This fine little journey into the world of the macabre reminded me of those J.C. Henneberger Weird Tales I read by flashlight late at night when everyone else had gone to bed. The only sounds were those of pages turning, and the creaking of an old house that sounded as if someone or someTHING was coming down the hall toward my bedroom.

In this first selection from Bobby Underwood’s Noir Shots series, he lets us experience anew the spirit of the classic pulps and films of the 1940s through his spot-on, crisp prose. Underwood writes with a such an accurate knack for the flavor for the time period, you’d think he’d lived it.

Dangerous Crossing’s femme fatale, Brenda, “had a little-girl voice to go with that baby face, but a body that said she hadn’t played with dolls for a good long spell--probably not since she realized she was a doll herself.”

Our protagonist and narrator, Ken inevitably gets involved with her.

“She walked me through the pearly gates, let me run amok in heaven’s lush fields of gold, and took me down streets sweeter than State Fair cotton candy.”

I’m thinking, Uh, Oh, watch out, Ken! But, he is now too enamored by this goddess, and doesn’t heed my warning. Brenda becomes “like the piece of shrapnel the medic couldn't take out without killing the patient, because it was too close to the heart.”

Dangerous Crossing is like a fast trek along a winding road in a Buick Roadmaster. Hold on to your scarf or hat, and enjoy the ride. ( )