The Revenge of Kali-Ra

Rating:
Summary: Light and Breezy and Very Entertaining
Review: Actress Nadia Wentworth, well-known for her popularity and anatomy, has found the role that she deeply believes she was born to play: the evil, eternal and gorgeous goddess Kali-Ra, of the now-forgotten, wildly popular pulp fiction series from the '20s. Little does Nadia know that by bringing Kali-Ra and her creator Valerian Ricardo back into the public eye, she'll be setting the stage for. . . a lot of people to come tramping into her life with demands!

Nick Iverson, average guy with a philosophy degree, has just discovered he's Ricardo's heir. Or would be if Ricardo's wife, Lila were dead. Which she isn't. She's very much alive and trying to spread Valerian's "message" to the masses. But that won't benefit either of them monetarily as the book is public domain now and no one owns the rights.

Or do they? It appears some heavy handed fat guy in a Speedo living in some foreign county not only has the rights, but he's sending his goons--a nervous lawyer and an aged lounge singer to be exact--to get his money.

Into this mix, add one Doctor of Literature, who wrote his thesis on Valerian, one burnt-out script writer who just wants some peace and a good drink, a mysterious hot young thing named Callie, and Melanie, Nadia's manager and general dog's body--the only really sane one of the bunch. Stir in one murder, a missing security man and some cheesy pulp fiction and you've got The Revenge of Kali-Ra!

In this tongue-in-cheek, laugh-out-loud novel, Beck manages, easily and credibly, to bring together all these bizarre and seemingly unrelated characters. The story generally flows well and employs a few twists and turns that would have made any pulp author proud. Over all, this is a fun, breezy book and well-worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I discovered k.k.beck
Review: I came accross my first k.k.beck book in a used book store. I have started collecting them. The Revenge of Kali-Ra is a well crafted tale, a very enjoyable read. Slightly different in style than her books set in the 1920's, Kali-Ra grabs you at the very beginning and I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: I can think of plenty of funnier writers
Review: I saw the cover of this book and smiled. I used to read Fu Manchu novels and the mysteries of Seabury Quinn when I was a teenager (and this was in the 1970s!) and loved all the trappings of ersatz Asian occultism and the army of thugs and dacoits armed with daggers and blowpipes with poison darts. But Beck's novel is not about those writers' creations nor is it a very good parody of what it attempts to poke fun at. Donald Westlake is far funnier at the comic crime novel, so is Carl Hiassen. They know their worlds. Beck seems to have done some cursory research (certainly Rohmer's series is evident as well as references to Haggard's Allan Quartermain and She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) but there's more contempt for the genre than any real love of the pulps. And any true parodist really loves the subject he's sending up and doesn't use that subject as a target of moralizing. Beck seems to be one of the writers who jumped on the bandwagon of the popular comic crime novel because, at this time, it's a moneymaking genre. Her characters are lifted out of the realm of cliche (the bimbo starlet; the failed lawyer with an equally failed love life; the alcoholic, sex-starved screenwriter; etc. etc.) and can be found in any number of ho-hum popular crime novel writers' books. Finally, had I bothered to read the whole blurb I would've learned this book was more about moviemaking (a topic I loathe) and the moronic minds in Hollywood and I would've avoided it completely. I stayed for the pastiche of pulp writing which IS funny and right on the mark. Overall, this is pretty run-of-the-mill. But for anyone who lingered over the pages of a real trashy pulp thriller from the 30s or 40s, craving the action and melodrama of the evil East battling the righteous West, it might be worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: I can think of plenty of funnier writers
Review: I saw the cover of this book and smiled. I used to read Fu Manchu novels and the mysteries of Seabury Quinn when I was a teenager (and this was in the 1970s!) and loved all the trappings of ersatz Asian occultism and the army of thugs and dacoits armed with daggers and blowpipes with poison darts. But Beck's novel is not about those writers' creations nor is it a very good parody of what it attempts to poke fun at. Donald Westlake is far funnier at the comic crime novel, so is Carl Hiassen. They know their worlds. Beck seems to have done some cursory research (certainly Rohmer's series is evident as well as references to Haggard's Allan Quartermain and She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) but there's more contempt for the genre than any real love of the pulps. And any true parodist really loves the subject he's sending up and doesn't use that subject as a target of moralizing. Beck seems to be one of the writers who jumped on the bandwagon of the popular comic crime novel because, at this time, it's a moneymaking genre. Her characters are lifted out of the realm of cliche (the bimbo starlet; the failed lawyer with an equally failed love life; the alcoholic, sex-starved screenwriter; etc. etc.) and can be found in any number of ho-hum popular crime novel writers' books. Finally, had I bothered to read the whole blurb I would've learned this book was more about moviemaking (a topic I loathe) and the moronic minds in Hollywood and I would've avoided it completely. I stayed for the pastiche of pulp writing which IS funny and right on the mark. Overall, this is pretty run-of-the-mill. But for anyone who lingered over the pages of a real trashy pulp thriller from the 30s or 40s, craving the action and melodrama of the evil East battling the righteous West, it might be worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: This is what I think of when some one says "a good read."
Review: I was recently given a copy of THE REVENGE OF KALI-RA by a friend who thought I would enjoy it, knowing my fondness for Pulp fiction (and all things Pulp related).

