A Pulpy Good Adventure
Author Stephen Jared recently sent me a copy of his new book, Jack and the Jungle Lion, a fun little adventure story fans of serials, pulps or screwball comedy should enjoy. The plot involves an Errol Flynn style action star in the late thirties heading off to South America to film his latest action extravaganza, when the plane crashes in the jungle and the action star demonstrates how inept he is in real life situations. Luckily there is an atractive and tough minded female animal handler, think Katherine Hepburn, who is more than capable of keeping everyone safe as they try to get back to civilization. But then she is captured by natives, forcing the star to dig down and prove exactly what he is capable of. After returning to the US, roles get reversed and the animal handler finds herself in the unfamiliar territory of trying to navigate the ego fueled world of Hollywood during the Golden Age. Will true love win out?
This is a pleasant little book, full of action, witty banter, and physical comedy, probably the only book I have ever read that includes both a hair raising escape from angry natives and a hysterical pie fight at a Hollywood party. At 115 pages it is a quick read and the book has a nice breezy style that sucks you in with all of the fun character types classic movie fans are familar with, the ineffective hero who changes, the tough hard woman who softens, two precocious kids who are actually a help instead of getting in the way, a boozy pilot, the past her prime starlet who only hears what she wants to hear, a cheerful and enthusiastic studio boss who is also the nicest guy in the world (hey it’s called fiction for a reason), helpful natives and a funny monkey.
If you are interested in learning more go to www.jackandthejunglelion.com, and for information on the author go www.stephenjared.com.
Your review perfectly sums up a lovely little adventure story. Nice one!