Bøker av L. Ron Hubbard

The ancient jungles of the Yucatan hide a world of secrets . . . the secrets of wealth, love, and fate. Now daredevil pilot Kurt Reid is about to tempt fate and fly into the heart of that jungle in search of his destinyan adventure as daring and dangerous as any undertaken by Indiana Jones.He's looking for gold, but not just any. He's after one particular nuggetflying blind into a tropical haystack in search of a very valuable needle. Thanks to his grandfather's vexing dying wish, his entire inheritanceas well as the shape of his futurehangs on the success of his journey.As if that weren't bad enough, Kurt soon finds that his family legacy runs deep and dark in the Yucatan. The Mayans mistake Kurt for his grandfather, and they've got fifty-years worth of revenge to serve up. Whether he lands on the sacrificial altar or in the arms of his sexy co-pilot Joy, things are bound to heat up fast in pursuit of Forbidden Gold.In 1931, as a student at George Washington University, Hubbard founded the college Glider Club and within a few months a respected columnist said ';he is recognized as one of the outstanding glider pilots in the country.' Later he wrote as the aviation correspondent for the prestigious flying magazine Sportsman Pilot. His combined writing and flying expertise comprised the perfect recipe to give stories like Forbidden Gold their authentic flavor.

Mart Kincaid, a tall, ruggedly good-looking young man in the Clint Eastwood mold, may be the fastest gun in the state, but it does him no goodbecause his gun and his life are not his own. They belong to Gar Malone, the King of Concha Basin, a ruthless rancher driven by his thirst for power, wealth, and conquest.Now Gar has set his sights on the Singing Canyon spreadthe richest land in the basinand he commands Kincaid to run its true owners off. If not, he threatens to reveal a dark secret that could ruin Kincaid's brother.But there's more to the Singing Canyon ranch than Kincaid bargained for. There's the Drake familyspecifically the lovely young Sally Drake. The last thing Kincaid wants to do is drive her away. Meaning he's got to get out from under Gar's thumb, and put his trigger finger to work. It's time to settle up, once and for all, with the blackmailing Malone. Most of the Westerns published in the all-fiction magazines of the first half of the twentieth century were written by authors more familiar with the streets of New York than the cattle trails of Texas. Hubbard bucked the trend, and in the process changed the face of the Western adventure. He grew up in a time and a place where the Old West, though fading, still lived. His unique knowledge of the frontier, of its ways and its people, made him an authentic voice of this unique American experience.Also includes the Western adventure Blood on His Spurs, in which two men have to find a way to end their feud . . . or pay a high price in blood and money.';Heart-racing plot charges at the speed of thrumming horses' hooves.' Library Journal

Insurance investigator Brent Calloway may be too hard-boiled to crack a smile, but he'll go to any length to crack a case. As tough, terse and tireless as insurance man Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity, Calloway's about to go to extremes to see to it that one ship makes it safely from Hawaii to the mainland. Going undercover and posing as ruthless killer Spike O'Brien, Calloway quickly discovers that on this ship nothing is what it seems, and no one can be trusted. With so much insurance money at stake, and the whole crew apparently in on the scam, this could end up being a voyage to the bottom of the sea. . . . And when the real Spike O'Brien shows up, it's Calloway who'll need a good insurance policy. Because life is cheap when the stakes are so highon a ship of lies bearing a False Cargo.A veteran sailor who had voyaged long and far, L. Ron Hubbard knew well the life at sea. He once wrote in his journal: ';There is something magnificently terrible about a savage sea in the unwholesome green of half-dawn. . . . The ship is an unreal, fragile thing, full of strange groans, and engine and sails are dwarfed in their puny power when matched to all the countless horsepower in wave and wind and current. The whole world is an awesome threat. Alone, wet, hungry, hand cramped upon a tiller, a sailor knows more truth in those hours than all mankind in his millions of years.' Also includes the sea adventure Grounded, in which a Royal Air Force lieutenant loses a friend and tarnishes his reputation, and sets out in search of redemption . . . no matter the price.

