"You said she mentioned Wall Street," MIC Director Simon Kirk said.
"Yes, but she might not have meant Wall Street as a specific target," Podge Becket replied. "‘Wall Street’ is anti-capitalist shorthand that every nitwit uses to represent all that’s evil in America."
"Yes," Dr. Wainwright said, nodding. "I use the word ‘marriage’ to represent marriage exactly the same way."
Throughout the 1950s this was the number one question from Moscow to Beijing and in every communist palace and malaria-ridden backwater in between. The mysterious masked figure was a shadow and a whisper. For the Kremlin and its fellow travelers he was a damnable monkey wrench tossed into the gears of the not-so-glorious worldwide revolution. Wherever Reds schemed, the Menace was there to set things right. And then, just like that, 1960 came and the whisper grew silent.
Twelve years later, Podge Becket, computer tycoon and security expert, thinks he's hung up his mask and cape for good. He escaped the spy game while still a young man, and none but a select few know about his long-dead secret identity. But into his restless retirement steps a ghost from his past, a bitter Russian colonel with nothing to lose and the means to wreak worldwide destruction.
Aided by his partner, brilliant inventor and physician Dr. Thaddeus Wainwright, the Red Menace is dragged back into the hero game. But it's a whole new world out there, and if the Menace doesn't watch his step the swinging Seventies might just find him RED AND BURIED!
Dashiell Hammett meets Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
"Hello, you've reached Banyon Investigations...."
Crag Banyon is just your run-of-the-mill P.I. He's got a secretary who loves to hate and hates to love him. His worst enemy in the world is on the local force and relishes the thought of seeing Banyon behind bars. And he's got a knack for attracting all the crazies to his small downtown office above the fish market. So when an elf shows up on a stolen reindeer and hints of foul play at the North Pole, Banyon takes the whole thing in stride, refuses to take the case, and heads off to his favorite saloon. But when the elf turns up dead the next morning, the cops make their least favorite private eye the fall guy.
A hunted man, Banyon lams it to the Arctic Circle to clear his name. He quickly finds that Santa's workshop is a lot more dangerous than even a plucky P.I. with a ready quip and a five-alarm hangover can handle. Between fighting for his life and fending off the advances of a hot-to-trot Mrs. Claus, Banyon uncovers a conspiracy that goes far past December 25. If he can just ring in the New Year without a bullet in his brain, it'll all be just another day's work for Crag Banyon, P.I.
"....he's an SOB, but he's cheap. How may I direct your call?"
Rebooted ‘Remo Williams’ Could Be the Next Indiana Jones, If Hollywood Doesn’t Blow It (Again)
...many laugh-out-loud moments...the writers find a new high-water mark when it comes to going over the top. -- R.J. Carter, TheTrades.com -- Dead Reckoning
"..the book accelerates like a NASCAR on the finishing stretch. Pure fun, action adventure fiction the way it's meant to be.-- Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine -- Choke Hold
(An) edge of your seat action thriller with biting satire...a grand old hoot of a time. If you're new to the characters, be warned: one hit of The New Destroyer, and you're hooked. -- R.J. Carter, The Trade's -- Choke Hold (Murphy and Mullaney) have brought back the fun and satirical wit that made the (Destroyer series) so much fun to read.-- Midwest Book Review, Guardian Angel
(A) fantastic reemergence of a classic character. Remo and Chiun are back (and) they could not be in better hands.–- Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm, Guardian Angel
