Derrick Ferguson’s ‘100 New Pulp Books to Get You Started’

I was shocked when New Pulp author Derrick Ferguson had passed away in 2021. I don’t know what happened, but was surprised as I didn’t know he was unwell.

I had read several of his works, in particular his Dillon works, and was looking forward to his next one. Now, I have no idea what will happen as he was still working on the next one and some other works as well.

One item he had done on his own website was a list of 100 New Pulp works. It was originally 25 (I thought 50) and was expanded as more New Pulp works appeared. It covers a variety of genres: pulp hero, mystery, fantasy, occult detective, etc., and from a variety of authors (successful and relatively obscure).

As this is a good list, I thought I’d help get the word out by posting it here with some of my comments, as several of them I have read and reviewed here, or hope to. Plus I can’t seem to find this list online any more, so want to be sure it’s out there.

This list is alphabetized by title.

• • Brother Bones by Ron Fortier. This is Ron’s original pulp-style dark avenger hero. I have yet to get into these.
  • Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Graham Smith
  • Adonis Morgan (Nobody Special) by Frank Byrns. This has stories of his original character, a former masked hero.
  • Asian Pulp by various authors
  • The Auslander Files by Michael Patrick Sullivan
  • Bad Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Case Files of Erik Rugar by Mischa Burnett is a different take on the occult detective idea.
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  • Bass Reeves, Frontier Marshal, Vol. 1, by various authors. This stars Bass Reeves, who was real black marshal in the Old West.
  • Black Pulp by various authors
  • Blackthorn: Thunder on Mars by various authors
  • The Bone Eater King by Steve Van Samson
  • The Bone Queen by Andrea Judy is a spin out from the Pulpster series (see below) with this occult menace.
  • Bulldog Drummond: On Poisoned Ground by I.A. Watson. This book gives us a modern re-interpretation of this classic pulp-adjacent character. I am more familiar with the author’s many Sherlock Holmes stories.
  • Casefiles of the Royal Occultist by Joshua Reynolds. This is one of the first collections of Reynold’s occult detective Charles St. Cyprian, set in post WWI England (and elsewhere).
  • Changa’s Safari by Milton Davis. This is the first of a series starting a black prince in 15th-century Africa.
  • The Choking Rain by Brian K. Lowe, is the first of the Nemesis series.
  • Creeping Dawn: The Rise of the Black Centipede by Chuck Miller. This is the first adventure with his unique New Pulp hero.
  • Damballa by Charles Saunders. This is one of several black, pulp-inspired heroes from the late author.
  • Dark Universe by various authors
  • The Dead Sheriff by Mark Justice. This is the first of this series by the late author. Others have since written further with the character.
  • Devil’s Due by Percival Constantine. This is the first of a series starring Luthor Cross, a half-demon occult detective.
  • Dillon and the Voice of Odin by Derrick Ferguson. This is the first Dillon novel, and I enjoyed the whole series.
  • Dire Planet by Joel Jenkins is his Barsoom-inspired planetary-romance series of nine volumes so far. I’ve read many of his works, but this is one I haven’t read.
  • Doc Ardan: City of Gold and Lepers by Guy d’Armen. Adapted by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier. This is an adaptation of an obscure French adventure character who was turned into an early Doc Savage pastiche, which has allowed for new stories. We’ve also seen more stories from this author.
  • The Doc Vandal Omnibus by Dave Robinson. This book collects the first three novels of this dieselpunk Doc Savage pastiche. It’s another fun series that I’ve enjoyed.
  • Doctor Omega and the Shadowmen by various authors. This collects new stories using an early French sf character who is eerily similar to the original Doctor Who.
  • Doctor Orient by Frank Lauria. This brings back an occult-detective series from the 1970s.
  • The Dunfield Terror by William Meikle. Here is one of many of the author’s Lovecraftian-inspired works.
  • Eight Against the Darkness by Mark Allen Vann. This is the first of a trilogy with eight different genre characters fighting evil in their own worlds, who will eventually come together. The second is out, and I’m looking forward to the final.
  • Everfair by Nisi Shawl
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  • The Evil in Pemberley House by Philip José Farmer and Win Scott Eckert is another Doc Savage pastiche where Eckert finished Farmer’s novel with his take on Doc Savage’s daughter in a gothic novel set in England.
  • Fight Card: Felony Fists by Paul Bishop (writing as Jack Tunney). This is actually part of a multi-author series that harkens back to the fight or boxing pulp stories, a subgenre of sports pulps.
  • Fight Card: The Cutman by Mel Odom (writing as Jack Tunney)
  • Fred Adams Jr., Pulp Writer by Fred Adams Jr. At present, I have only read his Sherlock Holmes stories and not much else. But I did enjoy those.
  • From Here to Timbuktu by Milton Davis
  • From the Shadows by John L. French. This is part of his series of Mystic Investigators that also includes some of his pulp-style characters.
  • Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann. Here is the first novel with this pulp-inspired steampunk hero.
  • The Green Lama Unbound by Adam Garcia. This book provides new stories with this classic pulp hero, approved by the author’s estate.
  • The Green Lama: Crimson Circle by Adam Garcia
  • Hawk: Hand of the Machine by Van Allen Plexico
  • Hell’s Empire edited by John Linwood Grant. This is the man behind the Occult Detective Magazine, and this is collection of tales about Hell trying to breach Victorian England.
  • Helmet Head by Mike Baron. I am more familiar with Baron’s comicbook work, especially Nexus.
