The Rook is a New Pulp hero created by Barry Reese. For those who are familiar with the character (i.e., you’ve read the other collections or read my prior postings), there is no need for an introduction. For those new, The Rook is a pulp-hero-style character created by Barry.
The Rook fights crime and evil in the ’30s and ’40s (and later). Barry mixes in pulp hero, comic book and comic strip characters, along with occult horror/weird menace, and does a good job. He also adds in a love interest who will marry him (pulp heroes never do that, which is different).
“The Rook, Vol. 2” features five short stories.
“Kaslov’s Fire” introduces Leonid Kaslov, a Doc Savage pastiche. He teams up with The Rook to stop Rasputin (who Kaslov’s father had also opposed) and a villain known as the Reaper.
“Blitzkreig” again has Kaslov teaming up with The Rook. The Warlike Manchu has a new disciple, who takes the place he had planned for The Rook. His disciple tries to strike against the Rook by kidnapping his infant son.
“Bloodwerks” has the Rook teamed up with The Domino Lady, a classic pulp heroine, as well as William McKenzie, who is the police chief of Atlanta and an ally of The Rook. Here they work to stop Bloodwerks, a dangerous cult.
“The Gorgon Conspiracy” has The Rook fighting against a gorgon.
“The Shambling Ones” has The Rook, again assisted by Kaslov, working to stop a cult that worships vampires, and to rescue a young vampire from them.
The Rook is one of the better New Pulp characters out there. Check him out. This volume was originally published by Wild Cat Books. Now that Reese is at Pro Se Press, they are bringing his earlier Rook volumes back into print. This one is out as a “Special Edition,” with a new cover.
