Dead Men Kill: Golden Age Stories

Written by L. Ron Hubbard

Narrated by R.F. Daley, Jennifer Aspen, John Mariano and 3 more

Detective Terry Lane is a standout homicide cop who thought he'd seen it all ... until now.

Lane has seen the darkest side of human behavior but he's never seen a murder spree like this, targeting the wealthy, the powerful and the privileged. For the evidence is clear: the killers have not emerged from the seamy underside of the city ... but from six feet under it. They are the walking dead, spreading terror and showing no mercy.

Following a trail of drugs, blackmail, and the twisted clues of a seductive nightclub singer, Detective Lane will have to think outside the box … or he could end up inside one, buried alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Galaxy Press
• Release date: Mar 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781592124374

L. Ron Hubbard

With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard. Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.

Reviews for Dead Men Kill

[hopeevey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is painfully pulp-fiction, anchored irrevocably in its time. Between the melodramatic prose, flatly stereotypical characters, unconscious racism, and blinding misogyny, it's almost a parody to my ear.

All that aside, it is a well plotted action story. I did enjoy following the mystery, and the cleverness of the villain. I also enjoyed deconstructing the book's issues, occasionally making snarky comments. The narration suited the story well, capturing the melodrama without going over the top.

[chazzifrazz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! You follow Detective Terry Lane atan action packed, fast moving pace as he works to solve the mystery of who is responsible for the serial killings of high profile citizens in the city. The description of the murderers is baffling. Voo Doo, zombies, poison, blazing guns and flying fists. All in the style of the 1930s era or pulp fiction.

At the end is also a bit of a glossary to translate the jargon of the era, but you don't really need it.

A great taste of the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction.

[robert.zimmermann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a quick, entertaining read.

I know that this is pulp fiction from ages ago, so I didn't go into this book looking for the greatest piece of literature ever written. I was looking for it to be entertaining and not much depth. That's what's here. So all in all, I was satisfied.

What didn't really get me into the story was the main character. For a detective, who's trying to take down an apparent zombie master and his undead minions, he shouldn't have gotten himself captured multiple times and knocked out so often in only just over 100 pages. Also, I knew who the bad guy was in the first few chapters. It wasn't a case of the reader knowing more than the character, either. All the facts were in his face.

But still, it was a good way to spend the afternoon.

[tpmcnulty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This 1934 story appeared early in Hubbard's remarkable career. Part zombie story, part crime story, Hubbard successfully fused genres long before such devices were commonplace. Told in ten brisk chapters, the story is a prime example of Hubbard's trademark pacing, strong characters, and flair for suspense. The protagonist, Detective-Sergeant Terry Lane is a quintessential Hubbard hero - intelligent, savvy, and quick to act. Fans of the Golden Age are sure to enjoy this ghoulish delight from America's Master Storyteller. For those that prefer audio books you'll not be disappointed. Each audio book features a multicast performance with music and sound effects reminiscent of radio's golden age.

[kat610 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I won this book on Librarything early reviewers and it was okay. It's an audiobook with a full cast, which is always fun. However, it is a little dated. I guess if you like pulp detective fiction, which I have not read much of, you might like this. It just doesn't have much depth. I like a mystery with a bit more complexity. The characters are fairly two dimensional, and the ending is pretty easy to predict. For a quick listen, though, it was entertaining, and that's what pulp fiction is all about, so it gets 2 1/2 stars instead of two.

[regularguy5mb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Here is another giveaway win from the Goodreads First Reads program, and another audio book from "the Golden Age" and L. Ron Hubbard's. Hubbard writes some good pulp, you have to admit, and this is another entry in that ilk. Smooth-talking detective Terry Lane is investigating a serious of vicious crimes against the city's most respected citizens. All signs point to their personal secretaries, men who all died previous to the commission of the crime! What follows is a macabre, pulp tale of murder and mayhem.Fun, and a very well done production that harkens back to the days of radio dramas. The only complaint I'd make is that the ending is telegraphed early if you know how to read the clues.

[mrsbaty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pure pulp fiction. If that's what you like, you'll love this and the CD is well done with good voice actors.Rich men are dying and Detective Lane is looking into the murders. There is a beautiful woman, a criminal mastermind and plenty of action. The twists and turns are fairly predictable but that didn't ruin the story for me. There is very much the feel of Old Time Radio in this recording. Since it is very much of it's time, there is some small amount of racism and chauvinism in it. Most people that like pulp fiction are use to that but be aware if that bothers you. If you are use to modern mysteries or thrillers, this will seem very dated. If you like Old Time Radio, then this will be right up your alley.I received this from librarything's EarlyReviewers program and have given it an honest review.

