Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Golden Bee" data-source="post: 9744481" data-attributes="member: 7041055">City of Smiles/Range War by Phillip TaterczynskiClara wrestled the towering cossack to the ground, pinning him. Zelda grabbed a leg, trying not to get too close.This was a two-part adventure, the first of which was based on actual history.In the 1930s, Budapest had a wave of suicides. A local professor, Anton Jano, created the optimistic “Smile Club,” teaching people all the popular Hollywood smiles, to better fight adversity.[ATTACH=full]415990[/ATTACH]The pulp twist was that Professor Jano was doing this at the behest of white Russians, with hypnotism. Captain Ivanova’s superior, Colonel Dyshekov, had been caught investigating, and was tried in absentia by his enemies in the NKVD.Those enemies didn't expect her to bring her country cousin Clara Tate, smuggler Ivan Kochev, or ace investigator Zelda Saeki. The captain tore through the Budapest underworld,  intimidating everyone who stood in her way: Cossack soldiers, mind-washed stabbers, even the general of the white Russians himself.  They confessed their crimes and/or willingly rejoined the Soviet system. That's the power of being inspirational, and being willing to use a bullwhip.---The second adventure left the dreary streets and took up the dusty trails. Kochev had inherited 600 acres from a long-lost uncle, 15 miles outside of Promise City, Oregon. Unfortunately,  it was the most desired land in the state. Both the ranchers and the the shepherds were willing to kill for it. The climax came when the group, joined by Rafe Lancaster, was having an exclusive steak dinner at the Cattlemen's Club. Someone threw barrels of kerosene and a Molotov through the bottom-floor windows!They evacuated, with Rafe and Ivo jumping out a second-floor window after the staircase collapsed.  The quartet chased the masked horsemen through the city streets, with Zelda and Clara shooting like maniacs. Rafe was shot repeatedly, limping to the ground as Clara fought for the reins. Zelda put everything she had into shooting out the struts of a wagon-based Gatling gun, rendering it useless.Nearby, Rafe fought for consciousness in the bushes. He’d live through the encounter, but the New York playboy was no Western hero.Eventually, the two women killed enough of the pyromaniac shepherds. Clara demanded that the two sides end the range war, or else. With things settled, the only question was who Ivo would sell his extremely valuable ranch to. It turns out no one.</blockquote>

Verification