Product Description
A classic dime thriller by Sax Rohmer, the legendary author of 20th century novels of suspense, crime and the supernatural.The works of Sax Rohmer inspired a generation of writers and filmmakers. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting read, BUT. . . .
"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government--which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man."

This is the second volume in Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu series, and the first full novel; it may also be found alternatively titled as "The Devil Doctor". (The first volume, if you wish to start at the beginning, is a collection of short stories, and can be found either titled "The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu" or "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu"). Most of this review will apply to Rohmer's Fu Manchu series generally - skip to the last paragraph for comments on this particular volume.

These books are *wildly* racist, not just by modern standards, but even by standards contemporary to when it was written. The protagonist, "Nayland Smith," isn't just an Aryan, he has a name only one letter removed from Wayland Smith of Old Norse legend; every single villain in the entire series has a "racial cast", "mixed blood," etc.; Jewish characters aren't just money-grubbing villains, they literally shrug their shoulders "racially," whatever that means; so on, so forth. Later books in the series take this to an extreme; one entire book focuses on the protagonist's protection of a clear analogue of the contemporary Father Coughlin (an American radio preacher known for his antisemitism and defense of Hitler and Mussolini in the 30's),and this trend approaches the absurd when a later volume, published in 1939, finds Fu Manchu essentially trying to assassinate a Hitler analogue in order to prevent European war, while the protagonists attempt to stop him and save the dictator.

That said, if you're a fan of early twentieth century pulp fiction, you probably need to read these books despite that. Dr. Fu Manchu is an iconic character, referenced and alluded to throughout 20th century fiction, and a host of villains from James Bond's Dr. No to Ming the Merciless on down all draw inspiration from this source. The general environment of adventurism, mystical artifacts, bizarre murders, etc., has been hugely influential in its own right -- the Indiana Jones franchise, especially, owes a great deal to the Fu Manchu novels (although Lucas and Spielberg had the good sense to make sure Nazis were the *villains*).

The plots are standard pulp tropes, and the reader finds Fu Manchu committing murders via an assortment of (very definitely non-white) cats'-paws and bizarre eastern animals, meanwhile befuddling our protagonists with assorted exotic and mystical Eastern drugs. Usually there's a beautiful and mysterious Eastern woman beguiling and/or assisting our heroes in various ways, etc. Fu Manchu himself is always far more intelligent than the protagonists, and they only prevail through luck, the sometime assistance of the aforementioned Eastern beauty, the "inscrutability" of the Doctor's motives, or by playing on the Doctor's "strange oriental honor." Conversely, when the author manages to write the Doctor into a corner, he just gets out of it via unexplained mysterious powers (essentially "a wizard did it").

The overall effect of the Doctor's repeated demonstrations of intelligence, honor, capability, etc., combined with the protagonists' ineptitude and wild racism, is somewhat unique in my reading experience: over the course of the series the Doctor becomes more and more and more sympathetic and respectable, and the protagonists less and less so, to the point that I think a modern reader can legitimately view the Doctor as the "hero" in the later books (especially the aforesaid one involving the Hitler analogue).

This particular volume isn't my favorite in the series; the events in it are fairly repetitive and predictable, without the wildly over-the-top silliness of the later books; my favorite moment probably comes when the Doctor taunts the protagonists for yet again falling into the exact same trap they've fallen into twice before. Still, it's an interesting read, both as a cultural artifact of 1920's racism and as a building block of 20th century pulp fiction, and worth reading as part of the overall series.

One of My Favorites
Sax Rohmer's writing is poetic, exciting and quick-paced. I love how he crafted an adventure/mystery story and added a bit of romance in the midsts of it. Dr. Fu-Manchu is a great villan. You love to hate him! This is the first book in the Fu-Manchu stories and it gets you hooked to read more.
Next to Sir Arthur C. Doyle, I can't think of a classic literature writer I like better than Sax Rohmer! Sherlock Holmes fans will enjoy reading this and other Rohmer novels. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook collection contains fifteen works by English novelist Sax Rohmer (Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward).Among the works are three 'Dr. Fu Manchu' novels, featuring Rohmer's archetypal supervillain Dr. Fu Manchu.The arch supervillain is a recurring character in many of Rohmer's works.

