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Black Hawk
IN THE vast trackless solitudes of the Amazon jungle dwells the bird of evil omen — the black hawk.
Not the somber silent ghoul of the upper air which drops to rend and destroy after the hand of Death has struck — not the urubu vulture. Far more sinister is the black hawk, caracara-i. The vulture is but the follower of fate. The hawk is the harbinger of doom.
Not the somber silent ghoul of the upper air which drops to rend and destroy after the hand of Death has struck — not the urubu vulture. Far more sinister is the black hawk, caracara-i. The vulture is but the follower of fate. The hawk is the harbinger of doom.
169 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2011
6 people want to read
About the author
Arthur O. Friel
47 books4 followersDuring much of career Arthur Olney Friel was one of the bestselling writers of pulp fiction in the United States.
Born in Detroit, Michigan,Friel, a 1909 Yale University graduate, had been the South American editor for the Associated Press which provided him with real-world experience. In 1922, he took a six-month trip down Venezuela's Orinoco River and its tributary, the Ventuari River. His travel account was published in 1924 as The River of Seven Stars.
After returning from the Venezuela trip, many of Friel's stories were set in that part of the world. He remained a popular writer of adventure stories throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1930s, his short stories began appearing regularly in the various pulp magazines. His stories were almost always set in Venezuela.
The 1920s were his most productive time as a fiction writer, with an average of 5 appearances per year in Adventure during that time. The thirties were less productive, but he still managed to have one or two stories every year published in Adventure, except 1937, when he had none.
He seems to have stopped writing fiction by the time WW2 came around. The decline of the pulps may have been a contributing factor.
Arthur O. Friel died in Concord, New Hampshire in 1959 at the age of 73.
Born in Detroit, Michigan,Friel, a 1909 Yale University graduate, had been the South American editor for the Associated Press which provided him with real-world experience. In 1922, he took a six-month trip down Venezuela's Orinoco River and its tributary, the Ventuari River. His travel account was published in 1924 as The River of Seven Stars.
After returning from the Venezuela trip, many of Friel's stories were set in that part of the world. He remained a popular writer of adventure stories throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1930s, his short stories began appearing regularly in the various pulp magazines. His stories were almost always set in Venezuela.
The 1920s were his most productive time as a fiction writer, with an average of 5 appearances per year in Adventure during that time. The thirties were less productive, but he still managed to have one or two stories every year published in Adventure, except 1937, when he had none.
He seems to have stopped writing fiction by the time WW2 came around. The decline of the pulps may have been a contributing factor.
Arthur O. Friel died in Concord, New Hampshire in 1959 at the age of 73.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 4, 2022
Another thoroughly enjoyable adventure from Arthur O. Friel. Once again, his two favorite Amazon adventurers, Pedro and Lourenco, appear in a quest down rivers and streams to dethrone a would be king of the jungle, Black Hawk, who is gathering an Indian army to challenge the rest of the Amazonian basin. Joining Pedro and Lourenco, once again, is Thomas Mack, an American explorer whose exploits with a handgun and background story implies he is from Texas. Of course, Black Hawk is overthrown. But in the process, too, a captured American young woman and two Indian allies are also saved from fates worse than death at the hands of Black Hawk.
This shortish "novel" originally appeared as a contribution to the magazine, Adventure, almost one hundred years ago. Not only are its characters familiar but so is its quest mechanism, whereby the mythos of the earliest of tales, Gilgamesh and The Odyssey finds itself transplanted to the jungles of South America. Episodic adventures punctuate the story until its predictable, albeit satisfying, conclusion. As usual with Friel, the atmosphere feels complete. You become one with the time and the place. Always fun to read Friel.
This shortish "novel" originally appeared as a contribution to the magazine, Adventure, almost one hundred years ago. Not only are its characters familiar but so is its quest mechanism, whereby the mythos of the earliest of tales, Gilgamesh and The Odyssey finds itself transplanted to the jungles of South America. Episodic adventures punctuate the story until its predictable, albeit satisfying, conclusion. As usual with Friel, the atmosphere feels complete. You become one with the time and the place. Always fun to read Friel.
Displaying 1 of 1 review