New review of HUNT THE AVENGER

New review of Hunt the Avenger by John Small of the Johnson County Sentinel.

"Eckert's writing is first-rate, evoking the slam-bang action and occasionally purple prose of the character's original pulp-era exploits while bringing a modern sensibility that ought to attract younger readers just getting acquainted with the classic hero." 

More reviews on Goodreads

Hunt the Avenger by Win Scott Eckert, with stunning cover art by Malcolm McClinton, is NOW SHIPPING direct from Moonstone Books in two editions: 

• An exclusive, signed  limited edition (with a black & white frontispiece sketch of the Countess on the signature page) “UNMASKED” hardcover, featuring gorgeous Ellen Patrick—the Domino Lady—sans mask!

ORDER HARDCOVER

• A “MASKED” softcover, with Ellen wearing her trademark black domino mask!

ORDER SOFTCOVER

PulpFest 2019...and me!

I'm pleased to announce that after much back and forth, I will be attending PulpFest 2019 in August, and will have copies of Hunt the Avenger (published by Moonstone Books) on hand!

On Saturday, August 17, from 1:30 – 2:30 PM, I'll be signing Hunt the Avenger. If you've already preordered a copy, please bring it with you and I'll be happy to personally inscribe it (even if you already bought one of the signed limited edition hardcovers). Of course, if you want to pick up a copy from me there, that's fine as well. I will have softcovers and hardcovers–probably more softcovers.

Immediately thereafter, 3:15 – 4:30 PM, I'll be joining top notch writers (featuring John Bruening, Christopher Paul Carey, Craig McDonald, and William Patrick Murray) on a panel on Contemporary Pulp: Writing Genre Fiction moderated by authorized Fu Manchu continuation author William Patrick Maynard.

That evening, 7:45 – 8:25 PM, I'll be on the FarmerCon XIV panel: Farmer of the Pulps: A Harvest of Influences (featuring Jason Aiken, Christopher Paul Carey, and Garyn G. Roberts Ph. D., with Paul Spiteri moderating).

I hope to see you there!

• PulpFest site
• Full PulpFest schedule

DEDICATION to HUNT THE AVENGER

Dedication to Hunt the Avenger (a moonstonebooks.com exclusive release—not available anywhere else!)

For Howard Hopkins.

While other pulp luminaries dissected Doc Savage and The Shadow, Howard turned his attention to becoming the world’s leading expert on The Avenger—and then generously shared his dream of penning new authorized tales with other writers, myself included…and then generously edited and shepherded into print this writer’s first licensed tale, with advice and direction that was at once kind and firm—for Howie knew his stuff.

He is greatly missed.

ORDER THE HARDCOVER

ORDER THE SOFTCOVER

HUNT THE AVENGER—a "fix-up" novel!

Definition of a "fix-up" novel...and why it matters.

AUTHOR’S NOTE to Hunt the Avenger (a moonstonebooks.com exclusive release—not available anywhere else!)

My first published Avenger story, “Death and the Countess,” featured what I thought at the time was a throwaway line mentioning a prior adventure with the Domino Lady. I went on to pen two more Avenger tales that actually featured team-ups with the saucy pulp heroine.

• “Death and the Countess,” The Avenger Chronicles (2008)
• “Happy Death Men,” The Avenger: The Justice, Inc. Files (2011)
• “According to Plan of a One-Eyed Trickster,” The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible (2013)

I was very happy with how the trilogy turned out, and yet it was clear that the three tales were meant to be read together as a whole—not separated by several years as each anthology was subsequently released. A proper reading required the stories to be collected in one volume.

