Tom Quest #7 Inca Luck Piece and #8 Timber Giant

In Tom Quest #7, The Inca Luck Piece, Hamilton Quest is asked to study a stone that came from an Inca temple.  The stone contains uranium, and the United States government wants to locate the source of the uranium before communists can exploit the information.

This book feels different from the rest of the series.  Almost the entire book is set inside a mansion on an island in the St. Lawrence River.  The plot is solely a mystery and not an adventure.  Someone who is staying in the mansion is trying to learn about the source of the uranium, so Tom, Whiz, and Gulliver investigate.

The book strongly reminds me of a few of the higher-numbered Beverly Gray books that are mysteries.  While some of the similarity is because of the story, the rest is because of the actual book itself.  The book is a Clover edition, and the higher-numbered Beverly Gray books are Clover editions.  The pulp paper in the Clover books has a certain smell, which reminded me strongly of Beverly Gray.
 
The previous book, The Secret of Thunder Mountain, has an advertisement for this book.  The ad reads:

What was the significance of the Inca Talisman?  What connection did it have with the project Tom Quest and his friends were conducting in a hidden valley in the Andes?  You'll find the answers to these questions in the exciting story of Tom's next daring adventure, a story so packed with thrills and surprises that you won't put it down till you have finished it.  It's called

THE SEARCH FOR THE INCA TALISMAN

The title is a draft title that was changed before The Inca Luck Piece was published.  This is common to have a title that is wrong in a blurb for the next book in the series.  What strikes me as strange is that the plot is also wrong.  Tom and his friends do not conduct a search in a valley.  They spend nearly the entire book in a mansion and aren't searching anywhere for anything.

In Tom Quest #8, The Mystery of the Timber Giant, Tom, Whiz, and Gulliver come to the aid of two men who are at risk of being swindled out of their land which contains valuable timber.

By the title of the book, I expected a giant man to be the focus of the plot.  Gulliver is rather large, but he is not the timber giant.  The timber giant is the man in charge of the syndicate responsible for cheating men out of their land.

From page 170:

Gulliver's indifference to peril would never cease to be a source of wonderment to Tom Quest and Whiz Walton.  The big man sat grinning as if highly amused at the sight of the stranger who held the gun.

"Now," he said, "things are gittin' interestin'.  Speak yo' piece, stranger.  Why'd yo' come here wavin' that hardware?"

And that is why Gulliver is so amazing.  He is truly the star of the series.

This book is a rewrite of Fran Striker's book, Gene Autry and the Redwood Pirates.  I have not read the Gene Autry book, but I have heard that this book is better than the original version.

I greatly enjoyed this book.

Tom Quest #5 Hidden Stone and #6 Thunder Mountain

In Tom Quest #5, The Hidden Stone Mystery, Hamilton Quest has been accused of fraud!  Quest identified the Mandan stone as genuine, but experts have proclaimed that he was mistaken.  At stake are the minerals rights to a parcel of Mandan land.

On page 10, we learn that about a year has passed since Hamilton Quest returned from staying with the Mandan Indians.  This means that more than one year has passed since the early books in this series, yet Tom is still 17 years old.

In Tom Quest #6, The Secret of Thunder Mountain, Tom and Whiz stay with Gulliver on his ranch in Texas.  Tom found some strange rocks on nearby Thunder Mountain, but the rocks disappeared.  Soon, Tom learns that the rocks are important, and he is determined to find out more.

The meals are described in great detail in the Tom Quest books.  A particularly yummy meal is described on page 49.  The meal includes roast beef, smoked ham, turkey breast, homemade bread, strawberries and cream, milk, cold beans, apple sauce, jams, jellies, condiments, and an apple pie.  Gulliver declares that the meal is just a "snack."

The books are approximately 180 pages beginning with this title.  The first five books are over 200 pages.

I enjoyed learning about Gulliver's ranch and getting to know more about Gulliver, although I prefer the exotic locations.

I greatly enjoyed both of these books.

Tom Quest #3 Cypress Stump and #4 Lost Mesa

In Tom Quest #3, The Clue of the Cypress Stump, Tom, Whiz, and Gulliver search the Florida everglades for a hidden cache of stolen uranium.  The only clue is a cypress stump.

I knew what the significance of the cypress stump would be as soon as I knew the basis for the mystery.  The plot summary on the dust jacket mentions how the climax of the mystery would be when the cypress stump "yields its secret."  The secret is obvious from the beginning.

This book features Captain Popple, who is a magnificent character.  Captain Popple is spunky, and he is a little man with a piping voice.  In his own way, Popple is as great of a character as is Gulliver.  I wouldn't have minded seeing Popple appear in a another book, but alas, this is the only one with him.

The fight scene near the end of the book is a bit long for my taste.  This lengthy fight scene is the only scene in the entire Tom Quest series that was tedious for me.

