Sunday, October 13, 2019

Tom Swift and His Jetmarine

Cover of my copy. 

Just finished the #2 book of The New Tom Swift Jr Adventures series, Tom Swift and His Jetmarine. I read book #1 a few years ago but wanted to read them in order.

The Tom Swift Jr. series is a juvenile sci-fi series that began in the late 1950 and was produced by the same organization and same publishers of Nancy Drew.

Frontispiece for TOM SWIFT and His Jetmarine.

The book was first published in 1954 and the author is attributed to Victor Appleton II; illustrations are credited to Graham Kaye. The joke is that the author of the original Tom Swift series (i.e., the father of Tom Swift Jr.) was Victor Appleton.

This book has 25 chapters spread out over 208 pages. Based on the yellow spine, my copy was probably printed after 1962. Twelve illustrations are included.

This is the inside story version of the cover illustration.

All the books in the series use a similar approach to telling the story. Something or someone is missing and Tom Swift Jr. and friends solve the mystery via a variety of encounters along the way. In the Nancy Drew series, they were able to reduce the number of chapters to 20 by eliminating some episodes.

I read these books right before bed. Because of the cliffhanger approach to the chapters, I often end up reading 2 or 3 chapters in order to get to a logical stopping point.

The summary of the book:
The atom-powered, two-man submarine is launched just in time for Tom and his pal Bud to set out to rescue Tom's father, who has fallen into the hands of the pirates. The wily enemy pulls no punches in trying to wreck the amazing Jetmarine that outspeeds any sub and is able to plunge miles to the ocean floor. Breathtaking running battles through hurricanes and gunfire, thrilling struggles with undersea monsters, imprisonment and escape from the pirate stronghold are part of the excitement.
These are fun books because they are innocent and exciting. Despite all the twists and turns, you know that the Good Guys will win in the end.

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