Too, the trilogy always felt a bit imbalanced, with socialite Ellen Patrick—the Domino Lady—only making her “on camera” debut in the second tale. With that in mind, I set out to write the prequel to “Death and Countess,” showing the actual first meeting between Richard Benson and Ellen Patrick. This took a lot of careful planning and review of the timeline (excerpted at the conclusion of Hunt the Avenger) to ensure the continuity lined up—including featuring the black-haired, normal-skinned Benson, as he appeared in the final twelve original pulp novels and Ron Goulart’s twelve Avenger novels from the 1970s (as well as an additional short story by Goulart in 2008’s The Avenger Chronicles).

Throwing caution to the wind, I also decided to remedy the dangling plotlines left by prior scribe Goulart. I penned a fifth tale to wrap it all up in a bow, with the two new stories matching the word count of the original three tales.

The resulting pentalogy should be read together as one saga…Hunt the Avenger!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the journey!

Win Scott Eckert

January 2019

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ORDER THE SOFTCOVER

Now Taking Pre-Orders ... Hunt the Avenger!

Now Taking Pre-Orders — Shipping Direct from Moonstone Books in July 2019
(a moonstonebooks.com exclusive release—not available anywhere else!)

Out of tragedy, a hero is born! In the roaring heart of the crucible, steel is made. In the raging flame of personal tragedy, men are sometimes forged into something more than human.

A figure of ice and steel, Richard Benson is an avatar of vengeance—a chilled impersonal force of justice masking a cold genius and nearly supernatural power behind a face as white and still as arctic frost. His pale eyes, like a polar dawn, only hint at the terrible force evildoers heedlessly unleashed the day they created…The Avenger!

In the annals of Justice, Inc.’s battles against spies, crooks, and killers, only one malefactor has escaped The Avenger’s clutches not once, but twice—Baron Ulrich Blau-Montag, the half-man, half-machine known as the Iron Skull! 

But when Benson and his cohorts partner with the mysterious and saucy Domino Lady to hunt down the demented half-robot, and go on to clash with other supervillains, such as the Nazi spy Werner Konrad and a diabolical weapons dealer known as the Countess, a frightening pattern emerges…are they the creatures of a hidden puppetmaster?

And is Benson the hunter?

Or the prey?

Hunt the Avenger

* * * * *

Hunt the Avenger by Win Scott Eckert, with stunning cover art by Malcolm McClinton, is NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER, shipping direct from Moonstone Books in July 2019 in two editions: 

• An exclusive, signed limited edition (with a black & white frontispiece sketch of the Countess on the signature page) “UNMASKED” hardcover, featuring gorgeous Ellen Patrick—the Domino Lady—sans mask!

ORDER HARDCOVER

• A “MASKED” softcover, with Ellen wearing her trademark black domino mask!

ORDER SOFTCOVER

Hunt the Avenger - today is hardcover signing day!

Back in January, I teased Hunt the Avenger.

The book will very soon be available for preorder, shipping direct from Moonstone Books in two editions:

• an exclusive, signed limited edition “unmasked” hardcover (featuring gorgeous Ellen Patrick—the Domino Lady—sans mask)

• a “masked” softcover (with Ellen wearing her trademark black domino mask)

Today is signing day! I'm signing the frontispiece illustration—featuring The Avenger's deadly enemy, the Countess—which will then be tipped in to the hardcover when it goes to print.

As you can see, signing day in our household is a family affair! It's always good to have  helpers!

We're all waiting with bated breath for the preordering information.

Please stay tuned. It's coming soon from Moonstone Books!

Announcing...Hunt the Avenger!

Out of tragedy, a hero is born! In the roaring heart of the crucible, steel is made. In the raging flame of personal tragedy, men are sometimes forged into something more than human.

A figure of ice and steel, Richard Benson is an avatar of vengeance—a chilled impersonal force of justice masking a cold genius and nearly supernatural power behind a face as white and still as arctic frost. His pale eyes, like a polar dawn, only hint at the terrible force evildoers heedlessly unleashed the day they created…The Avenger!

In the annals of Justice, Inc.’s battles against spies, crooks, and killers, only one malefactor has escaped The Avenger’s clutches not once, but twice—Baron Ulrich Blau-Montag, the half-man, half-machine known as the Iron Skull!

