Jungle She

Jungle She by Dan Cushman. Frisco Dougherty is back. This time the beautiful half-cast wife of a huge and powerful Dutchman named Van Hoog, who has escaped from his plantation, wants Dougherty to enter his Borneo estate and discover the secret of his fortune.  But things go awry, as usual, and Dougherty becomes a prisoner of Van Hoog, and is betrayed by his Chinese connection, the Wash’eng. Cushman uses the same formula in all his jungle adventures, just changing a few names, and altering the plot. But his dialogue is some of the best I’ve ever read, and his characters come to life. Although the immensely strong Hoog (this character appears in every novel, just a different name) beats Dougherty several times in the story, the final fight scene on a rope bridge high above a jungle river is straight out of the Saturday Matinee serials. And in each novel, at some point, some one will be reading a pulp, or a comic book, or a paperback mystery novel. These jungle adventures by Cushman are a lot of fun.

The Forbidden Land

The Forbidden Land by Dan Cushman. Ray Blades had been in Africa too long, always looking for that big stake so he could return to Manitoba, Canada with money in his pockets. When a beautiful white woman mistakes him for someone else, he hires out to take her to find her missing father and husband. Deep in the jungle a madman is holding them prisoner. He is Herr Lutgow, a gorilla-sized man with the strength to go with his appearance. Blades must enter the compound, rescue the prisoners, and escape with them into the jungle, even if he has to kill Lutgow first. This was another great adventure by Dan Cushman, even if it is the same plot and characters, just different names and situations. Cushman makes them come alive, and the characters are memorable regardless of their names.

The Half-Caste

The Half-Caste by Dan Cushman. Frisco Dougherty is back after JEWEL OF THE JAVA SEA in another tale of island intrigue.  While in Bandjermasin, South Borneo, on the Java Sea, he is approached by Captain Jaske to assist in getting his boat released from impound. He has important passengers to transport, and the only ones who can allow the boat’s release is Dougherty’s old pals, the Chinese gang, the Wash’eng. But something is not on the up and up. The local headman, Wu has some interest in the passengers, and what they are after. They include a handsome sportsman, a priest, and a beautiful woman. The woman claims to be the daughter of a famous paleontologist killed during the Japanese invasion, and buried in the jungle. But something is fishy about the whole deal. If readers will recall, Dougherty took a young woman to marry at the end of JEWEL OF THE JAVA SEA, and he does mention a ex wife, a princess, back in the States, with their two sons, but he’s unattached again and back in the Java Sea area. It’s good because the woman in this case also has a mix of island blood and Oriental, maybe Tonkenese. It looks like Dougherty may be killed by the Wach’eng this time, if not by the girl or one of her partners, for none will stop at anything to get what’s really inside the coffin they retrieve. But the ending has a nice twist, and one that gave me a good laugh.  

Savage Interlude

Savage Interlude by Dan Cushman. Jim Crawford, Botamba, and the Hammer, from Naked Ebony, are back in this tale of the African Congo. A photographer is murdered in Cairo because of something he brought back from the Congo, and Crawford trailing his girlfriend, a dancer in one of the backstreet dives, tells him the object must be somewhere in his baggage at the hotel where he was staying under a fake name. Breaking in, he finds only a metal spearhead and undeveloped film, either might be the clue to the mystery. But then a white woman shows up, claiming to be the photographer’s wife, and she tags along with him and the Hammer as they track the dead man’s trail backwards to start from the beginning, in hopes of discovering the secret worth millions. This is another good yarn, but with the same formula as all Cushman’s stories. And, as usual, Crawford ends of with the girl he plans to spend the rest of his life with – or until the next adventure, and another girl. We never learn what becomes of these beautiful women, either.

Naked Ebony

Naked Ebony by Dan Cushman. Jim Crawford and his African assistant, the giant Botamba, are in a bar to meet Ed Foley. It seems Foley has a scheme to make some money, but wants Crawford’s strong arm to pull it off. He’s to meet a girl in the hotel and take a package to be delivered. However, another man, the Hammer is also after the package. The Hammer, Runkhammer, is a huge, muscular man of great strength, and Foley is afraid of him. Crawford receives the package, and then everything goes wrong. They lose the package, and the girl and her scientist husband disappear again with the package after Crawford removes it from the Hammer’s clutches. Cushman uses the same formula for all his stories, though this one is set in Africa, not Asia. The beautiful girl is Eurasian, a mix of French and Asian. She falls in love with Crawford, naturally. Still, the story could be set in any locale, and it would have worked. The author makes every story an adventure, and the characters are classics. The title may be a little misleading, but a fun read.

Port Orient

Port Orient by Dan Cushman.  Mr. Leeper from San Francisco loves tea. One day his purchase of tea turns out to contain a bag full of diamonds, which is good because the tea taste awful. A hidden message also mentions millions of dollars in gold, but it’s hidden somewhere in Thailand or China. Quitting his job, and leaving his unloving family, Mr. Leeper heads for Bangkok to pursue the gold, but he has to make contact with someone mentioned in the message. This leads to problems, as it seems others want the gold. Teaming up with two men and a woman, the plans are to reestablish an air route to and from China, hauling equipment and merchandise to and fro from Red China. For the air routs is where the hidden gold is located. A little shorter than usual, but still a lot of fun.