Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men

By: Jim Beard

Narrated by: Fred Wolinsky

One of the most popular heroes of the 1960s returns in his first ever full-length novel. Super-spy and master of disguises Miles Drake, aka Captain Action, investigates the Riddle of the Glowing Men.

Foreign assassins are sent to kill Captain Action, and though he manages to defeat them, it is their lifeless bodies that pose the greater mystery as they give off a green, glowing radiation. Teamed with a beautiful and seductive Russian Agent, Captain Action travels to the barren, frozen wastelands of Siberia where the secret behind the glowing men lies buried in a fantastic lost underground world. It is a secret also pursued by his most dangerous nemesis, the alien-born Dr. Evil.

What is this strange power hidden beneath the Earth that could destroy all of mankind, and who will unlock its mysteries first?

Riddle of the Glowing Men is a classic pulp thriller packed with enough intrigue, daring escapes, and breakneck adventure to fill a dozen books. Featuring a stunning cover by artist Nick Runge, it presents a well-loved hero to a new audience eager to experience his special brand of two-fisted battling - Captain Action style!

©2012 Jim Beard, CA Enterprises LLC (P)2016 RadioArchives.com

Cool like old time radio

What made the experience of listening to Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men the most enjoyable?

It was fun kind of like listing to a old time radio show but all at once

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sean the side kick

Which character – as performed by Fred Wolinsky – was your favorite?

Captain Action da da ta here he is to save the day

Fun way to spend a few hours

Where does Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would say in the top 20

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well Captain action of course, love his Travels to the barren and the frozen wastelands of Siberia

Have you listened to any of Fred Wolinsky’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First book by this author

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me smile, very easy to listen to and very enjoyable

Any additional comments?

First of all in all fairness and in the spirit of openness, let me tell you that I received a free copy of this book from the narrator. Let me also preface this by saying I am not a big fan of Pulp fiction, but this book may have changed my mind about that. The Author, Jim Beard, took an Iconic action figure from the late 1960’s and brought him to life. The story takes place during the Cold war era and while I was not crazy about the yacht cap our hero wore , that seemed a bit odd, the story its self was enjoyable. The descriptions of the various locals provided imagery and added that level of realism needed. Very well done. There were characters left out from the original stories, but this had no effect on this novel.

In summary if You are looking to spend some time with a highly entertaining book, this is one you should read. It’s fun and not to “serious” , I may now need to read more modern Pulp fiction.

Austin Powers is no where to be seen

Yeah, baby! Dr. Evil is back! (No relation to the Austin Powers Doctor Evil) His return spells crummy luck for Captain Action. CA is a solid rough and tumble guy who is up to any challenge. That belief is tested when he encounters oddly glowing men who keep trying to take him out. After he survives the assualts he is given the mission of discovering where they came from, and to aid him in this task he is teamed with a super sexy Russian defector, who just happens to harbor a few dark secrets and an agenda all her own. This is set during the Cold War, when the tensions between the US and Russia were at a breaking point.

This book is a pulp homage to characters like Doc Savage. This isn't meant to be considered as high literature, this book is pure escapist fun. It is rife with action, adventure, danger, and daring-do! It is chalk full of pulpy goodness, and I completely respect the hell out of Jim Beard for being able to pull something like this off. Seriously, he explains a lot of stuff, like why he wears a captain's hat and has a sidekick. He also does one heck of a job introducing you into CA's world, with spectacular explanations for who Cap works for, Advanced Command for Telluric Interdiction Observation and Nullification or A.C.T.I.O.N. for short. What I love is that Beard plays this completely straight. Yes, the character is based off of an action figure from the 60's but he still plays this like it was set in real life. That is why this story works oh so well. This has a feel like Indiana Jones meets the Eiger Sanction.

The narration is great, I think that Fred Wolinsky really captured the vibe of the story, and the era it was set in, and he played it perfectly. It was a wonderful performance, and I actually believe he ws the best man to read this book. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.


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The reader is boring

I thought this would be interesting and exciting pulp science fiction novel. Instead the reader of this story was so monotone and had such long pauses between words that it was boring and uninteresting to hear this story.

Poorly Narrated

The reader had a strange forced sounding intensity and monotone that he maintained throughout the read. It was unpleasant and lacked vocal variety and color. I just couldn't finish listening. I'll buy the hard copy.