The Doomsday Men (1938)
J.B. Priestley
With a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes
Book Description
Three strangers, each on a separate mission, converge in the California desert. Jimmy Edlin is hot on the trail of a religious cult he believes is responsible for his brother’s murder; George Hooker is a physicist in search of a missing colleague; and Malcolm Darbyshire is an Englishman looking for a beautiful heiress who has vanished without a trace. When the three men come together and discover that their situations are intertwined, they join forces to try to unravel these mysteries. Braving danger and death at every turn, they follow a trail of clues that leads to an explosive conclusion, as they uncover a sinister group whose insane philosophy calls for the destruction of all life on earth and who possess the awesome power to bring about doomsday!
Written against the backdrop of the rise of Hitler and Mussolini and with the threat of the Second World War looming, The Doomsday Men (1938) is one of J. B. Priestley’s most thrilling novels and a story with frightening implications. This edition, the first in over fifty years, features a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes and a reproduction of the original jacket art.
J.B. Priestley
With a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes
Book Description
Three strangers, each on a separate mission, converge in the California desert. Jimmy Edlin is hot on the trail of a religious cult he believes is responsible for his brother’s murder; George Hooker is a physicist in search of a missing colleague; and Malcolm Darbyshire is an Englishman looking for a beautiful heiress who has vanished without a trace. When the three men come together and discover that their situations are intertwined, they join forces to try to unravel these mysteries. Braving danger and death at every turn, they follow a trail of clues that leads to an explosive conclusion, as they uncover a sinister group whose insane philosophy calls for the destruction of all life on earth and who possess the awesome power to bring about doomsday!
Written against the backdrop of the rise of Hitler and Mussolini and with the threat of the Second World War looming, The Doomsday Men (1938) is one of J. B. Priestley’s most thrilling novels and a story with frightening implications. This edition, the first in over fifty years, features a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes and a reproduction of the original jacket art.
reviews
“This is a story in Mr. Priestley’s best vein, and he uses all the arts of suspense, all the twists and turns of fate, as well as his own cheerful and kindly reading of the human heart to make it so. It is really true that you cannot put the book down till you finish it, and you do that with a sigh.” – The Observer
“[T]he most completely unified novel that Mr. Priestley has written . . . an exciting tale for holiday reading. The novel is, in short, something like a masterpiece . . . would do credit to any novelist.” – Manchester Guardian
“Mr. Priestley is in lighter and more fanciful mood in this new novel of his . . . He has pleasant little excitements to offer and some sufficiently entertaining passages of dialogue . . . an interesting Wellsian fantasy . . . a smooth and pleasant mixture of sentiment and thrills.” – Times Literary Supplement
“Grand melodrama and mystery . . . [a] fast-paced adventure story. . . . It’s a well conceived tale, exceptionally well told – and makes first rate vacation reading.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[D]esigned to raise our hair . . . piling menace on suspense, and desolation on both, and letting us hear the brilliant minutes tick away in Californian light. For this is a horror story—with a difference. . . . a very wild story . . . love, horror, death, and escape.” – The Spectator
“Wicked and bizarre … communicates the author’s excitement to the reader.” – Saturday Review
“No one who likes Priestley will be disappointed or disillusioned by this book.” – New York Times
“[T]he most completely unified novel that Mr. Priestley has written . . . an exciting tale for holiday reading. The novel is, in short, something like a masterpiece . . . would do credit to any novelist.” – Manchester Guardian
“Mr. Priestley is in lighter and more fanciful mood in this new novel of his . . . He has pleasant little excitements to offer and some sufficiently entertaining passages of dialogue . . . an interesting Wellsian fantasy . . . a smooth and pleasant mixture of sentiment and thrills.” – Times Literary Supplement
“Grand melodrama and mystery . . . [a] fast-paced adventure story. . . . It’s a well conceived tale, exceptionally well told – and makes first rate vacation reading.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[D]esigned to raise our hair . . . piling menace on suspense, and desolation on both, and letting us hear the brilliant minutes tick away in Californian light. For this is a horror story—with a difference. . . . a very wild story . . . love, horror, death, and escape.” – The Spectator
“Wicked and bizarre … communicates the author’s excitement to the reader.” – Saturday Review
“No one who likes Priestley will be disappointed or disillusioned by this book.” – New York Times
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BOOK DETAILS
ISBN: 1941147143 ISBN-13: 978-1941147146 $16.99 US, 236 pp. Trade paper Published 2014 |
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
John Boynton Priestley was born in 1894 in Yorkshire, the son of a schoolmaster. After leaving Belle Vue School when he was 16, he worked in a wool office but was already by this time determined to become a writer. He volunteered for the army in 1914 during the First World War and served five years; on his return home, he attended university and wrote articles for the Yorkshire Observer. After graduating, he established himself in London, writing essays, reviews, and other nonfiction, and publishing several miscellaneous volumes. In 1927 his first two novels appeared, Adam in Moonshine and Benighted. In 1929 Priestley scored his first major critical success as a novelist, winning the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Good Companions. Angel Pavement (1930) followed and was also extremely successful. Throughout the next several decades, Priestley published numerous novels, many of them very popular and successful, including Bright Day (1946), and Lost Empires (1965), and was also a prolific and highly regarded playwright.
Priestley died in 1984, and though his plays have continued to be published and performed since his death, much of his fiction has unfortunately fallen into obscurity. Recently, some of his most famous novels have been reprinted in England by Great Northern Books; Valancourt Books is republishing Benighted and Priestley’s excellent collection of weird short stories The Other Place (1953).
For more information on J.B. Priestley, visit the official website at http://www.jbpriestley.co.uk/JBP/Home.html or the website for the J.B. Priestley Society at http://www.jbpriestleysociety.com/.
Priestley died in 1984, and though his plays have continued to be published and performed since his death, much of his fiction has unfortunately fallen into obscurity. Recently, some of his most famous novels have been reprinted in England by Great Northern Books; Valancourt Books is republishing Benighted and Priestley’s excellent collection of weird short stories The Other Place (1953).
For more information on J.B. Priestley, visit the official website at http://www.jbpriestley.co.uk/JBP/Home.html or the website for the J.B. Priestley Society at http://www.jbpriestleysociety.com/.