The Hellhound Project

by Ron Goulart

The hellhound project

Genres: Science Fiction

156 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Pseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.

In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical Goulart satire that will make you laugh

[Charl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Older SF story by Goulart. Felt a little dated, but still entertaining.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it👍👍👍

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uh oh, this recent spate of reading Goulart novels is turning me into an addict. Thank goodness nobody wants me enuf for me to be able to sell my body. This one is actually a HARDBACK - the 1st Goulart HB I've read. I don't know whether he knew this was going to be released as a HB & I don't know whether that was unusual for him & I don't know whether he tried to make this one a little better written as a result or what.. but it kindof seems like this one's a tad more 'serious'. There's even a little biographical info & a picture of the author. I even learned that Goulart created the Chex-Press that was a mock newspaper on the back of Ralston cereal boxes for 5 yrs. ANYWAY, this is another dystopic future story where an ultra-rich family is set to make big bucks w/ an tiny assassination smart missile. The protaganist foils the plot. Reading Goulart is a way for me to completely avoid more important things I shd be doing.

[Bhakta Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Goulart did a lot of novelizations and cash and carry prose, but if you want to read the kind of science fiction he did on his own this one is a good one to try. Goulart was a satirist more than anything else. He took the conventions of science fiction and respected them while exploring their potential for humor. He cranked out a lot of books but they were always entertaining.

This is sort of a futuristic spy adventure, in which a young man who has fallen on hard times is asked to impersonate a long lost member of a wealthy family. Some members of the family are up to no good, and he has to find out what they're up to.

In this world everything is synthetic or imitation and is advertised as such. That's a running gag in this book and several others by Goulart.

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1977 grade C+