Bulldog Drummond
Book Excerpt
'Don't think that I am proposing this through motives of revenge merely. We are business men, and revenge is only worth our while if it pays. This will pay. I can give you no figures, but we are not of the type who deal in thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. There is a force in England which, if it be harnessed and led property, will result in millions coming to you...It is present now in every nation--fettered, inarticulate, unco-ordinated...It is partly the result of the war--the war that the idiots have waged...Harness that force, gentlemen, co-ordinate it, and use it for your own ends...That is my proposal. Not only will you humble that cursed country to the dirt, but you will taste of power such as few men have tasted before...' The Count stood up, his eves blazing. 'And I--I will do it for you.'
He resumed his seat, and his left hand, slipping off the table, beat a tattoo on his knee.
'This is o
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Hugh (Bulldog) Drummond is fresh out of military service, but the love of adventure is not out of him.
He cannot settle down to a life of leisure as it is adventure he still craves..
If adventure will not come to him, then he will advertise for it.
Adventure comes in the form of a pretty girl, who is concerned that her father may be connected with jewel theft, under the influence of a man named Peterson.
This man Peterson is intelligent and ruthless and will form pacts with anyone to gain riches and power..
Along with his valet (ex batman James Denny) and several ex war buddies, Drummond sets out to save the father and win the girl.
Very fast moving. Hugh has that James Bond , quick and biting type of humor.
The first of the adventures of Drummond stories, and the first of the stories with his arch nemesis Peterson.
He is constantly out of one fire and into another.
You may like some of the public domain movie versions that you can find at :
Archive.org.
They are faithful to the original concept of the books, with one exception. Each movie starts
with Hugh's forth coming wedding. He gets involved in a mystery and the next try at a wedding is
postponed until the start of the next movie. In the book series, he gets married in the second installment.
Although this is not the best Bulldog Drummond adventure (that would probably be the affair of the hunchback with the mask on Romney Marsh), neither is it the worst in terms of action.
Sometimes the criminals are just let go at the end, why not? Drummond is only in it for sport; he's not the police. In fact, he goes out of his way not to involve the police, in order that his own fun not be impaired.
The disposition of bodily remains by the anarchists is sheer delight if, as I said, you appreciate gallows humor. If so, it is worth the read all by itself. Enjoy.
It's a hoot! I've never read anything quite like it--a strange mixture of nonstop action careening madly along beneath a calm surface dialogue, which comes off as sort of a Lord Peter Wimsey-ish patois..."don't you know, old thing". One of Drummond's merry band actually wears a monocle. These are upper-crust demobbed officers from WWI (sons of Lord This and Lady That) who swear they will follow only two men--the King of England and Hugh Drummond. And they do...fighting to save England from evil anarchists who have more ways to kill a person than I could ever have imagined...some very clever and, if you have a good sense of gallows humor, very funny.
The action never flags for a second. The rat-a-tat pace is sometimes almost too much, but believe me, you won't fall asleep over it!
I kept thinking of the old Republic Studios movie serials as I read. You can easily see where the episodic cliffhangers would occur.
All in all a fun read. My husband is now on to the next book in the series, THE BLACK GANG. The entire series (I think) is available on Gutenberg's Australian site--www.Gutenberg.net/au. When I recover from this roller coaster ride , I will probably start THE BLACK GANG. Enjoy!