Tom Quest

The Tom Quest books are a series of American boy's adventure novels written during the mid 20th century by Fran Striker, author of the famous "Lone Ranger" series.

They were first published by Grosset & Dunlap, one of many boys and girls series books from this publisher, and later reprinted by Clover Books, who also published the 7th and 8th novels. The six Grosset & Dunlap titles were issued in dust jacket, the Clover Books reprints and their two original titles have picture covers and no dust jacket.

Tom Quest is the son of a famous scientist and explorer. His stories are adventure/mysteries with his friends newspaperman Whiz Walton and a gargantuan Texan named Gulliver. A double spiral symbol, designed by Tom's father, appears on the spine of the books, and sometimes figures in the plot.

In the first book, Tom discovers that his father, long believed dead, may still be alive. In the second, Tom, Whiz, and Gulliver travel to Central America in search of Tom's father. The third and fourth books are also loosely connected, after which each book stands alone. The plots usually involve some kind of criminal activity, which is thwarted by Tom and his friends, but much of the interest in the books comes from the characters, who are more fully devleoped than in most boy's adventure series books. For example, in "Spiral" we get a feeling for the chain-smoking New Yorker Whiz Walton's reaction to life in Texas, and in "Thunder Mountain" there is much detail about Gulliver's cooking.

List Of Titles

#The Sign Of The Spiral (1947)
#The Telltale Scar (1947)
#The Clue Of The Cypress Stump (1948)
#The Secret Of The Lost Mesa (1949)
#The Hidden Stone Mystery (1950)
#The Secret Of Thunder Mountain (1952)
#The Clue Of The Inca Luck Piece (1955)
#The Mystery Of The Timber Giant (1955)

External links

* [http://www.series.net/quest/index.html Tom Quest at Series Bookshelf]