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.

Kapitan Czart. Przygody Cyrana de Bergerac

Louis Gallet

Ekscytujące przygody Cyrana de Bergerac, czyli Kapitana Czarta, rozgrywają się w dawnym Paryżu. Składa się na nie skomplikowana intryga miłosna, towarzyszące jej perypetie oraz tajemnice, których wyjawienie przesądzi o losie bohaterów. W tle bujne i kolorowe życie paryskich ulic, tłocznych, rozbrzmiewających muzyką, ubarwionych występami teatrów ulicznych.

XYZ. A Detective Story

Anna Katharine Green

A brief early American detective novella written in 1883 by Anna Katharine Green that tells the story of a detective who arrives in a small town in Massachusetts in an attempt to investigate counterfeiters possibly connected to a series of mysterious letters addressed only to X Y Z. While he is questioning the postmaster, he learns of the Benson family and their super secretive lifestyle. They are rich and reclusive. The detective feels there is something amiss and switches his investigation to them the letters and counterfeiting is dropped. That eventuates in murder. He steps into the very shoes of the person being framed for the crime, with some interesting results.

Bunner Sisters

Edith Wharton

Originally published in 1916, but actually written in 1890, Bunner Sisters is a compelling, heartbreaking little novella about two sisters, who have never been apart, struggling to eek an existence as small shopkeepers on the margins of late nineteenth-century society in New York. They barely make enough money to live on. But when Ann Eliza the elder buys Evelina the younger a clock that does not work for her birthday, the sisters commence a relationship with Herbert Ramy, who operates a queer little shop, setting in motion a series of events that will prove to be everyones undoing. Edith Wharton provides a vivid description of the life of shop keepers and their friends in the poorer urban areas of New York City.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Charles Dickens

Nineteenth century England. When Nicholas Nicklebys father dies and leaves his family destitute, his uncle, the greedy moneylender, Ralph Nickleby, finds Nicholas a job teaching in a repulsive school in Yorkshire. Nicholas flees the school taking with him one of the persecuted boys, Smike, and they join a troop of actors. Nicholas then has to protect Smike, while trying to stop his Uncle Ralph taking advantage of his sister Kate, and later his sweetheart, Madeline Bray, whose father is in debtors prison. A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle. After many adventures Nicholas finally triumphs over his Uncle, although his success is also tinged with sadness.

Biały wódz Indian

Thomas Mayne Reid

Młody, ubogi farmer Carlos przenosi się wraz z matką i siostrą z północy Stanów Zjednoczonych na tereny pogranicza meksykańskiego, aby osiedlić się i uprawiać ziemię. Szybko los styka go z Indianami zamieszkującymi te tereny. Co wyniknie z tego sąsiedztwa? Jak Carlos odnajdzie się w nowej sytuacji? Seria dramatycznych wydarzeń zmusi go do dokonania wyboru i opowiedzenia się po jednej ze stron konfliktu.

The Last of the Plainsmen

Zane Grey

Unlike many of Greys fictional novels of the old west, this is an account of a trip made to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon about 1908, for the purpose of tracking and capturing mountain lions. Buffalo Jones was the last of the famous plainsmen who rode the trails of the old West. In a continuing quest to establish dominion over wild animals, Jones leads his men on a journey to capture untamed cougars and bring them back alive. After several run-ins with Navajo, Commanche, Yellow Knife and Great Slave Indians, Jones finally captures his first wild cougar. The story is riveting with many details of the Arizona high desert and Grand Canyon areas of that era and gives a wonderful account of the Ponderosa Pine forest now known as the Kaibab National Forest.

Nevada

Zane Grey

First published in 1926 and 1927, Nevada, the suspenseful sequel to Forlorn River, continues to be one of Zane Greys most beloved novels. Four years after Nevada had killed three men to clear his friends name, Ben and Nevada are reunited, but fate again plays a mean trick, and Nevada becomes Jim Lacy again killer, thief, rustler, and notorious gunman in order to save Ben from financial ruin. In Nevada, another romantic couple comes along, Marvie Blaine, and the daughter of backwoods rustlers, Rose Hatt. The primary action of this novel is in Arizona, where the forces of good and evil clash as honest ranchers are threatened by pernicious rustlers. All conflicts are resolved, and loving-kindness breaks out at the end of the novel after the gunfight.

Ród Rodrigandów (Tom 2). Ród Rodrigandów. Rozbójnicy z Maladety

Karol May

Kolejna z fascynujących opowieści z sagi rodu Rodrigandów. Rozgrywające się w Meksyku i w Hiszpanii wydarzenia nieustająco zachwycają czytelników dynamiczną akcją, licznymi przygodami i tajemnicami, od których dreszcze przechodzą po plecach. Opowieść o majątku, sfingowanej śmierci, podstępach i intrygach również dziś zapewni czytelnikom znakomitą rozrywkę.

