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COCOS GOLD by Ralph Hammond Kirkus Star

COCOS GOLD

By

Publisher: Harper

Written by an author of adult novels of suspense, this bloodthirsty tale of treasure-mad men, a steaming tropical island of treachery and death, is one of the most high-powered examples of juvenile suspense-fiction we've seen. The writing is tight, hard-hitting and the suspense development is on an adult level. Although Johnny Keverne was only fifteen years old, he had made a promise to a dying man which was to involve a treasure map of the terrible Cocos Island which came into Johnny's possession and for which Johnny was pursued, trapped and nearly killed throughout the relentless plotting of a group of murderers and mutineers. A voyage ending in mutiny, endless escapes and traps on Coos Island, murders, gunplay, a great fire, and finally destruction to the gold-seekers in the midst of the great triumph ends the story. Some of the action and expletives are departures from the lukewarm juvenile variety, but since this tends to underplay these elements rather than obviously skirting them -- a procedure favorable to comics and the pulps- this can hardly be a fault in good fiction. Excellent fare for boys.