| Dan Perry : An Unusual Series Comments By Mark Johnson |
| Book #1. Radium Island A few weeks ago I came across a listing on eBay for three books in the Dan Perry series. They were in nice condition with colorful dust jackets and they intrigued me. I added the books to my "watch list" and was shocked when they fetched a top bid of over $225.00. I decided I would keep an eye out for this series and on a recent trip to one of the local used book stores I was lucky enough to find a reading copy of "Radium Island" which is the opening story. "Radium Island" is not your standard series book fare. In some ways it resembles a combination of, Tom Swift Sr. and Ted Scott with very small dollops of Tom Quest and Rick Brant thrown in. The author of the Dan Perry Series was Kent Sagendorph and as far as I can tell, these three books were his only foray into juvenile series writing. Published by Cupples and Leon, the book itself is well bound and not unattractive, with a glossy frontispiece and 208 pages. The story begins with Dan Perry trying out a new Lockheed Electra airplane that belongs to his father Anson Perry, a famous explorer. Dan's sidekick is Shorty Keenan. Shorty's father serves as Anson Perry's navigator but does not actually appear in this story. The plot involves an island that has fabulous reserves of the ore that produces radium. The island is in Canadian territory , not far from Alaska. Anson Perry discovered the island but now a Russian named Varkofsky wants to take it away. I won't spoil the book for anyone who has not read it, so I will say only that Anson Perry is taken captive by his enemies, who then take over the island. The rest of the book tells the story of Dan and Shorty trying to right the situation, aided by Canadian Mounties and some of the area natives. The writing style of Sagendorph is somewhat unusual and uneven. The action scenes are very well done, and the flying sequences are the best I have come across. However, the writing is bumpy during chunks of dialogue and when new people or situations are introduced. Sagendorph wrote several biographies, a history of Michigan University, and a book about the air power of the United States. One can imagine that he was probably far more comfortable describing real events and actions, then he was writing dialogue and constructing a fictional plot. In addition to the dialogue oddities, there are other weak spots. The boys run across a fellow named Angus (he pretty much just falls out of the sky) who is nothing more than a device to bridge two parts of the main story. Apparently unable to come up with a better idea, the author has Angus appear, twists and turns him to make the whole scenario work, and then dumps him 30 pages later, never to refer to him again. There are some grisly passages for a kids book. For instance there is death, killing and torture. Also there is talk of suicide as a way to get out of slavery. I don't want to mislead you into thinking that the whole book is this way, because large sections of it could be from any of a dozen series. There are however several departures from the standard fare. It was of interest to me that a Russian was cast as the arch villian. This book came out in 1938 before WWII and long before the Cold War made it an accepted fact that Russians are always causing trouble. Overall the writing is superior to most series books and I would rank it somewhere in that vast gulf between Rick Brant and Tom Swift Jr. The plot is engrossing and the heros certainly earn their victory. Except for Rick Brant and Don Scott in the "Veiled Raiders", I can not recall any series book protagonists being held captive for so long and humiliated the way Dan and Shorty are. "Radium Island" is a good book that kept me turning the pages all the way, and I look forward to finding and reading the rest of the series. Mark Johnson June 9, 2000 |
| Book #2. Beyond the Amazon As related in a review a while back, I read the first book of this series, "Radium Island", and was favorably impressed. So when I located book two on eBay a few days later I was pleased and looked forward to another good read. Ever heard of the Sophomore Jinx? "Beyond the Amazon" gets off to a great start as Dan Perry and his comrades discover that another of Anson Perry's claims has been jumped. Before you know it, Dan, Shorty, and a salty dog named Scrappy Larkin are off for Brazil and the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle. This time it is a diamond mine that is at issue. A couple of American criminals have set up a phony state and claimed the mine as their own. I say "phony" because while that is what it really is, the Brazilian authorities actually credit it as legitimate. I have no clue what Brazil was like in the 1930's but according to this book, the jungle was pretty much anything goes. In the Brazil of "Beyond the Amazon" anyone could set up a state and be recognized by the central government. The justification for this was that the government wanted to tame the jungle and thus would grant official status to anyone who was game to try. The first few chapters make for good reading, as the Perry group prepares to enter the jungle and take back their property. Then things start to slide downhill. The book quickly goes from fantastic to ridiculous. Then basic editorial booboos start to crop up until it appears that either no one edited the last 150 pages or a complete incompetent did. For instance on page 50 Scrappy explicitly says "I'm an engineer" , and yet 56 pages later Dan finds a map Scrappy drew and since it is well done and very accurate he thinks that "Scrappy must have acquired some engineering training somewhere!" Maybe it happened while he was studying for that engineering degree. Then there is the character named Dom Pedro. He ranges from cheap and crooked bureaucrat to King of the Jungle, from quivering coward to fearless and fearsome man hunter, from slimy enemy to trusted friend. This book continues the odd writing style of "Radium Island" where there is often a lot of running around and "action" that leads no where and seems to involve no rational thoughts or plans on the part of the heros. This is also true regarding the bad guys. Chapter 7 is titled "A Declaration of War" and after a little skirmish in which things don't go well for the forces of evil, we are told that: "...Even Shorty could not foresee the terrible revenge in store for them from the enraged Graziano. Nobody...had any idea that Graziano would violate every fundamental of civilized conduct, ride roughshod over every human restraint, hunt them and pursue them with the crazed, relentless fury of a hungry animal" Wow! Sounds like some real action is ahead doesn't it? Never happens. Graziano does little more than throw a temper tantrum and smack a few native boys around. It is as though the author took a vacation between chapters and on his return forgot about all the bloodthirsty stuff Graziano was going to do. This book also has a comical attitude toward the natives. They are portrayed as being pretty useless, given to firewater, superstitions, and above all, great cowering fear and awe of the white man. The bad guys have hundreds of natives that they have reduced to near slavery. The Perrys also have natives on their side. Yet most of the "battles" involve the white guys fighting and the natives doing nothing. An example of this is near the end of the book when Dan is hot on the trail of one of the bad guys named Da Costa. Dan and Da Costa both find cover and take turns wasting bullets while Da Costa's loyal natives wade out into reptile infested waters and watch. Now for the most amazing part. Overall this book features absolutely appalling editing and very sloppy writing, yet the plot and locale is so interesting and the writing so good in certain segments, that I read it very quickly and enjoyed it greatly! I don't know what to say. It is a lousy book and I recommend it! I have been lucky enough to get ahold of all three books, and when I get around to reading the final one I will be back to tell you about it. Mark Johnson June 21, 2000 |