subject: Review: Trouble On His Wings [print this page] In this exciting pulp classic from 1939, Johnny Brice is working as a flyer and photographer for World News publications. He's a typical brash young man, intent on making a dollar and willing to take chances. Constantly putting himself at risk is second nature to him. Determined to get the first newsreel footage of disasters as they happen, he goes so far as to parachute into the ocean in order to get picked up by a rescue ship on its way to save the survivors of a burning vessel. Then one day he inadvertently saves the life of a beautiful girl, and as you would expect from a piece of pulp fiction the plot heats up from there.
Trouble On His Wings is one of many air-adventure stories penned by L. Ron Hubbard, himself a barnstorming pilot in his youth. This is one of his longer stories from the '30s, and what a wonderful tale it is. Johnny Brice is identical to the male lead characters in Hubbard's best fiction; immediately likeable, handsome and resourceful. I'm particularly fond of Hubbard's air-adventure tales because his love of flying and adventure comes across in the writing. His characters speak to the joy of flight and the grand sweep of landscape as viewed from above: "She watched the country unroll below them, small ripples of pleasure going through her at the variety of colors of the checkerboard earth, of the dollhouse towns, always with their guardian church spires..." Such strong writing makes reading Trouble On His Wings all the more pleasurable. You can see and feel the action of the story.
And what would a great pulp fiction story be without a little romance? Trouble On His Wings is flavored with a blossoming romance as Brice takes note of his beautiful rescued passenger during their flight across the country: "Her honey-gold hair was delightfully real." But naturally their fate is undecided as Brice begins to think the girl, who refuses to tell him her name, has jinxed him. His best efforts at getting newsreel footage are crushed time and again with a string of incredible bad luck. The girl may be beautiful, but he can't shake either her or the trouble that keeps coming his way. Written in eleven thrilling chapters, Trouble On His Wings is a robust and heartfelt adventure. The plot takes a few turns and twists that will keep readers guessing as they whip through the pages.
This was such a fun book to read. I was swept along myself on this cross-country thrill ride. Readers will be rooting for Johnny Brice and "Jinx" to not only work out their problems, but survive the inexplicable poor fortune that plagues Johnny at every turn. What you get with every story by L. Ron Hubbard is a dedication to the characters, the plot and a devotion to the readers who are expecting the best, and then receiving just that. Books like Trouble On His Wings can be enjoyed again and again, along with the rest of the entire eighty-volume series.
