Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Ripper!

Here's the cover to the latest book I just finished reading this morning:

You can (only) order it here:

https://moonstonebooks.com/ols/products/kolchak

That's pretty much the only problem I have with the book: there is, as far as I've found, no digital option, and the book is nigh-undiscoverable on any online store you could think of.

And that's a shame, as I have really enjoyed previous books by this author, and I don't think that Moonstone is doing their stable of creators any favors by sequestering them offerings in such a tiny, walled-off garden.

Ah, well. I happen to follow this author, Chuck Miller, on social media, so I had the inside scoop as to how get my mitts on this, one of his very newest pieces of work. 

Previously, I'd read and very much liked Mr. Miller's first two "Black Centipede" books:

https://a.co/d/e9yU8zw

https://a.co/d/9xVL3Qe

One of his "Bay Phantom" tales:

https://a.co/d/dW8ELuv

And I fully intend to read many more of his books...like I just did!

Now, you may notice that THIS book's title is a bit of a mouthful: "Kolchak: The Night Stalker - The Ripper" doesn't just roll right off the tongue, eh? 

And yes, this book is what I call a "Media Tie-In," in that it's set in the "world" of what was originally a TV series (some TV movies, then a weekly show). 

This Media Entity in particular, "Kolchak the Night Stalker" is pretty obscure, but it has its very devoted fanbase, mostly gentleman of a certain vintage, and its through my association with those types that I discovered the title character and his dark little corner of the fictional universe.

I won't detail the history of the TV movies/series here, because, well: I've yet to watch any of that stuff. Honestly, I'd seen issues of various Kolchak-related publications from Moonstone Books over the years in various comic shops, but I was never inspired enough to pick them up, even though I was an occasional reader of other Moonstone-published things.

Suffice to say this: Carl Kolchak is a reporter who stumbles into opposing supernatural threats, and in the TV productions, he is played by the Dad from "A Christmas Story."

Yep. That guy. With the Leg Lamp, the Furnace, and the Tire-changing incident.

So, having no real familiarity with the franchise; how did my read-through of this book go?

It went really well!

If you know just the basics that I barely related to you so far, which is really all I'd known before I read this book, you will have no trouble at all if you choose this book to be your first foray into the badly-lit streets and alleyways of Kolchak the Night Stalker.

That is due in very large part to the fact that Chuck Miller is a great writer. I did mention that I've liked everything I've ever read by him, yes?

Chuck brings you up to Kolchak-speed mostly organically, wth what few "info-dumps" there are masked well by his practiced skill at the first-person narrative style that the book is written in. Kolchak is a veteran reporter, so the fact that his internal monologue reads in places like a working manuscript for an article feels natural.

Mr. Miller is also a deft hand at characterization, and affects the irascible, roguish charm of Carl Kolchak and those around him really well. This world, while dark and full of death, has a very different tone than Chuck's "Black Centipede" books, which are a downright gruesome mix of pulp-action and full-on horror fiction.

This author knows how to pace a story, too. This slim little book is a mere 159 pages long, and at no point do the proceedings feel either rushed, nor dragged out.

Actually, Chapter 17,"The Manuscript," goes from page 104 to 139, and while fascinating on its own, is the closest that this book comes to the dreaded momentum-killing "info dump" phenomenon. It's a good bit of writing, but it feels like a side-story-within-a-story, and comes right before the final showdown, so I do wonder how this admittedly vital and interesting bunch of information could have been weaved into the story differently.

Don't ask me: I'm no writer. I can barely compose a coherent blog post.

That one little nit-pick aside, and I do feel that I just have to find *one* when I am "reviewing" something, this book not only did its job by entertaining me, it put the hook in.

I now want to read other Kolchak stories, of which it seems there are many out there, and more of them even written by Mr. Miller himself. I even want to watch the classic TV production...if I can find the time!