Captain Mettle, V.C

Captain Mettle #1

by J.E. Macdonnell

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

During his fourteen years in the R.A.N., Queensland born James (Jim) Edmond MacDonnell (aka James McNell, James Dark, James Edmond Macdonnell, James Macdonnell, J.E.M., Jim Macdonnell, J. Macdonnell, Macnell, Kerry Mitchell, Michael Owen.) came up through all lowerdeck ranks to commissioned gunnery-officer. This experience is evident in his sea novels which have been published in many countries overseas, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

Reviews

[Manny]

I read this rollicking adventure yarn when I was eight or nine - my school library was well stocked with similar books. As you can probably tell from the cover art, the eponymous hero is a soaring soul, as free as a mountain bird, whose energetic fist is ready to resist a dictatorial word. Or something like that, though I hadn't yet seen H.M.S. Pinafore.

I must admit that nearly all of the story has faded from my memory. Except for one detail. The master criminal, a sinister Blofeld type, is always hidden behind a screen. He issues his nefarious orders without his henchmen ever being able to see him. Three or four times, when some underling has displeased him, he moves the screen away. There's a scream of horror, and a paragraph later someone turns up to drag away the lifeless body.

Well, I was naturally intrigued to find out what the baddie looked like, and when I got to the final chapter I was virtually certain that All Would Be Revealed. The doughty captain fights his way into the villain's lair. He enters the secret room. I held my breath. And then, I discovered to my unutterable disappointment that some bastard had ripped out the last two pages.

I still don't know what happened, or who was responsible for this crass act of literary vandalism. But if you're the person who did it - he may still be out there somewhere - remember that what goes around, comes around.