But when Benson and his cohorts partner with the mysterious and saucy Domino Lady to hunt down the demented half-robot, and go on to clash with other supervillains, such as the Nazi spy Werner Konrad and a diabolical weapons dealer known as the Countess, a frightening pattern emerges…are they the creatures of a hidden puppetmaster?

And is Benson the hunter?

Or the prey?

Hunt the Avenger

* * * * *

Hunt the Avenger by Win Scott Eckert will soon be available for preorder, shipping direct from Moonstone Books in two editions: an exclusive, signed limited edition “unmasked” hardcover (featuring gorgeous Ellen Patrick—the Domino Lady—sans mask) and a “masked” softcover (with Ellen wearing her trademark black domino mask).

For now, enjoy the stunning cover art by Malcolm McClinton, and stay tuned for preordering information, coming soon from Moonstone Books!

The Green Ghost: Declassified - audio book!

Along with my fellow creators, Eric Fein, David Niehaus, and Malcolm McClinton, I'm very pleased to announce that The Green Ghost: Declassified (Moonstone Books) is now available as an audio book read by Roger Price!


The audio book features seven prose tales.


Of course, if you also want the two comic stories and the accompanying illustrations to the prose stories, then please buy the print version, which is available in:

• trade softcover (SOLD OUT!)
• limited edition hardcover
• "Zombies under Broadway" teaser/chapbook edition with one prose story and "wide-vision" illustrations

The Green Ghost—magician sleuth George Chance—returns! Once a debunker of the supernatural, the Green Ghost terrorized criminals with his horrific skull-face and wraithlike abilities. But criminologist Chance came back from Europe changed—for his wartime experiences taught him: the occult and night creatures were real! Thrill to new prose and comic book tales featuring a multitude of murderers, monsters, and crossovers with I. V. Frost, the Domino Lady, and more!

Audio book contents:

ZOMBIES UNDER BROADWAY by Win Scott Eckert and Eric Fein

DEATH SCREAM OVERDRIVE by Eric Fein
Featuring The Black Shrike and The Green Ghost

GHOST OF A CHANCE by Howard Hopkins

CHANCE OF A GHOST by Win Scott Eckert

THE PHANTOM’S GHOST by Eric Fein
Featuring The Green Ghost and the Phantom of the Opera

DAME SINSESTRE by Win Scott Eckert
Featuring The Green Ghost and The Domino Lady vs. a Rohmer-esque femme fatale

MURDER IN THE MIND’S EYE by Eric Fein
Featuring The Green Ghost and I. V. Frost

I'm especially pleased that we were able to include a previously unpublished Green Ghost story by the late Howard Hopkins. Howard was a fantastic writer and a pulp expert. Hopefully the rescue of this tale and it's inclusion in this collection begins to pay back, in some small way, the inspiration and friendship which Howard showed me.

The Green Ghost: Declassified audio book is available at:

• Audible
• Amazon

The Lone Ranger: Frontier Justice - Table of Contents

I'm very pleased to announce the Table of Contents for Moonstone Books' forthcoming anthology, The Lone Ranger: Frontier Justice, edited by Matthew Baugh.

• Introduction—Troy D. Smith
• Daze of Yesteryear—Lane Adamson 
• Being an Account of the Delay at Green River, Wyoming of Phileas Fogg, World Traveler—Win Scott Eckert (1872) 
• Ghost Flowers—Thom Brannan (1874)
• Stone Creek Revenge—Joe Gentile (1874–75) 
• Soul of the East—Frank Schildiner (1876)
• The Lake Spirit—Troy D. Smith (1878)
• The Last Uprising—Matthew Baugh (1879)
• Frozen Hell on the Llano—Chuck Dixon (1880)
• To the Land of Gold—Richard Dean Starr (1883) 
• Dead Man’s Gold—Bill Crider (1885) 
• The Death of the Lone Ranger—Tim Lasiuta (1887) 
• Tonto, Teddy, and the Ranger—Johnny D. Boggs (1905) 
• Encounters—Various Authors 
• Leap of Faith—Thom Brannan 

The masked ex-Texas ranger and the Native warrior Tonto fight injustice in the Wild West, in an anthology of brand new, never before seen stories! Guest starring Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, The Cisco Kid, Phileas Fogg, and more!