  • Hitwolf by Fred Adams Jr. There is a second novel.
  • How the West Was Weird by various authors
  • Hugh Monn-Private Detective by Lee Houston Jr. This is the first of this series with a human detective in an alien world.
  • Imaro by Charles Saunders
  • Jezebel Johnston: Birth of a Buccaneer by Nancy Hansen. This book is about a female pirate, by this new author of fantasy and other works.
  • Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear. Bear is a fairly successful science-fiction author with two Hugo awards.
  • Legends of New Pulp Fiction by various authors. This massive collection of New Pulp covers a wide range of genres and authors that shows the breadth of the field.
  • Lie Catchers by Paul Bishop. This is one of the authors several detective works, which he knows as an LAPD veteran.
  • The Light of Men by Andrew Salmon
  • Lightning Wears a Red Cape by Errick Nunnally
  • Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory by Thomas E. Sniegoski. This is the first, and so far only, prose novel with the pulp inspired hero from the Hellboy Universe.
  • The Lost Level by Brian Keene.
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  • Love Stories Are Too Violent for Me by Will Viharo
  • Millennium Bug: Doc Brazen, Vol. 1, by Jeff Deischer
  • Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. This is the first of a multi-book series (with a spin off) focusing on, well, hunting down monsters.
  • The Myth Hunter: The Lost Continent by Percival Constantine. This is the first of a series with a Lara Croft-like heroine.
  • Mythical: Heart of Stone by C.E. Martin.
  • The New Adventures of Foster Fade by various authors. This collects new stories using one of Lester Dent‘s early gadget heroes.
  • Nick Nomad and the Hammer of Lemuria by Myles Campbell. This is a take on the 1930s adventurer tale.
  • The Nightmare Strikes by John L. French. This is one of several of his pulp-style heroes I’ve read and reviewed. All of them are good.
  • The Old Man series by William Preston is an interesting series of short stories with a Doc Savage pastiche. I look forward to the planned final one.
  • Once Upon a Time in Africa by Balogun Ojetade
  • The Order of the Black Silk by Kimberley Richardson
  • The Peregrine Omnibus, Vol. 1, by Barry Reese. Here is a collection of Reese’s well-known New Pulp hero, originally named The Rook, who was one of the first I got.
  • Prohibition by Terrence McCauley
  • Pulp Heroes: More Than Mortal by Wayne Reinagel is the first massive volume of his New Pulp series using pastiches of classic characters like Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Spider, and others.
  • The Pulptress, Vol. 1, by various authors. This is the first with this original New Pulp heroine trained by many classical characters.
  • Rabbit Heart by Barry Reese
  • Rasheeda, the Zombie Killer by Jeff Carroll
  • The Revenge of the Masked Ghost by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
  • Robin Hood: King of Sherwood by I.A. Watson
  • Rococoa by various authors
  • The Ruby Files by various authors
  • Santiago by Mike Resnick
  • Sentinels I: When Strikes the Warlord by Van Allen Plexico
  • Sgt. Janus, Spirit Breaker by Jim Beard. This is the first in this occult-detective series that I reviewed here. I very much enjoyed the three works so far and hope we’ll get more.
  • The Shattered Men: A Wild Inc. Adventure by Jack Mackenzie is the first (so far only) novel with this pulp-inspired female hero.
  • Silenced by Nicole Kurtz.
  • Sinbad: The New Voyages, Vol. 1, by various authors
  • Six Days of the Dragon by Roman Leary.
  • Snow Falls by Bobby Nash. This is the first in the Abraham Snow series of action thriller with this former secret agent. I’ve read and reviewed all the ones so far.
  • The Spur: Loki’s Rock by Mark Ellis. Ellis is a comicbook and prose author, and this is a science-fiction tale set on another world.
  • The Stein and Candle Detective Agency, Vol. 1, by Michael Panush
  • Sun-Koh, Heir of Atlantis by Arthur Sippo is a revamp of a real German pulp character who seems influence by Doc Savage.
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  • Tales of the Interstellar Bartenders Guild by various authors
  • Tales of the Vagabond Bards by Nancy Hansen
  • Taurus Moon by Keith Gaston (D.K. Gaston). This is part of his Relic Hunter series, set in the Arthurian age.
  • The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection, Vol. 1, by Will Viharo
  • Thug Angel: Rebirth of a Gargoyle by Jeff Carroll
  • To Battle Beyond by C.J. Henderson. One of the late author’s several works, this one teams up classic pulp heroes like The Black Bat and Domino Lady to battle a supernatural threat before WWII.
  • The Twilight Patrol #1: Drones of a Ravaging Wind by Stuart Hopen. This provides the first of a series of “lost” pulp stories with an aviation hero.
  • Vegas Heist by Van Allen Plexico
  • Vic: Time Doesn’t Matter by Jerry Gill. This is the first in this series of Vic Challenger, a female pulp-style adventurer based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs character. I’ve enjoyed the whole series and look forward to the next one.
  • The Vril Agenda by Joshua Reynolds and Derrick Ferguson. This book teams up classic pulp hero Jim Anthony with Ferguson’s Dillon against Sun Koh.
  • A Week in Hell by J. Walt Layne. This is his first story set in Champion City and a police drama work that I recently read. He has restarted using this setting.
  • The Whitechapel Demon by Joshua Reynolds. This is one of the few Royal Occultist novels.
  • Will Write for Food: The Freelance Stories of Derrick Ferguson by Derrick Ferguson
  • Yesteryear by Tommy Hancock, who is behind Pro Se Press. This is one of his few works, a collection of new pulp heroes.

  So there you go. Get out there and get these and start reading. Share your reviews on Amazon and elsewhere.