Steeger Books continues their reprint of George F. Worts‘ (1892-1967) Peter the Brazen series, written under his Loring Brent alias. The latest volume, Sting of the Blue Scorpion: The Adventures of Peter the Brazen, Vol. 6, continues his fight against the sinister Asian mastermind Blue Scorpion. It contains the next two stories in the series, “Sting of the Blue Scorpion” and “The Master Magician.” Both were cover featured, and the cover from the first is used for the book.
Peter Moore is an interesting character: a two-fisted adventurer wandering the exotic Orient between the world wars, going up against several menacing villains. Some feel that Peter may be an inspiration for Doc Savage.
This volume continues Peter’s fight against the “big baddie” of the second phase of his stories, Mr. Lu, the Blue Scorpion. And he is also joined by rich heiress, Susan O’Gilvie, who kept inserting herself into things. She will appear in all the stories to the end.
First up we get, “Sting of the Blue Scorpion” (a six-part serial from Argosy, Nov. 19-Dec. 17, 1932). Set a little bit after the “Cave of the Blue Scorpion,” Peter and Susan are trying to get on with their lives, but with the sinister threat of the Blue Scorpion hovering over them. They must not make any mention of him, nor interfere in his activities. Peter is working to set up hydroelectric dams for a warlord, while Susan is in Shanghai being wooed (maybe) by a rival for her affection. She has also met with a couple who seem to feel that Peter is just an adventurer she should not bother with and don’t believe her hints of the Blue Scorpion.
But it’s soon clear to us that this couple has an ulterior motive and is working against Mr. Lu. And we learn that Mr. Lu is planning on stopping the hydroelectric project. Can Susan and Peter succeed? But when there is betrayal among them, not all will survive this tale.
And then we have “The Master Magician” (Argosy, Feb. 25, 1933), where our friends take a break from dealing with Mr. Lu to deal with another foe. Here the two must contend with a mysterious “magician” who shows to be another sinister character. Can they triumph against him?
Needless to say, Mr. Lu will be back.
I don’t know how many more volumes we need. We have four more stories, but two are long serials. So at least two more volumes, I think. Or if you can’t wait, get the new two-volume “Complete” hardback collection, which also includes articles by Will Murray and Rick Lai, as well as a “proto” Peter Moore tale from Collier’s. I’m debating doing a review of this “Complete” volume, due to all the extras.
If you enjoy Wort’s stories, check out his other series like the Singapore Sammy stories, which Steeger Books has reprinted in a complete hardback, as well as putting them out in a series of paperbacks, and also at the Gillian Hazeltine series, which has two volumes so far. They have also reprinted a couple of his stand-alone novels. I hope they will reprint the Vingo series as well.
