The Haunted Mesa

The Haunted Mesa by Louis L’Amour
Bantam Books, 1987
Price I paid: Most public library cards are free! Get one!

The Navajo called them the Anasazi: an enigmatic race of southwestern cliff dwellers. For centuries, the sudden disappearance of this proud and noble people has baffled historians. Summoned to a dark desert plateau by a desperate letter from an old friend, renowned investigator Mike Raglan is drawn into a world of mystery, violence, and explosive revelation. Crossing the border beyond the laws of man and nature, he will learn the astonishing legacy of the Anasazi—but not without a price. Set in the contemporary Southwest, The Haunted Mesa draws on Louis L’Amour’s extensive knowledge of Indian lore and mysticism. In this extraordinary book L’Amour tells a tale of epic adventure that takes his readers across the most extraordinary frontier they have ever encountered.

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The Rose

The Rose by Charles L. Harness
Berkley Medallion Books, 1969
(Originally published in Authentic SF, 1953)
Price I paid: none

The year 1953 is a hallowed one to such connoisseurs of science fiction as Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Moorcock, Brian W. Aldiss, Judith Merril and Damon Knight. It was in that year that a novel called THE ROSE appeared in the British magazine, Authentic SF. It was only the second novel by the American Charles Harness, but he was already a highly regarded writer by those in the know. It was also, unfortunately, his last, until his recent resumption of writing and the publication of a long-awaited new novel, THE RING OF RITORNEL. (Available as a Berkley paperback, X1630)

THE ROSE depicts an ultimate confrontation between science and art, brilliantly and wittily played out between three unforgettable leading characters:

Anna van Tuyl—a composer and also a practicing psychiatrist
Ruy Jacques—Anna’s lover
Martha—Ruy’s wife, who is perfecting a deadly weapon that will render science supreme over art

Here, at last, is a U.S. edition of this superb SF novel, an exciting event for all admirers of little-known science fiction gems.

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Spacehawk, Inc.

Spacehawk, Inc. by Ron Goulart
DAW Books, 1974
Price I paid: 90¢

In the Barnum system, Malagra was considered to be the most uninviting planet of them all. In fact, among the engineers and androids of Kip Bundy’s set, it was known as the pesthole of the universe.

Which made things quite sticky when Kip’s rich uncle assigned him to Malagra to make certain top secret reforms. Because Kip was no Hercules, and this task would have balked even that mythical fixer.

But then there were compensations—if you could call them that—a sex-mad photographer, a couple of lovely maidens in distress, and the ardent guerillas of the Boy Scout Liberation Army.

It’s Ron Goulart at his whackiest best.

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The Sword of Rhiannon

The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
Ace Books, 1953
Price I paid: $1.50

MARS—a million years ago…

MARS—Planet of science-lords and man-monsters…

MARS—world of mystery and marvels…

Into this lost world plunged Matt Carse, explorer of interplanetary ruins, to find himself inhabiting the body of a mythical “god” and slated to fight that immortal’s battles all over again—this time with the knowledge of Earth’s unborn future as his sole scientific secret.

Leigh Brackett’s THE SWORD OF RHIANNON is an epic of interplanetary adventure by a writer comparable only to Edgar Rice Burroughs.

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The Cruachan and the Killane

The Cruachan and The Killane by Cristabel
Curtis Books, 1970
Price I paid: 75¢

Nora Castonay is a breathtaking blonde endowed with a miraculous psychical gift of healing the sick. She also has an uncanny gift for getting into all kinds of trouble.

First, aboard a doomed aircraft a dying courier entrusts her with secret information to deliver a mysterious man named Vanor. Next, rescued after the explosion of the plane by a ship, The Cruachan, she falls in love with its enigmatic captain, Killane.

Then, as she finally nears the mystic island of Veltakin, she comes face to face with the ultimate, universal terror—

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The Loafers of Refuge

The Loafers of Refuge by Joseph L. Green
Ballantine Books, 1965
Price I paid: 90¢

Refuge

That was what the humans called the rich, attractive planet—a refuge from starving, over-populated Earth. And the Colonists could provide millions of tons of desperately needed produce for the hungry billions left on their home planet.