Imagine that your father is one of New York City's top gangsters, and that you want nothing to do with him or his criminal empire. Now imagine he's been murdered . . . and the only person who gives a damn is you. Meet Mat Lawrence, a stand-up guythink Gary Cooperwho's got one thing on his mind: revenge. The last place Mat wants to go is back to New York, but that's where the killers are, and he won't stop until they're dead . . . or he is. And there's only one man who can help him track them down: his father's criminal attorneythe Mouthpiece. But there's more than a desire for revenge at play in this deadly game. When Mat's old man went down, a million dollars went missing. Put it all togethera cold-blooded murder and a cool million goneand it's a pretty good bet that the one thing Mat is sure to find is some serious heat.Mouthpiece was originally published in the September, 1934, edition of Thrilling Detective. That same year, as the youngest writer ever to serve as president of the New York Chapter of the American Fiction Guild, L. Ron Hubbard sought to promote greater accuracy in the writing of detective and mystery stories. To that end he invited the coroner to speak to the Guild members over lunch. He later recounted that ';they would go away from the luncheon the weirdest shade of green.' But, we can assume, they also went away better informed. Years later, expanding his studies in the area, Hubbard became a special officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. Also includes the tales of mystery, Flame City, the story of one man's harrowing attempt to save his father and the city from a serial arsonist; Calling Squad Cars!, in which a police dispatcher goes to extraordinary lengths to bring down a gang of bank robbers after he is accused of working with them; and Grease Spot, the story of a former racecar driver, now the owner of a wrecking company, who plays fast and loose with the police . . . and may have to pay for it. * A Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award Winner

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Steve Craig is in one hell of a mess. Being accused of murder is bad enough, but the local police are convinced he's killed his own father. Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have conceived a more diabolical plot for Cary Grant . . . and now, for Steve Craig, the plot is about to get down and dirty.Steve's safe from the cops as long as he stays aboard his Navy shipbut the word safe isn't in his vocabulary. He slips off the vessel and vanishes into the seamy underside of the city, determined to find out who took his father's life . . . even if it means risking his own.He follows a trail of smoke and mirrors and sudden violence to the Brass Keys to Murder. With them, Steve will seek to unlock the terrible truth behind his father's death . . . and an astonishing secret that will change his lifeand that of the woman he lovesforever.Ron knew well the life at sea and the world surrounding it. Not only was he the son of a naval officer, he traveled back and forth across the Pacific, plied the China coast in a working schooner and commanded an expedition aboard a four-masted ship to the Caribbean. He walked the waterfronts of countless ports, sharing stories with the colorfuland often shadycharacters inhabiting them. Originally published in April 1935 under the pen name Michael Keith, Brass Keys to Murder is a direct result of those adventures.

American Ann Halliday is as sexy as Rita Hayworth and as fiery as the Sahara sun. And now she's feeling some real heat, as the prize captive of the Berber leader Abd el Malek . . . also known as ';The Killer.'But Abd el Malek wants Ann aliveand in chainssubject to his every whim and fantasy. Dusty Colton, however, an American deserter from the French Foreign Legion, has a different idea. With all the swagger of Robert Mitchum, he's determined to give ';The Killer' a taste of his own bloody medicine. The only problem is . . . Dusty himself is wanted for murder.Can Ann and Dusty team up and turn evil on its head? One thing's for surebetween Ann and the Hell's Legionnaire, the temperature is about to get even hotter.On the subject of North Africa, Hubbard said that writers too often ';forget a great deal of the languorous quality which made the Arabian Nights so pleasing. Jewels, beautiful women, towering cities filled with mysterious shadows, sultans equally handy with robes of honor and the beheading sword.' Hubbard brings this unique insight to his stories of North Africa and the Legionnaires, investing them with an authenticity of time, place and character that will keep you asking for more.Also includes the adventure stories, The Barbarians, in which a Legionnaire sets out to avenge a savage killing and makes a stunning discovery, and The Squad That Never Came Back, the story of a man who has uncovered the secret to a city of golda secret that could turn into a death sentence. ';Action-packed . . . standout . . . hard-core graphic.' Library Journal

