The Dumb Gods Speak

E. Phillips Oppenheim

This mystery that takes place in 1947 in Nice about conflicting political goals between an American and a Chinese. Shortly thereafter, the granting of independence to the Philippine Islands by the United States, Japan attempts to seize them by force. When the Japanese attempt to invade the newly freed islands, their entire fleet is destroyed by a single battleship of the United States Navy using a weapon that concentrates and amplifies electric currents in the earths atmosphere. Much of the story concerns the current state of government of China and Russia, both of which are seen as lawless tyrannies. It is more than slightly ironic that the goal of the heroes is to use advanced technologies to restore the monarchy to these two countries, much in keeping with Oppenheims traditionalism.

A Changed Heart. A Novel

May Agnes Fleming

A good, old-fashioned story that would appeal to any fan of Jane Austen or Bronte. This takes place in St. John, NB. There are enough love interests, mysterious meetings, solemn balls and the necessary beautiful bouncer to pat all the hearts of young ladies. Indecision and murder provide the backdrop for this gothic novel.

Madame Storey Intervenes

Hulbert Footner

Author Hulbert Footner (1879-1944) brought the excitement of the 1920s and 1930s to Madame Storey's cosmopolitan adventures, moving away from Edwardian and Victorian flavors of the mystery genre. Beautiful and aloof. Her secretary/narrator/companion is Bella Brickley. Rosika lives near Gramercy Park in NYC and has a pet monkey. She seems to solve cases by use of good guesswork, "practical psychology" and fortuitous prior knowledge of certain facts or people.

Cień Bafometa. Powieść fantastyczna

Stefan Grabiński

Cień Bafometa to powieść fantastyczna, która jest niezwykle twórczym przełożeniem mitu Doktora Jekylla i pana Hyda. Główny bohater opowieści, Tadeusz Pomian, ma stoczyć pojedynek ze swym śmiertelnym wrogiem ministrem Praderą. Ten jednak zostaje nieoczekiwanie zamordowany. Czy to tylko przypadek, czy też działanie siły wyższej? I co ma z tym wszystkim wspólnego Paweł Kuternóżka, właściciel sklepu z dewocjonaliami? Znakomite połączenie realistycznej narracji z oryginalną wizją wyzwolonego zła.

The Face in the Abyss

A. Merritt

A simply amazingly creative novel by one of the best of the pulp-era authors, originally published 1931. While searching for lost Inca treasure in South America, American mining engineer, Nicholas Graydon stumbles across a lost civilization. A culture both more barbarous than our own and more civilized; more advanced and yet in some ways primitive. Is it a strange and highly advanced technology, or magic, that is responsible for the wonders of this land? Naturally our engineer meets a beautiful young woman Suarra, and they fall in love. But his arrival triggers an epic battle between the Snake Mother and her arch-rival, Nimir. The Face in the Abyss is a brilliant tale filled with weird imagination, marvelous writing, horror, beauty, and it may well be called the most visual book ever written for the world of fantasy.

Sternentau. Die Pflanze vom Neptunsmond

Kurd Lasswitz

Der Roman Sternentau thematisiert den Besuch von Aliens auf der Erde. Auf einem Spaziergang entdeckt die junge Harda eine unbekannte Pflanze, die nicht von der Erde stammt. Sie reproduziert Elfen, deren Fähigkeiten bis zum Gedankenlesen reichen. Aber sind diese Elfen gut oder böse? Ein im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes fantastischer Roman.

Silas Marner. The Weaver of Raveloe

George Eliot

Although the shortest of George Eliots novels Silas Marner is a cherished masterwork and a moving story of redemption by the one of the Victorian eras most accomplished novelists. Published in 1861, the author charts the life of the cataleptic, miserly weaver Silas Marner. Arriving in insular Raveloe after a wrongful expulsion from his Calvinist community in the north, Silas is a foreign and outcast figure, left alone to accumulate a useless fortune through his loom in the dawn of the new industrial age. His unhappy life is rendered unrecognizable when his fortune is stolen and he adopts a child Eppie. Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe is a tender and affecting tale of sin and repentance set in a vanished rural world and holds the readers attention until the last page as Eppies bonds of affection for Silas are put to the test.

The Scandal of Father Brown

G.K. Chesterton

Chesterton again allows us to accompany Father Brown, preternaturally-unbiased master of human nature, as he stumbles across another series of murders and mysteries. These stories in this series are not as compact as those in other books, notably The Innocence of Father Brown, but they have the same magnetic power to draw the reader in. As ever, Chesterton is interested not only in delivering first rate detective stories, but of describing human nature. His characters are flawed and biased, all blind in their own way, which is what makes it so difficult to see the truth that lies before them. Father Brown, ever kind and imperturbable, nearly always sees right through to the heart of the matter. Posing as a humble parish priest, which he is, he somehow sees beyond the class boundaries which it is Chestertons special gift to point out and puncture.