The Night Life of the Gods

Thorne Smith

In Night Life of the Gods, we meet Hunter Hawk, wealthy eccentric scientist in 1920s America, who, after numerous explosions, manages to invent an atomic ray that turns living beings into statues, and a second ray that restores them to their original state. With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine-hundred-year-old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art of transforming statues into people. Together, the two are invincible, especially when they get to New York City, where there are museums full of statues of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, waiting to come back to life... Author Thorne Smith puts his seemingly boundless imagination to good work in The Night Life of the Gods, a rip-roaring novel that postulates about what would happen if ancient deities were revived and allowed to run wild in the streets of Depression-era New York City.

The Free Fishers

John Buchan

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, The Free Fishers is classic Buchan and his last historical novel. Its a fast-paced tale of treason, espionage and romance. Anthony Lammas, a professor at the St. Andrews University, finds himself involved in a web of intrigue that threatens the whole country. A conspiracy to betray Englands defences to Napoleonic agents is discovered by Lammas, a young professor who sets out to save his former students appearing to be in grave danger. Youll smile at the story and the old-fashioned dialogue at times but thoroughly enjoy the pace of the story, the straightforwardness of the characters villains, heroes and the dramatic varierty of their experiences. As a historian and a novelist he lovingly creates the reality of the time interwined with the intrigue and motives of the characters that make up this excellent novel.

The Woman from the East and Other Stories

Edgar Wallace

Novelist, playwright and journalist, Edgar Wallace, is best known for his popular detective and suspense stories which, in his lifetime, earned him the title, King of the Modern Thriller. This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1934. The Woman From the East and Other Stories is an enjoyable collection of short stories that include The Chopham Affair, The Hopper, The Silver Charm, and many more. As the stories are rather short and quite fast-paced with a lot of scenery-changes and adventures, this nice. Its all great fun and Wallace keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did. If you havent discovered the joys of Wallaces thrillers there is a good place to start. Highly recommended.

A Royal Wrong

Fred M. White

A story that quite often happens in the modern world. Dorchester Gardens were filled with guests gathered in honour of the engagement between Lady Letty and Stephen Du Cros, the South African millionaire. Of course, it was a marriage of convenience they all admitted. Earl, her father, was in need of money.

The Man Called Gilray

Fred M. White

Lovers of detectives and mysteries, this story will appeal. Gilrays body was found in his office. It is curious that Gilray died a week after his servant was also found dead. But the journalist Philip Temple suspects that there is something wrong in this case, too many coincidences.

The Garden of Eden

Max Brand

Rascal, rogue, and gambler, Ben Connor was about to meet his match... Ben Connor liked fine clothes, lovely ladies and smooth-drinking liquor. But what he liked most was a horse that won races. The moment he saw an Eden Gray run, he knew he had laid eyes on the finest piece of horseflesh ever to win a race... or make a gamblers dream come true. So why not find the reclusive deaf mute who owns the Eden Gray, buy one, enter it in races and watch his fortune grow? The plans seem solid, but theyre stymied when the owner refuses to sell. A great horse story coupled with the typical excitement one expects from Max Brand makes this a great book.

The Prairie. A Tale

The Prairie: A Tale (1827) is a novel by James Fenimore Cooper, the 3rd novel written by him featuring Natty Bumppo. Civilization drives old hunter Natty Bumppo (Leatherstocking) west of the Mississippi to the prairies, where he becomes a trapper and helps a band of emigrants in their conflicts with Indians, miscreants, and the harsh environment. We find Hawkeye removed to the uncharted territory which would become Wyoming and the Dakotas. Having fled the relentless sound of axes hewing down his beloved forests in the east, the Leatherstocking is now in his eighties and has isolated himself in the land of the Pawnee, the Sioux and countless herds of buffalo. Culminating in a magnificently written death scene, The Prairie brings the old hunter full circle with images of his youth and reminiscences of the remarkable life which made him the prototype of the American Hero.

The Deerslayer. or The First War-path

James Fenimore Cooper

The Deerslayer is an exciting story about the adventures of the woodsman known as Deerslayer and his Delaware Indian friend, Chingachgook. The novel presents the violence and unpredictability of life in a place where only a few white hunters and hunting parties of Indians have ever set foot. The interface between the wilderness and civilization, the pristine life of nature and the impact being made on it by human beings, makes this a fascinating story about a clash of values, a conflict which continued to shape the North American continent for the remainder of the century and beyond.