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MAC LANDS NEW PUBLISHER – The beach bum hero of Allan’s thriller – one, Addison Mizner Flagler Titus Broward (call me ‘Mac’) MacGregor – just caught a fast wave with his sailboard. Zumaya Books, the small but prestigious publisher of “Lords Of Terror,” has taken over publishing duties in a big way, gracing the book previously known as “Dying Good” with a new title – “MacGregor,” – a fabulous new cover, and a new, low, low price. Before turning the book over to Zumaya, Allan did a write-through, recasting many scenes, while beefing up and adding to the action. Besides being offered in a handsome trade edition, ‘MacGregor’ is available in most e-book formats for as little as $5.94. In his previous incarnation, Mac earned a fistful of glowing reviews, including one from his hometown newspaper, the Boca Raton Daily News. Read what much honored critic, Skip Sheffield,  had to say about the book and his impressions of Allan. Mac earned a whole host of

other critical praise, including a Five Star rating from reviewer Vicky Duby of Scribesworld. This is on top of huzzahs from Alice Klein, star reviewer for the prestigious online book review site, Sime-Gen. Ms. Klein opines: “Move over, James Bond. ‘007’ has nothing on this hero. Even dressed in an extra large Hawaiian shirt, Mac (Addison Mizner Flagler Titus Broward Gomez MacGregor) rocks. With a background that lends credence to his abilities, Mac shines throughout this story, as he rushes to rescue kidnapped children.” And she closes by saying: “I can hardly wait to read more. Please, Allan George Cole, write me more ‘Mac’” I promise, Alice, my friend, that more Mac’s are on the way. Still more praise came from BookLoons, a book lover's internet source of warm, but eclectic literary comment helmed by multi-talented publisher Hilary Williamson. Reviewer J. A. Kaszuba Locke had this to say: "Allan Cole, a reader's writer, delivers a fresh, suspenseful mystery, with unique phrasing, colorful characterizations, masterly dialog, and chilling portrayal of evil deeds" Ms. Locke also interviewed Allan for the piece, getting a first up-close and personal look at the fact-based "behind the scenes" creation of the book.

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LORDS OF TERROR – TWO BOOKS FOR ONE: For a limited time and a limited number of readers, Allan is offering a free fantasy book to anyone (in the U.S.) who buys a copy of “The Lords Of Terror.” Just email proof of purchase and include your snail mail address and the second fantasy novel will be sent to you free of any charge. The novel, by Allan Cole and Russian fantasy master Nick Perumov made literary history when it was published – it is the first and only novel written by an American/Russian writing team. “Lords” asks this question, which become more intriguing by the day: What if the Cold War never ended? What if a demonic cabal altered history to feed off a hatred that could never end? And then kept Americans and Russians on the razor-edge of war for a thousand years to satisfy that hunger? The answer thrilled hundreds of thousands of Russian readers, who kept the book on the best-seller list for nearly two years. Finally, it is available to English-

language readers. Early reviews have been praiseworthy. For example, J. A. Kaszuba Locke - Bookloons.com ace critic said this about the novel: "...Readers who welcome the challenge of multi-layered writing, and keep-you-on-your-toes action, will enthusiastically absorb Cole's and Perumov's joint venture, a resounding story that combines espionage and warfare, science fiction and fantasy, earth and space." And Hobbit, the top reviewer over at SFFWorld gave "Lords" a hearty recommendation, adding, "...For those readers who enjoy stories of military action, space warfare, technothrillers, secret societies and political machinations with a slice of magic realism thrown in, then this (is) one for you."

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THOSE CLASSIC TIMURAS: The Timura Trilogy is among the very first Fantasy and Science Fiction novels issued in the new “classics” program under Dorchester Publishing and Wildside Books new “Cosmos Publishing” banner. “When The Gods Slept,” is currently on sale. If you missed the series this six dollar paperback is an inexpensive way to start. The two other novels – “Wolves Of The Gods” and “The Gods Awaken,” will soon follow. Stay tuned for publication announcements. Of course, all three books are still available in the handsome Wildside omnibus editions: “The Complete Timuras.” The omnibus (over 740 pages in length) is available in two versions: A relatively inexpensive, but attractive trade paperback edition and a handsome collector’s hardback edition. For collectors, email Allan for personal handling of special autographed editions. For readers who would just like to have an autographed label for their books click here to send your snail mail address requesting the autographed labels and they will be mailed to you for free.

