Showing results by author "John Blaine" in All Categories

The Mystery of Scarlet Lake, the 13th Rick Brant novel, was published in 1958. In this thrilling story Rick and Scotty go to work on a project at a secret experimental rocket installation in Nevada with Spindrift Island scientist Dr. John Gordon in order to help stop the sabotage that has been plaguing the project. Only two men at the base know their real mission: to track down the saboteur who calls himself Homo Terrestrialis : “The Earthman”.

The Mystery of Scarlet Lake, the 13th Rick Brant novel, was published in 1958. In this thrilling story Rick and Scotty go to work on a project at a secret experimental rocket installation in Nevada with Spindrift Island scientist Dr. John Gordon in order to help stop the sabotage that has been plaguing the project. Only two men at the base know their real mission: to track down the saboteur who calls himself Homo Terrestrialis : “The Earthman”.

With the success of the lunar rocket in the previous novel, The Rocket's Shadow, Rick Brant and Scotty learn that they have been chosen as part of the Tibet expedition to place communications equipment there to bounce radar signals off the moon. From the beginning of the expedition, however, they discover that someone does not want the experiment to succeed.

In The Rocket’s Shadow, Rick Brandt first meets his new friend Don Scott, and investigates the apparent sabotage of the Spindrift Foundation’s new experimental rocket, which if successful, will net them a two million dollar grant.

The Spindrift Scientific Foundation has sent Dr. Tony Briotti, Rick Brant, and Don "Scotty" Scott to the Philippine Islands for a quiet peaceful archeological expedition. Dr. Briotti wants to investigate some native artifacts, among which is supposedly a golden skull. Rick and Scotty travel along to assist Dr. Briotti. The artifacts are located in a remote part of an island with natives who are purported to be headhunters.

Two of the scientists from the acclaimed Spindrift Scientific Foundation in New Jersey are missing in the Philippines. When the staff zoologist, Dr. Howard Shannon, and the staff archaeologist, Dr. Anthony Briotti, fail to turn up on schedule from an expedition to the Sulu Sea, the entire Foundation became personally concerned. All work stops while the staff speculates on what might have happened and what course of action to take.

There is something fishy near the scientific foundation near Spindrift Island, NJ. A fishing trawler has wrecked upon well-known a reef by an experience fishing boat captain who says he was drunk when it happened. The experienced captain is a teetotaler, however, and refuses to talk about how or why his trawler suddenly crashed onto the reef. Rick and Scotty are also baffled and as they investigate they find many things don't add up.

Two scientists working on a top-secret government project suddenly start talking gibberish. The government does not know how or why this has happened and asks the Brants if they can move the remaining scientists to Spindrift Island, a scientific foundation located on an island off the New Jersey Coast, in order to better protect them. The Brants agree. Rick and Scotty become suspicious of a new barber in town and believe he is part of an espionage ring.

Barby, Rick Brant's sister, and Jan Miller have sighted a Civil War ghost while vacationing in Virginia. The ghost is, apparently, a Civil War Union soldier who died while visiting his sweetheart across Confederate lines. The ghost always appears exactly at 9 p.m., and then only when there is a considerable audience. Rick and his ex-Marine pal Scotty, travel to Virginia to investigate the ghostly sightings. A cave, a pool, clouds of mist, figures walking over the fields at midnight picking up the invisible dead from the war...are they real ghosts or people.

Rick Brant and his friend Scotty travel to Egypt with a Spindrift expert to help with some radio astronomy scientists that are attempting to decipher and interpret some very odd signals that the telescopes are receiving. Before Rick and Scotty leave the United States for Egypt, an Egyptian man asks them to take a plastic figurine of a cat with them and deliver it to a man in Egypt. Thinking that it is nothing more than the simple delivery of a token, Rick and Scotty agree to deliver the item. However, it quickly becomes evident there is far more to the situation than they believed.

