I previously posted on the Code Name: Intrepid series from Robert J. Mendenhall, available through his own imprint Blue Planet Press.
CNI is a special team of military and civilian experts who handle cases that are extraordinary or of an unusual order in the 1930s — think strange creatures and tech, especially if it’s tied to a foreign nation.
The series started as a short-story collection from Airship 27. It now consists of five novels, a short-story collection, and a series of anthologies with stories by other authors. I previously posted on the first novel and the short-story collection. I’m continuing to work through the five novels, this time with the second and third ones.
Mendenhall’s background is a former policeman, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, and a former journalist. This gives him the background for this series. And it’s not his only work, as he also has a sf series called Far Futures.
As noted, Intrepid is a special team of military and civilian experts. Formed in 1932, it operates under the fictitious Office of Special Actions in the Department of War.
The core team has five members, plus a consultant. Its leader is Lt. Col. Rick Justice, Army Air Force. A double ace in World War I, he is a large man who is a capable leader, as well as a good observer. He is the character you see on all the covers. Then you have Lt. Cmd. Roger “Sky Hawk” Winchester, U.S. Navy, who is a WWI ace. He is described as looking like Clark Gable. There is Gunnery Sgt. Dexter “Guns” Preston, who is a Marine and fighter. And Master Sgt. Michael “Hammer” Downe, who is a mechanic and test pilot. Rita Marshall is a former Department of War analyst and the daughter of an admiral. But she is just as capable a fighter as the rest. Finally, Dr. Stephen “Cutter” Lester, a former field surgeon in WWI and now working in forensics. Over time, they will be joined by other experts, both military and civilian.
The second novel, titled Death in Scarlet, is set in mid-1932 and picks up some of the storylines from the first book. The team continues to look for the Germans who were smuggled into the U.S., in particular the “Special Squadron” they dealt with in the first novel, led by a mysterious man with a monocle. Now it seems like there is someone new leading this group in the U.S.: a mysterious woman known only as “Scarlet.” She has bright red hair, which may be a wig, and is usually masked, often a red and white porcelain one. She almost makes use of a red submarine with no other markings.
Several mysterious attacks occur. In an early exchange, all the German soldiers fall over dead, under mysterious circumstances. Then, a WWI memorial in Alexandria, Va., is destroyed with the loss of life. Next, an apartment complex in Washington, D.C., with a greater loss of life, and then a hospital in D.C. What is her next target? The White House? Can the team figure out what her next move will be and stop her? As well as unmask who she really is?
Also in this novel, the team acquires an airship, the unfinished (and fictional) ZRS-6, which they christen Liberty. A smaller version of the USS Macon, it will serve as the team’s mobile base and can house several aircraft. Further, due to issues, they will also move from Langley Field to their own base in Delaware. They are also joined by a new consultant, Professor Lucius “Specs” Wellington.
The third novel, Black Axe, is set shortly after the previous novel. Things are set up with a flashback to the 1500s involving a sinister and mysterious axe. An item that the head of the Special Squadron, now with a name: Heinrich Bode, is after. Learning of this, the team also starts to look for it, though Bode has already dispatched a man to find the axe, who has a strange connection to it.
Rick reaches out to an old teacher of his from high school, archaeology Professor Reginald “Digs” Jasper, who will join them as another consultant. This takes them first to Paris, where the team meets an old flame of Rick’s, Giselle, whom he lost contact with after the war. This takes them to Belgium, Portugal, Morocco, and finally Luxembourg, sometimes behind, sometimes encountering Bode’s agent. Will they succeed in getting the axe? And will everyone return from this mission?
Next up will be the fourth and fifth novels. It looks like the covers of the novels are being updated as well. This is a fun series, though there is danger and death at times. I look forward to reading the next novels and, at some point, getting into the anthologies.
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