The Angel of Terror

Edgar Wallace

Conventional ideas of beauty are typically associate it with goodness and kindness. However, appearances can be deceptive. A classic mystery crime novel involving the evil deeds of one Jean Briggerland, a woman with all the outward angelic qualities imaginable but possessing an unspeakable evil nature, so lovely that none can see her guilt even in connection with the most blatant crimes! Jean uses her criminal connection to climb to the heights of wealth and power, but lawyer Jack Glover may be the first to catch her in the act. Everyone is blinded by her charm and beauty, except for Jack, who knows the crimes she has committed. Can Jack Glover stop her? Like almost all of Wallaces novels, it was an immediate bestseller.

The Avenger

Edgar Wallace

Over a period of time, men disappear, and later their heads are found. Meanwhile a young actress in a small part in a film on location, is disturbed by the actions of the owner of the place where they are filming. A detective comes to investigate, and finds many puzzling things going on. Several of the characters are suspicious, in one way or another, and as the plot unfolds, it grips you. Edgar Wallaces The Avenger is a perfectly fine example of what a page-turning thriller looked like, early in the last century. What Edgar Wallace has over modern writers is the willingness to insert a girl-snatching, sapient orangutan in his plot. Surely the seeds for his King-Kong screenplay can be found here.

The Big Four

Edgar Wallace

Best remembered for penning the screenplay for the classic film King Kong, author Edgar Wallace was an astoundingly popular luminary in the action-adventure genre in the early twentieth century. The Big Four is a story packed with intrigue, treachery, assassinations, and machinations, and it highlights Wallaces unmatched skill in setting a pulse-pounding pace. 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. Many of his novels were made into films and TV dramas.

The Black

Edgar Wallace

Fashionable Londoner James Morlake is a gentleman with many secrets and several particularly valuable skills like terrorizing bankers across the city. His Moorish servant Mahmet has some secrets to hide as well, particularly when his employer gives him the odd task to perform in the dead of night in dark London. A collection of short stories from Edgar Wallace featuring a private detective who tracks down blackmailers. When you do reach the end you will anxiously await a follow on. Black grabs you immediately, then takes you on a high speed international trip at race pace.

The Black Abbot

Edgar Wallace

Several employees on a noblemans estate show up at a former abbey, reputed to be haunted, to search for a hidden treasure. However, a mysterious hooded figure begins killing off those who may have figured out where the treasure is hidden. Who the Black Abbott is, what his purpose is and how he is connected with the mystery of the treasure these are the elements of the story. Theres a malevolent ghost, buried treasure, the elixir of life, a crooked lawyer, a tangled romance, a scheming young woman, another young woman facing a fate much worse than death, an atmosphere of breathless excitement and non-stop Edgar Wallace thrills.

The Black Avons

Edgar Wallace

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born in London, England in 1875. He received his early education at St. Peters School and the Board School, but after a frenetic teens involving a rash engagement and frequently changing employment circumstances, Wallace went into the military. He served in the Royal West Kent Regiment in England and then as part of the Medical Staff Corps stationed in South Africa. Over the rest of his life, Wallace produced some 173 books and wrote 17 plays. These were largely adventure narratives with elements of crime or mystery, and usually combined a bombastic sensationalism with hammy violence. "The Black Avons" is a novel by this pioneer of crime fiction. Fast-paced, with good twists and turns, an unusual criminal scheme.

The Book of all Power

Edgar Wallace

A really top-notch literary thriller from Edgar Wallace. The story is set in Russia and England around the time of WW1. We follow a 22-year-old man on his first assignment for a Russian-English oil company as he becomes embroiled in intrigue and romance involving a beautiful Grand Duchess, American mobster Cherry Bim, and the influential Israel Kensky and his magical book of all power. It is through Hays eyes that we see the steady erosion of the existing Russian aristocracy and the rise of the proletariat. The novel really belongs to Hay and his circle of confederates. A high-spirited romp through the Russian Revolution with the aid of more coincidences than you can shake a stick at and a good dose of dramatic licence.

The Books of Bart

Edgar Wallace

Best remembered for penning the screenplay for the classic film King Kong, author Edgar Wallace was an astoundingly popular luminary in the action-adventure genre in the early twentieth century. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, joining the army at 21, he was a war correspondent during the Second Boer War for Reuters and The Daily Mail. This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1923. The Books of Bart is a novel of relationships and double-crossing. As the novel is rather short and quite fast-paced with a lot of scenery-changes and adventures, this nice. Highly recommended!