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 by:
Steven L. Shrewsbury
Publish America,
2002 (195 pages trade paper back)
What can I say, I'm a sucker for dark, brooding albinos wearing black and fighting
the forces of evil. As such, I have been a fan of Dack Shannon, that wonderfully
flawed albino character from the mind of Steven L. Shrewsbury, for almost
two years now. Having followed this character as he evolved within the electronic
pages of several e-zines and websites, it was with great pleasure that I recently
learned of a Trade Paperback Anthology grouping seventeen tales of the Albino
Man-In-Black from Majestic Services into a single volume.
Ok, now for some background: Dack Shannon grew up in St. John's School
And Orphanage in Peoria, Illinois, a tall and lanky albino with pink eyes and
an, "It's Me Against The World," attitude. Recruited in his later years
by that most undercover of agencies, Majestic Services, Dack dons his black trenchcoat
and signature bullet-proof fedora with style and ease and fights crime with an
unerring sense of justice.
But don't let this brief description of Dack and his "job" fool you,
folks. Majestic Services isn't just any other intelligence agency. No, sir! Majestic
agents get called in to do all the dirty work, I mean the REALLY dirty work. From
aliens to possessive demons, from blood-thirsty psychopaths to spiritually evil
apparitions, from dirty congressmen to flawed mad-scientists, the men of Majestic
have seen it all. That's just one of the things that makes these stories so much
fun--you never know what Steven L. Shrewsbury (known by his friends
and colleagues merely as "Shrews") is going to throw at Dack Shannon
next.
Mixing so many elements of speculative fiction together with one character
works extremely well for Dack Shannon. Throw in a cast of also colorful characters;
including a former intelligence-agent priest, a stripper-acolyte, a coroner with
a bad attitude and a helpful member of Peoria's finest, and each Dack Shannon
tale comes ready to please and rich with action and adventure.
Yes, I am a fan of Steven L. Shrewsbury's work, that must be evident
if you've gotten this far. But don't let that phase you. Pick up a copy of Nocturnal Vacations
yourself and witness the evidence of this man's imagination and sheer story-telling
talents first-hand. I promise, you won't be disappointed. Dack Shannon fans
especially are treated to two Brand New tales in this volume, as well as a refining
and rewriting of the other fifteen tales that have seen life in other venues over
the past couple of years.
I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology and hope that it will be successful in
luring new fans to the Dack Shannon Universe in the future. I was able to
order my copy quite easily from AMAZON.COM, it was delivered in less than three
days. Steven L. Shrewsbury mentions Common Grave in his closing
to Nocturnal Vacations. This new Dack Shannon novel is soon to be released
and I simply can't wait for that, to be sure.
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