The massive creature -- a mile from head to toe! -- sleeps in the steaming jungle. Is the behemoth real, or has the golden enchantress "Z" conquered the magnificent Man of Bronze with the hypnotic power of her superhuman mind? Doc Savage meets his mental match when he uncovers the strange lost kingdom of the deadly Amazon.

This is one of my all-time favorite Doc stories. There are more than a few that are better written, but "The Mental Wizard" is just so cool! An immense statue in the jungle; a lost, ancient people who inhabit it; a "magical" treasure and ancient elixer; the beautiful and mysterious "Z," a potential match for Doc; Doc getting manipulated, and having to manipulate in his turn, and pulling off a few neat tricks without too many gandgets. I loved this one. I sometimes talk about the Wizard to people who don't even read the books. I get lots of strange looks. But hey, it's a great one!

I read this in one afternoon in college a thousand years ago and remember it being good enough to keep me reading . . . and I particularly liked the Bama cover. It would have made a great Graphitti Designs poster. I wouldn't say this story was in the top rank of Doc tales, but it's got all of the Doc Savage conceits in place and if you aren't too picky about plot or some lazy writing here and there, you'll have a good time.

Written by Dent in 1937 (a generally bad year for Doc stories), "The Mental Wizard" is a fairly rousing little tale. It's no "Fortress of Solitude," but the action is brisk, the location is fun and there are plenty of ingenious details. The idea of an entire city located inside a giant statue is pure Dent. And I loved Doc's sleight of hand trick to crack open the secret of Klantic in the last pages.

Bottom line, I give it a low "B".