Recently I reviewed The Wages of Syn by John L. French. Set in Harbor City, it stars Jericho Syn, alias The Scarecrow, who provides “unofficial justice” in Harbor City, in between the cops and the Outfit.
We are informed that he is known as “The Scarecrow” as it was used by his uncle Theodore Syn, who had fought gangsters and Nazis in the 1930s and ’40s before retiring. And, yes, he is connected to an early man named Syn who was also known as “The Scarecrow.” We will learn a bit of his family history in one of the stories.
I said I wanted to see stories with him, and learned there are some. A total of three are part of another series by other authors, but as this is a series regarding cryptids, these have the earlier Scarecrow and his encounters with cryptids.
The overall series is called “Systema Paradoxa” from NeoParadoxa Press. The volumes, which are either novellas or novelettes (not sure which), are:
- “When The Moon Shines” (vol. 1)
- “Chessie At Bay” (vol. 8)
- “Daylight Comes” (vol. 18)
The first story, “When the Moon Shines,” is set in Maryland inland from Harbor City during Prohibition. Two different groups, Irish and Italian, have set up rival roadhouses where booze and gambling are available. While things are tense, there isn’t any violence. Yet. But later violence starts. Is it due to one or both of the bosses, or is there a third party involved? Also, two different cryptid species are involved: the snallygasters and the dwayyo.
Theodore Syn actually doesn’t show up until midway through the story. We do learn about his backstory, as well as his family’s, and their connection to one of the cryptid species. He is a former Baltimore cop, now looking for a new career, and starts working for the new county marshal. When things come to a head, he is at least able to put an end to the violence.
The next story starts just before WWII in the Chesapeake Bay, considering that it involves Chessie. The military is using a helicopter to look for possible German incursions when they take note of Chessie. They then assign a team to specifically look for and film it. When they do, the officer in charge reaches out to Scarecrow to take it further as he doesn’t want Chessie being captured or killed. But the military has other ideas and apparently kill it. Or do they?
There is also a mysterious woman, and we also see Scarecrow’s life take on a new aspect. Further when he is asked by the military to see if he can get the cryptids to help with the war effort, something that others in the U.S. and other countries are doing. It’s kind of an interesting idea. Oh, and the snallygasters make a return appearance. All this comes to an end for some.
The third and final story is set after WWII, and has a return of both the snallygasters and the dwayyo, as well as the “Beast of Gevauldin.” Think of a werewolf, basically. Scarecrow is now a detective with Harbor City, married, and has taken in Jericho. But the emergence of the Beast is causing problems. Interestingly, we see a new phase for the snallygasters and dwayyo, with Scarecrow kind of watching over them.
So what about the cryptids? I was actually ignorant of several of them, but they do include info about them in the volumes, taken from various online sources, and some nice artwork. Snallygasters are a kind of large bird/reptile combo with tentacles. They are big enough to carry off a man that they will suck their blood and eat them. Dwayyo are a kind of werewolf, or more a man-sized wolf creature that stands on two legs, and is also a pack animal. Chessie is a sea serpent similar to Nessie. All of these creatures are shown to have some level of intelligence and some can communicate with certain humans. The Beast of Gevauldin is a legendary werewolf.
All three stories were pretty good, and I would certainly like to see more stories with Scarecrow, with or without cryptids. But I don’t know if that will happen. I’ve enjoyed all of John L. French’s work, and would recommend checking him out.
While French may say “he is known as “The Scarecrow” as it was used by his uncle Theodore Syn, who had fought gangsters and Nazis in the 1930s and ’40s before retiring” the real connection is presumably to The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn, who became “”The Scarecrow”, the feared head of smugglers” in the 1770s – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Syn
Yes, both characters are related to Rev Dr Syn, but French, for obvious reasons, doesn’t come out and say that. Tho its alluded to in both series. Am sure he’s avoiding any problems from certain lawyers…
I the third paragraph you stated “I said I wanted to see stories with French…” It took a couple of reads, but I assume you meant you wanted to see stories of the Theodore version of the Scarecrow. I’m always craving an “expanded universe” when other characters are mentioned/referenced.
I haven’t ever dipped into the Romney Marsh stories/movies, but now that it’s set up as a multi generational thing I am even more tempted.
How was the helicopter treated? It should have been fairly novel, or even experimental, at that point. Although, given that were dealing with a fictional world and have already established the existence of various cryptids I suppose a little creative leeway should be granted.
Hello all. First of all, thanks to Michael for reviewing not only these cryptid books but all my work. Yes, Theodore Syn is related to the original Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. “Chessie at Bay” was originally going to make that plain but I only had about 28K words to play with and something had to go. I took some poetic license with the helicopter, which was experimental at the time, but later swapped that out for a Crofton autogyro, so I think I should get extra points for that Easter egg. I don’t know if I’ll be doing any more stories about Theodore but there will be at lease one more book about Jericho when I can get to it. (Right now I’m working on a follow-up to “The Magic of Simon Tombs.) Hope you all enjoy the stories.