Killer's Keep

The Warlord #6

by Jason Frost

Frost, J.

236 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1987

About the author

A pseudonym used by Raymond Obstfeld

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Warlord was a series of six men's adventure novels published by Zebra from 1983 - '87 under the pseudonym Jason Frost. Curiously, all of the books had the same cover, a simple crossbow sketch with a different colored background, though this last one did have it pointing to the right whereas the first five pointed left. It's survivalist themed, with perhaps a bit more sex and violence than many such others. The first five books were written by Raymond Obstfeld and this final one, which appeared two years after the last of Obstfeld's, by Rich Rainey. It had a post-apocalyptic setting as did most of such series back in the day, but rather than the aftermath of a nuclear war, The Warlord lived in a California that had been shattered by a series of earthquakes that left it surrounded by a weird atomic fog (aka a toxic chemical bubble) that transformed it into a series of islands cut off from the mainland. Erik (sometimes Eric) Ravensmith is a former special forces superman who's become a college professor, and he becomes The Warlord to fight the bands of savage criminals who terrorize the survivors. As the series progresses civilization deteriorates rapidly and there's more and more violence and sex and mutation for Ravensmith to fight in his continuing quest to rescue and avenge his family. Lots of cannibal action, too. This last one is better written, in my opinion, and does bring closure to several of the plot threads. Overall, it was pretty typical fare of the time, very fast paced and formulaic. I picked up all six as a package at a used paperback store and read them back-to-back on a business trip over two or three weeks. I found them entertaining but not especially memorable.

[Rob Mensch · Rating 4 out of 5]

probably the best book in the series, though at times it seemed like Frost was rushing to finish. There were big holes in the story that were glossed over that I felt would have been great if fleshed out a bit. In re-reading this series after 30+ years and reading all 6 back to back, you can see a defined arc in Frosts writing style, where the first book was good but a bit "campy" to the last where the writing flowed a lot better and dialogue between characters was much more realistic and smooth.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I would rate this series as a 2 1/2 stars. The authors leaned too much on the man reverts to savage theme and the violent sex and excessive cannabalism were played too often. I liked the premise and the series wrapped up with a fair battle but even there we did not get enough detail.