In The Emperor of Death The Phantom dukes it out against the Mad Red Hesterberg who is operating a massive network of criminals-he is dedicated to destroying peaceful diplomatic relations between nations so the Soviet Union can come out on top. In structure this book reminds me of the adventures of another pulp hero, The Spider. The Phantom (really Richard Curtis Van Loan, wealthy bachelor and veteran of the Great War) stands alone against the Mad Red and his network of evil. Van Loan is not quite as bloodthirsty as Richard Wentworth-however he will kill if he must. The action seesaws back and forth as the novel progresses and The Phantom faces increasingly desperate straights. Wow did I enjoy this!