Order of Lester Dent Books
Lester Dent (1904-1959) was an American author of pulp fiction. He is best known for his contributions to the Doc Savage series (writing as Kenneth Robeson). Dent went to college for business, intending to be a banker. While he was standing in line to apply, he discovered that telegraph operators made $20 more than bankers, so he decided to major in telegraphy. It was as he was working as a telegrapher for the Associated Press that he noticed how much writers made by writing for pulp magazines and began writing during slow hours. It wasn’t long before he was writing exclusively for Dell Publishing for $500 per month. Following Dell ceasing publication of their pulp magazines, he was contacted by Street and Smith Publications about writing a pulp magazine for an adventure hero – a hero that would end up becoming Doc Savage. Although the magazines were published under the house name of Kenneth Robeson, Dent was paid $500 (and later $750) per novel.
Lester Dent became a published author in 1933 with the Doc Savage novel The Man of Bronze. After that, new novels were published monthly until 1947. While Dent wrote the lion’s share of the Doc Savage novels, other authors contributed as well. We have only included the novels attributed to Lester Dent. For the rest, please see Doc Savage. Dent also wrote standalone novels under his own name, starting in 1946 with Dead at the Take-Off. Below is a list of Lester Dent’s books in order of when they were originally published:
Publication Order of Doc Savage Books
(as Kenneth Robeson)
| The Man of Bronze | (1933) |    |
| The Land of Terror | (1933) | |
| Quest of the Spider | (1933) | |
| The Polar Treasure | (1933) | |
| Pirate of the Pacific | (1933) | |
| The Red Skull | (1933) | |
| The Lost Oasis | (1933) | |
| The Sargasso Ogre | (1933) | |
| The Czar of Fear | (1933) | |
| The Phantom City | (1933) | |
| Brand of the Werewolf | (1934) | |
| The Man Who Shook the Earth | (1934) | |
| Meteor Menace | (1934) | |
| The Monsters | (1934) | |
| The Mystery on the Snow | (1934) | |
| The King Maker | (1934) | |
| The Thousand-Headed Man | (1934) | |
| The Squeaking Goblin | (1934) | |
| Fear Cay | (1934) | |
| Death in Silver | (1934) | |
| The Sea Magician | (1934) | |
| The Annihilist | (1934) | |
| The Mystic Mullah | (1935) | |
| Red Snow | (1935) | |
| The Land of Always-Night | (1935) | |
| The Spook Legion / The Ghost Legion | (1935) | |
| The Secret in the Sky | (1935) | |
| The Roar Devil | (1935) | |
| Quest of Qui | (1935) | |
| Spook Hole | (1935) | |
| The Majii | (1935) | |
| Dust of Death | (1935) | |
| Murder Melody | (1935) | |
| The Fantastic Island | (1935) | |
| Murder Mirage | (1936) | |
| Mystery Under the Sea | (1936) | |
| The Metal Master | (1936) | |
| The Men Who Smiled No More | (1936) | |
| The Seven Agate Devils | (1936) | |
| The Haunted Ocean | (1936) | |
| The Black Spot | (1936) | |
| The Midas Man | (1936) | |
| Cold Death | (1936) | |
| The South Pole Terror | (1936) | |
| Resurrection Day | (1936) | |
| The Vanisher | (1936) | |
| Land of Long Juju | (1937) | |
| The Derrick Devil | (1937) | |
| The Mental Wizard | (1937) | |
| The Terror in the Navy | (1937) | |
| Mad Eyes | (1937) | |
| The Land of Fear | (1937) | |
| He Could Stop the World | (1937) | |
| The Magic Island / Ost | (1937) | |
| The Feathered Octopus | (1937) | |
| Repel / The Deadly Dwarf | (1937) | |
| The Golden Peril | (1937) | |
| The Living-Fire Menace | (1938) | |
| The Mountain Monster | (1938) | |
| Devil on the Moon | (1938) | |
| The Pirate's Ghost | (1938) | |
| The Motion Menace | (1938) | |
| The Submarine Mystery | (1938) | |
| The Giggling Ghosts | (1938) | |
| The Munitions Master | (1938) | |
| The Red Terrors | (1938) | |
| Fortress of Solitude | (1938) | |
| The Green Death | (1938) | |
| The Devil Genghis | (1938) | |
| Mad Mesa | (1939) | |