If only the native inhabitants of Refuge weren’t so natural-born lazy: harmless, it’s true, but actually nothing more than a bunch of loafers. If the loafers could be made to turn to, Refuge could really be the Earth’s breadbasket.

But the Loafers steadily refused to “turn to”—there was nothing the humans could do about it. And the years went by. And everything remained friendly and quiet. Until one day, a young human, born and raised on Refuge, decided he’d rather join the Loafers!

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Men Who Die Twice

Image courtesy of isfdb.org — Image courtesy isfdb.org

Men Who Die Twice by Peter Heath
Lancer Books, 1968
Price I paid: none

A thimbleful of mutated spores that could wipe out life on this planet…

A mysterious voice on the telephone…

The voice of a man who didn’t exist…

A submarine that vanished—with sixteen 20-megaton thermonuclear missiles…

The president of the United States in protective custody…

And the one man who could save the world being hunted by half of its police forces!

Once again, Peter Heath, author of The Mind Brothers and Assassins from Tomorrow, has produced a hair-raising, thrill-a-page blend of science fiction and suspense that will astonish you. This is a novel of futuristic weapons that may exist right now; of convincingly portrayed villains who could be plotting your destruction; of fantastic events that might be happening right around the corner. It will make you shudder—but you won’t be able to stop reading once you’ve begun!

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Shadow Singer

Shadow Singer by Marcia J. Bennett
Del Rey, 1984
Price I paid: $1

Humans had long shared the planet Ver-draak with the Ni-lach people—until, in fear of the unusual Ni-lach powers, they turned on the natives. The Ni-lach who survived the massacres went into hiding.

Decades passed.

Pursued by bounty hunters, Dhalvad the Ni-lach and Poco the half-breed fled into the woods.

Though Poco didn’t know it, she had a special Ni-lach talent, similar to Dhal’s abilities to Heal and to transport himself through space and time. But somehow she had to learn to use her gift—for the fate of all the Ni-lach people hung in the balance.

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In His Image

In His Image by James BeauSeigneur
Warner Books, 2003
Price I paid: If you don’t have a library card, get one

Two decades ago, newspaper editor Decker Hawthorne joined skeptical professor Harry Goodman on the famed study to authenticate the Shroud of Turin. Years later, Goodman revealed to Decker an astonishing secret: Fragments of the Shroud contained human skin samples—complete DNA cells that were still alive, incorruptible, and invulnerable. Convinced he could manipulate the amazing genes as a cure-all for disease, Goodman began a secret program of experimentation.

Then catastrophes struck around the world, beginning with a mysterious plague that decimated the earth’s population. Terrorists destroyed the Wailing Wall, nuclear war erupted, and the United Nations became the dominant global power, even as the Israelis rebuilt the Temple of Solomon.

Now a grieving widower and U.N. speechwriter, Decker is raising the late Harry Goodman’s young nephew, Christopher. Only Decker knows the shocking truth about the boy—that he was cloned from the cells on the Shroud. Christopher has miraculous powers, prophetic visions, memories of life two thousand years ago…and wants to help guide the world to a better tomorrow. But who and what is Christopher? Would God permit the Messiah of the Second Coming to be created in a test tube? Could an impure being arise from the sacred living flesh of Jesus Christ? Or is the reality more incredible than anything revealed to prophets or science?

All that’s clear is that the world is staggering toward a final apocalyptic conflict—and humanity’s salvation or damnation may depend on the true nature of The Christ Clone…

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The Mind Traders

The Mind Traders by J. Hunter Holly
Manor Books, 1967
Price I paid: 90¢

A PLACE OF CRAWLING SPIDERS AND POISONOUS SNAKES—WHERE NIGHTMARES CAME TRUE

That was The Black, where men were punished for challenging minds more powerful than their own. The detective from Earth feared The Black more than any torture his own planet could conceive. But he had to uncover the sinister plot that threatened Earth and all its people.

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