The Step on the Stair

Anna Katharine Green

I had turned the corner at Thirty-fifth Street and was halfway down the block in my search for a number I had just taken from the telephone book when my attention was suddenly diverted by the quick movements and peculiar aspect of a man whom I saw plunging from the doorway of a large office-building some fifty feet or so ahead of me.

The Steppe

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

The story of a boy Egor, who goes from his home to a gymnasium located in another city. This trip is the last event before the start of a new life away from mother and familiar places. Nothing unexpected happens on the way, but at the same time, there is a constant change of landscapes and moons of Egor, meetings with new people, both ordinary and of noble origin. The boy is a witness to the life of people whose path also lies through the steppe.

The Steward

Edgar Wallace

This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1932. Wallace was an extremely prolific writer who wrote over 175 novels, plus numerous plays, essays and journalistic articles. During the peak of his success during the 1920s, it was said that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. In England, in the 1920s, Wallace was said to be the second biggest seller after the Bible. Many of his novels were made into films and TV dramas. The Steward is a collection of short stories that include The left Pass, The Little Baroness, Solo and the Lady, and many more. The stories are fast-paced with some surprising twists, well written and great to read and definitely a product of their time and place.

The Stingaree

Max Brand

Renowned Western writer Max Brand does it again in the eminently enjoyable story "The Stingaree". When Alabama Joe drifted into Fort Anxious, he seemed to be a shiftless, easygoing tramp. But he didnt fool Stanley Parker. Hed gunned down the notorious Bob Dillman. Hed known that one day Dillmans outlaw partner would appear to avenge death. The Stingaree was fast on the draw and deadly as a snake. Parker knew hed have to draw first, or die! Here is a fast-moving story of a man of many names and many skills who found that his ordeal had just begun when he met his enemy. Ahead of him lay the perils of hired guns and wilderness traps and a bitter conflict with his own code of honor.

The Stoat

Lynn Brock

We meet a man named Margesson, who suffers from a mentally ill wife and two harmful children. Unfortunately, Margesson will soon not only die, but also his offspring. Traveling to Ireland the author was Irish plays a decisive role in understanding the strange sequence of events that are deeply rooted in the past. The darkness of Brocks books is more fashionable these days than when they were written, but his sometimes dense, sometimes elliptical style confronts him.

The Stolen Stallion

Max Brand

The Stolen Stallion by Max Brand is one of the books in the Silvertip series. Wild horses ... evil men! Parade - a magnificent stallion worth twice his weight in cold cash. And many men had set out to capture this legendary prize. Some never returned. Some came back stony-broke. Others were ruined by desert heat and mountain winters. Only Silvertip, an honest man fast with his fists and quicker with his guns, can tame the magnificent stallion Parade, son of Brandy, king of the wild horses of the Sierras. When Silvertip hunted Parade he took only a rope and raw courage. But trailing him, guns at their sides, were two killers who wanted Silvertip as badly as they wanted Parade!

The Stoneware Monkey

R. Austin Freeman

First, there are two seemingly unrelated events: the murder of a constable in pursuit of a diamond thief and the attempt to poison a potter by using arsenic. The connection lies in the presence of Dr. Oldfield, a Dr. Thorndykes former student, who happened to find the constable body and served as the consulting physician of the potter. Dr. Oldfield once again found a trace of murder: ashes of cremated human human body in the dustbin at the potters studio. The police tries to chase the supposedly real villain, but end up in vain. Facing with these puzzling events, Dr. Thorndyke has his own hypotheses. His inquiries results in the discovery of the real felon while the secret is concealed in the hideous figurine of a stoneware monkey. The Stoneware Monkey has everything that weve come to expect from a Thorndyke novel a highly complex and creative murder, a damsel in distress, telltale fingerprints, chemical analysis, brilliant theorizing by Thorndyke, faulty thinking by everyone else, and a dramatic surprise ending.

The Storm

Max Brand

Twelve-year-old Tommy is left to fend for himself. Thanks to endurance, ingenuity and a wonderful union with the grizzly bear, whose mother he helped, the boy survives. When Tommy gets older, he and the bear set off for the valley, where they prevent the killing of an indestructible horse. The horse, bear and Tommy become legend and the expedition is about to capture or kill Tommy.