| The Yellow Cloud | (1939) | |
| The Freckled Shark | (1939) | |
| World's Fair Goblin | (1939) | |
| The Gold Ogre | (1939) | |
| The Flaming Falcons | (1939) | |
| Merchants of Disaster | (1939) | |
| The Crimson Serpent | (1939) | |
| Poison Island | (1939) | |
| The Stone Man | (1939) | |
| Hex | (1939) | |
| The Dagger in the Sky | (1939) | |
| The Other World | (1939) | |
| The Angry Ghost | (1940) | |
| The Spotted Men | (1940) | |
| The Evil Gnome | (1940) | |
| The Boss of Terror | (1940) | |
| The Awful Egg | (1940) | |
| The Flying Goblin | (1940) | |
| Tunnel Terror | (1940) | |
| The Purple Dragon | (1940) | |
| Devils of the Deep | (1940) | |
| The Awful Dynasty | (1940) | |
| The Men Vanished | (1940) | |
| The Devil's Playground | (1941) | |
| Bequest of Evil | (1941) | |
| The All-White Elf | (1941) | |
| The Golden Man | (1941) | |
| The Pink Lady | (1941) | |
| The Headless Men | (1941) | |
| The Green Eagle | (1941) | |
| Mystery Island | (1941) | |
| The Mindless Monsters | (1941) | |
| Birds of Death | (1941) | |
| The Invisible Box Murders | (1941) | |
| Peril in the North | (1941) | |
| The Rustling Death | (1942) | |
| Men of Fear | (1942) | |
| The Too-Wise Owl | (1942) | |
| The Magic Forest | (1942) | |
| Pirate Isle | (1942) | |
| The Speaking Stone | (1942) | |
| The Man Who Fell Up | (1942) | |
| The Three Wild Men | (1942) | |
| The Fiery Menace | (1942) | |
| The Laugh of Death | (1942) | |
| They Died Twice | (1942) | |
| The Devil's Black Rock | (1942) | |
| The Time Terror | (1943) | |
| Waves of Death | (1943) | |
| The Black, Black Witch | (1943) | |
| The King of Terror | (1943) | |
| The Talking Devil | (1943) | |
| The Running Skeletons | (1943) | |
| Mystery on Happy Bones | (1943) | |
| The Mental Monster | (1943) | |
| Hell Below | (1943) | |
| The Goblins | (1943) | |
| The Secret of the Su | (1943) | |
| The Spook of Grandpa Eden | (1943) | |
| According to Plan of a One-Eyed Mystic | (1944) | |
| Death Had Yellow Eyes | (1944) | |
| The Derelict of Skull Shoal | (1944) | |
| The Whisker of Hercules | (1944) | |
| The Three Devils | (1944) | |
| The Pharaoh's Ghost | (1944) | |
| The Man Who Was Scared | (1944) | |
| The Shape of Terror | (1944) | |
| Weird Valley | (1944) | |
| Jiu San | (1944) | |
| Satan Black | (1944) | |
| The Lost Giant | (1944) | |
| Violent Night / The Hate Genius | (1945) | |
| Strange Fish | (1945) | |
| The Ten Ton Snakes | (1945) | |
| Cargo Unknown | (1945) | |
| Rock Sinister | (1945) | |
| The Terrible Stork | (1945) | |
| King Joe Cay | (1945) | |
| The Wee Ones | (1945) | |
| Terror Takes 7 | (1945) | |
| The Thing That Pursued | (1945) | |
| Trouble on Parade | (1945) | |
| The Screaming Man | (1945) | |
| Measures for a Coffin | (1946) | |
| Se-Pah-Poo | (1946) | |
| Terror and the Lonely Widow | (1946) | |
| Five Fathoms Dead | (1946) | |
| Death is a Round Black Spot | (1946) | |
| Colors for Murder | (1946) | |
| Fire and Ice | (1946) | |
| Three Times a Corpse | (1946) | |
| The Exploding Lake | (1946) | |
| Death in Little Houses | (1946) | |
| The Devil is Jones | (1946) | |
| The Disappearing Lady | (1946) | |
| Target for Death | (1947) | |
| The Death Lady | (1947) | |
| Danger Lies East | (1947) | |
| No Light to Die By | (1947) | |
| The Monkey Suit | (1947) | |
| Let's Kill Ames | (1947) | |
| Once Over Lightly | (1947) | |
| I Died Yesterday | (1948) | |
| The Pure Evil | (1948) | |
| Terror Wears No Shoes | (1948) | |
| The Angry Canary | (1948) | |
| The Swooning Lady | (1948) | |
| The Green Master | (1949) | |
| Return From Cormoral | (1949) | |
| Up From Earth's Center | (1949) | |
| The Red Spider | (1979) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Dead at the Take-Off | (1946) | |
| Lady to Kill | (1947) | |
| Lady Afraid | (1950) | |
| Cry at Dusk | (1952) | |
| Lady in Peril | (1959) | |