This ebook is DRM free and includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.


Contents

Dr. Fu Manchu Series

The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
The Hand of Dr. Fu Manchu


Other Works

Bat Wing
Brood of the Witch-Queen
Dope
Fire-Tongue
Tales of Chinatown
The Golden Scorpion
The Green Eyes of Bâst
The Mysterious Mummy
The Orchard of Tears
The Quest of the Sacred Slipper
The Sins of Séverac Bablon
The Yellow Claw
... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating read
What an amazing thriller, didn't expect to be so captivated by the book, couldn't put it down.I highly recommend this book, I loaded it because it was free but will now check if the authors other books.Don't want to disclose the story but the mystery stays with you throughout the entire book and I actually have not truly figured it out yet, still analyzing the ending and wondering if its somehow based on real events.Hope others will enjoy this read as well. ... Read more

Product Description
Bat Wing
Brood of the Witch-Queen
The Devil Doctor
Dope
Fire-Tongue
The Golden Scorpion
The Green Eyes of Bâst
The Hand Of Fu-Manchu
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu
The Orchard of Tears
The Quest of the Sacred Slipper
The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu
The Sins of Severac Bablon
Tales of Chinatown
The Yellow Claw ... Read more

Product Description
Who was Sumuru? It was said that she was an ice-cold, fascinating genius whosehypnotic powers impelled all men to do her bidding. It was said she was afanatic who ruled her followers with oriental despots. It was said . . . Butwhat was the truth? Nobody really knew although two men knew part of it,sirMiles Tristram, just returned from Cairo, and Dr. Steel Maitland of the SecretService. But Tristram died by the hand of a beautiful woman and his secret diedwith him. That left Maitland alone to fol ... Read more

Product Description
NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader or iPod e-book reader.

The first book in this collection is Brood of the Witch Queen, a 1918 supernatural novel by Sax Rohmer.

The novel begins with the strange murder of Mr Ferrara. A horrifying series of events follows, leading to a woman being used against her will to prey on her husband and then abducted and killed in inside a secret chamber in an old Egyptian pyramid. The famed Book of Thoth is featured in this novel.

H.P.Lovecraft compared the novel as being similar to Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,' alongside Richard Marsh's 'The Beetle' and Gerald Biss' 'The Door of the Unreal in his essay 'Supernatural Horror in Literature.'

Other Sax Rohmer stories included in this volume:

Book Two: Dope
The first book in Rohmer's "Inspector Kerry" series. Kazmah the 'dream reader' and other memorable characters populate this tale of terror, as sinister Eastern forces work to control the west through the opium trade.

Book Three: The Green Eyes of Bast
Psychic investigator Dr. Damar Greefe encounters ancient sorcery and a cult whose leader is possessed by the murderous cat-goddess Bast! One of Rohmer's best.

Book Four: Quest of the Sacred Slipper
With the theft of the sacred slipper, rumored to have been worn by the great Prophet himself, came a wave of outrageous horror. Weird, supernatural feats accompanied its movement from the Near East to a London museum. Mutilation, even murder, threatened all who came near it. It was as if a horde of phantoms had descended upon London, whose guardians were soon plunged into fear and dread.

Tales of Chinatown
Chinatown--A place of mystery and intrigue, where Tong wars rage and sinister Oriental criminals plot world domination! Venture into the seedy underbelly of Chinatown with this fascinating collection of stories.

These are well-written, thrilling suspense stories. A must-have for classic horror fiction fans! ... Read more

Product Description
Of Sins of Sumuru, the Manchester Evening News wrote: "Dr. Fu Manchu, SaxRohmer's celebrated character, gives way to a woman Sumuru in this newnovel. But Rohmer's sure touch remains. His feminine epitome of wickedness is asfine a piece of imaginative character drawing as the notorious doctor, and thesuspense of a well-knit plot never relaxes one iota." Slaves of Sumuru isanother equally absorbing of Rohmer's stories of mystery and imagination astory of murder & violence again featuring the e ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: American fiction; Fu Manchu, Doctor (Fictitious character); Fiction / Action ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Super Reader
Fu-Manchu is back, and he has added to his collection of marauding monkey-like miscreants, and obtained a baboon killer.

Not to mention a cane that hides an Australian death adder.

Kâramanèh is still running around prominently, and very enigmatically. If she is trying to be sneaky, she definitely needs to lay off the perfume, according to Petrie's nose, anyway.

Hound of the Baskervilles scenarios with writers of Chinese descent, haunted houses and more.

Although Nayland Smith shows a few more signs of cleverness here, he still falls for a trap, and is about to be a rather nasty form of rat dinner.

Cue Egyptian babe, resplendent in harem gear and packing heat.

At the end, they could have even used a big old great dane, as a mummy-man is running around the ship they are travelling on to finish with.

Death by insect, ghost, cat....
The plot follows Petrie, a doctor who has dealt with Fu Manchu before. After a mysterious death he is contacted by inspector Nayland Smith, who warns him that Fu Manchu is about. Together they investigate and try to prevent a string of exotic murders The Return of Dr Fu Manchu was written as a serial and it feels that way. The driving force in the story is wierd twisted things that Fu Manchu does to kill people. The characters and plot, which doesn't say much about Fu Manchu's ultimate motives, are just ways of describing this or that exotic death and how it was pulled off. As a serial this would work because the murder happened - cliffhanger. Then in the next installment the murder would be solved. As a novel it didn't work for me because it is so homogenous.

I had heard prior to reading this that Fu Manchu is sooo racist, but I hadn't taken it seriously because so much gets labeled racist by the PC people that I tend to ignore it. Having read this I do think the novel is racist. Fu Manchu's lack of motive is a major point. Basically he goes around killing people with exotic animals, and Smith and Petrie's only explanation for his actions are that he is a, "yellow devil bent on the destruction of the white race" So that was a little blatant for me.

I didn't like this novel because it was built around the gimics that Fu Manchu uses to murder his victims. Character driven is a term I would never ever apply to this book. Fans of Sax Rohmer will want to read this because they know the style and will like it. Fans of the adventure genre should move along.

Death by insect, ghost, cat....
The plot follows Petrie, a doctor who has dealt with Fu Manchu before. After a mysterious death he is contacted by inspector Nayland Smith, who warns him that Fu Manchu is about. Together they investigate and try to prevent a string of exotic murders The Return of Dr Fu Manchu was written as a serial and it feels that way. The driving force in the story is wierd twisted things that Fu Manchu does to kill people. The characters and plot, which doesn't say much about Fu Manchu's ultimate motives, are just ways of describing this or that exotic death and how it was pulled off. As a serial this would work because the murder happened - cliffhanger. Then in the next installment the murder would be solved. As a novel it didn't work for me because it is so homogenous.

I had heard prior to reading this that Fu Manchu is sooo racist, but I hadn't taken it seriously because so much gets labeled racist by the PC people that I tend to ignore it. Having read this I do think the novel is racist. Fu Manchu's lack of motive is a major point. Basically he goes around killing people with exotic animals, and Smith and Petrie's only explanation for his actions are that he is a, "yellow devil bent on the destruction of the white race" So that was a little blatant for me.

I didn't like this novel because it was built around the gimics that Fu Manchu uses to murder his victims. Character driven is a term I would never ever apply to this book. Fans of Sax Rohmer will want to read this because they know the style and will like it. Fans of the adventure genre should move along.

Death by insect, ghost, cat....
The plot follows Petrie, a doctor who has dealt with Fu Manchu before. After a mysterious death he is contacted by inspector Nayland Smith, who warns him that Fu Manchu is about. Together they investigate and try to prevent a string of exotic murders The Return of Dr Fu Manchu was written as a serial and it feels that way. The driving force in the story is wierd twisted things that Fu Manchu does to kill people. The characters and plot, which doesn't say much about Fu Manchu's ultimate motives, are just ways of describing this or that exotic death and how it was pulled off. As a serial this would work because the murder happened - cliffhanger. Then in the next installment the murder would be solved. As a novel it didn't work for me because it is so homogenous.

I had heard prior to reading this that Fu Manchu is sooo racist, but I hadn't taken it seriously because so much gets labeled racist by the PC people that I tend to ignore it. Having read this I do think the novel is racist. Fu Manchu's lack of motive is a major point. Basically he goes around killing people with exotic animals, and Smith and Petrie's only explanation for his actions are that he is a, "yellow devil bent on the destruction of the white race" So that was a little blatant for me.

I didn't like this novel because it was built around the gimics that Fu Manchu uses to murder his victims. Character driven is a term I would never ever apply to this book. Fans of Sax Rohmer will want to read this because they know the style and will like it. Fans of the adventure genre should move along.

Old-fashioned adventure
There is certainly no lack of adventure or suspense fiction available nowadays - everyone from Tom Clancy to Dan Brown to Lee Child to dozens of others depending on your tastes - but, for better or for worse, these modern novels are a different animal from the classic adventure tales of the early 1900s.Perhaps best exemplified by Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Tarzan series, these stories often bordered on the fantastic but retained a distinctly pulpy sense of storytelling and often a rather Victorian sense of sex and race.Other authors working in this era include the three H's: Haggard (She, King Solomon's Mines), Hilton (Lost Horizon) and Howard (Conan).And right alongside them was Sax Rohmer, with his tales of Fu-Manchu.

These stories focus on four characters in particular:Dr. Petrie, the narrator who acts similarly to Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes; the superheroic character in this case is British super-spy Nayland Smith.There is the mysterious and beautiful Egyptian woman, Karamaneh whose allegiance is often ambiguous.Finally, and most importantly, there is Dr. Fu-Manchu, an evil Chinese schemer intent on conquering the British Empire for his own country.Fu-Manchu is an elusive sort of villain, only actually appearing briefly in his stories, but he is the nonetheless the center of the tales.Despite his evils, he is also the most interesting of the characters; next to him, Petrie and Smith appear particularly flat.

The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu is the second chronicle of the battles between Smith and Fu-Manchu.It is not so much a novel as a series of interconnected short stories in which Fu-Manchu's plots are typically foiled.Fu-Manchu's plots involve lethal poisons, vicious animals and murderous minions, and Smith and Petrie often are able to survive through some miraculous intervention, often by Karamaneh (whom Petrie pines for rather chastely).

Compared with authors like Burroughs, Haggard and the others from this era, Rohmer is clearly on a different level; unfortunately, it is a slightly lower one.I understand that this early pulp fiction style of writing was never intended to be great literature, but Rohmer's storytelling is often lacking.That's not to say that this doesn't have its fun moments, but this book also has its dull ones.

The violence is tame by today's standards, any drug use is implied rather than seen and sex is nonexistent, but this is not a book for young readers.Rohmer, sadly, is a product of his time (and he is not alone among these writers); his views on race are antiquated, to be kind.An adult reader should be sophisticated enough to look past Rohmer's descriptions of "the yellow peril" that threatens the white race.Ironically, Fu-Manchu's intellect and his patriotic motives (sinister as he is, he merely acts to serve his country) make him almost the hero of the stories; doubtless, this was not Rohmer's intent.While I cannot give this a whole-hearted recommendation, it can be entertaining and it does give a glimpse at one of the classic villains of fiction.
... Read more

Product Description

THE EVIL GENIUS OF CRIME

That fiendish, brilliant turn-of-the century villain is back again.  Read the original trilogy that launched his celebrated career.  A brow like Shakespeare, a face like Satan, and eyes of hypnotic green - and an army of the weirdest, most fiendish cohorts, tortures, and death-dealing devices in history.  Penned by the immortal Sax Rohmer, authority on the occult, obscure cults and even more obscure murder methods, the Fu-Manchu books have enthralled audiences for nearly one hundred years.  They have been filmed, become radio series, and even appeared as a television series.  Your flesh will creep when you learn about how a man was murdered with the Zayat Kiss, of tortures like the Wire-Jackets, and the invisible murderer who could slay a victim in the locked room of a penthouse. Can Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard and his friend Dr. Petrie possibly thwart this evil mastermind who aims at nothing less than to make himself supreme dictator of the World!  If they fail, Fu-Manchu will destroy civilization in order to remake it in his own image.  And what of Fu-Manchu's beautiful, nameless slave woman?  Has she truly fallen in love with Petrie's instinctive British decency - or is she a willing pawn in Fu-Manchu's plot to destroy both Smith and the good doctor? Three complete classic 1900s British thrillers in one convenient ebook for one low price.

Customer Reviews (5)

Buyer Beware!
To the publisher of this ebook and to Kindle readers: I downloaded the free sample of this ebook out of curiousity. Unfortunately, this book was not Dr Fu Manchu but a Jack London book! Please fix this error! Thanks!

Get your kids to read!

I am not reviewing a particular book however I feel if a parent is trying to encourage his child to read, any of Rohmer's stories may will be a good place to start.

I was 12 years of age when I read my first Sax Rohmer story, "The Green Eyes of Bast." I can remember exactly where I was and the feeling of creepiness that enthralled me.A combination of mystery and horror is a good combination to entrap the imagination of a youngster.

With all else vying for your kids' attention these days getting them to enjoy reading just for the pure fun of it can prove difficult at best.I found that introducing my teenage son to Mr. Rohmer worked resulting in his reading becoming a habit that has stayed with him into adulthood.

There are of course many other authors that may well do the same but Rohmer worked for me as well as my son.What the heck, why not give it a try?

The Green Eyes of Bast - Sax Rohmer

Super Reader
This contains the first three Fu-Manchu books.

The titles they give them are:

The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu
The Devil Doctor
The Si-Fan Mysteries

The breathless but brave and unrelenting goofball Nayland Smith and his stoic offsider and chronicler Petrie pursue the genius superman, the ultimate embodiment of the Yellow Peril, Dr Fu-Manchu.

Helped along the way by his beautiful but unwilling servant Kâramanèh is a game of capture and escape and disguise around London.

You have to give the good doctor credit for trying to kill 'em with poison gas stashed in a mummy's tomb.

The guy can't be all bad. He has a monkey.

Very entertaining.


4 out of 5


Fu-Manchu is back, and he has added to his collection of marauding monkey-like miscreants, and obtained a baboon killer.

Not to mention a cane that hides an Australian death adder.

Kâramanèh is still running around prominently, and very enigmatically. If she is trying to be sneaky, she definitely needs to lay off the perfume, according to Petrie's nose, anyway.

Hound of the Baskervilles scenarios with writers of Chinese descent, haunted houses and more.

Although Nayland Smith shows a few more signs of cleverness here, he still falls for a trap, and is about to be a rather nasty form of rat dinner.

Cue Egyptian babe, resplendent in harem gear and packing heat.

At the end, they could have even used a big old great dane, as a mummy-man is running around the ship they are travelling on to finish with.


3.5 out of 5

Not as good as the first two Fu-Manchu books, perhaps partly due to a fair lack of Fu-Manchu.

He does have some excuse though, being shot in the head at the end of the last book, and hence assumed dead by our ertswhile heroes.

It seems he is not, though, just in a bad way, and as such, abducts a top surgeon, and Petrie to assist. Or, at least his crew does, he is having problems just sitting up and talking with a bullet in his head.

They set their sights on the Si-Fan organisation, the overlords of the good Doctor, and perhaps a mystery woman in charge.

Fu-Manchu is in a bit of trouble with them himself, it seems.


3 out of 5

Silly, Silly, Silly!
When these stories were written they were in the horror genre, but now they are in the hilarity-horror subgenre, like the movie The Gremlins.Dr. Fu Manchu is found in a Chinese opium den in London, complete with a trapdoor that drops all unwelcome policemen into the Thames.This opium den is festooned with-Yiddish theatrical posters!Apparently to Sax Rohmer, anything east of Greece is "Oriental". Oh, how we wish al-Quaida were just like Dr. Fu Manchu, limiting themselves to weapons such as red centipedes and poisonous Burmese snakes.

Do not overlook these classics
I wish someone had told me earlier how good these books are.I picked up a used paperback of "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu" and, even before I had reached page 50, I knew that I had to have more.I therefore rushed out to find these omnibus editions.Sax Rohmer wrote the Fu Manchu stories between 1912 and the late 1950s.From a chronological standpoint, then, but also thematically, Rohmer serves as a literary bridge between Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and Ian Fleming's James Bond.
Put the political considerations aside, and enjoy these tales as a reflection of the times.They are worthy of a wider, modern audience. ... Read more

Product Description
1930. Rohmer, born Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, who wrote also as Michael Furey, was a prolific English mystery writer, best known for the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu and his opponents Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. Petrie, named after the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, and the beautiful Karamaneh, the source of Petrie's daydreams. Gaston Max, Sax Rohmer's rather dapper French detective, and the greatest criminal investigator in Europe, makes his third appearance in The Day the World Ended. This story is closer to mainstream science fiction than any other Sax Rohmer work. It begins as a seemingly supernatural tale of vampires and strange men dressed in armor roaming castle walls. Max makes a late appearance: only to reveal that he has been present all along-in disguise. The seemingly supernatural is then revealed as the work of a strange scientist who is attempting to use his scientific achievements (including a death ray) to conquer the world. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

Product Description
General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1920Original Publisher: R.M. McBrideSubjects: Fiction / Fantasy / GeneralFiction / Fantasy / EpicFiction / Mystery ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Super Reader
Not as good as the first two Fu-Manchu books, perhaps partly due to a fair lack of Fu-Manchu.

He does have some excuse though, being shot in the head at the end of the last book, and hence assumed dead by our ertswhile heroes.

It seems he is not, though, just in a bad way, and as such, abducts a top surgeon, and Petrie to assist. Or, at least his crew does, he is having problems just sitting up and talking with a bullet in his head.

They set their sights on the Si-Fan organisation, the overlords of the good Doctor, and perhaps a mystery woman in charge.

Fu-Manchu is in a bit of trouble with them himself, it seems.

A classic
This book is a classic must -read type book. Well written in that style only Sax Rohmer can do - and his story is one of his best. Read it, love it!!!!

good story, poor spelling
I will not address here the patent racism inherent to the plot and characters in the Fu-Manchu stories. For this discussion, see the reviews of the first volume, The Insidious Dr Fu-Manchu. I speak only to the quality of this 2001 New Millennium Library edition of the third volume, The Hand of Fu-Manchu.

The publisher has obviously relied upon computer spell-checking, not human proof-reading. I cannot count the number of instances where the letter R is replaced by the letter N, producing legitimate but inappropriate words. For example: "he looked left and Night", "we raced down the marble staiNs", "she lifted the veil from heN face", "he produced a paiN of handcuffs".

Also, the two cryptograms featured in the plot are not accurately reproduced, as compared with the 1962 Pyramid edition. Specifically, all of the letters are in normal script, when several should be in italics.

Admittedly, these points are merely annoyances. If you enjoyed the melodramatic first two volumes, this third is an excellent sequel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

FU GOES VOODOO!
This book, the 10th of 14 in the Fu Manchu series, is a direct continuation of the previous installment, "The Drums of Fu Manchu." Hence, a reading of that previous volume is fairly essential before going into this one. In the present volume, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith continues his ongoing battle against the evil doctor, aided again by narrator Bart Kerrigan and by Europe's foremost archeologist, Sir Lionel Barton, who figured so prominently in books 1, 4 and 5 ("The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu," "The Daughter of Fu Manchu" and "The Mask of Fu Manchu"). This book is the wartime entry in the Fu series, and takes place in blackout London; it then hops over the pond for action in the Big Apple, the Panama Canal Zone and in Haiti. This time around, the Fu man has completed his air and naval forces and has concentrated them in a base hidden in an extinct Haitian volcano. His goal seems to be to stymie America's naval forces from his Carribean base. This Fu novel is the most sci-fi-oriented in the series thus far, what with Ericksen disintegrators, the Vortland (invisibility) lamp, antigravity devices, futuristic planes and ships and so on. The volcano lair is reminiscent of Ayesha's home in the great great Haggard novel "She," while the showdown at the end of this book, in that volcanic hideaway, would in turn seem to be the inspiration for Dahl's screenplay for the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice." As in book 6, "The Bride of Fu Manchu," the high point of this book occurs when Fu takes our narrator on a tour of his laboratory grounds, showing off his assorted experiments and biological creations. The book also boasts one of the most suspenseful sequences in the entire Fu series thus far, that in which Smith and Kerrigan infiltrate a voodoo ceremony high atop a Haitian mountain. This sequence is genuinely creepy and exciting. The book also offers Snapping Finger deaths, a treasure map, a mysterious floating green hand, zombies AND a featured role by Peko, Fu's pet marmoset from previous volumes. The reader is always kept engaged by the fast-moving shenanigans, par for the course for a Fu Manchu novel.
I did have some quibbles with this installment, however; these quibbles mainly take the form of internal inconsistencies and inconsistencies with previous books in the series. For example, at one point, Smith refers to his adventure in Khorassan with Lionel Barton. However, in book 5 it is clearly stated that Smith teamed up with Barton in Isfahan, Iran AFTER Barton returned from Khorassan! In another section of this book, Kerrigan refers to his second meeting with Ardatha (in book 9) by a river in Norfolk. However, it was on the Essex marshes that this meeting took place. Kerrigan elsewhere thinks to himself how a street in Panama reminds him of Clovelly in Cornwall; however, a look at a map will show that Clovelly is really in nearby Devonshire. Shall I go on? At one point in the book, Kerrigan is locked in Fu's warehouse and is looking DOWN at the Thames far below. Later on, it is said that he was locked BELOW the warehouse, under water level. HUH!?!? In the Panama scenes, Flammario the dancer is described as wearing a sable cloak. This, after the author speaks of how hot the tropical night was. Does this make sense? Howzabout this: In London, Smith & Co. follow up a clue at 39B Pelling St. A few days later, in New York City, they follow up some clues at 39B Sutton Place! Is this just a crazy kozmik coincidence in the wild wild world of Fu Manchu, or just lazy forgetfulness on the part of the author? Who knows? I might also go on to add that the antigravitic substance in this novel, swainsten, is a bit too similar to the Cavorite in H.G. Wells' wonderful "First Men in the Moon" novel, or that the resolution of the Snapping Fingers deaths doesn't really hang together logically, or that the ending of this book comes too suddenly, but I think you get the idea. The book is certainly flawed. But you know what? Even with all that, Rohmer carries it off, due to his great imagination, wonderful characters and rat-a-tat-tat pacing. The man could have used a better editor, but as far as telling a thriller of a tale goes, the man was tops. And this is yet another fine entry in the Fu Manchu series. ... Read more