In the Arizona territory, every mountain hides a fortuneand every man fends for himself. Tim Beckdolt,rangy and self-reliant, is as American as the frontier itself. But after spending eight treacherous months digging $175,000 in gold out of Desperation Peakall he has left is desperation. Two sadistic strangers have taken his gold, and now they want to take his life. He's on the runthe target of a Devil's Manhunt. In a time and a place where the only law is the law of survival, Beckdolt will have to live by his witsor die by the bullet.In 1932, Hubbard led a mining crew on a six-month West Indies Mineralogical Expedition in Puerto Ricothe first complete survey of the island since it had become an American territory. It was an experience that informs this title with remarkable realism. Also includes two additional Western tales: Johnny, the Town Tamer, the story of a local swindler who meets his match, and Stranger in Town, in which a drifter confronts a corrupt sheriffand his own dark past.';A thrilling novel of greed, violence, survival and perseverance, Devils Manhunt perfectly embodies the unbridled excitement of pulp fiction.' Midwest Book Review

As daring and defiant as Kirk Douglas journeying 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, there's no stopping diver Hawk Ridley as he takes the plunge into a briny world of untold riches and danger.The Caribbean is a fortune hunter's dream, salted with the gold of galleons long ago claimed by the deep. Now Hawk's headed for the Windward Passage of Haiti to stake his claim. But a rival team has also picked up the scent, and they're willing to turn the sea red with blood to get to the gold first.Fighting off ruthless competitors is nothing new to Hawkbut fighting off a beautiful woman is a different story. Is she an innocent stowaway or a seductive saboteur? Between the cool millions lying on the bottom of the ocean, and the boiling-hot race to grab it, Hawk's about to find the answer and make a discovery Twenty Fathoms Down that will blow you out of the water.When it came to research, Hubbard was not one to head for the library. He always went to the sourcein this case a U.S. navy deep-sea diver who agreed to show him the ropes and the danger. Hubbard admits it was dauntingeven frighteningbut he returned from the experience with all the first-hand knowledge he needed to fathom the true nature of life and death underwater. Primo Pulp Fiction. Booklist

Star Trek's Captain Kirk has a kindred soul in Lars the Ranger, a commander of his own star fleet. But whereas Kirk's mission is to boldly go where no man has gone before, Lars is boldly going where other men arein a desperate attempt to save his home planet . . . Earth. He's not exploring the final frontier. He is our last hope.Earth is way past global warming. It's totally friedan environmental disasterand most of its inhabitants have cut out for greener pastures, colonizing distant worlds. Lars leads an expedition across the galaxy to visit those worlds in hopes that he return with the resources needed to bring Earth back from the brink of extinction.But Lars has apparently failed. A mammoth fleet of mysterious starships are descending on the third planet from the sun. Is Earth history? Yes . . . and that may just be its saving grace. By the spring of 1938, Hubbard's stature as a writer was well established. As author and critic Robert Silverberg puts it: he had become a ';master of the art of narrative.' Hubbard's editors urged him to apply his gift for succinct characterization, original plot, deft pacing and imaginative action to a genre that was new, and essentially foreign, to himscience fiction and fantasy. The rest is SciFi history.Also includes the science fiction adventures, Battling Bolto, the story of a giant, con man who's running an interstellar scam, while the biggest trick of all lies right under his nose; and Tough Old Man, in which an aging constable's lack of feelings is not a matter of insensitivity, but of a secretand surprisingside of his character.

A charming rogue cut from the same cloth as Robert Mitchum, American engineer Dan Courtney is learning fast that it takes more than a little charm to lay the groundwork for a railroad. Particularly when the plan is to build it across some of the roughest and most dangerous territory on earth.Courtney's been hired to survey the land that would link up the Uganda Railway to the Anglo-Egyptian railroad. Running through desert, jungle and mountains, this is one lineand storywith more twists and turns than the New York City subway system.Diamond smugglers. A fearsome native tribe. A beautiful young American woman . . . and a man determined to kill her. Put them all together and you've got a world where All Frontiers Are Jealous. It's up to Courtney to tame those frontierstake on the tribe, save the woman, and save the future of the railroad . . . before his blood ends up on the tracks.L. Ron Hubbard based this story on the real-life history of the countless harrowing attempts in the late 19th and early 20th century to link up the two railroads. An experienced civil engineer and surveyor himself, Hubbard had worked in rough and dangerous terrain as part of the West Indies Mineralogical Expedition. All Frontiers Are Jealous may be a work of fiction, but as far as Hubbard was concerned, in his own life, the adventure couldn't have been more real.';Terrific from beginning to end.' Midwest Book Review

