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A Whirl Through the Indiana Jones Adult Novels

The Secret of Easter Island - Wolfgang Hohlbein (1992)
121 - The Secret of Easter Island - Wolfgang Hohlbein (1992).jpg
Originally posted 30 August 2020 on the Indiana Jones Facebook Group
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Junior Jones' Indymag - The Magazine for Indiana Jones Fans issue 15 was released along with an English translation of this German book.
Of course I read my Dutch hardcopy instead, but that shouldn't matter much.
Either way, it's a good book; and well worth a read!

Forget the white sandy beaches and calm waving palm trees of your stereotypical tropical islands. An ancient people on an uncharted island hide a dark, dark secret.

The Americans are after it.
But so are the Nazi's.
Who is on whose tail?
And who can even be trusted?

With one secret service man named Franklin and the other Delano, it's clear that not all is as it appears.
Especially with a rag-tag bunch of air crash victims also gone missing.

Indiana's wit is as sharp as ever; especially when facing off against the SS and a German U-boat captain.
And that same goes for the author himself too.

The book starts with a bang; describing a plane going down in most entertaining detail.
I especially like the flying debris, "of which one of the pieces looked suspiciously like the right half of the altitude rudder, which should really be along with the left at the rear of the craft".

This might also mark the introduction of the recurring character of Grisswald.
You can imagine him as the anti-Brody.
Instead of calm, wise and supportive; he is frustrated beyond belief at Indy's disappearance on "nonsensical adventures" time and again, leaving the university perpetually understaffed.

To say these two do not see eye to eye would be the understatement of the previous century.
And it works wonders!
Great character dynamic; and certainly one I could see fitting in a future film too.

So what are you waiting for?
Get out your fedora and start digging!
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The Gold of El Dorado - Wolfgang Hohlbein (1991)
122 - The Gold of El Dorado - Wolfgang Hohlbein (1991).jpg
Originally posted 24 June 2023 on the Indiana Jones Facebook Group
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Well-written as usual for Hohlbein, Indiana Jones and the Gold of El Dorado is pretty much exactly what you'd expect. A fairly straightforward and by-the-numbers adventure where the reveal of the character motivations during the finale provide the main element of surprise.

As built up during the story, for once there is actually nothing supernatural about the cursed gold, which makes this an odd turn for the Indiana Jones series. I do like the descriptions of the titular El Dorado, which this time is not a city at all.

Marcus Brody is along for the Adventure and he's back to his more capable Raiders self. The character of Indy is also well-realised and you really get to feel our hero's thirst for adventure and his knack for diving headfirst into danger if it means saving his friends.

This story is relatively low on the comedy or the witty writing that make the other Hohlbein novels such a pleasure read. I do like the introduction of the returning character of Grisswald, who is the new dean of Indy's college and who is a great foil for our hero as he's as opposed to adventuring as opposed can be.

Ultimately this is a decent but somewhat forgettable entry in the series. Hohlbein did much better with Labyrinth of Horus and Ship of the Gods. Still, it's a quick, smooth and fun read and has me looking forward to the final entry in Mr. Wolfgang's Indiana Jones oeuvre.
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