Stara baśń

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski

Akcja powieści Stara baśń rozgrywa się w czasach przedhistorycznych na ziemiach plemienia Polan. Władzę nad nim sprawuje okrutny kneź, Chwostek, oraz jego żona Niemka Brunhilda. Oboje marzą o tym, by wprowadzić władzę absolutną, podobną tej, jaką sprawują władcy w Niemczech. Nie odpowiada to kmieciom nawykłym do poszanowania ich swobód przez rządzących. Coraz okrutniejszy kneź ze swymi podwładnymi działa coraz bezwzględniej. Wówczas wybucha bunt przeciwko Chwostkowi, który wzywa na pomoc niemieckich popleczników. Dochodzi do wojny domowej i oblężenia kneziowego grodu, który zostaje zdobyty. Chwostek ze swymi bliskimi ginie, a władza zostaje powierzona prostemu, lecz cieszącemu się autorytetem kmieciowi Piastowi. Równoległe do wątku wojennego toczy się wątek miłosny. Doman, młody kmieć i wojownik, zakochuje się w pięknej Dziwie córce szanowanego kmiecia Wisza. Ona jednak przeznaczona została do służby bogom, więc choć obdarza go uczuciem, odmawia Domanowi. Ten postanawia uczynić wszystko, by ją zdobyć.

Beyond the Black River

Robert E. Howard

A young settler named Balthus walks blissfully unaware through a forest trail when the sound of combat draws his attention. He hides behind a tree and sees Conan step into the open, having just slain a Pictish robber who was about to ambush Balthus. Conan had been tracking the Pict for some hours, as he has been chasing the encroaching Picts on commission from nearby Fort Tuscelan.

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 Three Oak Mystery

Edgar Wallace

Ex police officer Socrates Smith and his brother Lexington, who is also an amateur sleuth, are invited to spend a weekend at Peter Mandles country home. Shortly after they arrive the brothers notice many precautions taken against intruders, a message flashed in Morse code, and someone skulking across the lawn. Come three oaks, it spells in Morse code. Early next morning the brothers take a stroll, and there, tied to an oak branch, is a body with a purple mark where the bullet struck. A nicely convoluted mystery with plenty of incident, murder, forced marriage, kidnapping and so on from the master of mystery Edgar Wallace.

Desperate Remedies. A Novel

Thomas Hardy

Once upon a time there lived in the 19th century a charming young lady from a poor but proud family and a young ambitious gentleman in spirit, but not in origin. And now the boundaries of estates and welfare were ready to be erased under the pressure of the couples feelings and understanding of the girls parents that its not the age of her daughter to attract men and we need to work with what we have. However, the lady turned out to be capricious, fell into a hysteria and forced the family to rush off to hell, as soon as she heard about a marriage proposal from our hero.

The Mystery of the Gold Box

Valentine Williams

In the dark days just before the outbreak of WW1, Philip Clavering, a British Secret Service agent, is despatched to Europe to recover a gold box carried by a now dead agent, the box holding a deep secret. But the Kaisers man, Dr. Grundt, alias Clubfoot, is also on the trail of that box and its secrets. The chase is on! The Mystery of the Gold Box is the fourth in the seven book series about the evil Dr. Adolph Grundt. He answers to no one except the Kaiser. Hes a big man with a clubfoot. Since hes behind a lot that goes on his nickname is the Crouching Beast. The first in the series is The Man With The Clubfoot (1918), written as Douglas Valentine and the last entry is Courier To Marrakesh (1944). Dr. Grundt is an over the top villain but that makes the series even better. A hard boiled mystery, suspense, and espionage thriller.

No Other Tiger

A.E.W. Mason

Mr. Mason is here at his best. While working out very deftly an extremely intricate and clever plot, he gives us excellent characterization and a remarkably vivid series of glimpses into different settings and phases of life. Beginning in the opulent lands of India, home of enchantment, color and adventure, the novel No Other Tiger becomes a mystery that begins with a tiger hunt across Asia. The story is woven skillfully around the secrets of the East and conjures a glittering history long forgotten. Although it is indeed an oldie, the author achieves all the suspense and bone chilling scenes required of a modern thriller. Give yourselves a treat, and read this short but unforgettable masterpiece.

When the World Screamed

Arthur Conan Doyle

The final, and certainly climactic, adventure of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Professor George Edward Challenger is 1928s When the World Screamed. It is another Professor Challenger story where a new craziness pressures him to make the earth feel the existence of human being on its surface. Professor says the earth is a giant creature and it doesnt even care or know that we the human being exist on its surface. Professor believes that by drilling into the center of the earth, he will be the first person to let the planet know that there are people on its surface. He begins a very expensive experiment and one day his dreams come true. The majority of the story, like others in the story, is about the build-up to the event. Its narrated by a new character, Peerless Jones, who is an expert on drilling.