Showing results by author "Victor Appleton" in All Categories

Tom Swift and his Electric Runabout takes us back to gentler times when the bad guys weren't really that bad, didn't carry Uzis, and being an inventor like Thomas Edison was the dream of many young boys. In this book our hero creates an electric automobile with a top speed of over 100 mi./h, saves the bank, gives the bully two black eyes, wins the prize for the fastest automobile in a 500 mile race, only stopping once to recharge his batteries. Without a NASCAR pit crew, it only took Tom 25 min.

Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung is a sci-fi adventure novel by Victor Appleton. The US Government is letting Tom Swift Jr. manage the recuperation of its probe to Jupiter. But an unknown missile abruptly intercepts the probe and splashes it in the South Atlantic. Confronted with a massive search task to locate the probe on the ocean bottom, Tom soon understands that the same mysterious group that attacked the probe is racing to find it!

In the first volume of this series, our hero, Tom Swift, rebuilds a motorcycle. In this, volume 25, Tom Swift and his Electric Locomotive, Tom Swift not only invents, but builds an electric locomotive capable of speeds in excess of 120 mph. This is the final volume of the 25 volume Tom Swift series narrated by John W Michaels and published by Audio Books by Mike Vendetti.

Tom Swift and His Air Glider by Victor Appleton, volume 12 of the Tom Swift series, takes our hero to Siberia in search of a long lost platinum mine. In order to accomplish this, the young inventor invents an "air glider" that (don't try this at home) operates best in a hurricane. In this episode instead of his arch rival Andy Foger, the Czarists provide the intrigue as they attempt to capture Tom and his friends.

Volume nine of the Tom Swift series pits our hero Tom Swift against his arch rival Andy Foger in an airplane race for a prize of $10,000. A lot of money back in 1910. Andy has developed an even nastier bag of tricks in this volume. Our hero not only builds the world’s fastest monoplane in his garage, but saves his father's life by flying a world-class surgeon in the monoplane to his father's aid. Every chapter of this book is a cliffhanger, leaving the listener in anticipation of the next exciting chapter.

High-spirited young Tom Swift is off on another of his many exciting adventures. This time he's in search of gold in an underground lost city. Tom finds the lost city in a remote area of Mexico, and he finds the gold. Getting into the city was difficult for the adventurers, but when they try to get out, then their real adventure begins. Tom and his companions find themselves trapped in an underground city which contains as many traps and mazes as an Egyptian pyramid.

In volume number eight of the Tom Swift series by Victor Appleton, narrated by John Michaels, our hero, Tom Swift, takes his airship, the Red Cloud, and his friends above the Arctic Circle in search of gold. They find the gold, but not without dealing with savage Indians, scoundrels, violent storms, and of course the evil Fogers. Please note that some of the language, attitudes, and references, although acceptable when this book was copyrighted in 1911, are not politically correct today.

Volume seven of the Tom Swift series brings our hero, Tom Swift, to Phantom Mountain, somewhere in Colorado, in search of a band of rascals who use the power generated in a flash of lightning to create diamonds. Tom Swift encounters Barcoe Jenks, an eccentric character we met in the previous volume, who enlists Tom's aid to get the secret of making perfect diamonds from the sinister gang of Diamond Makers. Once again our hero, Tom Swift, saves his companions from many a disaster.

Book 14 of the Tom Swift series, Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera, finds our hero, the young inventor Tom Swift, approached by a moving picture distributor, Mr. Period, to not only invent a better motion picture camera, but to take his airship and film exciting events. Off to Africa go Tom, Ned Newton, Mr. Damon, Mr. Nestor, and the friendly giant Koku to film wars between the natives, fights between the animals, and stampedes of the elephants. Of course our hero does not let him down.

Tom Swift in the City of Gold by Victor Appleton, volume 11 of the Tom Swift series, takes us to the wilds of Central Mexico where Tom and his friends discover an underground city of gold. On the verge of becoming billionaires, their plans are thwarted by savage headhunters, and of course Tom's archrival Andy Foger. Please be aware that this book was written over 100 years ago, and may contain language and references that are today politically incorrect, insensitive and inappropriate.

