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ABOUT THE BOOK
A vigilante stalks the streets of the 1930’s Manhattan, and Margaret Randolph is terrified that he will break into her home. Even though her husband Donald tries to reassure her that it won’t happen, the mystery man known as the Masked Ghost steps in from a stormy night and dies at her feet. What is the secret of the Masked Ghost? Why did he come to the penthouse home of the Randolphs? Do they go to the police, or must they solve his murder on their own? Must this young couple be forced to bring about the… REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST? Written in the style of the pulp novels of the 1930s, REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST is the tale of a man obsessed and what that obsession does to his family. Originally released in serialized blog form, this compiled edition includes interior black and white illustrations along with a never before published SCARLET SPIRIT backup tale. The completely reformatted 5th Anniversary edition – commemorating its original release as a serialized blog adventure – also includes an additional introduction and three new interior illustrations.
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EXCERPT
After screaming for nearly thirty seconds, Margaret Randolph realized how foolish she sounded and stopped. However, she was still terrified and pulled herself into her husband’s arms all the more.
Only moments ago they had been getting ready to have dinner with her brother and then the storm that was swallowing Manhattan blew open the balcony doors of the Randolph’s penthouse. With the pouring rain, in stepped the mysterious vigilante the newspapers were calling ‘The Masked Ghost’ and then collapsed to their floor.
“You said he’d never break into our home!” she cried, pounding his chest.
“I didn’t think…”
“Obviously,” she pulled away from him and headed for the front hallway. “I’m calling the police.” She kept marching, knowing that if she stopped the scream would return. Margaret had always been a strong-headed girl, her parents didn’t always know what to do with her, but now had to keep focused or she would be lost to her fears.
Donald was proud of his wife as he watched her walk off. He knew she was scared, so was he, but she fought it. They would get through this together, whatever this was. He realized that if everything had gone as originally planned, they would have been off to dinner with Margaret’s brother Adrian and this masked man would have broken into their home to do who knows what.
So why had he collapsed once inside?
Internally Donald was yelling at himself to get away from the invader, but he carefully knelt next to the figure. As he touched the stranger he realized that the dark stains on the man’s coat were not from the rain. His hand came away covered in blood.
Donald stared at the blood for a moment and back down at the motionless form. He had no medical training, but tried to feel for a pulse and found none. Turning the body over, more blood was visible as it pooled on the floor beneath.
The stranger’s hat had fallen away when he hit the floor. The scarlet covered mask that hid half his face matched the color that was seeping out onto the marble floor. The ginger colored locks of hair looked far too familiar.
Donald reached down and removed the mask.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden first fell in with the masks as a child while listening to old time radio and the adventures of Green Hornet, The Shadow, The Lone Ranger and many others. They were soon followed by the four-color heroes of comic books, not the heroes of the modern age, but those of the Golden Age. Roy Thomas’ run on All-Star Squadron introduced Kevin to heroes long past. It would be those heroes he would dream of and want to write about; all that led to his pursuit of a career in comic books. He took art courses throughout his education – and his first professional job was as a background artist in the early issues of SUPREME for Image Comics – only to discover that no matter the media, he was a storyteller at heart.
He would never be far from his first love, the masked heroes. For over fifteen years Kevin has been illustrating and co-writing (with Shannon Muir) the online comic book FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY which can be found at http://www.flying-glory.com about the granddaughter of a golden age heroine known as Flying Glory. He has also written for television animation, including the Japanese series MIDNIGHT HORROR SCHOOL. He is a member of the Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild of America. Kevin also digitally paints book covers, not only for his own books, but for other authors, including the cover art for Pro Se Productions’ NEWSHOUNDS. In 2015, he also contributed artwork for LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION for Airship 27.
Kevin’s first novel, CLOCKWORK GENIE, was released in 2011, followed in 2012 by REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST, his homage to the golden age pulp heroes that got him started. “In the Clutches of Convicts” continues the adventures of the Masked Ghost and his friends.
In 2013, his work appeared in two anthologies from Pro Se Productions. In BLACK FEDORA, he wrote about the villainous Maestro Mechanic in “The Man Who Stole Manhattan”, and in NEWSHOUNDS printer’s ink mixes with blood in the tale “Stop The Presses!”
CONNECT WITH KEVIN PAUL SHAW BRODEN
Site: http://www.friendsofthemaskedghost.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/_MaskedGhost_
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheMaskedGhost/