The Story Girl

Lucy Maud Montgomery

The Story Girl is a beautifully-written classic by L. M. Montgomery. A perfect piece of literature that could be enjoyed by anyone, young or old. It narrates the adventures of a group of young cousins and their friends who live in a rural community on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The book is narrated by Beverley, who together with his brother Felix, has come to live with his Aunt Janet and Uncle Alec King on their farm while their father travels for business. The narrative is largely driven by Sara Stanleys enchanting tales of adventure, romance, terror and suspense. Sara is only fourteen, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist. Capturing the purity of childhood fantasies, The Story Girl is an uplifting story sure to bring back a few memories with its evocative imagery and language.

The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit

Beatrix Potter

Do you know what happens to bad rabbits who dont say please? This, along with The Story of Miss Moppet was designed as a simple tale, intended for very young children with an important lesson in good manners, of what befalls a rude little rabbit who doesnt say please when he wants something, but instead just takes it from someone else. The fierce bad rabbit learns the consequences of his unkind actions in an unusual way! The Story of A Fierce Bad Rabbit is number 20 in Beatrix Potters series of 23 little books. One of the worlds greatest childrens writers and illustrators, Beatrix Potter created some of the most recognizable characters in English literature, including Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Benjamin Bunny.

The Story of Doctor Dolittle

Hugh Lofting

The small, plump and shy Dr. Doolittle is a wonderful doctor whose love of animals deprives his patients. But after his parrot Polynesia teaches him to speak in animal languages, the Doctor becomes famous in the animal world, and travels around the world and even to the Moon! The doctor and his pets go to Africa to save the kingdom of monkeys from the plague. This book is for various age. Even an adult like it.

The Story of Sonny Sahib

Sara Jeannette Duncan

Kanpur has a marble angel, which is located in a very quiet garden and fenced off even from trees and flowers by a wall. The angel looks down, miserable sorrow stands next to her, that no one wants to touch her with words. People just come, look and silently leave. Sonni Sahibs father believed that everything he could learn during his lifetime about the fate of his wife and young son was written there.

The Story of the Gadsby

Rudyard Kipling

A short book written as a play. It follows the young captain who is getting married, and each scene represents the different stages of the marriage. The book is written almost entirely in dialogue. Be sure to pay attention to the fact that Kipling understands the meaning of the introduction, taking into account where the story ends.

The Story of the Last Days of Jerusalem

Alfred J. Church

The Story of the Last Days of Jerusalem is a history that covers the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Roman Empire, the culmination of centuries of conflict in the region between the Romans and Jewish inhabitants. Recounts the events leading up to the opening of the war with the Romans, Josephuss brave defense of Jotapata, its final capture and his escape from death, and finally the siege of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, and the razing of the city. Alfred J. Church, a well-respected historian, covers it concisely but comprehensively in this book.

The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Mr. Roger Ferrison has just returned to London after several years of living rough in Canada. He takes a small room in the boarding house run by Mrs. Dewar. There he meets the bewitching invalid Fiona Quayne who rapidly develops a consuming passion for Ferrison. Meanwhile, back at the Boarding House, Colonel Dennett is murdered. One suspects from the very beginning that not all of the boarders at Mrs. Dewars establishment in Palace Crescent are what they appear to be, and Mr. Oppenheim does not attempt to hide for long the existence of some secret and probably criminal bond between Mrs. Dewar and some of her boarders. The sensational theft of a Jewelry collection, missing Indian rubies, and the lackadaisical intervention of Scotland Yard all contribute to the plot.

The Strange Countess

Edgar Wallace

This genuine mystery story takes the reader from one exciting adventure to another with all the adroitness and ingenuity of Mr. Wallaces previous successful books. One is left gasping with suspense as the many clues are unraveled only to be followed by others still more stubborn. A beautiful woman has spent twenty cruel years in prison, for a suspected murder. Her daughter learns of the relationship after a chance visit at the jail. The true facts are known only after the discovery of nefarious plots to kill the daughter, visits to the home of royalty, and enforced stays at a so-called home for mental cases. This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1925. The Strange Countess is a mystery novel by this prolific author of detective fiction.

