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The first volume of The Fighting Heart of Man (FHM) was released last December by Luke Goozdich and Nathanael Hummel. They run the Men’s Adventure Fiction Podcast together and are part of a spearhead movement to bring back the style of pulpy men’s adventure writing, to which I and others have used as an excuse to step into the arena.

Goozdich has a couple of titles under his belt, while Hummel has a web series where he acts out his stories. Check them out. Together they have created a volume of short stories that reminds me of a Louis L’Amour omnibus. L’Amour didn’t just write westerns, he had boxing and adventure stories too. Likewise, the stories in FHM spans different genres including pirates, westerns, some uncharted tomb raiding, boxing, and international adventure.

I bought this for myself as a stocking stuffer and read it over the Christmas break. I read several of the stories in one sitting while smoking a cigar and avoiding my in-laws. It paired nicely. (I want to remind the reader that I am not paid to promote a book. If I like it I’m going to write a review on it. I liked this one.)

The first story in FHM is about a pirate hunter with supernatural powers and I’m hoping Goozdich writes more because that was hot out the gate. The westerns weren’t some white-hat “gun-dummy” story either, they were each unique and did credit to the genre. I was a little jealous of them, actually, because it was outside the box story-telling.

One of the characters I hope to read more of is Hummel’s Nate Colt. His treasure hunt story, complete with Chinese commandos and a shoulder holstered Beretta M9, read exactly like a novelization of an action movie. The part where he leaps for the strut of a helicopter while simultaneously shooting a guy in said helicopter is exactly what Van Damme would do. Farfetched? Yes. Cool to read? Heck yes. It’s a great example of pulp fiction.

The final story in FHM was the best. Goozdich and Hummel had two of their characters–World War I ace pilot and adventurer Noah Redford, and the Italian Han Solo grandparent of Nate Colt named Salvatore Coltellino–interact in the same universe, and therefore they split the writing up too. Perspective changes are the clue as to who is writing, but it’s not distracting and it worked well. I don’t recall reading anything like that before.

Redford’s part doubles as a combat sports story reminiscent of Kickboxer. He doesn’t accept the bribe to take a dive against the national champion and fights on. Sal plays the part of enforcer with a heart of gold, an anti-hero rocking a .45 automatic in the shoulder holster rather than the Beretta. I want more of those two and I hope to read more in FHM volume 2.

Regardless if you like your .45 in long colt or ACP, you’ll like these stories.

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