Sea Gold is the third book in the Rick Brant Science Adventure series, where young adult Rick Brant and his ex-Marine pal, Don Scott, live on Spindrift Island off the coast of New Jersey, where Rick's father, Hartson Brant, heads the scientists of the Spindrift Foundation.

Rick Brant, Don Scott, Dr. Tony Briotti, and Dr. Hobart Zircon travel down to the Virgin Islands on what is planned to be a pleasure trip. The boys’ only goal is to unearth a possible sunken shipwreck and find a golden, Spanish statue lost centuries before to pirates. Archaeologist Tony plans to look for submerged Native American artifacts, while physicist Zircon expects to spend time just fishing.

Rick Brant, Don Scott, Dr. Tony Briotti, and Dr. Hobart Zircon travel down to the Virgin Islands on what is planned to be a pleasure trip. The boys’ only goal is to unearth a possible sunken shipwreck and find a golden Spanish statue lost centuries before to pirates. Archaeologist Tony plans to look for submerged Native American artifacts, while physicist Zircon expects to spend time just fishing. Soon after they reach Charlotte Amalie, the boys run across JANIG security agent Steve Ames in a chance encounter on the street.

The story involves foreign espionage against a secret government missile project that is based in Washington. Steve Ames comes for help from the Spindrift Foundation after several scientists are struck down by a mysterious neural malady that seems to cause severe aphasia and inability to communicate. Steve suspects foul play and decides that isolating the remaining members of the research group on Spindrift Island for security purposes might save them from further attacks, but as the whole Brant family discovers the enemy does not give up that easily.

The Electronic Mind Reader, the 12th Rick Brant novel, was published in 1957 and is another JANIG-based adventure with government spook Steve Ames as one of the main characters. The story involves foreign espionage against a secret government missile project based in Washington. Steve Ames comes for help from the Spindrift Foundation after several project scientists are struck down by a mysterious neural malady that seems to cause severe aphasia and inability to communicate.

Sea Gold is the third book in the Rick Brant Science Adventure series, where young adult Rick Brant and his ex-Marine pal, Don Scott, live on Spindrift Island off the coast of New Jersey, where Rick's father, Hartson Brant, heads the scientists of the Spindrift Foundation. In Sea Gold, Rick and Scotty are off for the summer because college is out of session and all the scientists have temporarily left Spindrift for other research challenges, so nothing is happening there.

Rick Brant and his friend Scotty are bound for the islands of the South Pacific. But beaches and the tropical climate are not what they have in mind. Deeper than divers have ever been lies the ancient temple of Alta-Yuan. Is the Spindrift's new experiment, the Submobile, capable of withstanding the pressures of the deep? If so, there may be others interested in using it for purposes other than scientific studies.

With the success of the lunar rocket in the previous novel, The Rocket's Shadow, Rick Brant and Scotty learn that they have been chosen as part of the Tibet expedition to place communications equipment there to bounce radar signals off the moon. From the beginning of the expedition, however, they discover that someone does not want the experiment to succeed. As the date for the lunar relay looms closer, they are still miles away from their destination and in the hands of a dangerous criminal. Their only friend is a clever Indian boy, Chahda, who has disappeared.

In The Rocket’s Shadow, Rick Brandt first meets his new friend Don Scott, and investigates the apparent sabotage of the Spindrift Foundation’s new experimental rocket, which if successful, will net them a two-million-dollar grant. The deadline is only a few days away, and confused fingers of guilt point to more than one suspect. But, who can it be? This novel is not only a ripping tale of young adventure, but it is very much a slice of life from the beginning of the cold war and serious experimentation in the U.S. with rockets.

Rick Brant and his friend Scotty are bound for the islands of the South Pacific. But beaches and the tropical climate are not what they have in mind. Deeper than divers have ever been lies the ancient temple of Alta-Yuan. Is the Spindrift's new experiment, the Submobile, capable of withstanding the pressures of the deep? If so, there may be others interested in using it for purposes other than scientific studies.