"The Hero Is Attractive, the Action Sufficiently Brisk, and the Surprise at the End Quite Satisfactory"

"C.Q.", OR, IN THE WIRELESS HOUSE.
By Arthur Train (1875-1945).
The Century Company.
1912. 301 pages. $1.20
Online HERE, HERE, and HERE.
First serialized in McClure's Magazine, June-September 1912: Part 1 HERE; Part 2 HERE; Part 3 HERE; and Part 4 HERE.

The critics of the time seemed to regard "C.Q." as something of a negligible trifle from this author:

[Full review] A society beauty of international notoriety, a pompous sea captain, two fugitives from English justice, half a dozen minor characters, and a freckle-faced wireless operator of aristocratic lineage who carries his part as hero with engaging irresponsibility—these are the ingredients of Arthur Train's C.Q. In the Wireless House.

The book is one of which many pleasant, inconsequential things may honestly be said. Mr. Train's style is always easy and colloquial, with a vein of unforced humour. The story is well balanced and entertaining. It serves adequately its frank purpose of providing two hours' legitimate light amusement.

Beyond all this there is a very vivid picture of New York Harbor and the city as they appear to the returning Americans and the visiting Europeans on the deck of the Pavonia.

C.Q. is an excellent sample of the light literary refreshment that is being offered in a period when the dish is infinitely better chosen, cooked, and garnished than it has ever been before.

Of course, if the reader decides to pass it by, and select something else in its place, it is a matter of no serious importance. — Stanhope Searles, "Nine Books of the Month," THE BOOKMAN (October 1912)

The scene of this readable story is an ocean liner; the chief actors are the younger son of a British ducal family seeking fortune as a wireless operator, a fair lady smuggler, and the wireless.

The hero is attractive, the action sufficiently brisk, and the surprise at the end quite satisfactory. — "The New Books," THE OUTLOOK (January 18, 1913)

Resource:
- Our latest meeting with Arthur Train was HERE.

Category: Crime and adventure fiction