Charles Ardai is set to do for the pulp adventure novel what he has already done for the pulp crime novel. Ardai, whose Hard Case Crime imprint will celebrate its 50th title later this year (his own Fifty to One), has announced a new imprint, the Adventures of Gabriel Hunt. The series, which will launch next summer, will “chronicle the travels and travails of modern-day explorer Gabriel Hunt, who scours the globe in pursuit of precious artifacts, lost civilizations, and secrets that could save the world…or destroy it."

Much like the Hard Case books, the covers will be original paintings in the classic style (the image at right will adorn the first).

“These books are for anyone who grew up reading H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs or watching Harrison Ford wield his bullwhip at the movies,” said Ardai. “We’re talking classic adventure fiction, complete with horses, snakes, shovels, pickaxes, torches, traps, bottomless pits, barroom brawls, jungles, jewels and just about everything else that’s ever made your heart beat faster.”

In a neat twist, each book will be credited to Gabriel Hunt, though some familiar Hard Case Crime authors will actually pen the works. They’ll take him to Borneo, Guatemala, Turkey, Egypt, Antarctica and the Kalahari Desert, according to Ardai.

The series will debut in May, with a new book due every other month after that. If Hard Case Crime is any indication, these will be well worth reading.

Labels: books