In Tom Swift and His War Tank, the young inventor turns his genius toward aiding the Allies in World War I. When his revolutionary tank design falls into the hands of German spies, Tom must outmaneuver enemy agents, keep his work a secret, and prove that machines—not just manpower—can win wars. A gripping mix of invention, espionage, and wartime intrigue, this adventure showcases Tom Swift’s knack for innovation and high-stakes action.

Tom Swift in Captivity is book number 13 of the Tom Swift series. In this adventure Tom, Ned, Mr. Damon and Eradicate travel to South America in search of a tribe of giants. Sam Preston, the owner of a large circus puts Tom and his friends on the trail of these huge creatures. Of course our hero and his friends passed through numerous hazards wild animals, and of course the dastardly bad guy. Travel along as John W. Michaels narrates this early piece of Americana.

Book number 15 of the Tom Swift series finds our hero pursuing smugglers across the Canadian border. In his friends and a custom agent had to Canada in Tom's mighty airship equipped with the world's greatest Searchlight in search of smugglers were using Shopton as a destination. Of course along the way, Tom and his friends have several hair-raising experiences. This book was originally published in 1912, and attitudes and expressions were different from today, and some may find the language in this material offensive.

When a top-secret space probe is mysteriously shot down over the ocean, Tom Swift Jr. jumps into action with his latest invention—the Electronic Hydrolung! In Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung, the young genius must race against a shadowy enemy to recover the probe from the ocean floor before it falls into the wrong hands. With danger lurking beneath the waves and sabotage at every turn, Tom’s ingenuity is pushed to the limit in this thrilling sci-fi adventure.

A blaze breaks out in a fireworks factory near Tom Swift's home, but the fire is even closer to his sweetheart, Mary Nestor's house. Tom and his chum and faithful companion Ned Newton rush to extinguish the conflagration and help rescue victims. Tom and Ned rescue a scientist and chemist who becomes one of the subplots of this thrilling tale of yesteryear. The main plot of the story is based on an idea that strikes Tom as he is fighting the fire: Why not invent an aerial firefighting apparatus? It is this invention that nearly blinds Eradicate, but ultimately sends Tom to rescue Mary Nestor.

Tom Swift puts his modified motorcycle to the test while delivering top-secret plans, dodging spies and danger. His first thrilling ride kickstarts a legendary adventure series.

Volume 16 of the Tom Swift series, finds our hero inventing the world's largest, and of course best, cannon for Uncle Sam, able to destroy a target at a distance of over 30 miles. Not only does Tom Swift engineer this large cannon, but he also invents the propellant. Take-charge type of guy that he is, generals and villains are no match for him, not to mention his faithful giant Koku who nearly single-handedly ties down the 30-ton loose cannon on the deck of a pitching warship.

Mr. Damon is swindled, and to make matters worse, kidnapped. Our hero, the young inventor Tom Swift comes to the rescue and convicts the scoundrels with the help of his new invention, a telephone that also takes pictures. Imagine that! He also utilizes his amazing airships, and of course the help of his faithful companions and friends Ned Newton, Koku the Giant, and Eradicate Sampson. Every chapter of this book, number 17 of the Tom Swift series, is a cliff-hanger that has kept readers and now listeners in suspense, awaiting the next exciting chapter.

Tom Swift is hired by a film company to invent a new kind of moving picture camera: "small and light with electric power, a regular wizard camera." Follow Tom as he takes it to Africa and India to film action pictures of wild animals, herds of elephants, scenes of native wars, earthquakes, and eruptions of volcanoes. The excitement begins on the sea voyage and continues on to Africa where Tom does his filming from a balloon...

Three very successful series of stories aimed at children and teens were created by a man who had a book-packaging house and didn’t want to cause confusion. So none of the stories ever had his name on them. Instead, Edward Stratemeyer hired several writers and provided them with story ideas that were then published under the pseudonym Victor Appleton.