The Strange Lapses of Larry Loman

Edgar Wallace

Larry Loman is a member of the Criminal Investigation Department of New Scotland Yard. While on a special assignment in Asia he contracts a form of malaria that causes him to suffer character-changing bouts of amnesia for up to eight hours at a stretch. When Larry is assigned to deal with the Crime Trust, a syndicate which has gathered just about every crook in England into one organization, his periodic blackouts result in all sorts of unforeseen complications. However, he eventually breaks the Trust, and his disease goes into remission. The Strange Lapses of Larry Loman is an enjoyable mystery short story by Edgar Wallace with some surprising twists, well written and great to read.

The Stranger

Max Brand

Staying alive is worth a thousand dollars a day to Oliver Wilton. Thats what hes paying Lew Sherry and Pete Long as hired guns to keep him healthy. And after riding the range, the money looks more than just a little inviting. But before Sherry and Long can pocket their first wages, Wilton is murdered. And town men were never so sad to see their boss take a bullet in the brain as Sherry and Long. Soon the pair are riding a vengeance trail out to catch the low-down killer who put them out a job... Renowned Western writer Max Brand does it again in the eminently enjoyable classic western The Stranger . Packed with enough action and twists and turns to please even the most die-hard fans of the genre.

The Strangers Gate

E. Phillips Oppenheim

This is a mystery novel surrounding German intrigue and bauxite mining in typical Oppenheim style. E. Phillips Oppenheim was the self-styled prince of storytellers and composed some one hundred and fifty novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue nature, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. In this one, Beverley, a handsome tycoon, operates an unknown bauxite mine in mythical kingdom of Orlac, and wages a battle of wits against German secret agents and the extravagant king when another mine is discovered. Beverley sides with a pauper Prince, on whose property the metal is found, and with his sister.

The Stray Lamb

Thorne Smith

In The Stray Lamb, author Thorne Smith draws inspiration from his most famous works, the beloved Topper series. It follows mild-mannered investment banker, cuckold, ordinary, faithful, and dipsomaniac T. Lawrence Lamb. He is given a new perspective on life through the eyes of many different animals as he assumes the shape of many including a stallion, goldfish, dog, lion and many others. Mr. Lamb gains wisdom, fresh insight, and a new much needed exuberance for life as he exchanges the mundane for the slightly insane. Thorne Smith again shows his mastery of the comic fantasy tale as Lamb lurches from one mishap to another, reeling from his wifes abandonment and the actions of his headstrong daughter and reveling in the new opportunities that his excursions into animal form provide.

The Streak

Max Brand

The Streak had blasted seven vicious killers single-handedly, tamed the wildest mustangs on the range and outsmarted the sharpest dealers in Jasper Valley. The stories about the fabulous Streak were endless. BUT ... not one of them was true! The Streak was really a harmless young man named Blondy Terrance. A series of crazy coincidences had earned him a reputation for violence he never deserved. Now, the deadliest gunslingers in the territory are after him - to put him to the ultimate test of guts in a shootout! Max Brands action-filled stories of adventure and heroism in the American West continue to entertain readers throughout the world.

The Streets of Ascalon

Robert W. Chambers

With the exception of Westgard, all other employees began migrating to the monthly conference, returning one by one from the mysterious financial jungle, popularly known as Downtown. This is a fascinating story that will keep you in suspense until the very end.

The Strength of the Strong

Jack London

“The Strength of the Strong” is a book by Jack London, an American novelist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.   The Strength of the Strong is a series of short stories by Jack London. It consists of seven moving and thrilling stories such as: The Strength of the Strong, The Enemy of All the World or The Sea-Farmer.  

The Strength of the Strong

Jack London

The book tells about the Neanderthal tribe: life, hunting, customs, their relationship. The life of ancient people is difficult and full of hardships, but they are happy. Their happiness is in unity. There is a clash with others. Neanderthals are at a lower stage of development, but they recognize themselves as people: they have a language, they care for the elderly and children, maintain fire, bury the dead... But the principle of Others The strongest survives; Kill before they kill you. It is not difficult to guess whose heirs are humanity.