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All-New Wild Adventures of Doc Savage #7
Doc Savage: The Miracle Menace
When out of work magician Gulliver Greene stumbles upon a man who claims to be Christopher Columbus, still alive in 1937, it's only the start of the most complex plot ever to involve the incredible Doc Savage.
Called to the sleepy farm town of La Plata, Missouri, the Man of Bronze plunges into the enigma of the vanishing Victorian house. Is it haunted? Is it even real? Can Doc solve the mystery––or will he be sucked into the unknown vortex into which it disappears?
From his supersecret Crime College to a sinister island in the Great Lakes, Doc Savage and his brilliant team race to assemble the most baffling webwork of Halloween horrors ever encountered. For many weird mysteries beyond human ken converge in the Missouri wilderness in this, the wildest Doc Savage adventure yet!
Called to the sleepy farm town of La Plata, Missouri, the Man of Bronze plunges into the enigma of the vanishing Victorian house. Is it haunted? Is it even real? Can Doc solve the mystery––or will he be sucked into the unknown vortex into which it disappears?
From his supersecret Crime College to a sinister island in the Great Lakes, Doc Savage and his brilliant team race to assemble the most baffling webwork of Halloween horrors ever encountered. For many weird mysteries beyond human ken converge in the Missouri wilderness in this, the wildest Doc Savage adventure yet!
- GenresTime Travel
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
19 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Robeson
918 books134 followersKenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:
William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson
Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.
All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.
William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson
Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.
All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 4, 2017
Well, I'll be superamalgamated! There have certainly been some crazy adventures for Doc and his courageous crew, but this one tops them all! There are many unique aspects to this yarn that marks not only as the most unusual Doc Savage adventure, but also the most complicated, the most bizarre, the most unbelievable and ... well, let's just say the most nostalgic and leave it at that.
There's some much going on in this story that I don't know where to begin: Christopher Columbus, missing treasure, stage magicians, evangelicals, miniature dirigibles, Halloween, a vanishing Victorian house, murder, mayhem, daring escapes, mind-reading scams, ... gasp ... I'm exhausted just trying to remember everything that happens in the convoluted course of this case! (and there's MORE that I'm purposely NOT mentioning because those are Spoilers!)
As part of Will Murray's Wild Adventures of Doc Savage this one takes the award for being the wildest of them all (at least of this I've read so far) and I can't even begin to imagine how Murray could come up with one any wilder than this without completely jumping-the-shark. And believe me, this one come awfully close to doing just that - but Murray reins it back at just the right moment to keep it barely believable. Well, as believable as ANY Doc Savage adventure can be, Wild or not.
There's some much going on in this story that I don't know where to begin: Christopher Columbus, missing treasure, stage magicians, evangelicals, miniature dirigibles, Halloween, a vanishing Victorian house, murder, mayhem, daring escapes, mind-reading scams, ... gasp ... I'm exhausted just trying to remember everything that happens in the convoluted course of this case! (and there's MORE that I'm purposely NOT mentioning because those are Spoilers!)
As part of Will Murray's Wild Adventures of Doc Savage this one takes the award for being the wildest of them all (at least of this I've read so far) and I can't even begin to imagine how Murray could come up with one any wilder than this without completely jumping-the-shark. And believe me, this one come awfully close to doing just that - but Murray reins it back at just the right moment to keep it barely believable. Well, as believable as ANY Doc Savage adventure can be, Wild or not.
July 23, 2015
Corny and outdated? Yeah. Over the top? Most definitely. Fun? ABSOLUTELY! Doc Savage has always been my favorite hero. He and his 5 sidekicks, Monk, Ham, Renny, Long Tom and Johnny make every book a wonderful adventure. One I am more than happy to partake in.
October 19, 2013
Doc Savage the Miracle Menace
I have been a Doc Savage fan since I was a kid. To this day he is still my favorite pulp hero. Will Murray began writing new Doc Savage tales about 20 years ago and then stopped. Recently he started again, and his newest Doc tale is called the ‘Miracle Menace’. I have to say that there have been some great stuff in Will’s Doc books, as well as some mediocre ones.
But this newest story may be the best one yet. I read this in two days, spending hours at a time reading it. It involves a magician, his assistant, Christopher Columbus (Yes you read that correctly), a savage Indian tribe, a mysterious house, an international spy ring, a group of evangelicals, as well as telepathy.
In all honesty this was my favorite of Will’s ‘Docs’. It was exciting and interesting. All in all I thought it was great.
Just to make sure you don’t think I’m gushing without restraint, I’m going to list a few things I didn’t like about it as well. First I didn’t like that Doc didn’t seem as infallible as in previous books. I don’t like that in my hero’s, especially not Doc. At one point he’s battling this Indian chief, and he actually thinks he’s going to lose. Yet later on he soundly kicks the guy’s butt, which made up for the earlier fight. Then in another section of the book he emerges from the mysterious house dazed and confused almost. His skin actually looked pale, as if he had been frightened. Again I did not like that. I’m fine with him being surprised by something or a foe being underestimated, but Doc is Doc.
