The very first Tom Swift book, from 1910, is a bit of fun, but only a bit. It is a far cry from the science-fictional Tom Swift I read a few adventures of in the 1960s. Those books were from a later, much different second series. This book is very much grounded in 1910, and the setting (New York State) is quite interesting. Not so interesting is the book's casual racism as Tom meets up with a black man named Eradicate Sampson, who is called a "darky" numerous times and refers to himself as a "coon". Each time Tom meets him, he is sitting hopelessly while some machine or another fails to work, which Tom, of course, fixes quickly, leaving Eradicate marveling at how smart he is. Throughout the book, Tom is referred to as "the young inventor" or "our hero". Of course, this is hardly a book for adults. Kids are supposed to admire Tom for his intelligence and his industriousness, although he makes more than one mistake during the book that gets him into trouble (and prolongs the plot.) The plot itself is modern enough. A group of men, working for some unscrupulous lawyers, are trying to steal an invention from Tom's father, inventor Barton Swift. When reading a book like this, one knows it will have a happy ending, but dark clouds still loom ahead, as in the tradition of other books from the same publishing syndicate, the next adventure is introduced on the final pages. I can't say I didn't enjoy reading this, but it is definitely lacking the plotting and characterization of the best Hardy Boys books I remember from my youth. ( )