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Doc Savage (Bantam) #189
The Whistling Wraith
Called to Washington, Doc Savage confronts an unstoppable, untouchable mad monarch who disappeared years before.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
5 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Robeson
917 books134 followersKenneth 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 23, 2016
The Whistling Wraith is a good, solid Doc Savage adventure that features the whole band of five associates and Pat as well. It's a more complex mystery that usual, and perhaps deserves the "scientific-detective" tagline that the later years of the magazine carried. Fun-filled pulpy goodness!
July 11, 2019
One of the new Doc Savage novels of the 90’s, Will Murray worked from an outline from original series writer Lester Dent, so it feels authentic to the original pulps. Doc Savage books are fast paced pulp writing, with simple characters, lots of action, and a solid mystery. If you have read a Doc Savage novel before, you know what you are getting into, and the only major difference between this and the original pulps is the length, almost twice as long as the stories from the 30’s and 40’s.
This novel has all of the long standing supporting characters, the “Fabulous Five” team of Doc’s assistance, and his cousin Pat, most of whom were written out in the later novels. The mystery is complex, a missing Kind, a supposed ghost and a complex financial scheme, but in the end, it all comes down to Doc and his men using their superior science, fisticuffs and careful planning, always disclosed after the nearly fatal incident occurs. The book moves rapidly, the prose is sufficiently pulpy, and everyone gets some time in the spotlight.
The best thing about the book, to my mind, is how it works as an introduction to the Doc Savage adventures. Characters are brought in, and their backstory is explained, albeit rather ham fistedly, and the story follows the standard pacing of a pulp novel. This is a fun, diverting read for a couple of lazy summer afternoons and makes you feel like you are reading a lost Doc Savage magazine from the mid 1930’s.
This novel has all of the long standing supporting characters, the “Fabulous Five” team of Doc’s assistance, and his cousin Pat, most of whom were written out in the later novels. The mystery is complex, a missing Kind, a supposed ghost and a complex financial scheme, but in the end, it all comes down to Doc and his men using their superior science, fisticuffs and careful planning, always disclosed after the nearly fatal incident occurs. The book moves rapidly, the prose is sufficiently pulpy, and everyone gets some time in the spotlight.
The best thing about the book, to my mind, is how it works as an introduction to the Doc Savage adventures. Characters are brought in, and their backstory is explained, albeit rather ham fistedly, and the story follows the standard pacing of a pulp novel. This is a fun, diverting read for a couple of lazy summer afternoons and makes you feel like you are reading a lost Doc Savage magazine from the mid 1930’s.
June 11, 2024
This is one of the best Doc Savage stories. I've read them in chronological order and this harkens back to the originals, but a fresh take on super-tech. It also shows Doc being human and falable, making the story more intense while not detracting from the supra-human that is Doc that we've all come to know and love. Can't recomend this novel strongly enough.
February 6, 2017
Great book"Well written adventure of Doc Savage.
October 9, 2015
In The Whistling Wraith, a visiting king disappears en route from Blair House to the White House and Doc Savage is called in to investigate in broad daylight with cameras watching. Doc Savage is sent to Washington to investigate and things only get more mysterious as there’s a mysterious woman, kidnapping, a plot involving currency, and most mysteriously the appearance of the whistling specter of a long-dead king.
For those not familiar with Doc Savage, the"Man of Bronze" is a pulp hero created by Lester Dent in 1933. He was raised by a group of scientists and experts in various disciplines to the peak of human mental and physical perfection. He's extremely wealthy and famous with a wide variety of adventures. He was created in 1933, so he pre-dated the superhero genre. To put him in a modern context, it'd be fair to say Doc was part Batman, part Sherlock Holmes, and part Indiana Jones. He's surrounded himself with assistants, accomplished men in their own fields, all with their own eccentricities such as the "homely chemist" Monk Mayfair and the "dapper lawyer" Ham Brooks.
This book was written by Will Murray in the 1993 based on an idea by Lester Dent and is one of the best Doc Savage stories I've encountered. This book does several things right.
First, it has an interesting way of treating Savage's assistants. Usually novels either limit Savage to two or three of his five assistants or include all five but have them keep getting lost. This book took a different tact with the assistants split into two groups for most of the book, with two in one and three in another. As they rarely shared the same scene, everyone got a chance to shine.
Second, this novel gave Savage some challenges he usually doesn't have. Savage is wealthy, brilliant, physically near superhuman, and holds an honorary rank of Police Inspector in London and in New York as well as an honorary Federal Agent and can obtain the cooperation of any civilized police department on Earth, a favor Doc usually returns by telling the police nothing about his investigations.
However in The Whistling Wraith, Doc and friends find the NYPD has revoked Doc's honorary commission. When the police are called by Doc's foes (who have conveniently planted a body on the premises), Inspector "Push 'em Down" Samson of the NYPD shows up trying to collect, its up to Doc to put him off until he can solve the case. While in other stories, having a police foil is clichéd. Here it provides Doc some needed tension and it's a nice change of pace.
Also, Doc and his assistants have to dodge the press and public, who are far more aware of him than he'd like after a story appeared in a true crime magazine. Their being hounded by photographers and autograph seekers on the street is an interesting element and something you'd expect given how these characters are and it was brilliant of Murray to put that in.