E-BOOK BONANZA: There’s an electronic revolution sweeping the publishing world, with thousands of titles available for downloading, including many of Allan’s novels. The even better news is that these e-books are much cheaper than their paper bound brothers and sisters. Here’s a list of Allan’s e-book titles and where you can get them:

MacGregor,
Lords Of Terror,
When The Gods Slept (Wizard Of The Winds),
Wolves Of The Gods,
The Gods Awaken,
A Reckoning For Kings.

CALLING ALL STEN FANS

At long last,  all eight books of the Sten series are back in print in the English language. Sten and his heavy-worlder buddy Alex Kilgour had to conquer the entire continent of Europe to accomplish it. Many millions of books were sold in German, Russian, Polish – on and on – but the American publisher allowed the series to fall out of print – despite the anguished e-mails of hundreds of fans and the fact that the books were still more than profitable.. Now,  Orbit Books in the U.K. has  rushed into the breach, publishing all eight novels of this “landmark science fiction series” in English.

There are a lot of reasons why most decent science fiction encyclopedias

consider Sten a “landmark series.” You have to read the eight books to find out why and if you are the right sort – the Sten sort – you’ll be smitten  forever. It takes a special sort of person to enjoy – really dig into Sten. On the surface, I think you’ll find it is a damned good page-turning military/science fiction shoot-‘em up. But Sten is more. Much more. Thanks to Chris Bunch, who knows more about military history than most university professors have forgotten, and yours truly – Allan Cole – who will not humble himself before many current political historians – Sten is a cynical reference within a reference. Read it and see for yourself.

And don’t look for a political point of view.  There is none. Sten is neither right or left. Liberal or conservative. To Sten, gun control is making sure he has the only gun in the room. The Eternal Emperor has no doubt that he knows best and will do anything to assure his own view of being-kind prevails. Alex Kilgour, is just Alex Kilgour. The perfect assassin. As long Sten or the Emperor don’t falter and betray Kilgour’s odd idea of justice, the heavy worlder is with them. If not, he’ll smash them like a bag of haggis.

Sten

The Wolf Worlds

The Court Of A Thousand Suns

Fleet Of The Damned

Revenge Of The Damned

The Return Of The Emperor

The Vortex

Empire's End

VIETNAM NOVEL REDISCOVERED by modern GIs.

"A Reckoning For Kings" - recently raised from the out-of-print graveyard by Simon & Schuster, through its Fiction-Wise division, is finding favor with the troops holding the line in the world's hot spots, like Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. Allan has received many e-mails from men and women in uniform adding their personal praise to a book critics have hailed as one of "the best Vietnam novels ever." To buy the book, click here.

Set during the Tet Offensive of 1968, "Reckoning" tells the tale of one of history's greatest battles. It was a battle that America won, but it was also the battle that cost America the war. After Tet, the American effort

in Vietnam was doomed. For the first - and only - time in fiction, "Reckoning," tells the story of Vietnam from both points of view. Written by Allan and his former partner, Chris Bunch, the book deliberately invites the reader to make up his or her own mind on whether America's participation in the war was just. There are thirty major characters portrayed in "Reckoning" - a novel that took three full years to complete.

Fifteen of the characters are American, the other fifteen are America's enemies - North Vietnamese, or Viet Cong. The link between friend and foe is their relative youth. Wars are fought by young men and women in their teens or their early twenties. It was the hope of the authors that readers would focus on the plight of the young soldiers, sent out to work the will of the old men who stayed well behind.

