In which: A bizarre new sexy ray is being used by the Red Chinese to launch a global death game. Their first targets - America and its ace operative, Nick Carter!
Somewhere in the world a powerful transmitter was broadcasting a savory blend of Communist propaganda and pornography. So AXE got the job of wiping out the transmitter and the man to do it was Nick Carter.
Nick Carter is a house pseudonym used by Award, Ace, and later Jove, publishing for the series Nick Carter who later graduated to a special agent for the Killmaster novels, a series of 261+ spy adventures published from 1964 until late 1990s.
A great number of writers have written under the pen-name over the years, beginning in September 1886 when Nick Carter first appeared in the 'New York Weekly' in a 13-week serial, entitled 'The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square'.
The Nick Carter character was originally conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.
It is 1969 and a revolutionary post-Mao Chinese gov't has put a huge antenna on top of the world (in Peru's Andes mountains, to be exact) that is now transmitting the only television channel that anyone in the world can see. This TV channel is addictive, cultish sex-themed content and has most of the free world enthralled in a collective path of self-destruction, kind of like how Tiktok is today lol.
While super-agent Nick Carter scoffs at the content on this channel he is trailing a few celebrity spies who are working for the Chinese and is captured.
This is the 41st installment of the Nick Carter Killmaster series and it was ghost-written by Manning Lee Stokes. Nick Carter the author is a pseudonym used by several authors writing for the series, with Nick Carter also being the name of the protagonist character. These stories have some adult content.
Verdict: "The Red Rays" (1969) isn't really a good read and has some story-telling trouble, and actually, for as much adult content that the cover and back cover advertise, this is actually one of the tamer episodes of Nick Carter I've read so far lol. Credit to Stokes, though, for predicting the idea of a Chinese-owned media weapon designed to destroy the western world.
Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay) movie rating if made into a movie: R
A nice rewrite of an old Pulp character. Recast more in the James Bond spy mode. Good quick men's adventure read. If you are looking for some fast paced action and adventure then this is a recommended read.