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The Old Flame: A Pulpland Story
“WHAT is it about these stories, this world of impossibilities? Why are you so insistent that these things are real? You want to believe your stories but they simply cannot be true, Mr. Boyle.”
It’s 1935 in Washington D.C. and Bobby Boyle has found himself here again, back in his hometown. Hoping to recover from the sudden bereavement of his life’s love, he moves into his childhood home on Corcoran Street with his brother, sister-in-law and their eerily precocious, inexplicably familiar toddler.
But the process of repairing his inner desolation is interrupted when he is contacted by an old acquaintance. Jerry Donlan is the last officer of Department 321, a now-defunct, top-secret government agency. He finds Bobby in D.C. and summons him to Cuba, where they devise a plan to stop Donlan’s nemesis from destroying an ancient, enchanted prison, unleashing the depravity of 10,000 dark spirits into the world. Much to his dismay, Bobby’s previous experience in the esoteric domain of 321 makes him the only candidate for the job. The mission sends Boyle and his band of faithful friends from one end of the globe to the other. Even if they triumph over impossible odds and survive, the crew will never be the same again.
The Old Flame is the third book in the PULPLAND series of supernatural adventure novels by Clyde Wrenn.
It’s 1935 in Washington D.C. and Bobby Boyle has found himself here again, back in his hometown. Hoping to recover from the sudden bereavement of his life’s love, he moves into his childhood home on Corcoran Street with his brother, sister-in-law and their eerily precocious, inexplicably familiar toddler.
But the process of repairing his inner desolation is interrupted when he is contacted by an old acquaintance. Jerry Donlan is the last officer of Department 321, a now-defunct, top-secret government agency. He finds Bobby in D.C. and summons him to Cuba, where they devise a plan to stop Donlan’s nemesis from destroying an ancient, enchanted prison, unleashing the depravity of 10,000 dark spirits into the world. Much to his dismay, Bobby’s previous experience in the esoteric domain of 321 makes him the only candidate for the job. The mission sends Boyle and his band of faithful friends from one end of the globe to the other. Even if they triumph over impossible odds and survive, the crew will never be the same again.
The Old Flame is the third book in the PULPLAND series of supernatural adventure novels by Clyde Wrenn.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 27, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2023
Another superb chapter in the Pulpland stories!
Clyde Wrenn once again delivers an excellent new chapter to the Pulpland series. Can’t wait to see how Bobby, Cowboy, the Padre and their motley crew of heroes respond in the next chapter.
Clyde Wrenn once again delivers an excellent new chapter to the Pulpland series. Can’t wait to see how Bobby, Cowboy, the Padre and their motley crew of heroes respond in the next chapter.
February 15, 2024
Love this series. Was worried this would be the finale but it definitely suggests there's more to come. Hallelujah.
November 17, 2025
Man, I'm going to try hard to avoid spoilers in this review of the third Pulpland novel by Clyde Wrenn, but it's tough, because this has connections to so many parts of the previous books. It's not a standalone. You really need to have read the first two books to have any kind of idea what's going on. But that's not a bad thing and Wrenn keeps his references concise, so that it isn't hard to follow along, even if some time has passed since you read the prior books.
Bobby Boyle is suffering from the events of the last book. He's left his friends, sold the bar, and wants nothing to do with any of Cowboy's old files. But that isn't going to last. Especially not when series baddie Moloch plans to extinguish the Flame of Utu, a special fire that acts as a prison to 10,000 demons. Which is a lot of demons.
This story is all over the map. In a very literal sense! Bobby is in Washington to start, but we soon travel to Cuba, Louisiana, California, Italy, and even Afghanistan before this adventure ends.
The only problem I had was that the main plot takes a little time to get to full steam. There were a lot of things happening, but each character had their own B-plot going and they didn't all connect until the end. That's a small complaint though because the writing was so good that even when I wanted the focus on someone else, I wasn't bored or distracted. In fact, I'd dare say the brevity of the chapters were a huge success in a book with this much POV hopping.
Wrenn has a good grasp of action, with several shootouts and some really excellent fisticuffs on display. He's also skilled at dialogue, giving his characters witty wisecracks and each a unique voice, an ability that many authors lack. You could take away the descriptions of who was speaking and still follow the ebb and flow of conversation thanks to the very real way the characters speak.
The book has a lot happen within its pages and yes, it does end with a cliffhanger, but I won't hold that against it. Especially not since there's one more book and I need to see how this wraps up!
Bobby Boyle is suffering from the events of the last book. He's left his friends, sold the bar, and wants nothing to do with any of Cowboy's old files. But that isn't going to last. Especially not when series baddie Moloch plans to extinguish the Flame of Utu, a special fire that acts as a prison to 10,000 demons. Which is a lot of demons.
This story is all over the map. In a very literal sense! Bobby is in Washington to start, but we soon travel to Cuba, Louisiana, California, Italy, and even Afghanistan before this adventure ends.
The only problem I had was that the main plot takes a little time to get to full steam. There were a lot of things happening, but each character had their own B-plot going and they didn't all connect until the end. That's a small complaint though because the writing was so good that even when I wanted the focus on someone else, I wasn't bored or distracted. In fact, I'd dare say the brevity of the chapters were a huge success in a book with this much POV hopping.
Wrenn has a good grasp of action, with several shootouts and some really excellent fisticuffs on display. He's also skilled at dialogue, giving his characters witty wisecracks and each a unique voice, an ability that many authors lack. You could take away the descriptions of who was speaking and still follow the ebb and flow of conversation thanks to the very real way the characters speak.
The book has a lot happen within its pages and yes, it does end with a cliffhanger, but I won't hold that against it. Especially not since there's one more book and I need to see how this wraps up!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews