After a slight uptick in quality with the previous book (Operation Asteroids) this one returns to Jennison's usual potboiler gunk. There was very little reason for the Thunderbirds to be in this story at all. Not only that, but they do nothing to bring about the "exciting" finale to the book; the destruction of a lost civilization by volcano, and the crushing of The Hood's dreams of world domination... for the moment.

At one point, The Hood puts the gang in his thrall, and then runs off to find the lost civilization -- forgetting his recurring goal of stealing the secrets of International Rescue. Jeez, dude; take 15 minutes, a half hour, snap some photos, and tuck them away in case your current interest doesn't pan out. That guy never learns.

There's a brief interlude in the middle with Lady Penelope and Parker that livens things up a little, but it really doesn't do much to further the plot. Lady Penelope does, however, manage to avoid being hypnotized by The Hood by the simple expedient of wearing polarized glasses. Sunglasses should be required as part of the International Rescue uniform, don't you think?

Available in PDF and other formats here: archive.org/details/thunderbirds-collection/TB%2001%20-%20Thunderbirds%20-%20John%20Theydon%20%28v3.0%29/

NOTE: I've been adding the Thunderbirds book series to Rambling Readers as I read them, but they don't seem to end up in the database as one cohesive series. Might be a problem with having various authors. Jennison wrote six of the ten books, four under his pen name of John Theydon. Two other authors wrote two books each.