Spy Killer (Stories from the Golden Age) Read online

  At least as influential in terms of post-apocalypse stories was L. Ron Hubbard’s 1940 Final Blackout. Generally acclaimed as the finest anti-war novel of the decade and among the ten best works of the genre ever authored—here, too, was a tale that would live on in ways few other writers imagined. Hence, the later Robert Heinlein verdict: “Final Blackout is as perfect a piece of science fiction as has ever been written.”

  Like many another who both lived and wrote American pulp adventure, the war proved a tragic end to Ron’s sojourn in the pulps. He served with distinction in four theaters and was highly decorated for commanding corvettes in the North Pacific. He was also grievously wounded in combat, lost many a close friend and colleague and thus resolved to say farewell to pulp fiction and devote himself to what it had supported these many years—namely, his serious research.

  Portland, Oregon, 1943; L. Ron Hubbard, captain of the US Navy subchaser PC 815.

  But in no way was the LRH literary saga at an end, for as he wrote some thirty years later, in 1980:

  “Recently there came a period when I had little to do. This was novel in a life so crammed with busy years, and I decided to amuse myself by writing a novel that was pure science fiction.”

  That work was Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000. It was an immediate New York Times bestseller and, in fact, the first international science fiction blockbuster in decades. It was not, however, L. Ron Hubbard’s magnum opus, as that distinction is generally reserved for his next and final work: The 1.2 million word Mission Earth.

  How he managed those 1.2 million words in just over twelve months is yet another piece of the L. Ron Hubbard legend. But the fact remains, he did indeed author a ten-volume dekalogy that lives in publishing history for the fact that each and every volume of the series was also a New York Times bestseller.

  Moreover, as subsequent generations discovered L. Ron Hubbard through republished works and novelizations of his screenplays, the mere fact of his name on a cover signaled an international bestseller. . . . Until, to date, sales of his works exceed hundreds of millions, and he otherwise remains among the most enduring and widely read authors in literary history. Although as a final word on the tales of L. Ron Hubbard, perhaps it’s enough to simply reiterate what editors told readers in the glory days of American Pulp Fiction:

  He writes the way he does, brothers, because he’s been there, seen it and done it!

  The Stories from the

  Golden Age

  Your ticket to adventure starts here with the Stories from the Golden Age collection by master storyteller L. Ron Hubbard. These gripping tales are set in a kaleidoscope of exotic locales and brim with fascinating characters, including some of the most vile villains, dangerous dames and brazen heroes you’ll ever get to meet.

  The entire collection of over one hundred and fifty stories is being released in a series of eighty books and audiobooks. For an up-to-date listing of available titles, go to www.goldenagestories.com.

  AIR ADVENTURE

  Arctic Wings

  The Battling Pilot

  Boomerang Bomber

  The Crate Killer

  The Dive Bomber

  Forbidden Gold

  Hurtling Wings

  The Lieutenant Takes the Sky

  Man-Killers of the Air

  On Blazing Wings

  Red Death Over China

  Sabotage in the Sky

  Sky Birds Dare!

  The Sky-Crasher

  Trouble on His Wings

  Wings Over Ethiopia

  FAR-FLUNG ADVENTURE

  The Adventure of “X”

  All Frontiers Are Jealous

  The Barbarians

  The Black Sultan

  Black Towers to Danger

  The Bold Dare All

  Buckley Plays a Hunch

  The Cossack

  Destiny’s Drum

  Escape for Three

  Fifty-Fifty O’Brien

  The Headhunters

  Hell’s Legionnaire

  He Walked to War

  Hostage to Death

  Hurricane

  The Iron Duke

  Machine Gun 21,000

  Medals for Mahoney

  Price of a Hat

  Red Sand

  The Sky Devil

  The Small Boss of Nunaloha

  The Squad That Never Came Back

  Starch and Stripes

  Tomb of the Ten Thousand Dead

  Trick Soldier

  While Bugles Blow!

  Yukon Madness

  SEA ADVENTURE

  Cargo of Coffins

  The Drowned City

  False Cargo

  Grounded

  Loot of the Shanung

  Mister Tidwell, Gunner

  The Phantom Patrol

  Sea Fangs

  Submarine

  Twenty Fathoms Down

  Under the Black Ensign

  TALES FROM THE ORIENT

  The Devil—With Wings

  The Falcon Killer

  Five Mex for a Million

  Golden Hell

  The Green God

  Hurricane’s Roar

  Inky Odds

  Orders Is Orders

  Pearl Pirate

  The Red Dragon

  Spy Killer

  Tah

  The Trail of the Red Diamonds

  Wind-Gone-Mad

  Yellow Loot

  MYSTERY

  The Blow Torch Murder

  Brass Keys to Murder

  Calling Squad Cars!