Now that being said, beyond those two incidences, this was an amazing and fantastic book. Though there was one part of the book where Monk squared off to fight Doc and Doc kayoed him with a gas pellet. I would have liked to have seen them fight. I know Doc is stronger than Monk, and certainly better looking, but I think a fight between Doc and an infuriated Monk (Which is what we had here) would have been fun to see. Later on Monk and Long Tom almost square off, yet Monk is hesitant. The rest of the crew were taking bets, with Ham actually wagering on Monk to win. That’s where my money would have lay too.
This was just great fun and a fantastic adventure absolutely worth the name of the “Wild Adventures of Doc Savage”
No doubt about this one, five stars, handily.
I have been a Doc Savage fan since I was a kid. To this day he is still my favorite pulp hero. Will Murray began writing new Doc Savage tales about 20 years ago and then stopped. Recently he started again, and his newest Doc tale is called the ‘Miracle Menace’. I have to say that there have been some great stuff in Will’s Doc books, as well as some mediocre ones.
But this newest story may be the best one yet. I read this in two days, spending hours at a time reading it. It involves a magician, his assistant, Christopher Columbus (Yes you read that correctly), a savage Indian tribe, a mysterious house, an international spy ring, a group of evangelicals, as well as telepathy.
In all honesty this was my favorite of Will’s ‘Docs’. It was exciting and interesting. All in all I thought it was great.
Just to make sure you don’t think I’m gushing without restraint, I’m going to list a few things I didn’t like about it as well. First I didn’t like that Doc didn’t seem as infallible as in previous books. I don’t like that in my hero’s, especially not Doc. At one point he’s battling this Indian chief, and he actually thinks he’s going to lose. Yet later on he soundly kicks the guy’s butt, which made up for the earlier fight. Then in another section of the book he emerges from the mysterious house dazed and confused almost. His skin actually looked pale, as if he had been frightened. Again I did not like that. I’m fine with him being surprised by something or a foe being underestimated, but Doc is Doc.
Now that being said, beyond those two incidences, this was an amazing and fantastic book. Though there was one part of the book where Monk squared off to fight Doc and Doc kayoed him with a gas pellet. I would have liked to have seen them fight. I know Doc is stronger than Monk, and certainly better looking, but I think a fight between Doc and an infuriated Monk (Which is what we had here) would have been fun to see. Later on Monk and Long Tom almost square off, yet Monk is hesitant. The rest of the crew were taking bets, with Ham actually wagering on Monk to win. That’s where my money would have lay too.
This was just great fun and a fantastic adventure absolutely worth the name of the “Wild Adventures of Doc Savage”
No doubt about this one, five stars, handily.
October 10, 2013
While reading The Miracle Menace, I knew it was a different kind of Doc Savage novel, but I didn’t know how different until I heard Will Murray on a podcast interview, where he spilled the beans.
This new WILD adventure of Doc Savage is actually two stories in one, and those stories alternate chapters, moving gradually on a converging course. One storyline has Doc and his pals investigating and old house that won’t stay put; one moment it’s there, the next it’s gone, and next thing you know it’s back again. The other story involves an out of work magician and his assistant in La Plata, Missouri, where people keep telling them that Christopher Columbus is alive and living in the 20th Century.
It happened like this: Among Lester Dent’s papers, Will Murray found an unpublished novelette called “Spook,” set in Dent’s home town of La Plata. The novelette involved that temporarily-retired magician, Gulliver Greene, and his near-identical assistant Spook Davis. And, as I mentioned, Christopher Columbus. Will liked the story, and got the idea of incorporating it into a Doc Savage novel.
His solution was to collaborate with Dent in a way he’d never done before. Chapter 1 is all Dent, introducing Gulliver Greene, and Chapter 2 is all Murray, involving Monk, Ham and Doc. The novel follows that pattern for the first thirty-nine chapters, when Doc and Gulliver finally put their heads together and charge into the climax. As Will describes it in the podcast, “All the Doc Savage chapters are mine, all the non-Doc Savage chapters are Lester Dent’s, and near the last third of the book we start to converge.”
I knew none of this until I’d finished the book, and it came as quite a surprise. It’s a tribute to Will’s skill as a writer that the story flows seamlessly from one chapter the next, offering no hint of this tag-team approach. Makes me want to read the whole novel again, just to admire how it was done.
The Miracle Menace is probably the most complex Doc novel ever written, but it all comes together nicely, leaving no loose ends, and even ties in elements from a couple of Dent’s classic Doc adventures. In short, it’s great entertainment, and it’s obvious Will Murray (and Lester Dent) had as much fun writing it as I did reading it.
