Blue Devil Island

October 1943: The tide of war in the Pacific has begun to turn in favor of the United States and her allies. With the opening of a new offensive campaign, the U.S. military deploys a number of new air groups in the Solomon Islands, including a naval fighting squadron known as the Blue Devils, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Drew McLachlan. From their base at a remote island known only as Conquest, McLachlan and his brave pilots mount a number of successful raids against the enemy, eventually making a name for themselves that comes even to the attention of the Japanese. Soon, however, a new and sinister force begins to stir on the island, seemingly disturbed by the very presence of the American fighting forces. Several men disappear under mysterious circumstances, but their bodies turn up horribly mutilated. The sound of drums begins pounding out of the jungle. And Lieutenant Commander McLachlan witnesses a gigantic, half-invisible shape moving atop the mountain at the center of the island. Soon, the Blue Devils are forced to fight on two fronts: against the known enemy, the Japanese, and an unknown, predatory force on the island that threatens to destroy McLachlan and his men.

From Publishers Weekly

In Rainey's enjoyable WWII adventure with a superfluous SF plot twist, courageous American flyers with the navy Blue Devil unit shoot down Japs above the Solomon Islands. The U.S. airmen, led by Lt. Cmdr. Drew McLachlan and based on remote Conquest Island, see fast and fierce action, occasionally suffering a tragic loss. Then, in the cinematic tradition of the period, the story veers into horror flick territory with SF undertones when the airmen discover peculiar savages in the caves of Conquest's mountainous landscape. For good measure, Rainey (The Lebo Coven) also throws in a gigantic, monstrous extraterrestrial with galaxy-ruling ambitions. The novel benefits from the author's obvious interest in WWII aircraft, and readers nostalgic for the era's war movies and pulp fiction will enjoy the ride. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Stephen Mark Rainey is author of the novels BALAK, THE LEBO COVEN, DARK SHADOWS: DREAMS OF THE DARK (with Elizabeth Massie), BLUE DEVIL ISLAND, and THE NIGHTMARE FRONTIER; the short story collections FUGUE DEVIL & OTHER WEIRD HORRORS, THE LAST TRUMPET, LEGENDS OF THE NIGHT, OTHER GODS, and THE GAKI & OTHER HUNGRY SPIRITS; the scripts for three DARK SHADOWS audio dramas (THE PATH OF FATE, CURSE OF THE PHARAOH, and BLOOD DANCE); and over 90 published works of short fiction. For ten years, he edited the award-winning DEATHREALM magazine, and has edited three anthologies (SONG OF CTHULHU, DEATHREALMS, and EVERMORE). Mark lives in Greensboro, NC.

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