The "Encounters" section is a unique idea, with snippets of short-short "what if" tales. My own "encounter" takes place in 1873 and flows from the events of my 1872 story. Fans of Barbara Hambly's Star Trek novel Ishmael might be pleased.

The book is scheduled for a July 2018 release and is available for preorder from Amazon. Hopefully I'll have copies on hand in time for PulpFest 2018 in late July.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto: Frontier Justice

Announcing The Lone Ranger and Tonto: Frontier Justice, an anthology of new stories edited by Matthew Baugh, in which the masked ex-Texas ranger and the Native warrior Tonto fight injustice in the Wild West!

My story is "Being an Account of the Delay at Green River, Wyoming, of Phileas Fogg, World Traveler, or, The Masked Man Meets an English Gentleman."

Coming from Moonstone Books in March 2018!

Preorder on Amazon

The Green Ghost: Declassified - Ebook out on Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook!

Along with my fellow creators, Eric Fein, David Niehaus, and Malcolm McClinton, I'm very pleased to announce that The Green Ghost: Declassified (Moonstone Books) is now available as an ebook on both Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook!


The ebook collection features seven prose tales.

Of course, if you also want the two comic stories and the accompanying illustrations to the prose stories, then please buy the print version, which is available in:

• trade softcover
• limited edition hardcover
• "Zombies under Broadway" teaser - comic-sized edition with one prose story and "wide-vision" illustrations

The Green Ghost—magician sleuth George Chance—returns! Once a debunker of the supernatural, the Green Ghost terrorized criminals with his horrific skull-face and wraithlike abilities. But criminologist Chance came back from Europe changed—for his wartime experiences taught him: the occult and night creatures were real! Thrill to new prose and comic book tales featuring a multitude of murderers, monsters, and crossovers with I. V. Frost, the Domino Lady, and more!

Ebook contents:

ZOMBIES UNDER BROADWAY by Win Scott Eckert and Eric Fein

DEATH SCREAM OVERDRIVE by Eric Fein
Featuring The Black Shrike and The Green Ghost

GHOST OF A CHANCE by Howard Hopkins

CHANCE OF A GHOST by Win Scott Eckert

THE PHANTOM’S GHOST by Eric Fein
Featuring The Green Ghost and the Phantom of the Opera

DAME SINSESTRE by Win Scott Eckert
Featuring The Green Ghost and The Domino Lady vs. a Rohmer-esque femme fatale

MURDER IN THE MIND’S EYE by Eric Fein
Featuring The Green Ghost and I. V. Frost

I'm especially pleased that we were able to include a previously unpublished Green Ghost story by the late Howard Hopkins. Howard was a fantastic writer and a pulp expert. Hopefully the rescue of this tale and it's inclusion in this collection begins to pay back, in some small way, the inspiration and friendship which Howard showed me.

The Green Ghost: Declassified ebook is available on:

• Amazon Kindle
• B&N Nook

Green Ghost teaser!

Wondering what the Green Ghost is all about? Check out this teaser from Moonstone! This features the short story "Zombies under Broadway" (by Win Scott Eckert & Eric Fein) with "widevision" illustrations by David Niehaus). So, if you want a taste of The Green Ghost: Declassified collection but haven't yet taken the plunge on the whole book, please give our short story a shot! 

To be clear, the "Zombies" story is in the larger Declassified collection, so to those who already bought Declassified--thank you! If you've been on the fence, please give our "Zombies" teaser a look!