Han Solo of Star Wars could learn a thing or two from Firsten Guide, the tough, wise-cracking rebel leader who's light years ahead of his timeand about to lead his crew into a battle that's Beyond All Weapons. Because the force is most assuredly with Firsten.He and his fellow colonizers of Mars have faced a brutal crackdown engineered by Earth's tyrannical government. But the resourceful Firsten has developed an extraordinary new fuel that enables him and his hardy band to escape into spaceand time.Escape, however, is not enough. Firsten wants revenge. But the universe is full of unexpected twists and turns. Just as Prometheus flew too close to the sun, Firsten will soon discover that when you break the laws of physics, you can get burned.Hubbard was a pioneer in his use and development of Einstein's theories of space and time as a plot point in his fiction. In Beyond All Weapons, he explains: ';As mass approaches the speed of light . . . it approaches infinity. And, as mass approaches infinity, time approaches zero. It was only nine days back from Alpha. But in those nine days, six thousand years have passed by Earth.' It stands as one of the earliestand most succinctdescriptions of the theory.Also includes the science fiction adventures Strain, the story of a space war's brutality and one man's struggle to keep a secret under the pain of torture, and The Invaders, in which the distant crystal mines are under attack until a technician crystallizes a unique strategy to undermine the attackers.';A thrilling space adventure . . . the terror and excitement builds through to the end.' Publishers Weekly

Meet Chuck Lambert, who, though not exactly a fool, is guilty of letting his imagination get the best of his wits. That's because our young, naive Lambert wants his own planet. But rather than purchase one legally from the Interior Department of the Outer Galactic Control, he soon succumbs to the flashy advertising of an unsavory galactic swindler named Madman Murphy- the purported King of Planetary Realtors. What Madman is the king of, is selling the unwary a planet that isn't quite right, a planet where one can't sit down because there's something the matter with its matter. And that's exactly what becomes the matter for our unlucky voyager, after Chuck toils for eleven grueling years to scrape together enough money to finally buy a planet of his own.

Is Greed good? The future of Earth and all of mankind may hang on that one question. And George Marquis Lorrilarda space age ace-pilot, adventurer and fortune-hunter to rival Hans Solo of Star Warsis just the man to answer it. The world is divided between Asia and the United Continentstwo great super powers locked in eternal warfare. But the balance of power is about to shift in Asia's favor. They have developed a top-secret weaponthe cohesion projectorthat could lead to annihilation on an unprecedented scale. . . . But as far as Lorrilard is concerned, the number one problem with the projector is that it stands in the way of his profits. Can he find a way to subvert the powerful weapon and resume his enterprising exploits? For millions of people on Earth survival may ultimately depend on the power of one man's Greed.Greed was the last L. Ron Hubbard story published in Astounding Science Fiction in April 1950, marking the end of an era. Over a decade before, he had been a key figure in the opening of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Now, as he turned his attention to other writings, the Golden Age drew to a close. But some three decades after this story appeared, Hubbard would make a triumphant return to the field with the publication of his bestselling novel Battlefield Earth and the extraordinary ten-volume series Mission Earth. Also includes the science fiction adventures, The Final Enemy, in which Earth discovers it faces a distant, yet devastating new foe, the identity of which is the most shocking blow of all, and The Automagic Horse, the story of a Hollywood special effects wizard who is about to apply his movie magic to a project that is out of this world.A wonderfully rich and textured experience, complete with realistic sound effects and moody atmospheric music. Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award winner for 2008

