The Courageous Exploits of DR. SYN

Doctor Syn #6

by Russell Thorndike

Dr. Syn is basically Batman from the 1700s.

He's the vicar of a small town by day, and by night he disguises himself in the mask of a Scarecrow to fight against the injustices against his humble parishioners of Romney Marsh, particularly through a smuggling ring that he cleverly protects.

The Courageous Exploits of Doctor Syn is the fifth in the Doctor Syn series by Russell Thorndike.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Fiction

235 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Arthur Russell Thorndike was a British actor and novelist, best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels. Lesser known than his sister Dame Sybil Thorndike but just as versatile, Russell Thorndike's first love was for the pen and, following service in World War I, he devoted himself to writing.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been a big fan of Disney's Scarecrow of Romney Marsh after seeing it when I was about 12 and it was first broadcast I was pleasantly surprised a year or so ago to find the series of books it was based on. I managed to find one or two online at our library and then found the rest of the series as free downloads. Those are good but do have some conversion errors which can be easily worked around. This was the latest and I have been reading them in order of publication. This was maybe the best one I've read so far and I liked the shorter stories in it as those plot lines could usually be read in a single session. I found all the smaller stories to be fun and only one let me down. Most of the book though did have a common plot line concerning a navy captain and his attempts to catch the scarecrow. It is fun reading about that area of England and the more formal speech is actually a pleasant read compared to our rather crude speaking ways today. I recommend it to any Scarecrow fans.

[Ceridwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remembered the TV episodes from Disney as a child. The book was about what I expected with disguised identities and eerie swamp location, but the action was disappointing and most of the solutions to problems were not as clever as I recalled. The book left me with a desire to reread The Scarlet Pimpernel, which I always find suspenseful, clever, and fun. Dr. Syn paled by comparison in my humble opinion, but still a pleasant stroll down memory lane.