These stories, written in the late 1920s, are typical of the tropical adventures pulp genre and they’re fairly good examples of that genre.
In The Blue Fire Pearl Singapore Sammy is confined in the dungeons of an evil crazy maharajah. Sammy is still looking for his father, not out of filial affection but because his old man cost him his inheritance and he wants that money. His father has two obsessions, elephants and pearls. This maharajah’s realm has plenty of both. Sammy is to be pitted against another American captive in a boxing match. The winner gets his freedom and a fabulous blue pearl worth a fortune. The loser will be executed.
A temporary alliance might be useful, but it might also be dangerous. A competent story.
The second story, Cobra, also concerns pearls. Specifically a black pearl. Singapore Sammy is robbed and left for dead and he’s out for revenge. All he knows about the man responsible for the attack is that the guy has the eyes of a cobra. Sammy also has to help out an old buddy down on his luck. Maybe he can do that in a way that will further his bid for vengeance. What Sammy needs to do first is to turn a small amount of money into a large amount and he has a rather clever plan to do just that.
Sammy’s plan is clever and the story itself is very clever and a lot of fun.
In South of Sulu that blue pearl leads Sammy into another dangerous adventure. He is tempted by stories that the pearl is one of two identical pearls and of course the two together would be worth a vast fortune. He also feels that he may be getting close to finding his father. Perhaps it’s the thought of owning two blue pearls that makes him careless. He falls victim to a card sharp. He finds himself in big trouble, and those sharks (real sharks not card sharks) may be an even bigger problem.
Plenty of action in this tale and a nicely gripping finale in which Sammy faces apparent certain doom.
In The Pink Elephant Sammy really does find a pink elephant. At least it’s a baby elephant that is not the normal elephant colour and and that makes it sacred. And being sacred makes it fabulously valuable. Unfortunately Sammy is not the only adventurer who knows about this elephant. Sammy hoped to get rich and win the favour of the King of Siam but now his problem is how to get out of the kingdom alive. He is very hot on his father’s trail now but his father is smart and treacherous and ruthless.
Some good double-crosses and some humour in this entertaining tale.
Octopus is a story about a real octopus and a man known as the Octopus. Both are equally dangerous. It starts with two American sailors being fleeced in a card game. This is a situation that is always likely to end in a brawl but in this case the consequences are much more serious.
One unexpected consequence is that Sammy turns treasure-hunter, in partnership with one of the sailors. It’s sunken treasure and deep-sea diving for treasure is perilous at the best of times. We’re talking old school deep-sea diving here, not scuba diving. Finding the treasure is easy. The problems start once they find the treasure. A fine exciting story.
All five stories are good. The first story is slightly the weakest but the other four are excellent.
This is fine pulp adventure fiction that makes good use of its exotic settings and provides ample thrills. Highly recommended.
The Blue Fire Pearl is one of the titles in the excellent Argosy Library series from Steeger Books.
I’ve reviewed one of the collections of Peter the Brazen Far East adventure tales, The City of Stolen Lives (written as Loring Brent). I think the Singapore Sammy stories are stronger than the Peter the Brazen stories.
I’ve reviewed one of the collections of Peter the Brazen Far East adventure tales, The City of Stolen Lives (written as Loring Brent). I think the Singapore Sammy stories are stronger than the Peter the Brazen stories.
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