| Hades & Hocus Pocus | (1979) | |
| Sinister Ray | (1987) | |
| Honey in his Mouth | (2009) | |
| Genius Jones | (2015) | |
Publication Order of Library Collections
| Hell's Hoofprints: The Complete Western Trails Tales of Lester Dent | (2009) | |
| Dead Men's Bones: The Air Adventure Stories of Lester Dent | (2009) | |
| The Skull Squadron: The Air War Stories of Lester Dent | (2009) | |
| Fists of Fury: The Adventures of Curt Flagg | (2011) | |
| Terror, Inc.: The Weird Mysteries of Lent Dent | (2013) | |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Lester Dent's Zeppelin Tales | (2006) | |
| The Weird Adventures Of The Blond Adder | (2010) | |
| Radio Western Adventures | (2010) | |
| Hell in Boxes: The Exploits of Lynn Lash and Foster Fade | (2012) | |
Publication Order of Doc Savage Collections
| Doc Savage: The Lost Radio Scripts Of Lester Dent | (2007) | |
Publication Order of Wild Adventures Of Pat Savage Books
(as Kenneth Robeson)
| Six Scarlet Scorpions | (2016) | |
Publication Order of The Avenger Books
| Justice, Inc. | (1939) | |
| The Yellow Hoard | (1939) | |
| The Sky Walker | (1939) | |
| The Devil's Horns | (1939) | |
| The Frosted Death | (1940) | |
| The Blood Ring | (1940) | |
| Stockholders in Death | (1940) | |
| The Glass Mountain | (1940) | |
| Tuned for Murder | (1940) | |
| The Smiling Dogs | (1940) | |
| River of Ice | (1940) | |
| The Flame Breathers | (1940) | |
| Murder on Wheels | (1940) | |
| Three Gold Crowns | (1941) | |
| House of Death | (1941) | |
| The Hate Master | (1941) | |
| Nevlo | (1941) | |
| Death in Slow Motion | (1941) | |
| Pictures of Death | (1941) | |
| The Green Killer | (1942) | |
| The Happy Killers | (1942) | |
| The Black Death | (1942) | |
| The Wilder Curse | (1942) | |
| Midnight Murder | (1942) | |
| The Man From Atlantis | (1974) | |
| Red Moon | (1974) | |
| The Purple Zombie | (1974) | |
| Dr. Time | (1974) | |
| The Nightwitch Devil | (1974) | |
| Black Chariots | (1974) | |
| The Cartoon Crimes | (1974) | |
| The Blood Countess | (1975) | |
| The Death Machine | (1975) | |
| The Glass Man | (1975) | |
| The Iron Skull | (1975) | |
| Demon Island | (1975) | |
Publication Order of Wild Adventures Of Doc Savage Books
(with Will Murray, as Kenneth Robeson)
| Python Isle | (1991) | |
| White Eyes | (1992) | |
| The Frightened Fish | (1992) | |
| The Jade Ogre | (1992) | |
| Flight into Fear | (1993) | |
| The Whistling Wraith | (1993) | |
| The Forgotten Realm | (1993) | |
| The Desert Demons | (2011) | |
| Horror in Gold | (2011) | |
| The Infernal Buddha | (2012) | |
| Death's Dark Domain | (2012) | |
| The Miracle Menace | (2013) | |
| Skull Island | (2013) | |
| Phantom Lagoon | (2013) | |
| The War Makers | (2014) | |
| The Ice Genius | (2014) | |
| The Sinister Shadow | (2015) | |
| The Secret of Satan's Spine | (2015) | |
| Glare of the Gorgon | (2016) | |
| Empire of Doom | (2017) | |
| Mr. Calamity | (2018) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Famous Fantastic Mysteries | (2017) | |
| Black Mask | (2017) | |
| Thrilling Adventure Yarns | (2019) | |
| Miami Noir | (2020) | |
Notes: Ost was re-published as The Magic Island for its Bantam re-release. Repel was re-titled The Deadly Dwarf for its Bantam re-release. According to Plan of a One-Eyed Mystic was shortened to One-Eyed Mystic for its Bantam re-issue. Violent Night was re-published as The Hate Genius by Bantam. The Spook Legion was also titled The Ghost Legion. Radio Western Adventures also includes a bonus story by Donald F. Glut.
If You Like Lester Dent Books, You’ll Love…
Lester Dent Synopsis: Radio Western Adventures is a collection of western tales that pays tribute to the radio cowboys and the great myths of the Old West. The collection includes Snare Savvy by Lester Dent and Who Really Was That Masked Man? by Donald F. Glut.
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