Tom Swift and His Television Detector, or, Trailing the Secret Plotters

Tom Swift Sr. #36

by Victor Appleton

"Tom Swift and his Television Detector" by Howard R. Garis. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Genres: Science Fiction

217 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Victor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...

The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the thirty-sixth volume in the long-running (1910-1941) Tom Swift series of scientific adventure novels for younger readers. The books were produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the house pseudonym of Victor Appleton and published originally by Grosset & Dunlap, though my copy of this one is a lower-quality reprint from Whitman, a company that bought the rights after Grosset & Dunlap's involvement lapsed. This is the first of the books that appeared after Howard Garis, who ghosted many of the earlier books, left the company after the death of Stratemeyer and his subsequent disagreements with the daughters who took over the company. Harriet Adams seems to be the author of this one. It lacks the verve and humor of the earlier books; the action and cast are reduced, and the story mainly concerns Tom and his pal Ned trying to recover a secret formula for poison gas which has been stolen from Tom's lab by a band of bearded anarchists led by The Leopard. Mr. Damon, their quirky compatriot, appears off and on, blessing things like his potato salad and asparagus tips, and Koku, the loyal giant bodyguard, is along for the ride, but most of the other established characters in the series are only mentioned or appear in brief cameos. The books were published in a much different time of social awareness, and one of the flaws is the depiction of Eradicate, loyal employee but unfortunately racial caricature. I thought it interesting that Mary Nestor, who had become Tom's wife a few volumes back, appears only briefly and is referred to only as "Mrs. Swift." There's some really silly bother about Ned concocting a secret code in case he's kidnapped and needs to call Tom to rescue him (which makes it plain that Ned's going to be kidnapped in a chapter or two), but no reason is given as to why the message might need to be coded. It just gives them an excuse to say "Blime zax fernmo apentish wacko lushford" a few times. All of the action takes place in Shopton, and the globe-trotting aspect is sorely missed. The main gizmo seems problematic to me, too, a "television detector" which allows Tom to see through walls, leading to unavoidable peeping Tom speculations. With the help of government agents, the anarchists are rounded up, Ned is rescued, the poison gas recipe is secured, and they all go home for ice crème. It's always fun to follow the doings of Tom and Ned, but this isn't among the best of their adventures.

[Dr. Carl Ludwig Dorsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following Tom Swift And His Big Dirigible (1930), Tom Swift And His Sky Train (1931) and Tom Swift And His Giant Magnet (1932), in Tom Swift And His Television Detector or, Trailing the Secret Plotters (1933) Tom and friends combat foreign evildoers (generally wild-eyed, bushy-bearded and swarthy) for the formula of a deadly 'war gas' which Tom had been safekeeping.

With the help of the Secret Service (hot on the trail of an anarchist cell), his electric runabout with its wireless Morse code receiver and his television detector ("Quickly the clever apparatus was connected, switched on, and the radium projector and vision lens focused on the water tower about a quarter mile away... Like powerful but invisible X-rays, the television electrons penetrated the thick wooden walls..."), Tom and the government prevail.

Tom gives the Secret Service permission to use his television detector 'officially,' and the book concludes with this passage:

"There doesn't seem much left now for you to tackle," Ned remarked one day as they were talking over past events.

"Well," said Tom slowly, "I'm thinking of developing a human assimilator of congealed delights."

"What in the world is that?" asked Helen Morton who, with Mrs. Swift, was sitting on the porch beside Tom and Ned.

"That," Tom said gravely, "is what I become when I eat an ice cream soda."

"Then let's all go assimilate some!" proposed Mrs. Swift, laughing.

And they all went.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our hero Tom has a secret formula for a poison gas stashed away in his office. He keeps it hidden so no one bad will get it and use it. Unfortunately, someone bad manages to steal it. To help find the bad guy, as well as an anarchist in hiding, Tom invents a device that allows one to see through walls. This television detector is then instrumental in rounding up all the big bads.