Things are disappearing. Parts of buildings, parts of people, parts of the whole worldthey're here today, gone tomorrow. Old Shellbacka character as crazy-smart as Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Futurethinks he needs glasses. But all he really has to do is open his eyes . . . and see the light.Or so says George Smileyotherwise known as the Messiah. George claims that the reason things are vanishing is because he wants them to go away. He has no more use for the world . . . and so it goes. Say goodbye. But Old Shellback has a different idea, and since he is the most stubborn man in the universe, you might want to hear him out.What's Shellback's idea? That two can play at this game. While George is making this world disappear, Old Shellback will make another one appear. Join him on an amazing odysseyas he heads back to a future of his own making.By the spring of 1938, Hubbard's stature as a writer was well established. As author and critic Robert Silverberg puts it: he had become a ';master of the art of narrative.' Hubbard's editors urged him to apply his gift for succinct characterization, original plot, deft pacing and imaginative action to a genre that was new, and essentially foreign, to himscience fiction and fantasy. The rest is Sci-Fi history.Also includes the Science Fiction adventures, A Can of Vacuum, in which a practical joke on a space station proves that a good sense of humor is timeless, and 240,000 Miles Straight Up, the thrilling story of a race to the moon . . . and the one man who may be able to save the earth from Armageddon.

Drilling for oil is a dirty business, and for Bill Murphy, it's about to turn positively filthy. But Murphy's as big and tough as his home state of Texasa man in the mold of a young John Wayneand he's more than a match for everything the oil-rich land of Venezuela can throw at him. Everything, that is, except for one woman . . .Her name is Marcia Stewart. She's fiery, she's brave, and she's beautiful . . . and she'd like nothing better than to see Bill Murphy dead. Her oilman father's been killed, and Marcia tags Murphy as the murderer.Murphy's guilty of a lot of things, but murder's not one of them. He's drilling down for the truth, and now it's his land, his love for Marciaand his lifethat are on the line. With so much at stake, he'll go to any length to come out on top of the Black Towers to Danger.When Black Towers to Danger was first published in 1936, the editor wrote: ';L. Ron Hubbard, as you know, is a pilot, a writer and an engineer. The one thing he doesn't work at is engineering. He was in China at 15 and has covered a lot of territory since then. If he's on a flying fieldor anywhere elseyou can't miss himhe's a tall, slender chap with very fair skin and bright red hair. Something picturesque about him as there should be about a flyer.' And not only was he a man with a commanding presence, so too did he have command over his material, researching the entire oil drilling process for this story.Roars to life. Publishers Weekly

Embittered by past failures and broken dreams, American fighter pilot David Duane believes in but one causehis own. Europe is at war, and he'll fight it for a price, selling his deadly flying skills to the highest bidder.Just as Bogart came to Casablanca to escape his past, Duane has come to the icy white wastes of Scandinavia to wage a private war in the skies. But he's about to take off on a flight and undertake an unforgettable journeyOn Blazing Wingsto a place beyond the imagination . . . leading to a revelation that will open his eyes and his heart. In a world divided by war, Duane discovers that sometimes you have to make a choice, and that making the wrong one could cost him the woman he loves. . . .As a barnstorming pilot in the early days of aviation, Hubbard was dubbed ';Flash' Hubbard by the aviation magazines of the day. His unique personal and pioneering knowledge of flight streaks across the page in novels like On Blazing Wings. ';Expect twists and turns to the very end.' Yahoo Voices* International Book Award Winner

Spring has come to White Bear Landingand so has the law, in the firm hands of Royal Mounted policeman and pilot Bob Dixon. Dixon's as gruff, tough and good-looking as Russell Crowe, and in this outpost halfway between the arctic mines and civilization, he's known for taking the law to extremes.More than once Dixon has meted out his own brand of rough justice with hard fists and hot lead, but now the tables have turned. The past has come back to haunt him, he's been set up as a murder suspect, and a rogue's gallery of enemies are lining up to settle old scores . . .Out on the icy tundra, on the edge of the world, revenge can be coldand brutal. Dixon's only hope is to let the trust of a good friend and the love of a good woman lead the way to true justice and redemptionon Arctic Wings.Hubbard never wrote a word, conceived a character, or described a setting without first finding out all he could about the people and places that drove his stories. He wrote: ';I began to search for research on the theory that if I could get a glimmering of anything lying beyond a certain horizon, I could go deep enough to find an excellent story. I read exhaustively. I wanted information and nothing else.' His exhaustive researchand search for the excellent storycomes through brilliantly in Arctic Wings.