[bbowden-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really loved this audio book. It took a bit to get into the rhythm of the book, but once I did, I was transported back to old time radio shows. I am not old enough to have listened to "The Shadow", "Our Miss Brooks", "Fibber McGee and Molly", etc. back in the day, but on my way home from working the night shift, our radio station replayed these shows and I came to love them, so this book was a welcome change of pace from regular radio (the network who played the old time radio shows was cancelled.

[winnemucca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was fascinated by the title. Little did I expect L. Ron Hubbard to write a tale of Haitian inspired zombies. That is such a contemporary topic for writers. Junior High students frequently request zombie novels and very few that are published are appropriate for a younger audience. Dead Men Kill would definitely appeal to this age group and as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it.I would love the get a hardbound copy of the book because this story would have great kid-appeal. I think reluctant readers would enjoy following along as Galaxy does its exemplary job of bringing the novel to life. Sadly, the books are only available in paperback form and we don't purchase paperbacks for our library because they don't hold up to the wear-and-tear of our active patrons.L. Ron Hubbard was an amazingly versatile author. He and Galaxy Press are a winning combination that never disappoints.

[bruce_deming_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun detective thriller with zombies. Zombies aren't my usual fare but this was classic. Worth listening to.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This had zombies! And not your modern day apocalypse type but good, old-fashioned voodoo zombies (which makes sense considering when the story was originally written). While I am not really a fan of the style of works from the so called Golden Age, I love the radio drama treatment that Galaxy Audio has given Hubbard's stories. This story was pretty good, too, as the mystery and suspense was very engaging as Detective Lane knew zombies were not real, yet there was no other logical explanation.

[theokester · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Before seeing this book (and other similar books) on the shelf, I had no idea that L. Ron Hubbard had written pulp fiction. I honestly only knew about him peripherally as the writer of Dianetics and founder of the Church of Scientology. Since I never really had any interest in either of those, I never bothered to learn more. So I was surprised to find that he had a number of pulp adventure stories like Dead Men Kill.Based on the cover and the blurb, I was anticipating something akin to the action/detective thrillers of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. The main story arc of Dead Men Kill follows a young police Detective, Terry Lane, as he tries to solve a series of murders. This story takes a turn for the supernatural in that the murders are being committed by dead men, as the title suggests. Detective Lane sees a fairly obvious pattern to the murders and can logically link them together. Each man killed was a wealthy and/or prominent citizen in the community who has received death threats demanding money. Someone close to the victim dies of a fever or illness of some sort and then shortly after that funeral, the corpse turns up at the wealthy associate's house and kills them.The supernatural twist made the whole thing feel very "Scooby Doo" to me. The writing certainly isn't as gritty as Hammett's work so it could potentially be accessible by Scooby fans. There is violence in the terms of shootouts and car chases but no harsh descriptions. The writing is also fairly simple and doesn't feel as tight or as elegant as hard boiled detective thrillers. With the other books, even though there were sequences of intense action and adventure, the writing still had a flow and tone that made it feel solid. Hubbard's writing got the job done but it wasn't anything overly impressive. If anything, it was written very simply and straightforward which once again makes it accessible to the young Scooby crowd.As the story went on I was impressed by the degree of tension, twists and turns integrated into the plot. Rather than a simple shoot-em-up adventure mystery there was a fair amount of good detective work to be done. There were some pretty good character interactions and tension between Detective Lane and his superiors as well as some of the suspects and informants. As the story goes on, Lane finds himself the object of threats and attempts on his life. While some of the situations felt a little laughable (very "Scooby Doo" style - capture or just threaten the hero rather than kill him), they did create some good tension and left me wondering just how Lane was going to escape from one predicament after another.When the final solution to the mystery was revealed, I found it to be actually fairly satisfying. I really liked the way the supernatural elements were dealt with, especially considering this was written in the 1930s without our 21st century sophistication. *grin* Some of the accomplices and motives were a little thin, but this is pulp fiction after all. It's never meant to be high drama with amazingly realistic and fully-fleshed-out characters.Overall this wasn't a "great" read but it was a "fun" read. I haven't decided yet whether I'll seek out any more Hubbard in the near future. More likely I'll probably turn to Hammett or Chandler. But this was a fun way to broaden my horizons and find a new author I otherwise never would have turned to.***3 out of 5 stars