The Radio Detectives

by A. Hyatt Verrill

The radio detectives centers on youthful ambition, technological curiosity, and the tension between discovery and danger. A young boy with a passion for building a crystal radio set finds encouragement in his home environment, where his interest in emerging technologies is seen as a worthy pursuit. This enthusiasm quickly develops into a collaborative effort with a close friend as the boys attempt to construct more advanced devices. Their scientific exploration takes an unexpected turn when they begin receiving cryptic radio transmissions. These mysterious signals shift the narrative from invention to investigation. The unfolding story follows the duo as they try to decode the strange messages, revealing traces of hidden plots and suspicious activity. The novel blends the wonder of early radio experimentation with the suspense of a developing mystery, capturing how tools meant for communication can unexpectedly become instruments of revelation. The characters are propelled by both curiosity and moral resolve, making their journey one of intellectual growth and ethical choice. Through dialogue, experimentation, and unexpected consequences, the boys are drawn deeper into a situation where their knowledge and courage must meet real-world challenges.

Genres: Classics, Ebooks

156 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Alpheus Hyatt Verrill, known as Hyatt Verrill, was an American zoologist, explorer, inventor, illustrator and author. He was the son of Addison Emery Verrill (1839–1926), the first professor of zoology at Yale University.

Hyatt Verrill wrote on a wide variety of topics, including natural history, travel, radio and whaling. He participated in a number of archaeological expeditions to the West Indies, South, and Central America. He travelled extensively throughout the West Indies, and all of the Americas, North, Central and South. Theodore Roosevelt stated: "It was my friend Verrill here, who really put the West Indies on the map.”

During 1896 he served as natural history editor of Webster's International Dictionary., and he illustrated many of his own writings as well. In 1902 Verrill invented the autochrome process of natural-color photography.

Among his writings are many science fiction works including twenty six published in Amazing Stories pulp magazines. Upon his death, P. Schuyler Miller noted that Verrill "was one of the most prolific and successful writers of our time," with 115 books to his credit as well as "articles in innumerable newspapers." Everett F. Bleiler described Verrill's "lost race" stories as "more literate than most of their competition, but stodgy."

When the Moon Ran Wild (1962) was published posthumously using the name Ray Ainsbury.

Reviews

[Bettie]

Opening: A hurricane had swept through the West Indies leaving death and destruction in its path and wrecking scores of vessels, uprooting trees, stripping the tops from palms, destroying crops and blowing down the flimsy native houses.

Now that it was over and there was no danger of its return those ships that had escaped the storm within snug harbors began to creep forth to resume their interrupted voyages. Some were uninjured. Others had rigging or deck fittings carried away, while some were so badly crippled that they limped as rapidly as possible towards the nearest dry dock for repairs.

Among them was a lean gray destroyer which slipped out of Coral Bay at St. John and headed her sharp prow southward. That she had borne the brunt of the terrific gale was evident, for of her four funnels only two were standing, her decks had been swept bare, fathoms of her railings had been carried away and from half way up her military mast she was white with encrusted salt. But she had received no vital injury. From her two remaining funnels dense volumes of smoke were pouring, a busy crowd of bluejackets labored like ants at repairing the damages to superstructure and fittings and, despite the buffeting she had received and the fact that half her boilers were out of commission until the funnels could be replaced, she slid through the oily seas at a twenty-knot clip.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42545