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Book: Tailspin Tommy: The Mystery of the Midnight Patrol

Tailspin Tommy was an American comic that ran in newspapers from the 1920s to the 1940s. There were also movie serials, radio shows, and this one novel. I wasn't familiar with the character when I found the book in a box on the side of the road, and a brief search online did not dredge up any reviews. As such, I felt compelled to write something about it here.

"Tailspin" Tommy Tompkins is a pilot at the struggling Three Point Flying Field in Texas. His movie star girlfriend, Betty Lou, has convinced her producer to film their next motion picture at the airfield. This is a boon for the business, but production is jeopardized when Bruce Wilkins, a stunt pilot, is killed by real bullets during a mock dogfight. Tommy assists with the film's completion while also investigating the murder during his time off.

The Mystery of the Midnight Patrol serves up generous helpings of wish fulfillment. Tommy's main job at Three Point is transporting airmail, but he's also a talented stunt pilot who is capable of filling in for Wilkins. He just so happens, as well, to be a dead ringer for the movie's male lead; when the actor is incapacitated, Tommy is there to perform opposite his girlfriend on-camera. Besides these fortunate coincidences, the fantasy runs deeper: Tommy is continually rewarded for disobeying orders because he gets results, and the reprimands that he receives are perfunctory at best. Except for bad people (like Wilkins, who was a cad), no one really dislikes Tommy Tompkins.

The best parts of the book are its action scenes. I lack the domain knowledge to say whether or not the descriptions of aerial stunts and dogfighting are authentic, but I feel that Mark Stevens focused most of his energy on making these bits exciting. On the bad side, "grinned" is used far too often as a speech tag, and, astonishingly, lose and loose are frequently mixed up.

While I was unsatisfied by the ending, I think I did enjoy the book overall. It is one of a bazillion juvenile adventures that are just OK, formulaic in the extreme, usually written under tight deadlines and with strict limitations on content, but fun to experience on occasion.