I Will RepayEmma Orczy
It's 1783 and wealthy Paul Déroulède has offended the young Vicomte de Marny by speaking disrepctfully of his latest infatuation, Adèle de Monterchéri. Déroulède had not intended to get into the quarrel but has a tendency to blunder into things -- "no doubt a part of the inheritance bequeathed to him by his... read more »
In the Penal ColonyFranz Kafka
The story is set in an unnamed penal colony. Internal clues and the setting on an island suggest Octave Mirbeau's The Torture Garden as an influence. As in some of Kafka's other writings, the narrator in this story seems detached from, or perhaps numbed by, events that one would normally expect to be registered with... read more »
The Song of RolandDorothy L. Sayers
On 15 August 778, Charlemagne’s army was returning from a successful expedition against Saracen Spain when its rearguard was ambushed in a remote Pyrenean pass. Out of this skirmish arose a stirring tale of war, which was recorded in the oldest extant epic poem in French. The Song of Roland, written by an unknown... read more »
Meteor MenaceLester Dent
Doc Savage and his fabulous crew journey to Tibet in pursuit of their most dangerous adversary, the evil genius Mo-Gwei. Battling against overwhelming odds, they try to stop him from conquering the world with a diabolical machine known as the Blue Meteor, a screaming blue visitor from space that turns men into... read more »
The Simple Art of MurderRaymond Chandler
Prefaced by the famous Atlantic Monthly essay of the same name, in which he argues the virtues of the hard-boiled detective novel, this collection mostly drawn from stories he wrote for the pulps demonstrates Chandler's imaginative, entertaining facility with the form. Contains the following short stories: - Spanish... read more »
Casanova: Part 12 - Return To ParisGiacomo Casanova
I had two objects in speaking thus: I wanted to frighten him and to make him jealous of me. I felt certain that a man in a passion of jealousy would be quite confused, and I hoped his play would suffer accordingly, and that I should not have the mortification of losing a hundred louis to his superior play, though I... read more »
Beyond the Vanishing PointRay Cummings
When George Randolph first caught sight of Orena, he was astounded by its gleaming perfection. Here were hills and valleys, lakes and streams, glowing with the light of the most precious of metals. And, more astonishing than that, it was a world of miniature perfection--an infinitely tiny universe within a golden... read more »
Beau GesteP. C. Wren
One stolen sapphire and one, two, three thieves! Beau, Digby and John Geste were present when Lady Brandon showed her dinner guests the "Blue Water". Suddenly the lights went out and the fabulous gem vanished. Shortly after, the Gestes disappeared, too. Beau wrote his confession first. Next Digby. Then John. All... read more »
Henry VWilliam Shakespeare
Henry V is the most famous and influential of Shakespeare's history plays. Its powerful patriotic rhetoric has resounded down the ages, gaining eloquent expression in Laurence Olivier's renowned film. Henry himself, astute and charismatic, who led his 'band of brothers' to victory in the Battle of Agincourt, could... read more »
Dragon MoonHenry Kuttner
Out of the dark--out of the unknown--came Karkora...rotting the souls of the kings of Cyrena. For Karkora, the Pallid One, was a creature more loathsome than anything on earth. It was beyond good or evil, a Presence from the Outside--a shadow of which the "altar fires had whispered." read more »
Code of the WestZane 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 revels in a whirlwind of flirtations and coquetry, outraging the proud Western folk and violating their Code of Honour, Her presence is provocative to all... read more »
Captain Blood ReturnsRafael Sabatini
Further adventures from the much-loved Captain Blood, the 'Robin Hood' of the Spanish Seas. His latest exploits take him to new adventures with as much excitement and swashbuckling adventure as ever before. Winning invaluable treasures, rescuing his crew from almost certain death and saving an English settlement are... read more »
A Bride of the PlainsEmma Orczy
The story is set in Hungary and the scene is laid in a village close to the Maros. On this particular fourteenth of September it is Andor's turn to go unwillingly into the army for three years. On the eve preceding it, at the village merrymaking, as the whole population spends its last happy hours trying to forget... read more »
The "Canary" Murder CaseS. S. Van Dine
The beautiful Margaret Odell, famous Broadway beauty and ex-Follies girl known as "The Canary", is found murdered in her apartment. She has a number of men in her life, ranging from high society to gangsters, and more than one man visited her apartment on the night she dies. It is Philo Vance's characteristic... read more »
Casanova: Part 11 - Paris And HollandGiacomo Casanova
There is no one like him to introduce the pre revolutionary 18th century to the reader. In our times, most will know him as the complete seducer of women. Almost right. He loved woman, as women loved him. Above all and in all, he was a true gentleman. Read him then and know his charm. Out of learning evil is not... read more »
Most SecretNevil Shute
Aboard a fishing boat named “Genevieve,” a small group of British officers and French fishermen—armed only with a flame thrower and small arms—plan a secret commando mission against the might of the German army after the fall of France in World War II. Each man has experienced a terrible loss of one kind or... read more »
Brigands of the MoonRay Cummings
Two planets clash for lunar treasure! Gregg Haljan was aware that there was a certain danger in having the giant spaceship Planetara stop off at the moon to pick up Grantline's special cargo of moon ore. For that rare metal--invaluable in keeping Earth's technology running--was the target of many greedy eyes.
But... read more »
The Hounds of GodRafael Sabatini
When Don Pedro is shipwrecked and captured by the formidable Lady Margaret Trevanion, he doesn't expect is to fall in love and run away with her. And he certainly hadn't expected that the officers of the Spanish Inquisition would be so ruthless that the lovers are forced to enlist the help of the Queen of England... read more »
West of the PecosZane Grey
Young Terrill "Rill" Lambeth could ride and shoot with the best men in the South. When her widowed, war-ruined father packs up a caravan and drives toward Texas, she gets the chance to test her skills and prove herself on the rugged and dangerous trail west. Facing harrowing buffalo stampedes, harsh elements and... read more »
The Long GoodbyeRaymond Chandler
When Philip Marlowe befriends down-on-his-luck veteran Terry Lennox he gets more than he bargained for. With Lennox’s wife dead and Lennox himself on the lam, Marlowe becomes the target for the local cops and a crazy gangster, while getting mixed up with alcoholic writer Roger Wade and his wife Eileen. Nothing is... read more »
Casanova: Part 10 - Under The LeadsGiacomo Casanova
This earthquake shock was the result of those which at the same time destroyed Lisbon. The Leads, used for the confinement of state prisoners, are in fact the lofts of the ducal palace, and take their name from the large plates of lead with which the roof is covered. One can only reach them through the gates of the... read more »
Murder Must AdvertiseDorothy L. Sayers
When ad man Victor Dean falls down the stairs in the offices of Pym's Publicity, a respectable London advertising agency, it looks like an accident. Then Lord Peter Wimsey is called in, and he soon discovers there's more to copywriting than meets the eye. A bit of cocaine, a hint of blackmail, and some wanton women... read more »
Ann VickersSinclair Lewis
Some reviewers were outraged by Ann Vickers when it first appeared in 1933. "Persons unused to horrid and filthy things had better stay at a safe distance from this book," wrote one. Lewis's Ann Vickers is a complex character: a strong-minded prison superintendent dedicated to enlightened social reform, she also... read more »
Winner Take NothingErnest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway's first new book of fiction, since the publication of A Farewell to Arms, contains fourteen stories of varying length. Some of them have appeared in magazines but the majority have not been published before. The characters and backgrounds are widely varied. “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is about... read more »
Thunder MountainZane Grey
Greed and gold unleash a storm of robbery, vengeance, and murder. On the word of a dying Indian, the three Emerson brothers come to Thunder Mountain in the Sawtooth Range and discover more gold than they ever dreamed possible. But instead of finding peace and prosperity, Jake, Kalispel, and Sam Emerson find more... read more »
The Man of BronzeLester Dent
High above the skyscrapers of New York, Doc Savage engages in deadly combat with the red-fingered survivors of an ancient, lost civilization. Then, with his amazing crew, he journeys to the mysterious "lost valley" to search for a fabulous treasure and to destroy the mysterious Red Death. read more »
King LearWilliam Shakespeare
King Lear, one of Shakespeare's darkest and most savage plays, tells the story of the foolish and Job-like Lear, who divides his kingdom, as he does his affections, according to vanity and whim. Lear’s failure as a father engulfs himself and his world in turmoil and tragedy. read more »
A Town Like AliceNevil Shute
Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle - an experience that leads to the deaths of many. Due to her courageous spirit and... read more »
Casanova: Part 9 - The False NunGiacomo Casanova
Awake in a moment she came to open the door in her smock, and without a light. As I wanted one, I told her to get the flint and steel, which she did, warning me in a modest voice that she was not dressed. "That's of no consequence," said I, "provided you are covered." She said no more, and soon lighted a candle, but... read more »
The Benson Murder CaseS. S. Van Dine
Playboy stockbroker, Alvin Benson, is found in his brownstone mansion with a bullet through his head. First on the scene is Philo Vance, amateur detective, who is at once intrigued by the absence of Alvin's toupee and his false teeth. With a jigsaw of odd clues he sets off in pursuit of an elusive murderer, making... read more »