John Sherman O'Brien (1897–1938)

Silver Chief’s Revenge, published in 1954, is different than the original Silver Chief book as it is a spy thriller while the first book was more of a ‘Call of the Wild’ sled dog thriller. I enjoyed it for what it is and am giving it 5 stars.

In this book the human hero is sergeant Peter Thorne, of the Royal Mounted Canadian Police. In the original ‘Dog of the North’ book, it was a Jim Thorne. I don’t remember a mention of the relationship, but of Silver Chief there is this show more bit:

‘A descendant of purebreds, and sired by another famous Silver Chief, whose deeds of valor were legend in the North Country, young Chief had traits permitting him to respond with daring and intelligence to unusual situations. Combined with this fine heritage, he had been trained in the exacting tradition of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and he knew well that the moment had come to combine courage and true cunning.’

Thorne and Silver Chief respond to a Mayday call of distress from a Canadian Air Force plane saying, “I am being forced down at gunpoint.’

As this was the 1950’s, the villains in the book were Russians. Russia is still called out to be the villain of today, but most loudly by people who are trying to cover up for the real big villain of today which is China.

Our Mounty hero and trusted dog tussle with the evil Russians right away, but it doesn’t start out good for them:

‘Then suddenly, without specific reason, the soft prompting of duty became an urgent summoning. At once, now! And Silver Chief leaped forward! He must attack that creature, whose gaping jaws and ropelike muscles clearly belonged to an enemy! Full awareness came to Chief, even before his widespread legs carried him to his destination. Danger was no longer general, but sinister and directed against his master. It belonged to the man who now disappeared — into the plane—to the dog hoisted in after him to the shorter man who turned suddenly and pulled a revolver from his pocket, pointing it. Then came a shot, directed at—at—his master!’

The bad guys also have a dog with them named Chelkar. Of course they become enemies:

‘All dogs have instinctive reactions; they possess a sense which tells them if they are in the presence of a friend or enemy. Ordinarily, because of his superior intelligence and training, Chief got along well with strange dogs unless he was attacked. It was different with Chelkar. This hated intruder had committed an act that could never be forgiven or forgotten by brutally assaulting his master. And each time he crossed the path of his foe, Chief was filled with one desire alone. Revenge!’

The Russians have stolen something stored inside a crate. Thorne will spend the book chasing them and trying to get the crate back which will lead him from the frozen North to America working with the FBI.

As my Goodreads friend Karen would say, ‘What is in the mysterious heavy crate?’. While interesting, you will have to read the book to find out. What let's you know it is important:

“We must at all costs prevent the removal of this crate from the country!”

Here is another excerpt to give you a taste of the flavor of the book:

‘With his ability to face grave dangers and arrive at quick decisions, the sergeant followed Silver Chief into the forbidding forest. Thorne felt certain that search parties would soon find the smashed plane, and that if he remained, first aid would be available. But he knew also that time thus gained by the escaping criminal would possibly mean his complete get-away through the trackless, gloomy forest. ‘Then, too, the sergeant’s decision not to wait was prompted by the code of the Mounties, contained in the world-famous, oft-repeated slogan, ‘Get Your Man!” Far better to endure unknown dangers and hardship, than betray one’s ideals!’

I like old books that sometimes hold old fashioned language. I didn’t find much in this book but that this tiny bit was interesting:

Anything else, Inspector?”
“Some pencils, sharp ones, please. ‘That will be all.”

As Thorne is the only ones to have seen the bad guys, he is called to America to help the FBI, and they tell him:

“We are convinced that the Russians have agents here watching to report to well-known operatives in the United States capital. Some of the unusual activities among foreign agents all over the country are influenced, we believe, by an effort to get rid of you and Silver Chief. Go armed at all times. If necessary, shoot, and shoot to kill!”

During the chase, the dog is able to contribute to thwart the plans of the bad guys, which cause them to exclaim at one point:

“That accursed dog again! I would crush him to death with my bare hands if possible. He is an omen."

At one point Thorne must trust Silver Chief or the others with him:

“So, it boils down to whether we trust every scientific means of completing this case by following the trail ahead or of chasing after your dog on a probable wild-goose chase.”
“Exactly!”

I am trying to read all the books published by Grosset and Dunlap under the ‘Famous Dog Stories’ banner and this makes the 24th out of the 27 titles I have identified in that series. Three more to go! show less

My, that's silly. It doesn't work for me even at the level of fun fluff. The magical thinking that takes a wild animal - not even feral, he's had no real contact with humans - and within weeks at most makes him totally loyal to...well, the first white man he's encountered... The last takes it from silly to annoying, though at least it seems to be more a matter of finding his True Love than just a racial thing. Still, it was bad enough it tainted the rest of the book for me. Aside from that, show more it is fluff. Oh, and the language is occasionally excessively high-flown - amusing. The first chapter, in present tense, in particular, but also some later bits. Not dialog, that's fine, usually in descriptions and the like. The end is coincidentally convenient, but not beyond the bounds of the genre. Not a favorite, or even one I much want to read again. show less

Good fluff. Spike and Dan are cute, and a lot of the secondary characters are amusingly (not deeply, but amusingly) drawn. I see what fuzzi means about a weak ending, but it's how books like this work - all the coincidences come together and make for Happy Ever After for man and dog. If I actually think about it, I think they've got some serious trouble waiting - they and Hart have made a bad enemy without particularly weakening him. But that's outside this book, they won for now and all's show more right with the world. Similarly, Dan's blinding only leads, through various vales of woe, to a good ending - and of course (all the way back at the beginning) the man-shy dog finds his True Master to start the rest of the story going. Not a place to look for logic, or even real dog behavior, but it's great fluff. Perfect when I didn't want to think too much. I'd read it before, but long long ago - each scene was vaguely familiar as it came up, but I didn't know where the story was going overall (aside from the predictable path such a book always takes). show less

Good fluff. This one delves a little deeper - not a lot, but a little - into the bond between man and dog. Thorne and Silver Chief are a solid pair (this is the second book in the series), and when Thorne has to believe that the dog is stealing meat out of traps, and contemplate killing him to end the thefts, it's a real strain for him. But of course he's not actually the thief and the truth is uncovered just in time. Some racism here, but even at its worst the description is of one show more individual and it specifically says that "like white men, some Indians are found to be untrustworthy" and this looks like one of them. Not a blanket "Indians can't be trusted" - which puts O'Brien well into the upper reaches of comprehension, for his time. An interesting little secondary tale attached to the end, after the main arc - both Thorne's potential retirement, and the echo back to the enemy of the first book. An enjoyable story, though still not much more than fluff. show less