The Python Pit: The Return of Singapore Sammy

by George F. Worts

Singapore Sammy returns in this series of four thrilling adventure novels by one of the most popular writers of the all-fiction era. Sapphires and Suckers Buying a sapphire mine proves more of a nuisance than it is worth for Singapore Sammy Shay and Lucky Jones. When they uncover a new deposit of the precious stone, the pair are suddenly up to their elbows in blue clay and trouble! The Python Pit “Never trust a woman.” Sammy quickly forgets that adage when he and Lucky Jones are enticed to transport Sally Lavender on the Blue Goose to somewhere east of the Celebs, to the shunned isle of Konga, shunned because it is inhabited with headhunters—and ghosts! The Isle of the Meteor A forgotten chart provides Sammy a clue as the location of an island in the South Seas that centuries ago was struck by an enormous meteorite of solid gold. Cooking up a scheme to acquire these untold riches, Sammy embarks to locate the island—only to discover that the gold is not simply for the taking. A Whisker of Buddha Singapore Sammy and Lucky Jones are hired to steal a revered whisker of the Buddha himself from a well-guarded temple in the Cambodian interior. Word of their quest gets out; quickly a race is on to see which pursuing party will acquire the sacred object first. With an introduction by Rick Lai.

210 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2014

About the author

George Frank Worts

From the linked site:

(1892-1967) US author who also wrote as by Loring Brent https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , not always restricting his use of this name to magazine publications. The Peter the Brazen sequence, whose protagonist boasts uncanny hearing and other Superpower-like abilities, is set primarily in the Far East, where Yellow Peril menaces are routinely dealt with by the Hero. The series appeared initially in Argosy between 1918-1934; the first six (all from 1918) were spliced together as Peter the Brazen: A Mystery Story of Modern China (fixup 1919); much later, the first three were assembled as The City of Stolen Lives: The Adventures of Peter the Brazen (coll 2016), volume one of a planned publication of the entire series.

The Return of George Washington (15 October-19 November 1927 Argosy All-Story; 1927; vt No More a Corpse: An Astounding Story 1932) is told almost until its conclusion in sf terms, with the first president being Reincarnated at the hands of a Mad Scientist; but it turns out to be a hoax. The Phantom President (1932), a musical directed by Norman Taurog, seems to have been based on a possibly unpublished novel/novelization by Worts: an impostor, substituting for a fatally dull candidate for office, threatens half-unwittingly to take over for real. Robert A Heinlein's Double Star (1956), whether or not inspired by this film, can be seen to massively sophisticate its implications. The Monster of the Lagoon (23 January-30 March 1935 Argosy; 1947 chap; exp as coll 1991) is a Horror in SF tale featuring the adventures of Singapore Sammy, whose further appearances have not reached book form. [JC]

George Frank Worts
born Toledo, Ohio: 16 March 1892

died Hawaii: February 1967

by Worts: https://www.lybrary.com/george-f-wort...

See also: https://steegerbooks.com/authors-illu...

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nice collection of four novellas featuring the happy-go-lucky adventurer, Singapore Sammy and his exploits in the South Seas. The stories are:

1) "Sapphires and Suckers", originally serialized in Argosy, December 1931

2) "The Python Pit", originally serialized in Argosy, May, 1933

3) "The Isle of the Meteor", originally published in Argosy, August, 1933

4) "A Whisker of Buddha", originally published in Argosy, May, 1934

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This recent collection of some old pulp adventure novelettes, "The Python Pit: The Return of Singapore Sam" was published in 2014 with four classic tales originally published in the Argosy adventure magazine between 1931-1934. Let's look at each!

Sapphires and Suckers:
"Run up alongside that bank, under the sala. Take the kid and the girl aboard."
"You know what that means, redhead?"
"Sure! Your decks will be pumped full of lead. We both may get shot. I thought you liked a fight!"