  The Carnival of Death

  The Chee-Chalker

  Dead Men Kill

  The Death Flyer

  Flame City

  The Grease Spot

  Killer Ape

  Killer’s Law

  The Mad Dog Murder

  Mouthpiece

  Murder Afloat

  The Slickers

  They Killed Him Dead

  FANTASY

  Borrowed Glory

  The Crossroads

  Danger in the Dark

  The Devil’s Rescue

  He Didn’t Like Cats

  If I Were You

  The Last Drop

  The Room

  The Tramp

  SCIENCE FICTION

  The Automagic Horse

  Battle of Wizards

  Battling Bolto

  The Beast

  Beyond All Weapons

  A Can of Vacuum

  The Conroy Diary

  The Dangerous Dimension

  Final Enemy

  The Great Secret

  Greed

  The Invaders

  A Matter of Matter

  The Obsolete Weapon

  One Was Stubborn

  The Planet Makers

  The Professor Was a Thief

  The Slaver

  Space Can

  Strain

  Tough Old Man

  240,000 Miles Straight Up

  When Shadows Fall

  WESTERN

  The Baron of Coyote River

  Blood on His Spurs

  Boss of the Lazy B

  Branded Outlaw

  Cattle King for a Day

  Come and Get It

  Death Waits at Sundown

  Devil’s Manhunt

  The Ghost Town Gun-Ghost

  Gun Boss of Tumbleweed

  Gunman!

  Gunman’s Tally

  The Gunner from Gehenna

  Hoss Tamer

  Johnny, the Town Tamer

  King of the Gunmen

  The Magic Quirt

  Man for Breakfast

  The No-Gun Gunhawk

  The No-Gun Man

  The Ranch That No One Would Buy

  Reign of the Gila Monster

  Ride ’Em, Cowboy

  Ruin at Rio Piedras

  Shadows from Boot Hill

  Silent Pards

  Six-Gun Caballero

  Stacked Bullets

  Stran
ger in Town

  Tinhorn’s Daughter

  The Toughest Ranger

  Under the Diehard Brand

  Vengeance Is Mine!

  When Gilhooly Was in Flower

  Your Next Ticket to Adventure

  Assault Danger Behind

  Enemy Lines!

  The Japanese have led a heavily armored assault against the Chinese city of Shunkien, pounding wreckage into ashes and wiping out a city dating back to Genghis Khan. One of the few buildings still standing is the small American consulate, now packed with one hundred and sixteen frightened American refugees. Food is low and deadly Asiatic cholera is starting to run rampant, with carnage and corpses piling up in the streets.

  Two hundred miles away, the USS Miami drops anchor, well equipped with the needed gold to buy food and a cholera serum to prevent disease and death.

  The dilemma is that should the Marines take military action to rush the supplies to the consulate, it could force the US into an all-out, ill-advised battle with the Japanese—what amounts to an act of war.

  Marine Gunnery Sergeant James Mitchell and Private First Class Spivits instead are ordered to conduct a treacherous supply mission facing impossible odds—reach the trapped Americans caught in the crossfire of the invading Japanese forces.

  Get

  Orders Is Orders

  PAPERBACK OR AUDIOBOOK: $9.95 EACH

  Free Shipping & Handling for Book Club Members

  CALL TOLL-FREE: 1-877-8GALAXY (1-877-842-5299)

  OR GO ONLINE TO www.goldenagestories.com

  Galaxy Press, 7051 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 200, Hollywood, CA 90028

  JOIN THE PULP REVIVAL

  America in the 1930s and 40s

  Pulp fiction was in its heyday and 30 million readers were regularly riveted by the larger-than-life tales of master storyteller L. Ron Hubbard. For this was pulp fiction’s golden age, when the writing was raw and every page packed a walloping punch.

  That magic can now be yours. An evocative world of nefarious villains, exotic intrigues, courageous heroes and heroines—a world that today’s cinema has barely tapped for tales of adventure and swashbucklers.

  Enroll today in the Stories from the Golden Age Club and begin receiving your monthly feature edition selected from more than 150 stories in the collection.

  You may choose to enjoy them as either a paperback or audiobook for the special membership price of $9.95 each month along with FREE shipping and handling.

  CALL TOLL-FREE: 1-877-8GALAXY (1-877-842-5299) OR GO ONLINE TO www.goldenagestories.com

  AND BECOME PART OF THE PULP REVIVAL!

  Prices are set in US dollars only. For non-US residents, please call 1-323-466-7815 for pricing information. Free shipping available for US residents only.

  Galaxy Press, 7051 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 200, Hollywood, CA 90028