River of Ice

The Avenger #11

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), George Gross (Illustrator)

Priceless relics of a lost civilization have been hidden for centuries in a glacier. An ancient manuscript describes an operation which transforms the victim into a robot. Can the Avenger halt the collapse of the modern world once these discoveries have fallen into evil hands?

Warner Paperback Library #74-134, 1973. Stated First Printing in fine condition. Cover by George Gross.

Genres: Pulp, Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction

157 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 1, 1973

About the author

Kenneth 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.

Reviews

[Goldi Tewari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book in ‘The Avengers’ series. I loved it & I am going to start with the others. The mystery of ‘River of Ice’ is subtle at first & gets better & fierce with every page. Even though the character of protagonist, Richard Henry Benson is introduced around the mid-read but very subtly. I felt he was right there from the beginning. The description of northwest & New York is vivid & impressive. Makes one want to visit these places.
Overall, the book is a quick & great read. I would highly recommend it to the mystery lovers.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Ernst offers another take on Doc Savage with this Street & Smith pastiche series developed in an attempt to capture the magic of the original pulp superhero. Richard Benson, employing gadgets and morals that mirror those of the Man of Bronze, faces off against an ancient mystery that turns people into robots and sets off a race against disaster in the wilds of British Columbia.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad idea but nothing special about it to make a good "Avenger" novel.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Avenger, Richard Benson, was one of the greatest pulp crime-fighters. He and his band of associates comprised Justice, Inc., and, armed with keen gadgets, clear genius, stout hearts, good humor, and the force of right set forth from their Bleek Street headquarters to thwart evil, defend goodness, and protect American society. The adventures were published as "by Kenneth Robeson, the creator of Doc Savage," (which may have led to the perception that The Avenger was something of a second-rate Doc), though the originals were actually written by Paul Ernst and then continued by Ron Goulart many years later. Armed with Mike & Ike, a very special knife and gun, Benson was teamed with Mac and Smitty (analogous to Monk and Ham from the Doc Savage series) from the beginning, and then joined by blonde and diminutive Nellie Grey (who could definitely have held her own with Pat Savage or Nita van Slaon) in the second book, Josh and Rosabel Newton, perhaps the best-depicted African-American couple from the era in The Sky Walker, and light-hearted Cole Wilson in the thirteenth adventure. The stories were well-paced and exciting and very well-written for the context of the era. Benson's origin, as recounted in Justice, Inc., the first story, was similar to Bruce Wayne's in that the loss of his family spurred his decision to fight crime; his wealth and physical prowess allowed him to do so. The loss of his wife and daughter resulted in a weird facial
deformity that made his skin lose its pigmentation and left it malleable like wax so that he could reform it and made him "the man of a thousand faces"; the loss of this ability in the thirteenth novel was a downturn in the series. The series continued for a second dozen adventures in the 1940's, and then revived for a third dozen in the 1970's when Warner Books had Goulart continue the series for another dozen volumes after they put out the first two dozen in paperback. It was a fun and thrill-packed intelligent series, more down-to-Earth than the Doc Savage books and much less crazy than The Spider series.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fundamental conceit of the early Avenger pulp novels is his malleable face, giving him the opportunity to impersonate others. Any Avengers novel that fails to include this plot point, such as this one, is immediately flawed.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like Doc Savage the Avenger fights crime with the help of his aids. While the stories aren't as exciting and world ranging as Doc he is still a great pulp character and read. Very recommended

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 1999