Flight into Fear by Kenneth Robeson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Taking a hero and depriving of all their tropes is an idea that has a long history and works to the current day. Think of Iron Man III with Tony Stark's simple conclusion, "You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys. One thing you can't take away...I am Iron Man."

This book does something similar with Doc Savage. His secret gadgets and super amazing vehicles are gone as are his awesome team of partners, yet what's left isn't Doc Savage. Doc Savage, the Bronze Man of the 1930s who is almost other worldly in his bearing and has a very precise way of speaking has become a walking series of hard boiled clichés. Some of this can legitimately be blamed on him going undercover as a hard boiled criminal named Banner as part of his espionage mission, but Doc's entire personality and bearing has changed so has the character's practically unrecognizable.

He's on a mission behind enemy lines during the Cold War and his whole charade as Banner has been to set up this mission which he almost doesn't go on, which is understandable given who accompanies him. Instead of Ham and Monk, Doc is saddled with two annoying and unlikable security agents. The senior and more annoying agent is Dryden, a good man once (or so the narrator tells us) until one mission behind enemy lines, he's now a lush. Breckenridge is younger and unbelievably immature for the job he holds. Both are whiny, insufferable, and make the entire mission far more difficult than it needs to be.

So why is Doc on this mission anyway? A genius with almost unlimited financial resources and his own fortress of solitude could probably do far better for his country during the Cold War than playing cloak and dagger with a drunk and a wet behind his ears younger agent. In addition, due to Doc's striking appearance, he requires more make than a movie Batman villain to not stick out. So he's not the best top secret operative. The thing is that Doc has a contract out on him by the Soviet government and the person who is set to carry out the contract is the sinister Red Widow, a figure that strikes terror in both Doc's heart and Dryden's. Given all that Doc has faced, the idea that there's someone who absolutely strikes terror in Doc's heart is actually a brilliant idea. It's just not well-executed. It's emphasized too many times. They only meet twice and they never have that true full on confrontation. Plus, the way the Widow plot is resolved isn't really satisfying.

The pacing on this is slow. It seems to take forever to get out of New York City after interminable conversations and they spend far too much time on the boat. The action picks up but it's more than 80% through the book before it finds a good pace.

But it does find its pace and there are some good moments. While Doc's confrontation of Paul Poltov in the Bar was a bit of character, it was really fun. When they did finally leave the boat, it was exciting. Plus the book was written by Will Murray which means that even when the book was bad, it had moments when it felt like it was so bad, it's good.

So bottom line, if you're looking for a book that feels like Doc Savage, this isn't for you. If you want something that's ridiculously over the top with how bad it is with a few good action bits thrown in, you might enjoy it.




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