The Phantom Patrol
The Story of a Coast Guard Officer, a Drug Runner, and a Sea of Trouble
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott is as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he's about to lose everything-his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Johnny's mission is to track down drug runners in the Gulf of Mexico, and he's got his eye on the biggest fish of all-Georges Coquelin. But an SOS from a downed plane that's sinking fast leads him straight to disaster... Coquelin springs a trap. Stranding Johnny and the plane's passengers on a deserted island, the drug smuggler commandeers Johnny's boat and his name. In the company of a weak-kneed millionaire and a long-legged beauty, Johnny's at the end of his rope-which could turn into a noose around his neck. He's got nothing left to lose... and there's nothing he won't do to reclaim his reputation. Rev up your engines and get ready to ride a wave of action and intrigue as The Phantom Patrol delivers an unsinkable adventure.
"Nonstop action and a hero to root for." - Publishers Weekly * An International Book Awards Finalists
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hubbard was a popular writer of the pulp fiction era, and this short novel, first published in the January 1935 issue of Five Novels magazine, shows why: it features nonstop action and a hero to root for. Coast Guard skipper Johnny Trescott, who's hot on the trail of drug-runner Georges Coquelin, changes course to answer an SOS from wealthy James Ferguson, whose plane has ditched in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, Georges arrives at the scene in time to kidnap Ferguson and shanghai Johnny, his crew, and his boat. Johnny eventually escapes, only to find that piracies Georges committed with Johnny's Coast Guard scow are being blamed on him. Though much of the writing is generic, the story moves briskly and maximizes the scenes of gunplay and hand-to-hand combat. Hubbard knew how to fulfill reader expectations for this sort of tale.
