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RICHARD KNIGHT

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Full Name: Richard Knight
Codename: Agent Q, Q-Agent
Nationality: American
Organization: American Intelligence
Occupation Agent

Creator: Donald E. Keyhoe
Time Span: 1936 - 2017

ABOUT THE SERIES

Richard Knight is a freelance agent with American Intelligence.

He is also an adventurer who craves excitement and danger and pitting his own skills and wits against other people and Mother Nature. Mostly, though, for our purposes, he is an operative who is on call for any of the various members of the U.S. intelligence community.

A good deal of information about Knight is given us in the very first recorded adventure, courtesy of a foreign agent tasked with learning who a meddling operative known only as Agent Q, or just 'Q', was. That man learned that this mysterious Q worked at times for Naval Intelligence though he was also helpful on many occasions to Army Intelligence. In addition, he will at times be asked for assistance by "the foreign service division of the State Department". Toss in as well that he "has some connection with the Department of Justice" and you likely come to the same conclusion this man did that 'Q' was "a free-lance agent given the authority to call on any Government office for information and help". To mask his activities on behalf of the American people, 'Q' was portrayed as 'simply a globe-trotter with friends in the Army and Navy whom he met while he was in the diplomatic service", though few 'friends' were "given Government planes without question, even those on the experimental list".

The dossier that is provided us on Richard Knight tells us that he was born in the nation's capitol in December of 1910, making him 26 years old when we first start following him in 1936. Knight's diplomatic connections started early in life when his father was made ambassador to France and the younger Knight was groomed to follow in the family tradition. Knight did work as a diplomat for a couple of years after graduating college but then resigned "stating he desired a more active life". This new career path would be intimately tied with his fascination of and love for aviation. After "intensive instruction piloting airplanes", Knight bought his own plane and began a lengthy tour of the States, Canada, Mexico, and then on into South America. He entered numerous air races and even won a couple of prestigious ones.

Flying may be Knight's greatest passion - and his skills in the cockpit of virtually any winged aircraft is beyond belief - but his vocation is that of government agent. He just has a much appreciated (by him) for being able to accomplish his work while also constantly indulging in his love.

Knight indeed has done considerable work for various government departments over the years but from the time we start following him, he works primarily for Major General John Brett, "his main War Department contact in the hazardous game of espionage". He will maintain that relationship for the length of his impressive numbers of adventures. This will even be the case when situations cause the official world to conclude that Knight had turned traitor and an arrest warrant placed on him with the word going out throughout all American bases and embassies around the world; this troublesome state lasts for a fair number of missions adding a tremendous difficulty factor.

Two people in Knight's life play major parts in his activities.

The first is Benita Navarre. In that first adventure mentioned before, Knight rescued the beautiful and highly intelligent Navarre from a mountain canyon in a desolate part of the United States where she and other descendants of a gold mining team had been trapped. She has since become the ward of General Brett and a very capable operative for him, not to mention a love interest for Knight for some time. (This budding relationship will continue for a while before she will suddenly stop being mentioned at all)

The second is Larry Doyle. Knight is best friends with this former Marine who, though a bit shorter than Knight in height, makes up for that with a stout, muscular frame. Doyle is frequently called 'Lothario' by Knight owing to the former grunt's keen appreciation of the fairer sex and their frequent reciprocation. That does not keep Doyle from being a very important fellow operative joining Knight on virtually every assignment that comes Knight's way - a status considerably longer in duration than Navarre.

Knight often portrays a careless manner, even more so when the situation gets dicey and the odds of survival slim. Indolent is a word used often to describe his projected nature. There is no doubt, though, that however deadly things get, Knight is having a good time even as he never loses his determination to succeed.

