Doc Savage - Death's Dark Domain by Will Murray

Another fine Doc Savage adventure written by the inestimable Will Murray. This one features Long Tom more than most Doc adventures and it’s nice to see him get a major role for a change. This book is best read after reading The Fortress of Solitude from the original series run. The fate of John Sunlight from that novel looms over this one, mostly in regards to his having stolen a number of diabolical weapons and devices from Doc’s arctic workshop. Now it seems possible that one or more of them have found their way into the hands of two opposing countries in the Balkans, each of whom are intent on claiming a strip of land between the two and are not hesitant to use these unusual weapons.

Neither Renny nor Johnny make appearances in this one, both being off on projects of their own. Doc’s cousin, Pat Savage, only barely makes an appearance, just long enough to be exposed to anthrax and be thrust into quarantine and miss all the fun. So, it’s just Doc, Monk, Ham, and Long Tom who find themselves facing a variety of weird menaces including a bunch of invisible hairy cyclopes, vampires, unexplained patches of extreme blindness-rendering darkness, and hordes of aggressive giant leathery-winged bats. A nice assortment of other characters round out the cast and we are kept guessing as to who is really who they say they are and which are trying to get away with something. All the gadgets and seat-of-your-pants escapes that you hope for in a Doc novel are here. Perilous adventure abounds.

One of my least favorite parts of the original Doc Savage books are the endless squabbles between Monk and Ham. It just gets so repetitive and annoying. I think Will Murray feels the same. Of course, he must leave in the banter between the two and indeed, channeling Lester Dent seems to come second nature to him. But he really ratchets up the imagination when it comes to their insults and actually makes them fun to read. 

Looking forward to more of these Wild Adventures.