Six Scarlet Scorpions

When a man so anemic that he could be a vampire’s victim comes to Patricia Savage for rescue, the impetuous girl can’t say no. Excitement is her meat and danger her dessert. Accompanied by Doc Savage aide, Monk Mayfair, Pat finds herself in the worst danger of her life. Wanted for murder, hounded by the minions of a weird mystery figure calling himself Chief Standing Scorpion, narrowly evading the hordes of the Vinegarroon tribe, the bronze-skinned golden girl battles her way to a sinister secret cached in an ancient ruin. From the oilfields of Oklahoma to the forbidding Ozark Mountains, the trail of scorpionic doom winds. Will Pat Savage’s first great adventure also be her last?

Six Scarlet Scorpions (Mystery/Adventure)

Wild Adventures of Pat Savage #1

By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)

Altus Press www.altuspress.com

ISBN #978-1618272744

Price $24.41

358 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Topnotch Premiere Adventure.”

Monk Mayfair is with Pat Savage in Oklahoma, where he’s helping the bronzed beauty lay claim to oil leases. They start out in trouble when a crook sabotages her rented plane while trying to beat her to a lease. They survive the crash, and then Monk pulls a stunt on the crooks, allowing Pat to make the lease first. But their troubles aren’t over. When they reach town they run into a man almost dead from lack of blood. While rushing him to the hospital a gang waylays them and a cop is killed at the scene. But now Pat and Monk are on the investigation of this weird mystery. A mystery that involves the Vinegarroon whip scorpions and a tribe of Osage Indians led by Tall Turkey and the mysterious robed leader, Standing Scorpion.

Readers and fans of the Doc Savage adventures have been waiting for this book since Will Murray took over the series. Patricia Savage, the bronzed cousin of Doc Savage, was always a favorite of the fans, having been introduced in Brand of The Werewolf. Mr. Murray found notes Lester Dent had proposed for a 1931 pulp adventure story, and turned it into a Pat Savage yarn instead, and the result might outshine Doc himself.

As a fan of Doc Savage I’ve always worried that Doc would run it course and cease to interest fans; after all, the original series ran for 181 (plus the unpublished RED SPIDER) stories in the pulps, and readers have wondered if new adventures would even be possible, and how long could new stories sustain the series? Well, I don’t think the interest will really fade, but if it should, I think Pat Savage will quickly revive the series. The Six Scarlet Scorpions is a topnotch tale that will insure success, and I’m sure we will see many more adventures of The Wild Adventures of Pat Savage in the future. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE BLACK BAT COMPANION