BOOK DETAILS
Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1939140647 List Price: $19.99 U.S. Pages: 310 Published: 2013 |
The Slype (1927)
Russell Thorndike With a new introduction by Mark Valentine Book Description The Slype is a dark passage, reputedly haunted, adjoining the ancient cathedral of Dullchester, and it plays a central role in this thrilling mystery. As the story opens, this sleepy cathedral city has a sinister visitor whose ominous pastime consists of cutting paper silhouettes depicting a corpse hanging from a gibbet. After his arrival, a series of terrifying events ensues: ghostly screams are heard to emanate from the Slype, and the town’s residents begin disappearing one by one, inexplicably and without a trace. Young Daniel Dyke, Sergeant Wurren, and Inspector Macauley of Scotland Yard will have to join forces to unravel this deadly mystery and uncover a centuries-old secret . . . before it’s too late! Russell Thorndike (1885-1972) is best known for his popular series of swashbuckling tales featuring the smuggler Dr. Syn, but as Mark Valentine writes in his introduction to this new edition, the rediscovery of Thorndike’s mystery and suspense fiction is long overdue. This edition of The Slype (1927), a fast-paced and ingenious tale with a plot and cast of characters reminiscent of Dickens, is the first in 80 years and features a reproduction of the scarce jacket art of the 1927 first edition. |
reviews
“[W]orthy of being compared to Dickens’s creations . . . First-class entertainment.” - William F. Deeck, The Mystery Fancier
“An exciting story told in a pleasant narrative style with considerable skill, and a whole portfolio of Dickensian characters, drawn against a rich background make The Slype an almost perfect piece of light fiction.” - The Outlook
“No one will care to hurry when he can spend his time in the company of such delightful people as the Dean, the Paper Wizard, and Boyce’s Boy. . . . The Slype [is] a book to be read and put by for future rereading.” - New York Times
“A unique and unusual mystery yarn.” - Baltimore Sun
“An exciting story told in a pleasant narrative style with considerable skill, and a whole portfolio of Dickensian characters, drawn against a rich background make The Slype an almost perfect piece of light fiction.” - The Outlook
“No one will care to hurry when he can spend his time in the company of such delightful people as the Dean, the Paper Wizard, and Boyce’s Boy. . . . The Slype [is] a book to be read and put by for future rereading.” - New York Times
“A unique and unusual mystery yarn.” - Baltimore Sun
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Arthur Russell Thorndike was born in Rochester, Kent in 1885. Although his sister, Sybil Thorndike (1882-1976), was the better-known actor, Russell Thorndike also acted both on the stage and in a number of films, though his first love was writing books, of which his Doctor Syn novels are the most famous. Thorndike finished his first novel, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh, published in 1915, around the same time he enlisted for service in the First World War. After being severely wounded at Gallipoli, Thorndike was discharged and returned to acting. Perhaps surprised at the perennial popularity of the first Doctor Syn novel, Thorndike revisited the character several times in the 1930s and 1940s, in addition to publishing a number of other novels, of which The Slype (1927), also available from Valancourt Books, is probably the best.
In the final twenty years of his life, Thorndike wrote no further novels, but continued to act, appearing frequently as Smee in productions of Peter Pan, and made a few film appearances, including minor roles in Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955). Thorndike died in 1972.
In the final twenty years of his life, Thorndike wrote no further novels, but continued to act, appearing frequently as Smee in productions of Peter Pan, and made a few film appearances, including minor roles in Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955). Thorndike died in 1972.