"Sapphires and Suckers" was originally published with the title "Singapore Sammy" in 1931. It starts in a late-night drunken tavern interaction between the vengeance-seeking Sam Shay and a beautiful woman named Dolores de Silva. Sam possesses a priceless blue pearl that he knows Dolores is enamored with, but with his sense of romantic adventure he semi-pursues her interest anyway.

Sam Shay is Singapore Sammy, an American whose stepfather ran off with his mother's wealth and with the will of his grandfather that named Sam the inheritor of a million dollars. This lowdown stepfather character Bill Shay is a sneaky scam artist disguised as a Buddhist monk in Southeast Asia and Sam is on his trail when he comes across Dolores and her fiance Bruce McCoy, who has been swindled by Dolores' father in a sapphire mine deal.

Verdict: A fun but clunky adventure tale with an awesome finale that is just fantastic.

Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG

The Python Pit:
Sam Shay, aka Singapore Sammy, and his friend Lucky Jones get into a New Year's Eve barroom brawl with eight cutthroats at the start of "The Python Pit." Sam and Lucky lose their stakes but Sam is able to beat a confession out of one of the troublemakers who gives him a tip as to where his inheritance-stealing stepfather is now hiding - a remote, cannibal-filled jungle nightmare of an island called Konga.

"The Python Pit" (1933) is my third attempt at a George Worts / aka Loring Brent authored story. His protagonist here, Singapore Sammy, has a number of adventures in the South Seas while he seeks his scoundrel of a stepfather, a piece of garbage named Bill Shay who stole his mother's fortune and his own inheritance.

This story is included in the Otto Penzler-edited "the Big Book of Adventure Stories" that I recently finished and reviewed.

Verdict: An absolutely great short South Seas adventure replete with tavern brawls, beautiful conniving women, brains-eating cannibals, gold, guns, pearls, sharks, dynamite, sea chases and nighttime alley pursuits, a teasingly confident villain, a driven protagonist who will never give up, a buddy combo adventure, and yes, a pit full of pythons.

Jeff's Rating: 5 / 5 (Excellent)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG

The Isle of the Meteor:
Singapore Sammy hears the dying words of an old sailing Captain in the South Seas, telling him of a hidden island where a meteor passed by sixty years prior. A group of white American communists settled this island in the meanwhile, enslaved the local Malay population, and with the meteor's leftovers are regularly churning out copper and gold that this Captain has been trading supplies for at inflated prices. The Captain regrets his choices in life and wants Sammy, who he knows is an honest character, to take the proceeds from this current shipload of supplies and set up the Captain's granddaughter with a lifetime inheritance.

Verdict: "The Isle of the Meteor" (1933) is a fun adventure, notable in its interesting return of the femme fatale love interest Sally Lavender and a daring island escape.

Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

A Whisker of Buddha:
Sammy gets hammered and awakens with a world-class hangover to discover that his money roll and his blue pearl and his ship have been stolen by his on-again off-again love/hate interest Sally Lavender. Sammy finds his friend Lucky Jones in a similar spot and, to get some working cash, they accept a job offer from a young Buddhist woman to steal a priceless artifact from a local temple that had stolen it from another.

Verdict: "A Whisker of Buddha" (1934) has a great Indiana Jones Temple of Doom style feel to it as Sammy finds other gangs of thieves are also out for this artifact while the local poor are being sacrificed at this temple and he is gonna do his best to 1) beat the bad guys, 2) steal the whisker, 3) stop these senseless killings, 4) get back at Sally Lavender and 5) get back on the trail of his long-sought evil stepfather.

Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

Averaging out the ratings, I'd put this collection at a 4 / 5 (Very Good)

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pulp read! If you like Indiana Jones, El Borak, Harold Lamb, Talbot Mundy, and Sailor Steve Costigan, then you will love this!

[Jeff Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic of the genre. When I think of hamfisted pulpy adventure heroes, Singapore Sammy is the archetype. The globe trotting, treasure-seeking, handsome adventurer, who faces evil forces in exotic locals and perilous dangers. Molded from the clay of Haggard, refreshed through Indiana Jones and the like. Worts makes pulp adventure just fast paced old fashioned fun.