This is a very good book.

In Tom Quest #4, The Secret of the Lost Mesa, Tom, Whiz, and Gulliver search for a lost Aztec civilization in Mexico.  The civilization is said to be located on an isolated mesa.  Soon, the group realizes that someone is trying to keep them away from the mesa for some sinister purpose.

On page 13, we learn that Tom found a camera on a beach in Mexico.  The camera contained a roll of film that had been fully exposed.  Tom removed the film and mailed it to his father so that his father could develop it.  Meanwhile, Tom advertised in a couple of papers in an attempt to find the owner of the camera so that it could be returned.  Um, what about the film?  I thought it a bit high-handed that the film was removed and mailed away to be developed.  Wouldn't the owner want the film as well as the camera?

Of course, the film is the clue to the lost mesa and necessary to the plot of the book, but still, Tom had no right to mail the film to his father to be developed.

On page 63, Tom, Gulliver, and Whiz are driving through the jungle in Gulliver's jeep when they spot a map that has been pinned to a tree.  The map appears to show the path to the lost mesa.  So of course, Tom and Whiz decide that finding the map is fortuitous and that they should change paths to follow it. 

It's just like if I were to walk out on my porch one morning to find a mysterious cupcake waiting for me.  I don't know who put it there, so I should eat it, right?  No!

At least Gulliver is suspicious of the map and investigates its path alone, or else the entire expedition would have been doomed.

This book is so full of adventure that by page 92 I felt like the book ought to be almost over.  So much had already happened!

On page 104, Gulliver thinks about how the "Indians in Texas and in Oklahoma were primitive people."  He concludes that he could interact with the lost Aztec civilization in the same manner in which he has dealt with the Indians of Texas and Oklahoma.  This book was written in 1949.  The Indians of Texas and Oklahoma couldn't have been that primitive in 1949, certainly not so much as an Aztec civilization that supposedly had been isolated for centuries.

But then again, the lost Aztec civilization was not quite so primitive as one would expect.  A couple of the Indians could speak some English, so they had been in contact with modern civilization.

This book is also very good.

Tom Quest #1 Sign of the Spiral and #2 The Telltale Scar

In Tom Quest #1, Sign of the Spiral, Tom Quest learns that a recent photograph of John Hanford has surfaced.  John Hanford disappeared along with Tom's father, Hamilton Quest, ten years ago while on an expedition in the jungles of Peru.  Tom's mother died of illness, and soon after, Tom's father and John Hanford were captured by natives.  The men have been presumed dead all these years.  Hamilton Quest's friend, Gulliver, brought Tom back to the United States and looked after Tom, making sure he went to school.

Now, ten years later,  Gulliver sends Tom a letter that includes a recent photograph of a native wearing a brooch that was fashioned in the shape of Hamilton Quest's Archimedes spiral.  The only way the native could have the brooch is if he came into contact with Hamilton Quest.  Soon, Gulliver and Tom learn that John Hanford has reappeared, so they travel to Horsehead, Texas, where Hanford is said to be staying with his stepdaughter, Barbara.

Gulliver is a great character, and he is the centerpiece of the series.  Gulliver has many strange habits.  For instance, Gulliver removed the windshield from his jeep because he finds it easier to step out of the front of his jeep and across the hood.  Gulliver also believes in driving in a straight line to his destination, through fields.

This book is suspenseful from the very beginning. Striker tells a good story, getting the reader intrigued from the beginning.

On page eight, "Tom acted impulsively.  Leaping from the seat, he used a trick learned from his Math instructor who had been a Commando."  That made me laugh.  Imagine a teacher showing the students some good Commando moves after a daily lesson.  

On page 74, Whiz "used his thumbnail to snap an old-fashioned wooden match into flame."  As opposed to what?  Don't we still use wooden matches even now, nearly 70 years after this book was published?  I did a minor amount of research into matches, and I assume that the "old-fashioned" wooden matches had a head made of different materials that were no longer in common use in 1947.

In Tom Quest #2, The Telltale Scar, Tom, Gulliver, and Whiz travel to Peru in search of Hamilton Quest.  A plane has been chartered to Ecuador, and preparations begin for the trip.  Alonzo Perry warns the group that someone is trying to kill Tom, and at about the same time, a bomb is delivered to their room.  The group learns that Perry is from Ecuador, so it is agreed that he can fly to South America with them.  Gulliver seems suspicious of Perry, but Tom is certain that Perry can be trusted.

In Ecuador, the group prepares to trek into the jungle towards Peru, where Hamilton Quest disappeared.  Gulliver is infuriated that Perry continues to linger in the vicinity, but finally, Perry vanishes.  Natives are hired for the journey, and all is going well.

I like that Gulliver is not easily taken in by smooth-talking villains.  Gulliver is easily the most important character and the real star of the series.

I greatly enjoyed both books.