Brand of the Werewolf / Fear Cay

Doc Savage: Double Features #11, 19

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name)

Doc Savage teams up with his beautiful cousin in the Lester Dent novels that introduced the character of Patricia Savage. First, the Man of Bronze and his Iron Crew investigate the murder of Doc's uncle. The only clues, a strange ivory cube and the mysterious "Brand of the Werewolf," set them on the trail of an ancient mystery. Then, after a failed kidnapping attempt, Doc and Pat Savage travel to the West Indies and encounter flesh-eating ants and a 130-year-old man on the strange island called "Fear Cay". This collector's item pulp reprint features the classic color pulp covers by Walter Baumhofer, interior illustrations by Paul Orban, and historical articles by Will Murray.

Genres: Pulp, Fiction, Action

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2007

About the author

Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:

William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson

Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.

All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorite Doc stories paired together in this collection.
In 'Werewolf' Doc travels to the Canadian wilderness to tangle with a criminal gang and the monster from the title. It also features the very first appearance of Doc's pistol packing, adventure loving hot babe cousin, Pat Savage.
'Fear Cay' involves dastardly criminals, a tropical island and the secret of immortality.

Two great reads.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

As soon as I charged my Kindle 2 I downloaded Lester Dent's "Brand of the Werewolf." Originally published in 1934 and reprinted by Bantam in the '60's. This was the 11th Doc Savage adventure written by Dent, under the pseudonym of "Kenneth Robeson."

While on the train to vacation at the Canadian home of Doc's uncle, the gang receives a mysterious telegram. The mystery deepens with the death of Doc's uncle. For the first time, Doc is joined by his beautiful cousin Pat....

[Nate Wermer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually pretty interesting. The book was written in the 1930's and fascinated me with the language. It has the same sort of awkward dialog you find in many old black and white movies where a character will explain to everyone else (including the reader) what is happening. You will get bombarded with how Doc Savage is a man among men, a sort of demi-god that us lesser mortals can never hope to come close to.

[Ron Gilmette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Pulp stuff. Actual story and not wall to wall explosions. The makers of G.I Joe and Transformer movies should take note of this.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: this review is based off the Bantam paperback version of this novel (not pictured above)

Back Cover Blurb:

Seeking to avenge his brother’s murder, Doc Savage and his daring crew become involved in a desperate hunt for the lost treasure of the pirate, Henry Morgan. Stalking them every inch of the way is the archfiend, El Rabanos, and his strange ally, the werewolf’s paw!

My take:

This early Lester Dent Doc Savage pulp novel from 1934 starts out pretty well, with Doc and his five aides on a train en route to Canada for a much-needed vacation (perhaps the only time they do so in the entire 181 book series). The villains aren't particularly interesting this time out (there's no mysterious deadly gadget being deployed here, for one thing) and the novel ends up as an enjoyable but distinctly average adventure tale by Doc Savage standards. Besides the infamously misleading (if wonderful) Bantam cover, which promises a mano-y-mano battle between the Man of Bronze and an actual werewolf -- which of course doesn't occur in the story-- this book is notable mainly for the introduction of Doc Savage's striking and statuesque cousin Patricia, who would appear another 40 or so times throughout the series. Dent's writing is a little smoother than in some of his first stories, but his descriptive powers aren't in full evidence yet, and BRAND lacks the colorful, globe-trotting high adventure and memorable action of the best Doc Savage novels. Still a fun enough read, though, and recommended to pulp fans.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've come a long way since I first read these in my early years. Two good entries, but not as much wow factor as when I first came across them. Not that they weren't well written. It's clear Dent was finding his footing with these. Fear Cay gave a lot of screen time to Renny, Long Tom, and Johnny, which was a pleasant surprise; I'd forgotten that, especially later books focused more on Monk and Ham among Doc's companions.

I think they suffered because I knew what was behind the mysteries.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Brand of the Werewolf only. Not Fear Cay.