Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott is as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he's about to lose everything-his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Long before Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips fell into the hands of modern-day pirates, Johnny faced the same high-stakes action on the high seas. Johnny's mission is to track down drug runners in the Gulf of Mexico, and he's got his eye on the biggest fish of all-Georges Coquelin. But an SOS from a downed plane that's sinking fast leads him straight to disaster. . . . Coquelin springs a trap. Stranding Johnny and the plane's passengers on a deserted island, the drug smuggler commandeers Johnny's boat and his name. In the company of a weak-kneed millionaire and a long-legged beauty, Johnny's at the end of his rope-which could turn into a noose around his neck. He's got nothing left to lose . . . and there's nothing he won't do to reclaim his reputation.The Phantom Patrol marked a turning point in L. Ron Hubbard's fiction. In writing this story he recognized the vital importance of research and realism. To that end, Hubbard toured Coast Guard vessels and interviewed officers who were actually involved in chasing down drug smugglers. The resulting authenticity and success of the tale was a sign of things to come. Read The Phantom Patrol and experience the development of a unique voice in storytelling.
"Hubbard was a popular writer of the pulp fiction era, and this short novel, first published in the January 1935 issue of Five Novels magazine, shows why: it features nonstop action and a hero to root for….Though much of the writing is generic, the story moves briskly and maximizes the scenes of gunplay and hand-to-hand combat. Hubbard knew how to fulfill reader expectations for this sort of tale.
Publishers Weekly
"Before writing the best-selling book that made him known to the world, Hubbard was a prolific writer of pulp fiction, including detective stories, westerns, sf/fantasy, and adventure....After an action-packed opening on stormy seas, this has everything you'd expect, from false accusations to daring escapes to a pretty gal who knows how to take care of herself."