The theme, and title of “Reckoning” comes from Shakespeare: Henry V, Act IV, Sc. 1:

But if the cause be not good, the king
Himself hath a heavy reckoning to make,
When all those legs and arms and heads,
Chopped off in a battle, shall join
Together at the latter day and cry all,
“We died at such a place”; some
swearing, some crying for a surgeon,
some upon their wives left poor behind
them, some upon  the debts they owe, some
upon their children rawly left. I am
afeard there are few die well that die 
in a battle; for how can they charitably
dispose of any thing, when blood is
their argument? Now, if these men do not
die well, it will be a black matter for
the king that led them to it…”

No matter what your personal opinion is of the Vietnam war, or any war for that matter, after you read "Reckoning" you will never think of combat the same way again.

Here’s how the book was laid out:

THE  VIETNAMESE SIDE:

The attack, their long-awaited General Offensive, will begin during the traditionally peaceful celebration of  Tet, the  Vietnamese New Year . In 1968 it was The Year of the Monkey. Their leader is General Vo Le Duan, a soldier who knows his patriotic duty, but who also knows he will never see, in this messy, endless war, the glory he dreams of.

THE AMERICAN SIDE:

Bloodied and ready, all they need now is an enemy. Not one that murders from the ditch, or from the darkness of night, but an enemy in the open. One of the men who must lead the ranks is Major Dennis Shannon, who discovers vital information that could confound the enemy – but no one on his side is listening.

Within a span of four short months, during the lightning-quick bloody campaign known as the Tet Offensive, two vastly different cultures and two bitterly opposing armies – the generals, the guerrillas, the grunts, - will clash in an epoch-shattering encounter that will alter the course of the war and change the shape of the world forever.

ALL HAIL 'A COP'S LIFE'

Allan's first nonfiction book - “A Cop’s Life” has drawn the highest praise of all - the good opinion of police officers themselves. Here are just a few of the comments: "'A Cop's Life'" is a must read by anyone who ever wore the uniform or badge!" - Robert V. Eddie, Recording Secretary Philadelphia Lodge #5 Fraternal Order of Police; "If you like the inside story, if you like dealing with facts and not fluff, then you will love reading 'A Cop's Life!'"- Michael G. Lutz, President, Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police; "I thoroughly enjoyed 'A Cop's Life.'" It was both witty and right on target." - Bill Pawley Inspector, Retired, Philadelphia Police.

Allan coauthored the book with his uncle, Thomas Grubb, a thirty-year

veteran of the Philadelphia Police. Here's what the dust jacket says about the book: Christmas, 1953: While the rest of Philadelphia sings "Jingle Bells," Tom Grubb gets his first taste of a cop's life. Before he cashes his first paycheck he encounters: A man gutted by a knife-wielding mugger; A fighting-mad mental case intent on destroying a hospital emergency room; The hushed-up shooting death of an undercover cop. That first week is nothing compared to what lies ahead during the next thirty years. A Cop's Life: The remarkable story of a truly remarkable man.

NEW DVD’S FEATURE OLD TV SHOWS: As anyone who has been following this story knows, Allan broke into Hollywood the same month that he and his former partner sold the Sten series. That era has since been called the “second golden age of television,” which was the same as the first, but worse. Many of those programs are now being offered in dazzling DVD versions by the generous studio and network bosses, known as The Guys With The Big Telephones, (TGWTBT) who selflessly supported Allan while he was kick starting his book career. DVD’s available for sale thus far include everything from Buck Rogers In The Twenty Fifth Century, to “Quincy,” to “The Incredible Hulk,” to “The A Team” and “Magnum, PI.” Watch this page for other programs that Allan contributed to.

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DROWNED HOPES, the second thriller in Allan’s “Boca Cycle” hit the stands running, garnering a wonderful review from Bookloons.com, one of North America’s most sought after sites for good books and excellent criticism. Reviewer Reviewer J. A. Kaszuba Locke said this about “Drowned Hopes” – “Allan George Cole's new mystery, Drowned Hopes, boasts a plot in which con artists sting con artists and robbers steal from robbers. The author sweeps the reader to immediate attention with soundly characterized, fun cast members, displaying naiveté and human fallibility…” To read the full review from Bookloons, click here.

