A tale by Garnet Elliott is always a
good one full of pulpy goodness as Garnet Elliot never disappoints. Such is the
case with Dragon By The Bay, his latest novelette set in San Francisco in
1866. The Civil War is over, the Gold Rush is very much on, and people are
active above and below ground with many of them pawns in various nefarious
schemes. This is not a genteel San Francisco, but a city of criminal chaos
where anything goes and often does.
Carson Lowe is newly arrived in San
Francisco having come over on the ferry from Oakland with very little money in
his pockets. He has plans and dreams, but they suffered a nearly fatal setback
recently when he was in Nevada where he nearly lost all of his money and his
life. The current plan is stay low and be careful. That was the plan before he
saw the men of very hard appearance roaming the streets, members of some sort
of vigilance committee, clearly looking for somebody to take their frustrations
out on as soon as possible. Carson determines it is a good idea to get off the
streets as quickly as possible and goes into a nearby tavern.
Once inside he spots a poker game
underway. That game just might be the place to run his time tested scam
regarding a mine of sliver just waiting to be excavated. The problem with time
tested scam is that others may be aware of the scam and not take kindly to your
attempt to scam them. They may inflict heavy violence upon you before making
sure you wind up in the local jail.
That is exactly what happens to
Carson Lowe in short order. Once in the local jail he is witness to the rescue
of a fellow prisoner by the name of Nine Serpens Hsien. A legendary figure in
San Francisco and a man that is said to be immortal with inconceivable powers.
What follows is a kung fu adventure
style story that is a fast moving tale of deceit, alliances, and martial arts
in a time tested tale of the battle between evil and those who oppose evil. Frequently
the flying fists are as fast as lightning, as are the feet and a few other things
as the action moves around and below the city of San Francisco. Paying homage
to the movie Big Trouble in Little China,
author Garnett Elliott has penned a complex novelette that is a sheer blast to
read. No matter how you label it if you call it a western, a kung fu adventure,
or something else, Dragon By The Bay, is packed top to bottom in pulpy goodness and
delivers an excellent read.
Dragon By The Bay
Garnett
Elliott
Beat
To A Pulp
September
2015
ISBN#
978-1943035113
Paperback
(also available as an e-book)
122
Pages
$7.25
Paperback was supplied by the publisher in exchange
for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
No comments:
Post a Comment