Product Description
THIS 46 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Romance of Sorcery, by Sax Rohmer. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766132242. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Trip On Paper
Sax Rohmer is better known for the creation of the master villian Fu Manchu which is a shame because Dream Detective is just as entertaining.

The book concerns several short stories in which the curio dealer-paranormal expert Moris Klaw and his too hot for the page daughter Isis investigate what seem to be supernatural occurances (or are they). This could be the distant grand parent of Scooby Doo.


Moris can pick up mental impressions from rooms by going to sleep in them with his specially treated pillow (hence the title). The character is crazy-like a fox.

Some of the stories can be a bit formula at time but the trip is out of this world. Like a dope dream on paper. A fast read worth the while. ... Read more

Product Description
Volume Four includes:The Drums of Fu Manchu: The sound of the drums carries a warning to fourteen world leaders who stand in the way of Fu Manchu s desire for world domination: surrender to his schemes, or die at the hands of his secret army. Even Nayland Smith has been marked for death by the beating of the drums...Shadow of Fu Manchu: The devil doctor plots to control the greatest weapon ever createda weapon which dwarfs the power of the atomic bomb and which Nayland Smith must, at all costs, keep from falling into the hands of the most dangerous man in the world.Emperor Fu Manchu: No one in the Western world could be sure what lay behind the Bamboo Curtain, in the remote province of Szechuan. Only Nayland Smith suspects that the mysterious Master whom it hides, the true power behind Communist China, is in fact his old enemy, in a new disguise. His young undercover agent, Tony McKay, must enter Fu Manchu s domain to penetrate the veil of secrecy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The evil doctor lives again.
I was thrilled to death to find these titles in print--although I regret I didn't get the entire series while they were still available. Wonderful, wonderful books, many of which haven't been printed in years; now I want the rest of them!

I should mention that my copy had an AWFUL typo in it--about 3 paragraphs of the first book, inserted incorrectly into the second book. But considering these titles are virtually unavailable anywhere else, I was still happy with my purchase.

Fu Manchu for President!!
Volume 4 contains The Drums of Fu Manchu, Shadow of Fu Manchu and Emporor Fu Manchu. It's been so long since these were in print so grab them while you can. The news is that Allison & Busby don't plan on reprinting them soon. These Books are racist, politically incorrect and loads of fun! Miss them at your peril! ... Read more