The Phantom Patrol: The Story of a Coast Guard Officer, a Drug Runner, and a Sea of Trouble

L. Ron Hubbard

Jun 2011 · Galaxy Press LLC

About this ebook

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott is as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he’s about to lose everything—his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Long before Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips fell into the hands of modern-day pirates, Johnny faced the same high-stakes action on the high seas.

Johnny’s mission is to track down drug runners in the Gulf of Mexico, and he’s got his eye on the biggest fish of all—Georges Coquelin. But an SOS from a downed plane that’s sinking fast leads him straight to disaster. . . .

Coquelin springs a trap. Stranding Johnny and the plane’s passengers on a deserted island, the drug smuggler commandeers Johnny’s boat and his name. In the company of a weak-kneed millionaire and a long-legged beauty, Johnny’s at the end of his rope—which could turn into a noose around his neck. He’s got nothing left to lose . . . and there’s nothing he won’t do to reclaim his reputation.

The Phantom Patrol marked a turning point in L. Ron Hubbard’s fiction. In writing this story he recognized the vital importance of research and realism. To that end, Hubbard toured Coast Guard vessels and interviewed officers who were actually involved in chasing down drug smugglers. The resulting authenticity and success of the tale was a sign of things to come. Read The Phantom Patrol and experience the development of a unique voice in storytelling.

“Nonstop action and a hero to root for.” —Publishers Weekly

* An International Book Awards Finalists

About the author

L. Ron Hubbard was born in Tilden, Nebraska on March 13, 1911. He attended George Washington University and Princeton University. He began his career as a writer for pulp magazines and later as a science fiction writer. His science fiction works include the Buckskin Brigades, Final Blackout, Fear, The Kingslayer, and Black Towers to Danger. His book, Dianetics, was published in 1950. He spent the next 30 years devoting himself to the development of Dianetics and Scientology. In 1954, he founded the Church of Scientology. In the 1980s, he published his final fiction works Battlefield Earth and the Mission Earth series, which won the Cosmos 2000 Award from French readers and the Nova Science Fiction Award from Italy's Perseo Libri. He died on January 24, 1986.