Book Review: The Iron Duke

I received this book for free from Galaxy Press (via Business2Blogger.com) in exchange for my honest book review of The Iron Duke, originally published in 1940 in the FIVE NOVELS MONTHLY magazine. This post also contains my personal affiliate links.

The book is The Iron Duke by L. Ron Hubbard.  It’s a relative short story about two men, Blackey Lee and his traveling companion Stub Doyle.  They are on the run from their latest scheme that backfired, yet again, thanks to Blackey’s overzealous and over confident nature.  They find themselves in the Balkans, where Blackey is immediately confused with His Highness, a blubbering drunk who hasn’t been out of the palace in three years, Phillip the archduke of Aldoria.  But, the Countess Zita recognizes him and demands he returns back to the palace, where he’ll be safe from the Sons of Freedom who are demanding an election to see if the monarchy should end.  But, before he’s taken to the palace, Blackey is captured by these men and promised 12 million francs if the election will happen, which is highly appealing to the vagabond Lee.  But, he didn’t count on several things, like falling for the Countess, being thrown in jail for impersonating His Highness, and an assassination attempt on his life.

The story was surprisingly fun.  I really enjoyed reading it.  It reminded me of so many different famous duos, like Sherlock Holmes and Watson, and like so many movies.  One is the pawn along for the ride, the other is the big schemer always getting them in (and out) of trouble by the seat of his pants. It’s very entertaining to say the least and very tongue and cheek.  It was written well and was short and sweet.  I also appreciated that the book included a glossary of terms used in the book, since the book was originally written back in the 1930s, and some references are beyond me.

This book is just one of a series of books from “The Stories from the Golden Age” being published by Galaxy Press.  The series contains 80+ volumes in both print and audiobooks and in digital formats.  The books are all written by L. Ron Hubbard, one of the most acclaimed and widely read authors of our time, who wrote during the Goden Age of Pulp Fiction.  His books cover just about every genre – science fiction, fantasy, western, military, mystery, historical fiction, thriller, horror, and even romance!