The Adventures of Kirby ODonnell

Robert E. Howard

One of Robert E. Howards lesser known fictional characters, Kirby ODonnell is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, Ali el Ghazi. Ali el Ghazi is a master of edged weapons, fiercely intelligent, tigerishly quick, and a merciless killer when threatened. Kirby ODonnell is similar to another of Howards characters, El Borak, in many ways. However, ODonnell seeks hidden treasures in all of his stories (Swords of Shahrazar, The Treasures of Tartary, The Curse of the Crimson God) while El Borak is more concerned with his own form of justice and stability in Afghanistan. There are betrayals, vicious swordfights, hot pursuits through brutally harsh Himalayan terrain, a hidden treasure and enough spilled entrails to satisfy the most discerning Howard fan.

The Shape of Things to Come

Herbert George Wells

The Shape of Things to Come is one of the great classics of science fiction. Originally written in 1929, this masterly work of science fiction has already confirmed H G Wells status as a remarkable soothsayer, and provides glimpses of what is perhaps yet to come. The book is written as a sort of historical account. It tells of how a world state could be considered an answer to Earths problems. After a large plague wipes out much of humanity, a dictatorship takes over, taking away all religion and uniting the world. If someone opposes the dictatorship, they are given a choice to commit suicide in an environment of their choice. However, the dictatorship is later overthrown and the world state dissolves. Spanning the years from 1929 to 2105, it describes future generations and predicts the advent of wars, advancing technology and sweeping cultural changes.

The Half-Hearted

John Buchan

Set in the closing years of the nineteenth century, The Half-Hearted tells the story of Lewis Haystoun, a dilettante and coward. Part I of the novel is a story of manners and romance in upper class Scotland. Part II is an adventure story on the North West frontier of India where Lewis saves the British Empire. The novel follows the life of Lewis Haystoun, a young Scottish laird, who finds himself unable to commit wholeheartedly to any course of action. His failure to seize the opportunity results in the woman he loves agreeing to marry a rival. Determined to face up to what he considers to be his cowardice, Haystoun departs for the Empires north west frontier where he dies attempting to hold a narrow mountain pass single-handedly against an invading Cossack army. Beautifully composed, evocative and compelling, this is a love story but not with the conventional happy ending. Our hero and heroine fall in love and meet the usual obstacles, but fail to overcome them.

Anna the Adventuress

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Annabelle Pelissier, for his own reasons, allows Sir John Ferringhall to believe that she is his sister Hannah. Anna continues to cheat and bear the burden of her sisters reputation, which in any case in Paris is a coquette. Infinite complications occur when both sisters return to London. This is one of the most intriguing stories of E. Philips Oppenheim.

Księżna Łowicka. Powieść historyczna z XIX wieku

Wacław Gąsiorowski

Powieść, rozgrywająca się w XIX wieku, opowiada zbeletryzowane losy Joanny Grudzińskiej, polskiej żony wielkiego księcia Konstantego, który przez wiele lat pozostawał rzeczywistym władcą Królestwa Polskiego. Był on jednak osobą niezrównoważoną, pełną obsesji i nieprzewidywalną, co wpływało na relacje z rosyjskim zaborcą oraz dramatycznie pogarszało sytuację Polaków. Czy polska żona, gorliwa katoliczka, była w stanie wpłynąć na męża i poprawić los rodaków?

The Finer Grain

Henry James

The Finer Grain a collection of small stories. The A Round of Visits is a thoughtful tragedy that triggered the opening of Watch and Trusteeship. The Bench of Desolation, located in an English seaside town, is a touching story of reconciliation after some very offensive and bitter misunderstandings.

A King by Night

Edgar Wallace

English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles. In the 1920s, one of Wallaces publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. He was known during his lifetime for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, "The Four Just Men", "The Ringer", and for creating the Green Archer character. He is most famous today as the co-creator of King Kong. "A King by Night" is a mystery novel, centering around the latest in a series of murders. The plot thickens until the last two chapters, when all is revealed. Recommended for Edgar Wallace fans and fans of old-time, classic crime thrillers.

Pamiętnik egotysty

Stendhal

Powieść autobiograficzna. Książka pełna przemyśleń autora i jego wewnętrznych dialogów. Stendhal na sobie dokonuje szczegółowej psychoanalizy. Stawia pytania, a odpowiedzi na nie zawierają ocenę nie tylko jego dotychczasowego życia, ale też sytuacji politycznej kraju.