Tiny Carteret

H.C. McNeile

One of the few full-length novels by Sapper, in which the Bulldog Drummond does not appear. He does, however, show the second most important character, Ronald Standish. The two most intelligent characters were villains, but their schemes and plots remained mysterious for most of the novel. We are also told that all victims die from the same poison from a small scratch on the body, although the exact poison is nobody known. This is an unusual novel, which is full of mysteries.

Córka Ewy

Honoriusz Balzak

Powieść Córka Ewy Honoriusza Balzaka należy do Scen z życia prywatnego cyklu Komedia Ludzka. Opowiada losy hrabiny Marii de Vandenesse. Kobieta została wydana za mąż ze względów finansowych. Nie żywi jakichkolwiek uczuć wobec męża. Chcąc ożywić nudę codziennego życia, nawiązuje romans z poetą Natanem. Ten postanawia wykorzystać jej pozycję materialną do realizacji własnych planów...

Szalony pątnik

Stefan Grabiński

Zbiór dziewięciu nowel i opowiadań z gatunku literatury grozy. Ich bohaterom przytrafiają się niezwykłe rzeczy, które odsłaniają prawdę o świecie znanym (realnym) i nieznanym (duchowym). Opuszczone domy, wszechogarniająca ciemność oraz zjawy stanowią sztafaż niezwykłych zdarzeń będących udziałem bohaterów Grabińskiego. Wszystko to dzieje się niejako w czwartym wymiarze, którego nie może doścignąć zdrowy rozsądek. Lektura zbioru nowel i opowiadań polskiego Lovecrafta jak nazywany bywa Grabiński potwierdza, że mamy do czynienia z pisarzem bardzo utalentowanym, niesłusznie znanym tylko miłośnikom literatury grozy. Historie z tomu Szalony pątnik ciągle robią wrażenie mimo upływu lat. Grabiński umiejętnie tworzy niepokojący klimat, sprawnie buduje napięcie, na ogół przekonująco wprowadza w fabułę elementy nadnaturalne. Jego język gęsty i sugestywny, współgrający z klimatem opowiadanych historii.

Charles the Second

Jacob Abbott

Charles the Second is the story of Prince Charles, who, after his fathers death, came to the throne. In a sense, this is a continuation of the book Charles the First. However, we watch the fate of the newly-made ruler, who is being pursued by his fathers misfortunes. Charles the Second had a difficult fate, he even had to flee the country.

The Squeaker

Edgar Wallace

The Squeaker is a piece of early crime writing by author Edgar Wallace, first published in 1927. This novel is a traditional mystery, featuring some crooks and some policemen, a mysterious villain, a lovely girl and a plot with many twists. It is the thrilling story of a group of London jewel thieves and the company they keep. The title character is an omnipotent fence who has cornered the diamond-smuggling racket. The fence travels in polite society under the guise of a wealthy philanthropist. A Scotland Yard detective pretends to be an ex-convict in order to infiltrate the Squeakers gang and to track down the stolen gems. An entertaining tale of mystery and intrigue in Londons underworld, this volume constitutes a must-read for lovers of crime fiction.

The Metal Monster

Otis Adelbert Kline

Originally published in 1931, The Metal Monster is a classic science-fiction novel by Otis Adelbert Kline (1891-1946), best known for his interplanetary adventure novels set on Venus and Mar. When the most powerful artillery, deadly bacteria and explosives known, and the most destructive methods available fail to be effective against some enemys unknown weapon of war, it is time, very frequently, to turn to some simple means of combat and attack. Paradoxically, though, it is the simple thing that is so difficult to hit upon. In fact, like some of the greatest discoveries and inventions, the most destructive chemical solutions are often discovered by sheer accident. For instance, who could ever have thought purposefully of the chemical that was finally adopted by the hero of this story?

Pogrobek. Powieść z czasów przemysławowskich

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski

Akcja powieści toczy się podczas rozbicia dzielnicowego Polski. Fabuła skupia się wokół postaci Przemysława Wielkopolskiego. Kraszewski opisuje dzieje małżeństwa króla z Ludgardą księżniczką szczecińską. W tle powieści autor ukazuje sytuację polityczną Polski, jednak na pierwszy plan wysuwa nieszczęśliwy związek władcy, zakończony śmiercią Ludgardy. Do śmierci kobiety, poprzez nieumiejętnie dobrane słowa, przyczynił się sam małżonek.