The Green Ghost: Zombies under Broadway (teaser)

The Green Ghost: Declassified (softcover collection)

The Green Ghost: Declassified (limited edition hardcover)

Green Ghost shipping update

Retailers now shipping and getting this in readers' hands....

2017 (and Beyond) Writing Projects

Following on the heels of my 2016 writing review, this is an overview of what I have planned for 2017 and 2018. I'm happy to say that most these projects are firm commitments, and won't leave much space in my schedule for additional work.

That said, I am always open to discussing chance-of-a-lifetime, no-way-can-you-turn-this-down projects!


The Avenger–Domino Lady short story. In my Avenger story "Death and the Countess" (The Avenger Chronicles, Moonstone Books, 2008), I referred to an "untold tale," the first meeting of The Avenger and the Domino Lady. I am currently in progress on this story, which fills a neat little space between Ron Goulart's "The Return of the Iron Skull" and "Death and the Countess."

Next, an Avenger novel for Moonstone. Novella length, really, but who's counting. This one is already generally plotted and should not take long to write once I get cranking.

A Sherlock Holmes short story to be submitted to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories – Part VII: Eliminate the Impossible. I have the idea for this, but have not plotted or outlined it yet. It may well be a semi-sequel to my tale "No Ghosts Need Apply" (The Phantom Chronicles 2, Moonstone Books, 2010). That story had a neat bit of Wold-Newtonry (if I do say so) which has gone largely unnoticed, and which I'd like to extend in the Holmes tale.

The biggie... completing Philip José Farmer's unfinished fourth Doc Caliban novel, The Monster on Hold, due out from Meteor House in Summer 2018. This will require rereading A Feast Unknown, Lord of the Trees, and The Mad Goblin (for the umpteenth time), as well as intensive research, detailed outlining, worldbuilding, writing, rewriting, and polishing. I expect to spend the bulk of my writing time between now and spring 2018 on this. 

Slipped in the cracks of all this I will be continuing to research and put together material which will result in a proposal for a licensed character I would very much like to write.

It feels good to be back in the game.

2016 Writing in Review

2016 has seen a slight uptick in productivity after an unwanted writing/publishing hiatus in 2014–15, due to my move from Colorado to Louisiana and starting a new job. For some reason this was a year which saw several previously published stories reprinted (six tales, in fact). I can't take credit for that from a productivity perspective, but I'm certainly not complaining.

"Being an Account of the Delay in Green River, Wyoming of Phileas Fogg, World Traveler, " Meteor House Chapbook No. 1 (Meteor House, July 2016)

Doc Ardan: The Abominable Snowman by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier (eds.) (Black Coat Press, November 2015)

• "Iron and Bronze" (with Christopher Paul Carey; reprint from Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 5: The Vampires of Paris)
• "The Eye of Oran" (reprint from Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 2: Gentlemen of the Night)
• "Les Levres Rouges" (reprint from Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 3: Danse Macabre)
• "The Vanishing Devil" (reprint from Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 1: The Modern Babylon)

"Star Wars: The Early Media Tie-In Universe Chronology" in A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Exploring Star Wars Comics, Rich Handley and Joseph F. Berenato (eds.) (Sequart, December 2016)

The Green Ghost: Declassified (Moonstone Books, December 2016)

• "Zombies under Broadway" (with Eric Fein)
• "Chance of a Ghost" (reprint from Legends of New Pulp Fiction)
• "Dame Sinestre" (team-up with the Domino Lady)

In addition to the Star Wars nonfiction piece, I also wrote introductions to The Green Ghost: Declassified and to Sean Lee Levin's Crossovers Expanded, Volume 1 (Meteor House).

Here's to an even more productive 2017.

Green Ghost Arriving in Comic Shops December 28

Arriving in comic shops December 28!

Moonstone Books
The Green Ghost: Declassified
By Win Scott Eckert & Eric Fein
Now available direct from Moonstone Books!