This new WILD adventure of Doc Savage is actually two stories in one, and those stories alternate chapters, moving gradually on a converging course. One storyline has Doc and his pals investigating and old house that won’t stay put; one moment it’s there, the next it’s gone, and next thing you know it’s back again. The other story involves an out of work magician and his assistant in La Plata, Missouri, where people keep telling them that Christopher Columbus is alive and living in the 20th Century.
It happened like this: Among Lester Dent’s papers, Will Murray found an unpublished novelette called “Spook,” set in Dent’s home town of La Plata. The novelette involved that temporarily-retired magician, Gulliver Greene, and his near-identical assistant Spook Davis. And, as I mentioned, Christopher Columbus. Will liked the story, and got the idea of incorporating it into a Doc Savage novel.
His solution was to collaborate with Dent in a way he’d never done before. Chapter 1 is all Dent, introducing Gulliver Greene, and Chapter 2 is all Murray, involving Monk, Ham and Doc. The novel follows that pattern for the first thirty-nine chapters, when Doc and Gulliver finally put their heads together and charge into the climax. As Will describes it in the podcast, “All the Doc Savage chapters are mine, all the non-Doc Savage chapters are Lester Dent’s, and near the last third of the book we start to converge.”
I knew none of this until I’d finished the book, and it came as quite a surprise. It’s a tribute to Will’s skill as a writer that the story flows seamlessly from one chapter the next, offering no hint of this tag-team approach. Makes me want to read the whole novel again, just to admire how it was done.
The Miracle Menace is probably the most complex Doc novel ever written, but it all comes together nicely, leaving no loose ends, and even ties in elements from a couple of Dent’s classic Doc adventures. In short, it’s great entertainment, and it’s obvious Will Murray (and Lester Dent) had as much fun writing it as I did reading it.
April 25, 2023
Just about four stars. I had previously read Will Murray's SKULL ISLAND and was far from impressed with it. The title drew me to this book and it is a great improvement on Skull Island.
However, it could have been better. There are three groups. Doc and his men. The bad guys. And some other people who took up too much space to the detriment of Doc and his men. A hundred pages of them could have been shaved off the total to make the book better.
Christopher Columbus appears in the twentieth century. I don't know why Murray chose him. There is a time travelling house. Doc is trapped in the past when it is badly damaged. There are mind reading crooks. A religious sect. And a spy network belonging to an unnamed government.
However, it could have been better. There are three groups. Doc and his men. The bad guys. And some other people who took up too much space to the detriment of Doc and his men. A hundred pages of them could have been shaved off the total to make the book better.
Christopher Columbus appears in the twentieth century. I don't know why Murray chose him. There is a time travelling house. Doc is trapped in the past when it is badly damaged. There are mind reading crooks. A religious sect. And a spy network belonging to an unnamed government.
August 19, 2017
I thought this was one of the best of Murray's "Wild" Doc Savage adventures. It's far longer than any of Dent's originals at over 400 pages, but alternating chapters present different viewpoint characters and a secondary plot that fills up the pages pretty well. All five of the aides are on hand, too, as well as Habeas, though Pat isn't mentioned. I wasn't too keen on the idea of (spoiler ahead!) time travel in a Doc adventure, because that always just opens up too complex of a can of worms, but I'll admit Murray carried it off pretty well here. We have a returning villain from Repel, some cool gadgets and vehicles, and see some graduates of Doc's Crime College. Altogether, it's pulpy fun!
October 20, 2013
In almost exactly the same situation I found myself in with Death's Dark Domain, I'm sorry to say that I am putting this new Doc Savage novel on the shelf after reading only one-quarter of the way through The Miracle Menace (107 pages out of 430 to be exact). I just can't read this anymore -- the characters seem more like caricatures and the story is looking for an engaging plot, rather than being one.
It turns out that The Miracle Menace is made up of two distinct stories, alternating chapters, that are then combined 2/3 of the way through the novel. One, which had no relation to Doc Savage, is an unpublished novelette by Dent called Spook. Reading these chapters, it is clear why the novelette is (and should remain) unpublished. It just isn't very good. Every other chapter, the Doc chapters, are written by Will Murray. The "collaboration" falls flat.
Looking at the review ratings for the recent Doc novels on Amazon, it is not a coincidence that Skull Island has more five and four star reviews than the previous three Doc novels combined. And I'm not talking about combining Doc and King Kong, I'm talking about the fact that this is an original Doc Savage novel -- not based on an outline, not writing as a collaboration with an unpublished story or a fragment of underdone potato (oops, how did a quote from A Christmas Carol get inserted here?). There is a lesson in these Amazon ratings: that Doc readers respond strongly to original work. Yes, a few good stories did originally come out of Dent's unpublished papers in the last two decades (Python Isle particularly comes to mind), but now that these stories have long been mined, it's time to put the Kenneth Robinson/Lester Dent fragments aside and write new, original Doc Savage novels.
