Peter Saxon - Flight Into Fear - Sexton Blake Library -Series 4, Number 360 - Jun 1956

 

Peter Saxon* - Flight Into Fear - Sexton Blake Library - Series 4, Number 360 - Jun 1956  

*`Peter Saxon` was a house pseudonym used by a number of writers. Blakiana credits the writing of this story to W Howard Baker.

This SBL story is definitely towards the pulpy end of the Blake spectrum.

The plot dovetails two stories, one being the story of a young woman plunged unwillingly into a world of mystery by the machinations of her feckless brother, the other concerning a case being investigated by Sexton Blake, involving a group of British-based US airmen involved in drug smuggling.

In the earlier stages, the taut prose helps keep the readers` attention, and the story of the young woman and her crooked brother is pretty strong. 

I have to say that as it progressed my interest did tend to wane. This is partly because the latter part of the story is very much concerned with the action/adventure aspect, rather less with the crime/detection. There is very little or no doubt as to who the main culprit is going to be.

Another failing here is that the Blake of this story is not really distinctively Blake-ish and towards the end the character bringing matters to a close could have been any one of a number of action heroes. 

I don`t want to give the impression that this was a terrible story - it wasn`t - but ultimately it`s just a moderately entertaining late`50s action/adventure/thriller type of thingy that you might read once with some enjoyment and probably never return to again. 

 

 

Peter Saxon - The Case of the Missing Bullion - Howard Baker -1969

 

Peter Saxon*  - The Case of the Missing Bullion  - Howard Baker  - 1969

Due to illness I wasn't able to review this while it was fresh in my mind. 

I recall it well enough to say it was a cracking little tale that sees Blake pitting his wits against a villain with aristocratic pretentions known as The Gent as a routine search for a missing young woman turns into something more sinister. 

The Gent is a great creation ;  urbane, courteous and ruthless to the point of psychopathy.

Blake is portrayed as polite and respectful to the people he meets, inclined to make more measured judgements than his assistant, Tinker. Unusually, he is portrayed as rather philosophical about the march of 1960s modernism even when one suspects it doesn't meet with his approval. 

Generally it is reasonably well-written but with attempts at period flavouring  (much talk of "swinging chicks" etc). Occasionally the writing inadvertently invites mockery ("she didn't like the way he glanced at her knees" and "she had never liked swarthy men with very thin moustaches"), but  this is rare.

I  am not a huge fan of 5th series Blake but I can't imagine many  fans of the great man being disappointed with this. 

* On the cover the book is credited to Peter Saxon, a house pseudonym. However, Peter Gordon is credited as author on the half-title page, title page and reverse of the title page. Blakiana  credits it to W Howard Baker. I'm no expert, but my money is on the mysterious Peter Gordon.

Peter Saxon - Danger Ahead - Sexton Blake Library 3/353

Peter Saxon - Danger Ahead - Sexton Blake Library

3rd Series, Number 353, Feb 1956

Trivia ; This was the first SBL to carry the distinctive red stripe along the left-hand side. In this instance, `Peter Saxon` was SBL editor W Howard Baker, though I believe that Peter Saxon was a `house pseudonym` used by a number of different writers. As ever, I`m indebted to the Blakiana website for this information, but any mistakes/misunderstandings are my own.

W Howard Baker had been SBL editor for about a year when he penned this tale under the pseudonym Peter Saxon.

Very different in style to his classy Walk in Fear, this is a classic tale of plucky chaps doing daring deeds. Surprisingly for an editor who introduced many changes that older fans did not like, it is actually a very traditional blend of two-fisted action and intelligent detection. It`s none the worse for that !

Set in Angola, at that time occupied by the Portugese, the plot concerns a mysterious gangster known only as Salar, employed by an unscrupulous mining company to sabotage a rivals` operation. Britain`s interests are threatened and Blake is despatched. Africa and the Africans hardly get a look in though, and for the most part it could just as well have been set in Portugal itself.

The fast-paced story never fails to hold the attention, but contains some echoes of the traditional whodunnit. (There are five characters likely to be unmasked as the mysterious Salar. I sailed through the story blissfully convinced that I knew who it was, only to be proved wrong on the next-to-last page ! )

It would be easy (and irresistible !) to poke fun at the odd dated passage ("Her flame-coloured skirt was riding high, and a pair of smoothly-rounded knees were plainly visible." Blimey ! Is it hot in here, or is it me ?), but generally it is a good story told well.

Baker only briefly shows what he is capable of, in a short but effective passage where Blake, his assistant Tinker and a representative of the Portugese Security Services have been keeping observation for hours together one night ;

"They all looked tired, these men : they had talked intermittently since...before nine o`clock, and now they had exhausted the available topics of conversation. So they sat around the table silently, and the passing minutes were translated into tiny lines of strain and fatigue which etched the corners of their eyes."

Blake seems a tolerably rounded figure in  Baker`s hands, made more real by his innate decency and sense of humour. The supporting cast of Portugese officials and gangsters are all more interesting than usual. The only excessively cliched character is one of the best, a sadistic thug called Serilla who is given to saying things like "Right, Mister Clever Sexton Blake ! Now you`re going on that long, last walk." An obvious nod to the villains of the pre-war `Golden Age` of Blake adventures.

This may not be Baker at his best, but it`s certainly not Baker at his worst. I personally enjoyed it as much as any Blake story I`ve read.