The Iron Duke

The latest installment in the well-produced L. Ron Hubbard audio series transports listeners to 1930s Europe, where they come face-to-face with Nazis and Communists and all sorts of trouble. Blacky Lee, an American arms dealer who is in too deep with the Nazi regime, discovers that he's the spitting image of a wealthy prince in Aldoria, and he wastes no time in departing to wreak havoc on the kingdom. Read by a variety of talented narrators, including Michael Yurchak as Lee, and R.F. Daley, Richard Rocco, Lori Jablons, and Jim Meskimen, the production is enhanced by realistic sound effects and an original score that create a remarkable theatrical atmosphere. L.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

November 24, 2008
Prolific pulp-fiction author Hubbard (1911–1986) offers a variation on a familiar romantic theme with this fast-paced if derivative thriller set in pre-WWII Europe. Blacky Lee, an American weapons dealer, just happens to be the spitting image of Archduke Philip of Aldoria, a coincidence that enables him to dodge Nazis and ensnare the heart of the attractive Countess Zita, plot elements familiar to readers of Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda
and Rupert of Hentzau
. Those 19th-century swashbucklers successfully blend action with emotion, while Hubbard's breezy romp is only an easily digested, quickly forgotten time-filler.