Not overwhelmed with this book, felt too episodey, lots of little bits of different stories rather than one single narrative. Does seem like a cheap knockoff of Sherlock Holmes, but not as smartly done.

The two British protagonists of this book are extreme racists. Speaking through the mouths of these two, the author employs almost every possible racial slur against the Chinese. Anything remotely related to China or Asia are right away branded as evil and objects of suspicion.

That’s the most in-your-face fact about the story of Dr. Fu Manchu. Any thought about this book from me could not proceed unless I had put these into words out here. Sax Rohmer’s story is a celebration of villainy with the introduction of a worthy villain. Two British gentlemen – Nayland Smith and Dr.Petrie are hot on the heels of an evil genius – Dr. Fu Manchu who like a dreaded virus is extending his reach farther and farther into England. There is a hit list that the Doctor has prepared for a few men in England all of which he systematically eliminates over the days. The British try their best to thwart his plans but Fu Manchu is like the Lernaean Hydra : the more heads you chop off, the more grow up in their place. A pedestrian analogy I can draw would be Brain from Pinky & the Brain with the only difference that Fu Manchu’s plans almost always succeed. Ever pondering his next evil machination Fu Manchu takes Smith and Petrie for a merry ride across England.

Let’s face it, Sax Rohmer might have been ‘inspired’ by that other gentleman in 221B but I would say it borders more on plagiarism than simple inspiration. There are more than one resemblances to a shrewd and unsentimental investigator and his side kick who is a doctor in this story. Where Rohmer succeeds in rescuing his creation is by making his evil genius stand taller than his sleuths. The evil doctor is in London aided by secret Chinese councils and looking for Chinese takeover of the British empire. He has an army at his beck and call complete with thugs, femme fatales, a lush supply of Opium and monstrous sidekicks straight out of laboratories. This being the first story the evil doctor is hell bent on killing everyone who stands in his way but his methods are what makes him such a magnificent antagonist. It is not every day that you come against a villain with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan and live to tell the tale.

As pulp fiction this is one of the best I have read for it has all the ingredients : guns, action, women, scheming villains and so on. The racism is rather inexcusable and I cannot really recommend this book. But being an insatiable sucker for good stories, I will follow Fu Manchu for some more time.

I just had me a nice little dose of déjà vu. Earlier this year I read Sax Rohmer's The Golden Scorpion. And now I have finished The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu. And it was like reading the same pulpy, cliff-hanger, Yellow Peril story all over again. Evil, all-powerful, Chinese master criminal bent on world conquest with ominous green eyes? Check. Leaving behind a trail of murdered experts in their field? Check. Beautiful, mysterious, woman who is strangely enslaved to the evil master criminal, but who has fondness for our gallant narrator and who alternately helps him and does her master's bidding? Check. Edge-of-your-seat endings to each chapter as the heroes narrowly escape from danger, just miss saving someone from the villain's clutches, or occasionally snatch a victim from Fu-Manchu's grasp? Check. Throw in a huge supply of weird, dangerous creatures to spice things up a bit--and we're all set.

This time our evil villain, Dr. Fu-Manchu, is determined to get his hands on all the experts on the Far East that he can--and eliminate them. He's also picking up a few doctors and scientists along the way and sending them back to China where they will be forced to aid him in his quest for world domination. Nayland Smith, who has mysterious connections with Scotland Yard, is out to stop the doctor no matter what the cost. Smith enlists the help of his friend Dr. Petrie--and the two of them set out to warn and rescue as many people on the doctor's hit list as they can. With mixed results. The final showdown occurs in a cottage and ends in flames. But is it the end of the Doctor?

Once again, this story is not for those who want a nice sanitized view of the early 20th Century. Rohmer uses the period's conventional mistrust of the Far East and the Asian culture to create his super villains--members of the Yellow Peril, a group bent on dominating the world and, particularly, conquering Britain and America. It's good old fashioned fun--especially for those of us who are familiar with the cliff-hanger serial stories of yesteryear. Lots of hyperbole and exaggeration (I've given a few examples below)--either about Fu-Manchu or in his dialogue.

If you're looking for fast-moving, pulpy fun, then Rohmer is your man. Another fun romp through one thrilling adventure after another. A good solid three stars.

This is also my final read for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Challenge. And I would have to say that of all the characters included in that graphic novel, Fu-Manchu was the most faithfully rendered. Maybe it's easier to get it right when you're already dealing with an over-the-top villain. I don't know. But Moore did a great job capturing Fu-Manchu's "I'm going to rule the world!!!!" madness. Don't remember straight off whether he got the Doctor's eyes piercingly green enough or not. But well done on Fu-Manchu over all.

This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any portion. Thanks.

Started reading this on the train b/c it was available free through an i-touch app.

Clearly a book of its times, this book had many parts that were very hard for me as a modern reader. Hard to beat the thrilling scenes and well-written, high-action plots, but not sure I can handle any of the others in this series.

Not altogether bad if you're looking for the written equivalent of one of the mindless detective shows that fill most television line-ups these days. Pacing and plotting pretty much mirrors that of radio dramas of the time. I can't fault it for lacking depth if depth was not what was called for, but I can't say it's really what I'd hoped either.

I've got to say I had mixed feelings about this book, racism aside* because I can take it with a pinch of salt and still enjoy the story. On the one hand it is a thrilling pulp adventure with death traps, perplexing mysteries and criminal masterminds, on the other it is a overwrought, repetetive and somewhat unevenly paced book to sit through.

The action moves steadily towards the first mystery, one of a fatal mark known as the "Zayat Kiss" and the heroes are on the track of the handiwork of a certain criminal genius and his slave servant girl.

The novel is very episodic, which in most other books would seem fresh and interesting (Sherlock Holmes stories are quite formulaic but they each have a variety which makes them a joy to revisit), here it felt boring and repetetive because half the time I got the sensation that I had skipped previous chapters, due to the amount of coincidental mystery solving the protagonists have to do.

It also doesn't help that the characters don't have any real personality, aside from the two leads being Holmes and Watson stand ins, so there was no real reason for me to get hyped - although for some reason my reading experience was made more enjoyable as I pictured Nayland Smith as a stark raving Peter Capaldi in full Malcolm Tucker mode:



the only one who really gets some form of development is the villain himself Fu Manchu, a character I was genuinely interested in, and actually seemed threatening to the heroes.

The writing is a bit turbulent with certain passages echoing the lucid descriptions of Conan Doyle, while others feel like Rohmer attended the H.P Lovecraft school of exposition. Thus leaving the book feel more bloated than it should be. However, like Lovecraft, he does manage to set the tone very well.

I would most likely rank this as average because it is a fun, harmless way to pass the time. That being said I'd only recommend it to the die hard fans since it does drag at times.

*It's so heavy handed that it becomes adorable, at least to me.