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Monday, February 13, 2012

SOLDIER FOR HIRE #1: ZULU BLOOD



This was a short-lived series initiated by Robert Skimin which, after a few books, switched hands to the now-late Mark K. Roberts.  I can’t honestly say that I’ve read any of them thus far, but there is an interesting story behind this that I can now tell you.

SOLDIER FOR HIRE only went 8 or 9 books, I believe.  Mark Roberts had told me that the Kennedy family (yes, THOSE Kennedys) apparently got wind of a Ted Kennedy insult that was written into one of the books (by Mark).  According to Mark, a Kennedy Family representative made a call to the publisher, Zebra Books, and effectively killed the series because of it.

I asked a Zebra editor later about this and he remarked that the Kennedy comment was taken out of the book simply because it was in bad taste.  The series was killed only because it was not meeting sales expectations.

TALES OF THE GREEN BERETS

What we would today call a “graphic novel”, although this is not a trade sized publication. 

DROP INTO HELL

Combat.  Fighting.  War Time.  Slaughtering the Jerries and, as they were referred to then, the Japs.  Dig it?  Then you understand what this is all about and I need not go any further describing this.

COMPANY MAN


Just like the cover says, it’s another of those literary attempts to cash in on the success of Robin Moore’s book, THE GREEN BERETS.  As I remember nothing at all about this book, I’m going to guess that it failed to meet its burden