Drowned Hopes is a most unusual book for Allan, featuring a most unusual heroine going up against a guy who is probably the nastiest villain

Cole has ever created. If you don’t believe us, read the Sample Chapters. Meanwhile, here’s what the book’s about:

Lost In Paradise - Ellen thought she’d hit bottom when her lover left her and the authorities in Jamaica closed her gallery and seized her paintings. She hoped to start a new life and career in Boca Raton, Florida. But there she finds that her mother’s in throes of Alzheimer’s and her powerful attorney brother is squeezing her small inheritance dry. When she tries to fight back she strays into the web of one of the nastiest villains to step out of the hellfires. With death and humiliation staring her in the face and no one to help her, Ellen has to call upon resources she’s never tapped before to save herself and her mother.

MEET WEBMASTER JOEL CASH

I first met webmaster Joel Cash in 1995. An admirer of the Sten series, Joel happened upon my new – and very primitive web site - and a fast friendship was soon formed.

I learned that Joel was a native of Kansas, a proud father of a son, Nick, and a daughter, Rachel. At the time of our meeting he’d worked at a

grocery chain for many years, but was parlaying his growing computer expertise into an important niche of the business.

Soon, his talents outgrew that company and he joined a new high tech outfit, where he quickly rose through the ranks, turning in one stellar performance after another, setting new standards not just in technical excellence, but in customer relations as well. It was inevitable that he would come to the attention of other firms, and he was recently snapped up by First National Bank of Liberal where he is a member of the bank's senior staff and the Director of Information Services. His duties include creating the bank's strategic and tactical technology plan to serve and protect his customers and their confidential data.

It’s apparent from this well-designed and extensive web site that I have benefited greatly from Joel’s expertise, as has his company.

But that says nothing of the friendship we formed. In all those years we shared victories and disappointments and delighted in each other’s achievements. I was as tickled as a godfather at his son’s Nick’s achievements at school and the athletic field where he has won a football scholarship to college. And his daughter, Rachel, is blossoming into a lovely young woman of remarkable grace and intelligence.

But, here’s the thing: in all those years we never met in person. Now, if that isn’t a testament to the new world we live in, I don’t know what is.

That small, missing part in our friendship was resolved a short time ago when Joel flew out to Florida for a business trip. He managed to squeeze in a few personal days, which he spent with myself and my wife, Kathryn, in Boca Raton.

And what a glorious time we had. Dinners were eaten, beaches were strolled, sights were seen – including Joel’s first ride on an airboat and an encounter with alligators – and many a night crept into the wee hours as we solved all the worlds problems many times over.

We were sorry to see him go and we both miss his smiling face and dry wit. But that’s the nice thing about the Twenty First Century. In these times your friends are only the click of the mouse away.

Thomas M. Grubb Sr., co-author, along with Allan Cole, of "A Cop's Life," died in Philadelphia after a long illness. Allan's "Uncle Tommy" was a remarkable man who touched the lives of countless people, especially his family and friends.

To read more about Mr. Grubb's remarkable life, and for a sample of the book, go to: 'A Cop's Life.' The book can be purchased from Amazon.com here. Or from Barnes And Noble online here.

All future royalties for the sale of "A Cop's Life" will go to his widow, Cassie Grubb.

A SAD EVENT: Chris Bunch, Allan’s former writing partner, died July 4, after battling a lung ailment for many months. Chris co-wrote – with Allan – the landmark “Sten” sci-fi series, the classic Vietnam war novel, “A Reckoning For Kings,” and the acclaimed fantasy series, “The Voyages of The Anteros.” Afterwards, he enjoyed a distinguished solo career. A decorated veteran of Vietnam, Chris was a former member of U.S. Army’s LURP (Long Range Recon) commando units. Allan is married to his sister, Kathryn.

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Last Revised: January 19, 2008