BOOKS

Number of Books:2
First Appearance:2012
Last Appearance:2017

1 The Complete Adventures of Richard Knight, Volume 1 The Complete Adventures of Richard Knight, Volume 1
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 2012

A collection from Altus Press of the first four Richard Knight adventures:
Vultures of the Lost Valley
Hell Flies High
Death Flies the Equator
Falcons from Nowhere
buy from Amazon

2 The Complete Adventures of Richard Knight, Volume 2 The Complete Adventures of Richard Knight, Volume 2
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 2017

A collection from Altus Press of the 5th-8th Richard Knight adventures:
Masks Over Madrid
Wings of the Emerald
Hell Over China
Aces of Death

NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES

Number of Stories:34
First Appearance:1936
Last Appearance:1942

From 1936 to 1942 often every other month, the prolific author Donald E. Keyhoe produced another exciting tale in the adventures of Richard Knight. He actually had a story in just about every issue but for a long while his Knight tales interlaced nicely with his other long-running series, Captain Philip Strange. When Strange's run came to an end, Keyhoe replaced it with another fascinating fellow, adventure/spy Eric Trent.

Note: several places on the Internet list the number of Richard Knight stories to be 35 and I have no reason to doubt that. I have only found 34, courtesy of Phil Stephensen-Payne's excellent The Adventure, War, and Espionage Fiction Magazine Index (philsp.com).


1 Vultures of Lost Valley Vultures of Lost Valley
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1936

Published in Flying Aces, November 1936.
"Down upon the flood-lit Washington Airport came a sleek Douglas transport. And from it ran a strangely-costumed girl wielding a glittering dagger in spirited attempts to protect herself from the burly men who sought to stop her. Only the lightning decision of a tall, well-built man in a car on the driveway saved her. That man was Richard Knight. And this surprising incident was destined to send him upon the most startling adventure of his career - an adventure which, wholly unknown to him, had begun more than half a century before he was born."

2 Hell Flies High Hell Flies High
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1937

Published in Flying Aces, January 1937.
"No sooner had [a message from Washington] rung across those leaden skies when just ahead of his speeding Northrop, Richard Knight glimpsed a huge Doublas transport roaring through the snowy blur. And as he saw that she he cringed. [Its pilot] had reported for the last time. For out of that craft's windows there stared dilated, terrified eyes - the unseeing eyes of the dead. And the faces from which they peered were - a hideous green!"

3 Death Flies the Equator Death Flies the Equator
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1937

Published in Flying Aces, March 1937.
"A haunted look came over the Admiral’s face. "That lost Wapiti," he told Knight, "was found high on the beach at Crazy Day Atoll—that tiny mid-Pacific dot lying exactly at the point where East meets West, and North meets South. Underneath
the island’s single palm tree sat the pilot and observer. Their bodies were stark as in death—yet they still lived! Their eyes were open—but they were eyes which only stared unseeing over the broad wastes of the sea."
Richard Knight and his colleague Doyle go up against the 'Four Faces', the deadliest secret society on earth - with "enough assassins on its roster to fill a regiment".

4 Falcons from Nowhere Falcons from Nowhere
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1937

Published in Flying Aces, May 1937.
"Through the growing twilight sped a powerful Northrop, and from its front pit peered Richard Knight. He saw no other ship in the sky; the secret of their mission was safe. But Richard Knight was unaware that an unseen hand was reaching through that descending pall to tear away an invisible veil—to loose upon him a hideous fate that had never before been faced by man. That fate was the ‘doom of stone’—and it had been streaming across the boundless wastes of eternity since the dawn of time."

5 Masks Over Madrid Masks Over Madrid
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1937

Published in Flying Aces, July 1937.
"Above those barrage-battered buildings of Madrid, vengeful Heinkels had hemmed in a lone flyer, were pouncing in for the kill. Fascinated, Richard Knight stared up at that grim drama, saw the doomed airman cast from his lead-flailed cockpit an oddly-fashioned chest bound to the chute that would have saved him. But when Richard Knight pried the lid from that strange box, he halted, transfixed. Inside was naught but a yellowed human skull. why had a man given his life for this?"

