Glare of The Gorgon

Why did a desperate man shave his head before visiting Doc Savage headquarters, only to be struck down, his pulsing brain turned to inert stone? What sinister secret did his strange slaying silence? And how was a lizard-green shadow resembling Medusa branded on Doc’s office wall?

These are only some of the questions confronting the Man of Bronze as he pursues a grisly trail of petrified corpses to post-Prohibition Chicago, whose criminal underworld is being terrorized by a serpent-haired demon engaged in a seemingly senseless slaughter spree whose ultimate target will shake Doc Savage’s men to their core.

Suspects are many, clues baffling. Death and danger lurks everywhere they turn––symbolized by the silhouette of a faceless Gorgon.

From the concrete canyons of Manhattan to the coal fields of Illinois, Doc Savage tracks a phantom fiend the likes of which he has never before hunted. Or is he the one being hunted?

Glare of The Gorgon (Doc Savage Adventure)

The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage

By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)

Altus Press www.altuspress.com

ISBN #978-1618272386

Price $24.95

510 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Smoothly Written, Fast Paced, And Thrilling Adventure.”

Ned Gamble contacts Doc Savage from the train he’s arriving on from Chicago, to expect him. But he’s being followed, and before he reaches the safety of Doc’s headquarters, he is killed in the hallway and an odd green figure is found on the wall where he died. When Doc examines him, he finds the man’s brain calcified. Ned is carrying a newspaper with an article covering the death of a scientist in Chicago that appears to have a bearing on the case. At present, Long Tom Roberts is attending the Chicago Exposition of Science, and Doc notifies him to contact Janet Falcon, the last person Ned Gamble was in contact with. Finding the girl is easy, but Long Tom is quickly captured, and the case is running full steam with the Greek mythical Gorgons playing a hideous death note. The story quickly moves to Chicago where the Exposition becomes a backdrop for some of the action.

Although the cover isn’t one of my favorites, the author’s writing continues to mesmerize the reader from the first page onward. The writing is smooth, the plot fast-paced, and the adventure is filled with thrills. Doc’s aides, the five greatest minds in the world – next to Doc – have to be shown a little dumb in order for Doc to appear so smart, but these longer stories tend to make them even dumber than they would normally seem in a pulp-size adventure of 120 pages. In this novel we see that clearly. Not that it distracts from the novel, I just feel the author should give them a little more intelligence in these longer tomes. However, the author has another winner on his hands. Highly recommended to Doc Savage fans, as well as adventure lovers around the world.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH

The Secret of Satan's Spine

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”

Altus Press www.altuspress.com

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