Take a touch of Charles Lindbergh, mix in a dash of Evel Knievel, throw in one man-killing catand you've got a recipe for a rip-roaring adventure featuring the high-flying, hard-living Smoke Burnham.There's not a dare Smoke won't take, and there's not a wager he won't make. Now he's betting his life that he can fly his plane, Super Cometwith his pet cheetah Patty coming along for the rideacross the mountains and jungles of South America to a prize-winning payday. All he has to do is out-race the competition, out-maneuver a saboteur, and make out with his girlwho's determined to bring him down to earth. One thing you can count onin the air, in a fight, or in his girlfriend's armshe's a man who likes to turn up the heat. Because where there's Smoke, there's fire.In 1931, as a student at George Washington University, Hubbard founded the college Glider Club and within a few months a respected columnist said ';he is recognized as one of the outstanding glider pilots in the country.' Later he wrote as the aviation correspondent for the prestigious flying magazine Sportsman Pilot. His combined writing and flying expertise comprised the perfect recipe to give stories like Man-Killers of the Air their authentic flavor.';Great adventure to keep you on the edge of your seat.' Gather.com

Sailor Bob Sherman has his hands full trying to save the ocean yacht Bonito from capsizing in hurricane waters off Venezuela's coast- no thanks to the know-it-all attitude and incompetence of the vessel's captain. Sherman's rugged good looks and seafaring skills at least bring him the attentions of Phyllis Marmion, a raven-haired beauty and daughter of the yacht's owner. Unfortunately, Sherman's also the bitter enemy of the girl's father who, with the support of corrupt officials, had stripped him of a highly profitable drilling business and taken his land years before. More's at stake than oil fields when the ship is attacked by modern pirates and are all taken captive. Soon Sherman, crew and passengers find themselves in a dungeon jail on an uncharted island known locally as the Island of Death- a place where no one escapes, and Sherman's futile efforts have marked him for an early death.

Bat Conroycut him and he'd bleed ink, he's a born newspaperman. Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareidthe greatest American journalists of the 20th century all made their names as war correspondents, but none of them would have beat out Bat Conroy to a good story.Which makes it that much more mystifyingand aggravatingwhen an unknown writer, filing under the byline Perry Lane, scoops Bat on every story that comes along. Bat's always been the go-to reporter covering the Japanese invasion of China . . . until this Perry Lane person came along to steal his thunder and maybe even his job.Now, the biggest story of the war is about to hit the fan, and Bat's going to get to the source first if it kills him. But the most shocking news of all is the true identity of the elusive Perry Lane. As a young man, Hubbard visited Manchuria, where his closest friend headed up British intelligence in northern China. Hubbard gained a unique insight into the intelligence operations and spy-craft in the region as well as the hostile political climate between China and Japana knowledge that informs stories like Inky Odds.

When it comes to flying gliders, ace pilot Breeze Callaghan is as smooth as they come. He perfects a skill that will prove vitally important for decades to comeeven into the jet age, as demonstrated by Captain Sully Sullenberger, who famously landed his disabled passenger plane on the Hudson River. Sully's jet was brought down by a flock of geese, while Breeze is going up against a vulture named Badger O'Dowell. Both pilots are vying for a Navy contract, and Badger would love to shoot the Breeze . . . literally. Short of that he'll do everything he can to sabotage Breeze in flight. It's game on, and as Breeze is about to discover, Badger's an expert at playing dirty. And there's much more than money at stake: there's his reputation, his life, and his love of a beautiful woman. A storm is brewing, and as for danger, the sky's the limit when Sky Birds Dare!During his undergraduate days, L. Ron Hubbard served as the president of the George Washington Glider Club. He held numerous records for sustained powerless flight and was renowned for his wild aerial antics that, according to an eyewitness, ';made women scream and strong men weep.' In short, there wasn't a single flying feat in Sky Birds Dare! that Hubbard himself hadn't dared to do on his own. Highly recommended for aviation action/adventure pulp fiction fans. Midwest Book Review