6 Wings of the Emerald Wings of the Emerald
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1937

Published in Flying Aces, September 1937.
"Through those blood-red skies that hung like the hand of Doom over war-racked Spain, there swooped a winged, incarnate devil—a greedy ghoul men called “The Hawk.” Sparing neither Rebel nor Loyalist, this eerie fiend struck without warning. Wretched Iberia herself was his victim; ruthlessly he pounced upon her,  and from her defenseless form his merciless talons tore priceless treasures. And now those bony claws clutched the gleaming “Green Madonna”—sought to  wrench from that brilliant jewel a secret known only to Death."

7 Hell Over China Hell Over China
novelette
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1937

Published in Flying Aces, November 1937.
"On the twisted body of that ruthless killer they had gunned from the skies, Richard Knight found an ominous message. “I will call again,” those brush-written characters announced, and appended was the dread symbol of Mo-Gwei—the sign of “The Devil”! Then “muted death” whipped across those gloomy heavens to fulfill that satanic threat. And as the shattered bodies of wretched airmen plunged to the earth, there came an infernal laugh. The cone of silence had found new victims!"

8 Aces of Death Aces of Death
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1938

Published in Flying Aces, January 1938.
"What infernal power had loosed those gun-bristling Grummans upon stricken China? And who were the merciless white devils who flew them like madmen and who fought like fiends? This sinister riddle called for the unfailing skill of Richard Knight. But even that ace agent was balked. For the winged killer from whom he sought to wrest its answer leaped into the flaming inferno of his own fallen plane—gave vent in his death throes to a defiant scream of triumph."

9 Hell Hammers Harbin Hell Hammers Harbin
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1938

Published in Flying Aces, March 1938.
"QUESTION MARK OF DEATH! North! North! And still farther northward over those bleak wastes of Asia flew Dick Knight. His course was uncharted—his destination unknown even to himself! Only a question mark—a cryptic crimson
question mark emblazoned on a rough Manchurian map—offered a clue to the mystery of that mad flight. And that puny clue was destined to be his single weapon against—hideous meteors of murder!"

10 Vultures of Silence Vultures of Silence
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1938

Published in Flying Aces, May 1938.
"Toward grim Gibraltar, Dick Knight sped his sleek Vought. For Europe’s craftiest spies were hurrying into that caldron of intrigue just beyond “The Rock”—and Washington’s orders had been terse: “Find out why”! But already that sinister sea was red with the blood of rash agents who had ventured too far. And already it was too late for Dick Knight to turn back. For he had defied muted murder—had defied “The Death that had no face”!"

11 Hell's Hangar Hell's Hangar
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1938

Published in Flying Aces, July 1938.
"Dick Knight settled comfortably in his cockpit. Save for some strange, organ-like trills that had sounded from his radio, the flight had been uneventful. But
Dick Knight did not know that those weird tones he had heard were the ominous notes of an overture to a drama of death. Nor did he know that just five minutes before, a gaunt Prussian, with feverish eyes on a black clock, had whispered: “Five more minutes! Only five more minutes to wait after all these years!”"

12 Sky-Fire Scourge Sky-Fire Scourge
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1938

Published in Flying Aces, August 1938.
"Richard Knight's only clue was - a peculiar pair of dark glasses!"
"Dick Knight stepped from his car astounded. Could this field - ominously silent, 'blacked-out' like a war drome - really be Croydon, the busy sky terminal of teeming London? The American agent felt his blood chill. somehow that strange, oppressive atmosphere told him more fiendish horror was imminent - a secret horror that could not now be curbed. Yet his own friend, the haggard Haldane, dared not reveal what he knew. And the only clue was - a peculiar pair of spectacles."

13 Riddle Over Rio Riddle Over Rio
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1938

Published in Flying Aces, November 1938.
[plot unknown]

14 Falcons of the Four Falcons of the Four
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, January 1939.
[plot unknown]

15 Guns Over Gatun Guns Over Gatun
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, February 1939.
[plot unknown]

16 Trip-Six Trap Trip-Six Trap
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, April 1939.
"First, a plane crash in Seattle, 2,000 miles away! Was there some sinister, devilish relation between them? That question burned in the mind of Richard Knight, fugitive agent. But now a Coast Airline DC-3 - the very ship he himself had attempted to board - was diving past his speeding Seversky. And at one of its windows, a start white face was pressed against the glass - a gaunt visage which in the next instant became a grinning skull!


