Sunday Salon: Golden Age Collection

Photo Source: morgueFile

Sunday Salon brings visions of a quiet day relaxing, curled up with a cup of hot coffee and a good book taking a break from the busy day-to-day activities.

As we know, books come in all shapes, sizes, colors and formats nowadays. I still enjoy the feel of a book in my hands, turning the pages eager to find what awaits on the next page. But, as many of you know, I also enjoy audio books. 

Listening to an audio book allows me the pleasure of ‘reading’ a book while I do things that must be done - driving, cooking, cleaning, etc. It’s kind of like being a kid again and having someone read you a bedtime story without you having to go to sleep. 

Audio books also remind me of what it might have been like before TV when families gathered around the radio to listen to the latest airing of their favorite program. The action played out in their minds, not on the screen in front of them.

I recently came across a wonderful new collection of audio books that can transport listeners back to that golden era of radio with a taste of pulp fiction. The leading source of entertainment in the 1930s and 1940s was pulp fiction, thousands of short stories that have influenced today’s writers in so many ways.

Galaxy Press has assembled the largest collection of these stories from the most prolific writer of the pulp fiction era, L. Ron Hubbard. The collection, “Stories from the Golden Age,” includes over 150 audio books spanning virtually every genre including sci-fi, fantasy, western, mystery, adventure and more.

The audios run an average of two hours each and are performed by an all-star Hollywood cast. Each audios also features music and sound effects placing the listener in the middle of the action with the characters. The audio covers are vibrant and rich in nostalgic history depicting an era long gone.

Among the Mystery collection is DEAD MEN KILL, which was originally published in the July 1934 issue of Thrilling Detective.

DEAD MEN KILL by L. Ron Hubbard

Detective Terry Lane has his hands full when several of the city’s most respected citizens are killed. To make matters worse, it appears they were killed by zombies. Lane has few leads to follows and almost no evidence except the blue-gray glove from an undertaker.

A beautiful nightclub singer comes forward to help in the investigation. Lane, however, isn’t sure if she’s on the up-and-up. When he checks out her lead, he finds himself sealed in a coffin. Will he become a zombie as well?

The cast of characters do an excellent job bringing the action to life. The sound effects add another layer to the story making it all seem so real listeners are lost into the fantasy world of crocks and zombies for a time. The story is action-packed and moves at a steady pace keeping you guessing till the end. 

Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard, A Multicast Performance, Galaxy Press, @2012, ISBN: 978-1592123506, Unabridged, 2 Discs, Listening Time: 2 Hours

FTC Full Disclosure - This audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.

Here are brief descriptions of several other audios in this amazing collection.

Among the Sea Adventure collection is FALSE CARGO, which was originally published in the May 1935 issue of Five Novels.

Hired by Lloyd’s insurance company to ensure the safe voyage of the vessel Barclay from Hawaii to San Diego, skipper Brent Calloway finds himself caught in an illegal scheme to scuttle the ship in order to collect money. At the center of the plot is none other than Spike O’Brien, known throughout the Pacific as a ruthless killer.

Compounding Calloway’s troubles on deck, he sees that O’Brien also has lecherous claws for Dorothy, a passenger and the sister of one of Brent’s best friends. When the Barclay heads for the rocks and threatens to run aground, Brent makes a discovery which turns everything upside down.
This audio also includes the adventure story, GROUNDED.

False Cargo by L. Ron Hubbard, A Multicast Performance, Galaxy Press, @2012, ISBN: 978-1592122809, Unabridged, 2 Discs, Listening Time: 2 Hours

Among the Tales from the Orient collection is SPY KILLER, which was originally published in the April 1936 issue of Five-Novels Monthly.

Kurt Reid may be innocent of the murder he’s charged with (and of grand larceny, for that matter), but he’s got no time to be thrown in jail and defend himself. Instead, Reid flees to pre-Communist China and Shanghai, the exotic city of mystery and death.

Reid takes refuge in a tea house where he meets White Russian Varinka Savischna, whom he manages to rescue from certain death. As beautiful as she is smart, she recruits him in her crusade against Chinese intelligence services. Unfortunately, Reid manages to get himself captured by the Chinese and blackmailed into pursuing and assassinating a Japanese spy. Now Reid must enter the cloak-and-dagger world of espionage and intrigue, where everything and everyone is not who or what they appear to be.

Spy Killer by L. Ron Hubbard, A Multicast Performance, Galaxy Press, @2012, ISBN: 978-1592121663, Unabridged, 2 Discs, Listening Time: 2 Hours

Among the Mystery collection is THE CARNIVAL OF DEATH, which was originally published in the July 1934 issue of Popular Detective.

Working deep undercover to break up a purported drug ring operating at Shreve’s Mammoth Carnival, US narcotics agent Bob Clark discovers first one and then another headless body.

Others believe the gruesome murders are solved after four tribal headhunters working for the show suddenly disappear, but Clark suspects someone else is the real killer. When he finds himself seized by the very same headhunters, Clark sincerely hopes his hunch is right, since the point of a very sharp knife is aimed at his neck.
This audio also includes the mystery story, THE DEATH FLYER.

The Carnival of Death by L. Ron Hubbard, A Multicast Performance, Galaxy Press, @2012, ISBN: 978-1592122684, Unabridged, 2 Discs, Listening Time: 2 Hours

Do you enjoy listening or reading stories from the ‘Golden Era’ of the 30's and 40's? Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful Sunday.