Being unfamiliar with the work of K.K. Beck, I added this novel to a precariously balanced stack of other books that had already accumulated in my bedroom that has come to called my "BOOKS TO BE READ...SOMEDAY" stack, figuring that I would get to it "eventually". But, every time I glanced at the mockingly large mound of books in the corner, the gaudy red book cover with the 30's heroine in peril on the top of the pile kept egging me on, "Pick me up and read me," it said, "thrills, spills & chills are waiting for you beneath my tawdry red cover."

Finally, unable to ignore it's lure any longer, I picked up this book hesitantly, unsure what to expect from this intriguingly titled book by an author with whom I was completely unfamiliar...and am I glad that I did.

This story revolves around a hot young Hollywood starlet who stumbles across a long out of print pulp novel written by a long forgotten 1920's hack by the name of Valerian Ricardo (Uncle Sid to his family back in MN). The starlet, Nadia Wentworth, decides that she must play the main character featured in a series of out of print books written by Ricardo about a femme fatale character called Kali-Ra, Queen of Doom (think Fu Manchu in a dress). Out of this simple premise follows a rollickingly good story about a flaky Hollywood starlet and her level-headed but put upon assistant, a hectoring old harridan of a widow clutching for control of her husbands memory, a drunken screenwriter being held against his will, a shady off-shore money man living in exile, a possible illegitimate child, a senile old crooner and his mountain of a chauffeur, a directionless great-great-grand-nephew from MN, and a mad dash to claim the copyright to the long forgotten, but now much in demand, writings of Valerian Ricardo. It all leads to a bevy of twists and turns, a few good laughs, and a very satisfying ending.

This humorous, light-hearted send-up of Hollywood and the self-absorbed characters that live their may not be Shakespeare (or Hammett or Chandler for that matter), but if you're looking for a well told story and a memorable cast of characters, I can sincerely recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, though mystery plays second fiddle to comedy
Review: This is not a mystery in the traditional sense. In fact, the crime is committed surprisingly close to the end of the book (and don't be let down by the solution). The real focus here is the wild sendup of trashy pulp novels from the '20s-'40s, vulturous heirs, crazed cults, and modern-day Hollywood and the idiots and sleazeballs that surround it.

Every character is memorable, as well as a loving parody of some cliche, celebrity, or character type. In disagreement with one of the below reviews, the fun of the book is that all the characters are one-dimensional types. The best mysteries are usually written that way (even Agatha Christie did it with "And Then There Were None!"), so that their one domating personality trait (often the one that makes them look guilty for one reason or another) can be emphasized and the story, which surrounds the murder, is not clogged up by character development. Sure, we all love books rich in character, but mysteries often shouldn't be that way. Some writers (like Sue Grafton) can pull it off, but for most of us, it's just fine. The one side of the characters we see are always uproarious, and the characters are very well-drawn: SSelf-absorbed, dumb Nadia; resourceful, studious Melanie; eager, giddy Nick; mysterious, sexual Callie; bitter, drunken Duncan; abrasive, demanding washed-up crooner Vince; hapless, loveless Quentin; sneaky, calculating Lila; and the list rolls on.....

It's the most humorously well-written book I've read, too. The prose is laced with sour humor, even in simple descriptions of characters and items, and the dialogue is witty and vital. (And the pulp novel segments are great!) The pacing is fast and interesting, never slowing too much to lose interest. All the plots weave together quite nicely, and there's even an all-around happy ending that could only happen in Hollywood. By no means your conventional murder-mystery, and more resembling some wild satire along the lines of "Soap," this book just screams "MOVIE!" This could easily be done with an obvious all-star cast; one's brain automatically fits celebrities into the roles with no trouble. A fun, light summer read, I picked it up one Sunday in July and had devoured it by Friday night. Tuck your cares away and read this book. you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, though mystery plays second fiddle to comedy
Review: This is not a mystery in the traditional sense. In fact, the crime is committed surprisingly close to the end of the book (and don't be let down by the solution). The real focus here is the wild sendup of trashy pulp novels from the '20s-'40s, vulturous heirs, crazed cults, and modern-day Hollywood and the idiots and sleazeballs that surround it.

Every character is memorable, as well as a loving parody of some cliche, celebrity, or character type. In disagreement with one of the below reviews, the fun of the book is that all the characters are one-dimensional types. The best mysteries are usually written that way (even Agatha Christie did it with "And Then There Were None!"), so that their one domating personality trait (often the one that makes them look guilty for one reason or another) can be emphasized and the story, which surrounds the murder, is not clogged up by character development. Sure, we all love books rich in character, but mysteries often shouldn't be that way. Some writers (like Sue Grafton) can pull it off, but for most of us, it's just fine. The one side of the characters we see are always uproarious, and the characters are very well-drawn: SSelf-absorbed, dumb Nadia; resourceful, studious Melanie; eager, giddy Nick; mysterious, sexual Callie; bitter, drunken Duncan; abrasive, demanding washed-up crooner Vince; hapless, loveless Quentin; sneaky, calculating Lila; and the list rolls on.....

It's the most humorously well-written book I've read, too. The prose is laced with sour humor, even in simple descriptions of characters and items, and the dialogue is witty and vital. (And the pulp novel segments are great!) The pacing is fast and interesting, never slowing too much to lose interest. All the plots weave together quite nicely, and there's even an all-around happy ending that could only happen in Hollywood. By no means your conventional murder-mystery, and more resembling some wild satire along the lines of "Soap," this book just screams "MOVIE!" This could easily be done with an obvious all-star cast; one's brain automatically fits celebrities into the roles with no trouble. A fun, light summer read, I picked it up one Sunday in July and had devoured it by Friday night. Tuck your cares away and read this book. you won't be disappointed.