The Phantom Patrol
The Story of a Coast Guard Officer, a Drug Runner, and a Sea of Trouble
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The story of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott. A man as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he’s about to lose everything—his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Long before Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips fell into the hands of modern-day pirates, Johnny faced the same high-stakes action on the high seas. He’s cunning has always outwitted his antagonists, but now the odds have turned and he must pull off the ultimate drug bust. An adversary that has emerged from the deep blue. Johnny has met his match.
The Phantom Patrol marked a turning point in L. Ron Hubbard’s fiction. In writing this story he recognized the vital importance of research and realism. To that end, Hubbard toured Coast Guard vessels and interviewed officers who were actually involved in chasing down drug smugglers. The resulting authenticity and success of the tale was a sign of things to come. Read The Phantom Patrol and experience the development of a unique voice in storytelling.
“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.
