When a vivacious blonde convinces
Monk Mayfair to skip an important sea voyage to London, and instead run off to
her Louisiana plantation, Ham Brooks is very suspicious.
After Doc Savage enters the picture,
things start popping. As in fists and guns. Finding themselves on a steamship
bound for the Caribbean, Doc, Ham, and a reluctant Monk become embroiled in
wartime intrigue surrounding the question of who is desperately trying to keep
them off the Northern Star, and why?
From
New York City to the Bahama Banks, Doc Savage and his mighty men follow the
trail, making new allies along the way, until they plunge into a hurricane of
horror only some will survive....
The Secret of Satan’s Spine (Doc
Savage Adventure)
By Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent &
Will Murray)
“The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage”
ISBN #978-1618272164
Price $24.95
374 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
Blonde bombshell Davey Lee intercepts Monk and Ham at a
restaurant, pretending to be stricken with the homely chemist. As usual, Monk
falls for her wiles, while Ham figures it’s some kind of plant. After all, Monk
is scheduled to depart on the Northern Star steamship for London in a few days
to work on an important project for the British war effort. But Monk agrees to
accompany the girl to Louisiana instead. However, at the station she appears to
be abducted, and this leads to a battle royal with a group of gangsters.
Finding a clue left by the girl, Doc, Monk, and Ham board
the Northern Star, where most of the adventure takes place aboard ship. Here
they discover several old friends they knew from a previous adventure, plus a big
black sailor named Jury Goines sometimes helps out. The mysterious gang is also
on board, but in disguise. Doc and his team are trying to find out what they
are up to.
The case comes to a wild climax when the gangsters, acting
as pirates, take over the ship, kill many of the sailors, and then ground the
vessel near Queer Cay. Here the gangsters lead a team of sailors to Satan’s
Spine for unknown reasons while a hurricane fast approaches. Doc follows,
hoping to rescue the seamen, but might end up needing rescued.
I first discovered Doc Savage in 1964 while serving with
the Army in France, finding THE THOUSAND-HEADED MAN in the Stars & Stripes
Book Store. At that time Will Murray was probably eleven years old. It’s
interesting that I’m still reading the Doc Savage novels, Steve Holland still
poses as the Man of Bronze on the covers, and the novels read as well today as
they did 51 years ago. This one definitely lived up to “the wild adventures” of
Doc Savage, and was a page-turner from the very start. Although we don’t see
the mysterious blonde again after her abduction, we do learn what became of her
when Doc relates the tale to his men. I admit I was a little confused about the
date this story took place. At one point we’re told Doc discovered a certain
gadget “last month,” and the note gives us DEATH HAD YELLOW EYES, February
1944, which should make this March 1944. But then Monk makes this statement:
“Like the infantry took Normandy Beach.” The infantry took Normandy Beach on June
6, 1944. So I can’t place the exact time, except German U-boats were still
active in the Atlantic, and WWII had not ended yet, so we’re in 1944 or ’45,
for sure. If a date was actually given, I must have missed it. Regardless, this
is a topnotch adventure, and I highly recommend it to adventure lovers, and Doc
Savage readers specifically.
Tom Johnson
Author of COLD WAR HEROES