The Green Ghost—magician sleuth George Chance—returns! Once a debunker of the supernatural, the Green Ghost terrorized criminals with his horrific skull-face and wraithlike abilities. But criminologist Chance came back from Europe changed—for his wartime experiences taught him: the occult and night creatures were real! Thrill to new prose and comic book tales featuring a multitude of murderers, monsters, and crossovers with I.V. Frost, the Domino Lady, and more!

I hope that Sax Rohmer would be pleased by my Green Ghost/Domino Lady crossover tale, "Dame Sinestre."

This project has been brewing for almost eight years. I'm very happy to see our hard work come to fruition and hope you'll check it out.

Authors: Win Scott Eckert, Eric Fein, Howard Hopkins
Artist: David Niehaus
Cover: Malcolm McClinton
Softcover, 7” x 10”, grayscale, $14.99

Book birthday, part two....

The Green Ghost: Declassified has arrived!

I have two solo short stories, and one cowritten with Eric Fein. Eric has several prose tales and two short comic stories. 

Spot & comic illustrations by David Niehaus. 

Limited edition cover art by David; trade edition cover art by Malcolm McClinton. 

Book design by Erik Enervold; published by Joe Gentile at Moonstone. 

Plus, a bonus tale, never-before-published, by the late Howard Hopkins.

One of my solo tales is a sequel to Howard's story. In the other, the Green Ghost teams with the Domino Lady against a very sinister, almost Rohmer-esque lady... And in my collaborative tale with Eric... Zombies! Under Broadway!!

List of Contents

Available direct from Moonstone:

• Trade softcover
• Limited edition hardcover

Green Ghost books back from the printer

Very pleased that The Green Ghost: Declassified is back from the printer, and I'm told the books look great. The publisher will ship them to retailers next week, so customers should receive their books in December!

Of course, if you haven't already, you can still order the book direct from Moonstone.

• Trade Softcover
• Limited Edition Hardcover
• Contents

Between this and my prior note that my nonfic Star Wars essay is coming out soon, it's welcome the good news that I have two books coming before the end of the year.

The Green Ghost: Declassified - Order Direct from Moonstone

The Green Ghost: Declassified can now be preordered direct from the publisher, Moonstone Books!

I can also now announce that there will also be a limited edition hardcover, available only direct from Moonstone.

The Green Ghost—magician sleuth George Chance—returns! Once a debunker of the supernatural, the Green Ghost terrorized criminals with his horrific skull-face and wraithlike abilities. But criminologist Chance came back from Europe changed—for his wartime experiences taught him: the occult and night creatures were real! Thrill to new prose and comic book tales featuring a multitude of murderers, monsters, and crossovers with I. V. Frost, the Domino Lady, and more!

Authors: Win Scott Eckert & Eric Fein (with a bonus tale by Howard Hopkins)
Artist: David Niehaus

• Link to full contents of The Green Ghost: Declassified
• Preorder the softcover trade edition from Moonstone (cover by Malcolm McClinton)
• Preorder the limited edition hardcover from Moonstone (cover by David Niehaus)

It's also worth noting that our friends at Altus Press are reprinting the entire series of original Ghost/Green Ghost pulp novels and stories by G. T. Fleming-Roberts. The first volume is George Chance: The Ghost Omnibus, Volume 1.

Finally, I'd like to call out that our stories are a continuation of the original George Chance stories—not a "reboot." As such, we we view our tales as complementary—not competitive—with the new Green Ghost tales published by our New Pulp colleagues at Airship 27: George Chance-The Green Ghost, Volume 1.

Collect and read 'em all, kids!

The Green Ghost - original pulp covers

With The Green Ghost: Declassified just around the corner from Moonstone Books, a quick revisit of the original pulp covers is timely. Enjoy!

• Preorder the softcover trade edition
• Preorder the limited edition hardcover