Trail of the Bat Beasts

Man of The Mist Book, 1

By: Darryle Purcell

Narrated by: Charlie Boswell

Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Fans of pulp heroes like the Shadow, the Spider, the Black Bat, and the Avenger will adore this new pulp magazine inspired series!

Avenging justice moves unseen in the night mist, then a black-clad hand emerges to grasp and destroy evil. The Man of the Mist has struck yet another blow against crime. The ones who live whisper of him from their jail cells. "I heard an eerie voice from the fog," they say tremblingly. "Crime is the train to death!" the Man of the Mist whispered. "Once you board that train, you are on your way to the final stop."

Trail of the Bat Beasts is like a slap in the face with nonstop, pulse pounding, pulp action shot directly out of the late 1930s.

In his first full-length adventure, Ralph Thorn, a wealthy industrialist whose secret identity is the Man of the Mist, embarks on a trail of vengeance against the person or creature that murdered close friend and News Tribune editorial cartoonist Thomas Walker.

Thorn uses his amazing skills to, literally, listen in on the brains of his enemies in their own homes in order to track down criminal perpetrators of evil and bring them to their "end of the line" - justice.

A master of mind control who can create and move invisibly though dense fog and mist, Thorn, aided by his beautiful blonde assistant, Moxie Malone, battles a criminal organization that uses horrifying monsters to terrorize the big city: human-faced bat creatures on a mission of mass murder and a shroud-wearing banshee with incredible powers.

News Tribune publisher Lon Graham had advised the editorial cartoonist to "show no mercy to local politicians". But after Walker is murdered, it is the Man of the Mist who sets out to show no mercy to crooked elected officials, mobsters, murderers and those who prey on the innocent. But, with all of his amazing mind-control abilities, can he defeat a long-dead evil with power beyond even the Man of the Mist's comprehension?

©2017 Darryle Purcell (P)2019 Darryle Purcell

Pulpy goodness with a chaser of noir

Man, oh man, was I ever born in the wrong era. I grew up longing for the days of old time radio. I just missed out on listening to some of the most fantastic things ever particularly the shadow. Now I get to spend my days listening to the old time radio Classics, that I missed so much as a child, not just things like Orson Welles, but comedies like Judy Canova, and baby Snooks, as well as hard-core detective novels like Johnny Dollar.

This book grasps that feeling of those old pulp stories I read as a kid, but with a new kind of hero, who even has his own cool catchphrase. This book was nothing but fun from start to finish. It was adventurous, goofy, pulpy, and damn near perfect.

The narration by Boswell most definitely gives you the OTR field. But he also goes beyond that point and makes it somehow cinematic at the same time. It’s almost like what Lucas did with Indiana Jones.

This was one of the better books I’ve read in a long time. I think that if you enjoy something like the shadow or old time radio stuff you’ll love this.

SCIENCE FICTION AND INTRIGUE

I received this audio book for free upon my request. I am voluntarily leaving this review of my own accord. I highly recommend this book if you are a lover of science fiction and old movies as it reads like a radio podcast series mixed with the TV series Batman. The plot and characters really bring the story alive with the help of the narrator. The plot will take you on a fun roller-coaster ride featuring science fiction, comedy, and intrigue with a 60's vibe.

Fun Superhero Story

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

Here, Ralph Thorn is the Man of the Mist. His superpower is to enter cause a change to the thoughts of individuals, which results in them doing what the Mist wants. A political cartoonist is murdered in front of a 12 year old boy, who runs the newsstand. Thorn, with his assistant Moxie Malone, try to safeguard the boy but he is kidnapped by the murderer. Now Thorn and Moxie have to find the boy and stop the murderer.

This was a fun, campy superhero story. It strongly reminded me of the radio serials of a bygone era mixed with the campiness of the 60's Batman tv series with Adam West. Overall, very enjoyable.

The narrator had a clean delivery and good pace.