Third, this is a really complicated mystery that borders on being convoluted, but I don't think crosses that line. At first glance, it appears to be a simple mystery disappearance with a bit of a ghost mystery thrown in. However, the Whistling Wraith is a story of not just strange disappearances and murders but currency manipulation, political intrigue, and science fiction shenanigans. I guessed part of the solution before the end, but there was a lot I didn't know and the reveal was really good.
As to negatives, two things stand out. First is the portrayal of political stuff in Congress. It was completely unrealistic as described, even for the 1930s era the story was set in. While this story was in the style of pulps, it wouldn't have hurt the story to tell the political stuff realistically rather than making processes up. As it was, the unbelievable political scenes took me out of the story.
I also have to admit I didn't like Doc's treatment of Patricia "Pat" Savage in this story. Pat is Doc's only living relative and wants to take part in his adventures. Sometimes he lets her, often he insists she stays out of it and she persists anyway. In this story, his efforts to keep her out are rude, abrupt, and way too pushy, even as she shows herself more competent than ever, rescuing three of Doc's men after overcoming a kidnapper. I felt sorry for Pat and infuriated with Doc for the way he kept treating her.
Still, despite these flaws, this is a solid pulp story. Yeah, it has the normal flaws you associate with a Doc Savage novel (and accept if you're a fan of the Man of Bronze), but it's also got a great plot and some really fascinating turns.
For those not familiar with Doc Savage, the"Man of Bronze" is a pulp hero created by Lester Dent in 1933. He was raised by a group of scientists and experts in various disciplines to the peak of human mental and physical perfection. He's extremely wealthy and famous with a wide variety of adventures. He was created in 1933, so he pre-dated the superhero genre. To put him in a modern context, it'd be fair to say Doc was part Batman, part Sherlock Holmes, and part Indiana Jones. He's surrounded himself with assistants, accomplished men in their own fields, all with their own eccentricities such as the "homely chemist" Monk Mayfair and the "dapper lawyer" Ham Brooks.
This book was written by Will Murray in the 1993 based on an idea by Lester Dent and is one of the best Doc Savage stories I've encountered. This book does several things right.
First, it has an interesting way of treating Savage's assistants. Usually novels either limit Savage to two or three of his five assistants or include all five but have them keep getting lost. This book took a different tact with the assistants split into two groups for most of the book, with two in one and three in another. As they rarely shared the same scene, everyone got a chance to shine.
Second, this novel gave Savage some challenges he usually doesn't have. Savage is wealthy, brilliant, physically near superhuman, and holds an honorary rank of Police Inspector in London and in New York as well as an honorary Federal Agent and can obtain the cooperation of any civilized police department on Earth, a favor Doc usually returns by telling the police nothing about his investigations.
However in The Whistling Wraith, Doc and friends find the NYPD has revoked Doc's honorary commission. When the police are called by Doc's foes (who have conveniently planted a body on the premises), Inspector "Push 'em Down" Samson of the NYPD shows up trying to collect, its up to Doc to put him off until he can solve the case. While in other stories, having a police foil is clichéd. Here it provides Doc some needed tension and it's a nice change of pace.
Also, Doc and his assistants have to dodge the press and public, who are far more aware of him than he'd like after a story appeared in a true crime magazine. Their being hounded by photographers and autograph seekers on the street is an interesting element and something you'd expect given how these characters are and it was brilliant of Murray to put that in.
Third, this is a really complicated mystery that borders on being convoluted, but I don't think crosses that line. At first glance, it appears to be a simple mystery disappearance with a bit of a ghost mystery thrown in. However, the Whistling Wraith is a story of not just strange disappearances and murders but currency manipulation, political intrigue, and science fiction shenanigans. I guessed part of the solution before the end, but there was a lot I didn't know and the reveal was really good.
As to negatives, two things stand out. First is the portrayal of political stuff in Congress. It was completely unrealistic as described, even for the 1930s era the story was set in. While this story was in the style of pulps, it wouldn't have hurt the story to tell the political stuff realistically rather than making processes up. As it was, the unbelievable political scenes took me out of the story.
I also have to admit I didn't like Doc's treatment of Patricia "Pat" Savage in this story. Pat is Doc's only living relative and wants to take part in his adventures. Sometimes he lets her, often he insists she stays out of it and she persists anyway. In this story, his efforts to keep her out are rude, abrupt, and way too pushy, even as she shows herself more competent than ever, rescuing three of Doc's men after overcoming a kidnapper. I felt sorry for Pat and infuriated with Doc for the way he kept treating her.
Still, despite these flaws, this is a solid pulp story. Yeah, it has the normal flaws you associate with a Doc Savage novel (and accept if you're a fan of the Man of Bronze), but it's also got a great plot and some really fascinating turns.
November 29, 2013
Not up to the standards of the old/original Doc Savage books. To twisty with the plot and gratuitous violence, not like the "simple" pulps. To me, this read more like a modern mystery, not like the escapism straightforward original Doc Savage books. That my appeal to some, who want it "updated", but still with the traditional depression-era setting. Also, I am willing to suspend my belief in some areas to go along with the plot, but this one went too far, including a police chief who hated Doc and wanted to arrest him, and Pat Savage as a tag-along, instead of an honorary member of Doc's band.
November 22, 2016
A "new" adventure of pulp hero Doc Savage. Clever mystery and a satisfying conclusion. For the most part it stays true to the tone and characterizations of the original novels, although Pat Savage comes off as more flighty than I remember.
July 30, 2009
new Doc Savage written by Will Murray. based on an outline by Lester Dent.
May 3, 2016
read some time in 1993
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews