Cargo of Coffins

by L. Ron Hubbard

If Lars Marlin had three wishes, two have already been granted: he has escaped from Devil’s Island ... and he has come face to face with the man who put him there—Paco Corvino. But the third wish—putting a bullet in Corvino—will have to wait. Now the two are off to sea serving on a luxury yacht.

Corvino is a convict, con-man and killer who has schemed his way into a position as chief steward on a luxury yacht sailing out of Rio de Janeiro. And, in a twist as devious as it is diabolical, he’s managed to install Lars - his hated rival - as captain of the very same vessel. And there are even darker twists to come. . . .

Lars is determined to find out what Corvino has up his sleeve . . . and what killer cargo he’s hiding on board. But the yacht owner’s daughter proves to be a beautiful - and dangerous - distraction. Will Lars be safe in her arms . . . or is she part of Corvino’s plot - a deadly trap set with honey?

Don’t miss the boat—as the audio version of Cargo of Coffins brings to vivid life this scintillating story of suspense and surprising revelations at sea. “An exciting story that will keep the listener wanting more.” —Gil Wilson

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Mystery

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard. Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story, although the rich characters were so amazingly gullible that it weakened the story for me.
The basic premise, that a ship's captain previously framed for smuggling should seek revenge against the man who ruined his life, was fine, and well executed. From there, things got a little crazy, as the real smuggler/con man created a complex scheme that should have fallen apart at every stage.
Still, the action was good, and the resolution was at least temporarily sound...it might have only held up until the ship got to a real port, but at least it was satisfying within the context of the story.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid story with solid characters. If you like the genre and time period these stories are told in, you will like this story. This is perhaps to his strongest tale as it has a few holes that have grown bigger, over time to the point that one or two border on silly. But the tale is well told and when it was written, it would have been a pretty strong story.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This high seas adventure was originally published in Argosy Magazine in 1937, and I was surprised to note the differences between it and the similar tales that were published in the Five-Novels Magazines of the same period. It's much more focused on a fast-paced plot with less romance and less humor and less character development. The tone was darker than in most of his other pulp genre adventure stories that I've read. At one point I was a little amused (or bemused) because the villain wanted to feign death, which he succeeds in doing with no noticeable pulse or respiration... by using benj, which the glossary explains is a Persian word for marijuana. All I can figure is that he must have used a whole lot... Anyway, it's not a bad story, but I wouldn't count it among Hubbard's best.

[Trudi Jorda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lars Marlin has escaped from Devil’s Island . . . and he has come face to face with the man who put him there—Paco Corvino. Paco is a con man and a double crossing one at that. Lars just wants to go back to the thing he loves most- sailing. Paco has connived his way on to a ship where he has Lars act as captain for a beautiful, wealthy woman and then Lars hears the plot and has to fight off the men that Paco has smuggled on board the ship in coffins. Needless to say this is one wild ride. Referred to as "Pulp Fiction" it's a very gritty story and at the time of it's writing in the early 1900s there were several masters of Pulp Fiction. I won't give away the ending-- you need to read it to believe it!

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story; ending was kind of lacking since it was so quickly resolved.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typically overwrought pulp story from the prolific Hubbard.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Great Adventure On The Seas.”

Lars Marlin escaped from Devil’s Island after being falsely accused by a shipmate. Lars had caught Paco Corvino smuggling heroin and turned him in, the wily crook planted the drug in Marlin’s compartment also, and both went to the French island prison. Lars is trailing Corvino now, who also escaped, with plans to kill him, but he ends up as ship captain to a wealthy young woman, whom Corvino plans on capturing for ransom. Marlin can’t tell young Teresa Norton about Corvino’s plans, as the crook holds his escape from prison over his head, but Marlin still plans on murdering him. When Corvino brings four coffins on board from the prison island, with the help of Miss Norton, things start happening that will decide Marlin’s future, and that of the ship and Miss Norton.

This was another exciting yarn from the master storyteller. Highly recommended.

[Kaj Samuelsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For once I had trouble sleeping, so I decided to listen to a story to relax. I took as story I started long ago but never finished as I did not like the beginning, the feeling of "everything is set up and there is no way out". Anyway, I continued the story and it started to be interesting even though I still could not see any way out of it, and then it got more and more intense and I noticed that instead of the planned relaxation I became more and more tense and could definitely not sleep, so I listened to the whole story and then could not stop thinking of the characters in the story, so I gave up trying to sleep.
Well, I will not recommend this book as a sleeping pill.

[nooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read any Hubbard and only had knowledge of his scifi and his pseudo religion, so didn't really now what to expect. Audible marked this one as noir and I think it falls well into that category. I liked the characters and Audible did a full cast with sound effects drama for it which is always fun. None of the characters were quite black and white either which is always more interesting. Might have to check out some other stuff by Hubbard.

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you looking for an audio book filled with adventure that takes place on the high seas, you will find it in this well performed rendition of L. Ron Hubbard’s tale. There is plenty action as two bitter enemies come face to face with an old score to settle. The multicast performance and sound effects only add to the excitement.

[Martin Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Reposted from Amazon) While I would never call this great literature, it is truly a perfect example of nineteen-thirties pulp fiction, with a vile villain, a rich leading lady, and a down and out wrongly accused hero to come to her rescue. What more could you want?

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK I READ IN THE SERIES. NOW, I CANNOT READ ENOUGH OF THIS ENTIRE SERIES!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found several L. Ron Hubbard pulp fiction titles at a discount store. A quick read and thoroughly enjoyable. Well written for the genre. Definitely worth the $1.50!

[Harold · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would make a great black and white movie. Pity they can't get Carol Lombard and Clark Gable to play the leads.

[Arlomisty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun book... originally published in 1937... the main character kind of reminded me of Indiana Jones...

[Joseph Patchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as neat as the title.