17 Masquerade Mission Masquerade Mission
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, June 1939.
"Hot lead seared the sky over Monte Carlo and a mysterious Navy Curtiss crashed. In that battered cockpit lay the only clue to an intrigue planned to set the world ablaze. No one but the dead pilot of that ship knew where trouble would break. But before the night was done, fugitive agent Dick Knight was destined to play a lone-wolf role that would carry him from the clouds to the graveyard - all for the name of a country which branded him as a traitor!"

18 When the Devil Zooms When the Devil Zooms
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, July 1939.
"From a silent, unseen gun, a cruel bullet sped across sunlit Agana Plaza in lonely Guam - and snuffed out the life of a humble Chamorro fisherman! Why had this poor inoffensive native been swept out of the way? And out of the way - of what? Into a mid-air hell ruled by Akuma, Satan of the Skies, flew fugitive agent Dick Knight to solve that sinister secret. But he was destined to find the real answer tothat dread mystery - in his own radio set!"

19 Wings of the Black Eagle Wings of the Black Eagle
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, September 1939.
[plot unknown]

20 Fighters That Time Forgot Fighters That Time Forgot
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, October 1939.
"Two corpses would have veiled that mystery. But Dick Knight saw three!"
"twenty-one years before, the 'Cyclops' had mysteriously disappeared - had utterly vanished as though it had been swept from the face of our planet. The strange fate of that Navy collier had never been solved, nor had a single one of its wretched crew ever been traced. And even that grim 'flying gallows' which now roared over night-lighted Miami would not have offered a clue to that hellish web of the past - had not Richard Knight not seen three dead men rather than two!"

21 Falcons of the Flame Falcons of the Flame
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1939

Published in Flying Aces, December 1939.
"Piercing, nerve-racking cacophony! Then scorching blue flame blasted out of the calm evening sky - directly into the heart of Washington! Yet despite the horror of that holocaust, Air Agent Richard Knight could not believe that this fearsome scourge was to be the end. Rather, it was but the beginning - the prophetic prelude to some drama even more appalling. It was the ghastly, huddled form of a wretched Air Corps pilot that told him that - and the merciless trigger finger of a masked man that proved it!"

22 Death Flies the Maginot Line Death Flies the Maginot Line
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, January 1940.
"Paris blackout! In the leaden silence of its inky shadows, Dick Knight felt for removed from the raging sky battles of the Front. But when that searchlight flashed its blinding beam from the Tuileries, peace was dispelled as well as the pall. For Fate was unveiling the tortured soul of the long-dead Rene Landrau. And his vanishing spectre was destined to turn  Dick Knight's eyes upon a sinister mirror whose glazed surface reflected the grim image of - Death!"

23 The Golden Strafe The Golden Strafe
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, February 1940.
"Twice that mysterious horror - the 'Golden Death' - has struck seasoned R.A.F. pilots from the sky! And as that second shining victim floated through the blinding rays of the air base search-light, he vented an agonized scream in grim warning to all who might date to oppose that merciless terror. But Secret Agent Dick Knight could not turn back from the sinister trail of that veiled riddle - even when Fate ordered a post mortem on a dead man who still lived!"

24 Ark Royal Riddle Ark Royal Riddle
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, April 1940.
"A sleek 'Defiant' roaring westward over the wastes of the Atlantic! Aboard it, seeking an elusive moving dot on the trackless sea, were Dick Knight and Larry Doyle. Yet also aboard it was a mysterious envelope bearing an imposing red sea. How much depended upon that secret packet was something Knight didn't know. But Fate could have told him that much more was to depend on - a strangely muddled dinner engagement!"

25 This Squadron Is Doomed! This Squadron Is Doomed!
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, June 1940.
"Eleven French sky fighters sent to flaming deaths! Twenty French Hawks destroyed! Yet what defense could there possibly be against those ruthless guns that never missed! General La Roche was desperate - even to the point of issuing a forged American Embassy message to bring Dick Knight. But though the Yank 'Q' agent boldly assumed the very command of that ill-starred squadron, no clue was apparent. And it wasn't until he climbed into the wrong Romano that ...."

