Pro Se Press has put out another new Jim Anthony novel from Joshua Reynolds: The New Adventures of Jim Anthony, Vol. 2: Red Shambhala.
For those not familiar, Jim Anthony was a sort-of Doc Savage “clone” published by Trojan/Culture Publications in the early 1940s.
Anthony was “half Irish, half Indian, and all-American.” More emotional than Doc, Anthony was a physical and mental marvel. He had a penthouse in the Waldorf-Anthony Hotel, which he owned, and had a secret mansion in the Catskills called “The Tepee.” He was assisted by a small group of people include Tom Gentry, pilot and right-hand man; Mephito, his shaman grandfather; his butler; and Dolores Colquitte, his fiance, and the daughter of a U.S. senator.
Altus Press is putting out a complete collection of the original stories (two so far with three novels) and Airship 27 has done four volumes of new stories. Look for my reviews of them elsewhere on this blog.
As I’ve noted previously, Joshua Reynolds seems to be taking the lead in writing new Jim Anthony stories, putting out new stories in both Airship 27’s collections, as well as in Black Coat Press‘s “Tales of the Shadowmen,” and the prior volume from Pro Se Press.
This story has Anthony pulled into a case dealing with a stolen fortune of gold during the Russian Revolution. A group of Czarists had fled to Outer Mongolia to fight back against the Bolsheviks. To help fund their cause, they took a fortune from a young member of the Russian royal family, leaving him for dead. Now, the remainder of this group is being hunted down by a sinister figure calling himself “Koschei” who has two vicious eagles at his beck and call. Will he learn the secret of the fortune in gold before Anthony can stop him?
Overall, this is another great new Jim Anthony story. There are also hints at other pulp and New Pulp characters and locations. Reynolds has added to the mythology of Anthony, the only issues I have is when he adds stuff that I feel doesn’t jibe with the original stories, like saying he is a veteran of the Great War, which I think makes him too old and doesn’t line up with what is told in the original stories. And the Pueblo is a resort, not another Anthony refuge.
But that aside, it’s another good Jim Anthony story. I look forward to the next one! What I would like to see is a longer work, or perhaps something like the first three original Anthony novels were he went up against the same villain over a series of stories.
