BLAINE, John [209] pp. Grosset & Dunlap Publication year coincides w/ Stairway To Danger last title listed on front flap 1952 7 5/8" x 5 1/4" VG/ VG The Rocket's Shadow is the first book in a series of 24 adventure and mystery novels. It was written by John Blaine, a pseudonym for authors Harold L. Goodwin and Peter J. Harkins. It was published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1947. The first edition was published in reddish-tan cloth-bound hardcovers with an illustrated dust jacket. The series title on the front panel of the dust jacket was "A Rick Brant Electronic Adventure." Later printings into the fifties and sixties were published in pictorial hardcovers with no dust jackets. In addition to this change in binding, the series title appearing on the front cover of each book was changed to "A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story." Although the binding and the series subtitle was changed, the cover illustration remained the same. The storyline of the series features teenaged Rick Brant and his former-Marine pal, Don "Scotty" Scott, who live on Spindrift Island, off the coast of New Jersey, where Rick's father, Hartson Brant, heads the Spindrift Foundation, a group of scientists. Throughout the series, Rick and Scotty are involved in various adventures at home and abroad. In The Rocket's Shadow, the first book of the series, Rick meets Scotty and investigates the sabotage of the Spindrift Foundation's experimental moon rocket.