26 Fifth Column Cockpits Fifth Column Cockpits
novelette
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, August 1940.
"Richard Knight's eyes were crippled - veiled from light by a Gestapo slug which had graced his optic nerve. And Holland, too, was blind - blind to the hell-riding 'Trojan Horsemen' who infested the country, preparing Hitler's gigantic 'smittel' for that very midnight! But unknowing, Knight sat in the Schipol Airport cafe apart from that feverish intrigue - until those two Dutch planes clashed over the field and that thick-soled shoe plummeted to the earth!"

27 Death Flies South Death Flies South
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, September 1940.
"swiftly, silently, that weird, nameless doom had struck Government flyers. And the victims always looked the same - smiling pleasantly , contentedly, in the very face of Death! Dick Knight tried valiantly to pierce the puzzling shroud of mystery surrounding that unseen menace. But the trail had always led to - nothing. Then out of nowhere on that lonely Laredo field came the sweet, fragrant smell of geraniums, leading the Q-Agent - South of the Border!"

28 Claws of the Corsair Claws of the Corsair
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1940

Published in Flying Aces, November 1940.
"No word had been received from the 'U.S.S. Lexington' for many days - she had disappeared completely on the waters of the calm Caribbean. Then in Washington a muffled pistol shot rand out, a shot that was directed by grasping hands thousands of miles away. That sent Dick Knight and Lothario Doyle speeding Southward in quest of the missing carrier. And when they found it they won a reward of - automatic snouts in their stomachs!"

29 Bombs Over the Bahamas Bombs Over the Bahamas
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1941

Published in Flying Aces, January 1941.
"There was something strange and ominous about that battered derelict vessel, and Dick Knight and Doyle determined to learn its secret. But they had no more than left that floating graveyard when a death-dealing Heinkel roared over and blasted that cargo of corpses to Davey Jones' Locker!"

30 7 Seconds to Doom 7 Seconds to Doom
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1941

Published in Flying Aces, March 1941.
"Dick Knight and Lothario Doyle heard the 'Voice' warn those Navy pilots - and then they saw their ships explode in mid-air! Neither General Brett nor Captain Clayton had been able to fathom that ghostly puzzle, but Q-Agent Knight got a clue from - a faked message!"

31 Raider Wings in the Pacific Raider Wings in the Pacific
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1941

Published in Flying Aces, May 1941.
"'Tainen - all mine!' That mad message blasted from nowhere as Richard Knight and Lothario Doyle sat in the governor's office at Guam. And then an insane cry of agony came through space! That was puzzling - but the face that then came from the grave was even more startling!

32 Flight of the Dead Flight of the Dead
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1942

Published in Flying Aces, March 1942.
"There was no way in, and there was no way out. But still, the Barton Aircraft plant had been sabotaged beyond repair - the work of a man who had been killed months before!"

33 Murder Plays a Dual Role Murder Plays a Dual Role
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1942

Published in Flying Aces, June 1942.
"With quick death in front and slow death behind, night-blind Dick Knight fights - to see in the dark!"

34 Wrath of the Reapers Wrath of the Reapers
short story
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe
Copyright: 1942

Published in Flying Aces, August 1942.
"The Air Corps Major should have been dead - but he lived just long enough to be killed for sure!"

MY COMMENTS

I am not and never have been a big fan of airplane adventures. Don't like heights and don't care for small planes as a result. No fear of flying in big planes but no joy from it, either. So, I read several of these with that predisposition fully known. I was, therefore, not surprised to find I did not really care for them all that much - except ...

The author, Donald Keyhoe, can definitely write and keep a story exciting and flowing. Thus these tales, although not my cup of tea, were nowhere as unenjoyable as I feared they would be. Still not what I would rush to buy but I would not be upset if they were all I had to read. Like I said, the man could write.

GRADE

My Grade: B-

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