Affair in Araby

Talbot Mundy

Hulbert Footner (1879 1944) was a Canadian writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. His first published works were travelogues of canoe trips on the Hudson River and in the Northwest Territory along the Peace River, Hay River and Fraser River. He also wrote a series of northwest adventures during the period 1911 through 1920. That is why the novel Jack Chanty is based on his canoe adventures in the great northwest. Also, Footner wrote several other adventure books set in the Canadian northwest after he had relocated to Maryland in 1913.

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 Dream

Herbert George Wells

The Dream by H.G Wells follows the character, Sarnac, who lives a whole other life as Harry Mortimer Smith. Sarnac is at the height of his career as a scientist by discovering new research. Sarnac goes with his friends including his girlfriend, Sunray to escape for the holidays. Little does Sarnac know that he would be dreaming a whole new life as a different person. His dream world is peculiar rules and what is socially acceptable than reality. The roles of each member in this society is more conservative, yet relaxed at other situations. However, he finds that his dreams and the reality he has lived have become so entangled that he is no longer able to distinguish between them. The Dream is a 1924 novel by H. G. Wells about a man from a Utopian future who dreams the entire life of an Englishman from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Harry Mortimer Smith.

The Greater Trumps

Charles Williams

Great trump cards a novel, brilliantly built on the basis of an ancient deck of tarot cards. This novel is filled with secrets, there are various signs, symbols, riddles. Everyone has different opinions about these secrets, no one can come to a common opinion. Witchcraft can still kill, and the supernatural must be defeated by the supernatural.

Walka z szatanem

Stefan Żeromski

Trzeci tom trylogii Stefana Żeromskiego Walka z szatanem , obejmującej panoramę życia polskiego w okresie przedwojennym i w latach pierwszej wojny światowej. Ciąg dalszy walki z szatanem o sprawiedliwszy świat. Ryszard Nienaski i jego ukochana żona Xenia nie żyją. On zginął z rąk członków organizacji z pogranicza podziemia anarchistycznego i bandytyzmu. Ona umarła na tyfus. Ich majątek oraz obowiązek wykonania testamentu spada na ojca Xeni, aferzystę i oszusta. Musi on stoczyć walkę o zachowanie tego łupu z niebezpiecznym pretendentem do udziału w bogactwie, malarzem Śnicą. Niektóre części utworu utrzymane są w poetyce drapieżnego naturalizmu. Wyróżniają się także obrazy życia czy to wielkomiejskiego Paryża, czy prowincjonalnej galicyjskiej Posuchy oraz obrazy wojny, kreślone z pasją wyrażającą antywojenny protest pisarza.

The Code of the West

Zane Grey

Georgianna Stockwell, a free-spirited young woman from the East, moves to the wilds of the Tonto Basin in Arizona and she creates a violent culture clash. She has been sent there by her parents and doctor for a change of scenery. It seems Georgianna had gotten herself lung problems due to all of her dancing and gadding about. Fortunately, her sister, Mary Stockwell is on the scene ready to take care of her younger sister and to show her how life should really be lived. But it seems Georgianna has realized something perhaps Mary has not. Men and women did not/do not stand on equal terms and this is something Zane Grey lets on that he was aware of as well by writing Georgiannas character. Cal Thurman is the love that is set aside as Georgiannas suitor. Mary and Enoch also come together in Code of the West, although without all of the bumps of Cal and Georgiannas relationship.

Fred Fearnots Revenge

Hal Standish

Fred usually travels. Returning from the West, where Fred Firno rescued Terry Olcott from a group of pastoralists who were going to lynch him by mistake, he found letters from the manager of his small investments in Dedham Lake that gave him a bit of anxiety. The reader undoubtedly remembers that during a visit to the upper part of the state he discovered a beautiful lake, covering about three hundred acres.

The Drum

A.E.W. Mason

Best known for The Four Feathers and the Hanaud detective novels, A.E.W. Mason wrote many novels. The Drum is an adventure novel by this British writer which was first published in 1937. This story is a rousing, Kipling-like adventure set in contemporary India, dealing with uprising and rebellion and a native prince caught between two worlds and forced into hiding. In it, murder and intrigue in a princely state on the Northwest Frontier of British India. A fairy drum no one must see beaten. A secret mission across the Hindu Kush and friendship between an Indian Prince and an English drummer-boy. All these are elements of The Drum which is one of two novels by A.E.W. Mason set in India. A pukka adventure in the days of the Raj.