It turns out that The Miracle Menace is made up of two distinct stories, alternating chapters, that are then combined 2/3 of the way through the novel. One, which had no relation to Doc Savage, is an unpublished novelette by Dent called Spook. Reading these chapters, it is clear why the novelette is (and should remain) unpublished. It just isn't very good. Every other chapter, the Doc chapters, are written by Will Murray. The "collaboration" falls flat.
Looking at the review ratings for the recent Doc novels on Amazon, it is not a coincidence that Skull Island has more five and four star reviews than the previous three Doc novels combined. And I'm not talking about combining Doc and King Kong, I'm talking about the fact that this is an original Doc Savage novel -- not based on an outline, not writing as a collaboration with an unpublished story or a fragment of underdone potato (oops, how did a quote from A Christmas Carol get inserted here?). There is a lesson in these Amazon ratings: that Doc readers respond strongly to original work. Yes, a few good stories did originally come out of Dent's unpublished papers in the last two decades (Python Isle particularly comes to mind), but now that these stories have long been mined, it's time to put the Kenneth Robinson/Lester Dent fragments aside and write new, original Doc Savage novels.
July 27, 2016
This is only the fourth of the (so far) 14 Doc Savage novels by Will Murray I've read. It's pretty good; I liked Skull Island better, but I liked The Miracle Menace better than The Jade Ogre & Death's Dark Domain.
As in The Jade Ogre, I thought Ham's characterization was weak. He seems mostly ineffectual, something I don't remember him being in the original novels. Fortunately, he's mostly off-stage so it doesn't detract from the novel much. (Although I always enjoyed the Monk/Ham feuding in the originals.)
The Miracle Menace never made me think I was reading one of the pulp novels and that may be one of it's strong points. The story is pretty convoluted, but mostly it holds together.
As a long time Doc Savage fan (I read my first in 1966) I'm mostly enjoying his current return to popularity. However DC's most recent comic book incarnation wasn't to my liking, and I'm not sure yet about Dynamite's.
As in The Jade Ogre, I thought Ham's characterization was weak. He seems mostly ineffectual, something I don't remember him being in the original novels. Fortunately, he's mostly off-stage so it doesn't detract from the novel much. (Although I always enjoyed the Monk/Ham feuding in the originals.)
The Miracle Menace never made me think I was reading one of the pulp novels and that may be one of it's strong points. The story is pretty convoluted, but mostly it holds together.
As a long time Doc Savage fan (I read my first in 1966) I'm mostly enjoying his current return to popularity. However DC's most recent comic book incarnation wasn't to my liking, and I'm not sure yet about Dynamite's.
March 13, 2014
Pure pulp fun in this latest Doc Savage novel from Will Murray and Lester Dent as Doc and his men confront a house in the middle of the woods that disappears when anyone approaches, a bloodthirsty Indian named Big Neck that likes to scalp people, and a man people seem interested in killing who claims to be Christopher Columbus. Yes that Chirstopher Columbus alive in 1937.
THE MIRACLE MENACE is packed with colorful characters: Gilliver Greene, The Great Gulliver, a magician, and his stooge Spook Davis, Greene's uncle, Box Daniels who brings him into the mystery, a religious group called the Silent Saints and the beautiful young woman in burlap known as Saint Pete, a fat man, Harvell Braggs.
Had a great time reading this one and look forward to the next one.
THE MIRACLE MENACE is packed with colorful characters: Gilliver Greene, The Great Gulliver, a magician, and his stooge Spook Davis, Greene's uncle, Box Daniels who brings him into the mystery, a religious group called the Silent Saints and the beautiful young woman in burlap known as Saint Pete, a fat man, Harvell Braggs.
Had a great time reading this one and look forward to the next one.
January 2, 2016
This was my least favorite of the Will Murray Doc Savages editions to date. I did not enjoy the alternating chapters of Doc and the character Gulliver Greene. The alternating chapters occurred nearly the entire novel and felt unnecessary. I enjoyed the return of foes from the past both ones that got away and ones that had gone to the Crime College. I enjoyed Monk and Ham as always and really enjoyed the use of Long Tom in this novel.
June 30, 2016
What the?
I usually like the Doc Savage novels. I had a hard time with this novel. It jumped all over the place. This was not a bad story, but the problem was the idea of time travel kind of threw me off. I think the same thing will happen to other readers.
I usually like the Doc Savage novels. I had a hard time with this novel. It jumped all over the place. This was not a bad story, but the problem was the idea of time travel kind of threw me off. I think the same thing will happen to other readers.
February 23, 2014
The two separate plotlines in this never converged very well.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews