Arthur Stringer (–1950)

Ugh.. this is the kind of bland writing that would only pass muster in a British Story Paper or Dime Novel.
With its square jawed hero inventor trying to keep his invention from the dastardly villain and his international group of badguys. The only bit of interest is the rather dark implications regarding a couple of the female characters but it never goes too dark.
The action is ok i guess in that pulpy dime-novel way but the never ending narrator and dull writing make everything seem pretty wooden.

This was made into a silent film by Paramount which has luckily been lost to the merciful mists of time. I’m really not surprised it was a film, it feels like it was only written to be sold as a forgettable matinee or serial.
There was a competition run at some point to come up with a proper name for it and the winning entry was “Without Warning”, which is at least a bit better than the actual title even if it is as meaningless.

On another day i could dismiss this with 2-stars but on the other hand; whether your stranded on a desert island, in prison or hiding in the ruins of a dystopian future from the super-intelligent Magpies which have taken control of the earth.. wherever you are, i’m certain you could find something more interesting to read than this.… (más)

In fairness, I have only read The Prairie Wife; however, after reading that, I have little inclination to read any of the others. The Prairie Wife follows the letters/diary of a Brittish woman who has moved with her husband to the Canadian prairie.

It's difficult to review this book, because it did start off entertainingly enough. The writing style is surprisingly modern; I don't think you'd guess it was written in 1915. Unfortuantely, the book never seemed to develop a plot. I skimmed a lot of the last half, thinking that the "good part" must be just ahead. Up until the last page, I kept waiting for some plot twist, something to make me care about what happened to these characters. It never came. When I read "THE END," my jaw dropped...a day of my life, wasted, on a book that went absolutely no where.… (más)