The Four Just Men

by Edgar Wallace

Overview

A device in Parliament's members' smokeroom and a sudden magnesium flash leaves Scotland Yard baffled. Even Fleet Street cannot identify the illusive Manfred, Gonsalez, Pioccart and Thery - FOUR JUST MEN dedicated to punishing by death those whom conventional justice cannot touch.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755122479
Publisher:	House of Stratus, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/03/2010
Series:	Four Just Men , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	134
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was an English writer born into poverty to a single mother. Wallace’s birth mother found him a foster family that later adopted him, and Wallace grew very close to the family, especially the mother, Clara Freeman. After joining the military at age 21, he started his literary career by writing serialized short stories. His career quickly grew from there, and Wallace went on to write eighteen plays, forty short story collections, and over one hundred novels. After a failed political bid in London, Wallace moved to Hollywood to begin a film career equally impressive to his literary works. Wallace is credited for one-hundred and sixty films. He was working on the film King Kong when he passed away in 1932, leaving five children and his massive collection of work behind.

Editorial Reviews

This is the first of the many thriller/adventure novels written by Wallace (1875–1932). It's the tale of four European vigilantes who intend to derail a threat to a Spanish resistance leader by dissuading members of the British Parliament from passing a certain extradition bill. Either the author of the legislation withdraws it, or he will be killed. A deadline is set, the police are called in, and a locked-room murder follows. Listeners who love melodramas like those involving Sherlock Holmes, the works of Rudyard Kipling, and other Edwardian writers will enjoy this production. Reader Bill Homewood has just the right pacing and vocal range for the victims, the police, and the villains. Perfect for taking along in the car on vacation, even if it was published in 1905. A wonderful postscript: Wallace was best known for writing the screenplay for the original 1933 film King Kong!—Barbara Valle, El Paso P.L., TX

Library Journal

Originally written in 1920, this entertaining novel benefits from the superb performance of narrator Bill Homewood. The story focuses on four men with ostensibly laudable goals who battle injustice like modern-day Robin Hoods. Yet the four remain enigmas, whose motives at time appear to be highly questionable. Because the protagonists lack sufficient individual personalities to make it easy for readers to distinguish among them, it is even harder to ascertain their ultimate goals. Fortunately, Bill Homewood demonstrates the power of a great reader. He transitions beautifully between characters and provides each with a distinctive timbre, tone, and personality, thus overcoming the novel’s limitations. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2011 - AudioFile