The Mystics

To gain an inheritance he believes is rightfully his, a man masquerades as the anointed prophet of a mystical religious cult. This is more a novelette than a novel and as such is perhaps somewhat less rewarding for the reader than it might have been. Reduced to twenty pages it could have made a good magazine story, or expanded to twice its length with the addition of plot elements, the elaboration of characters and situations, or a look at his ten years of preparation which were passed over here without a word, it might have made a decent full length novel. As it stands, it is an interesting look at what the author considered plausible circumstances and situations in a time when traditional religion was losing its grip on Western society with the introduction of eastern mysticism and the rise of a middle class searching for meaning in the slightly aimless years preceding the Great War. Mostly harmless and a mild, easy reading experience.