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"Red" Kerry #1
Dope
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
379 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1919
34 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Sax Rohmer
495 books125 followersAKA Arthur Sarsfield Ward (real name); Michael Furey.
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.
He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.
Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.
His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.
He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.
After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").
There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.
His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.
He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.
Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.
His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.
He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.
After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").
There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.
His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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August 5, 2024Phenomenally racist even by the low standards of 1920s pulp, depressingly short on any sort of convincing info on the 1920s drug trade, and not even entertaining. Bobbins.
May 30, 2012
Pulpus nineteentwentii ssp. drugerii. Fairly wallows in the depravity of 1920s opium dens, with outrageous 'yellow Chinamen' and other stereotypes, and the most aaaatrocious Scottish accent I've ever seen (Mrs Second-Sight Kerry is from 'the shores of Loch Broom' but via Brigadoon and Mike Myers - even on paper). Rather raw descriptions of cocaine and opium use, and also gets bogged in descriptions of rooms and corridors, and then a bit incoherent. I think even this sort of stuff is done better elsewhere.
Also, as I see some more evil Chinamen lurking in my 1920s reading list, I feel obliged to remember that it was Jardine & Matheson who introduced opium to China against the wishes of the imperial court in the 1840s, in the cause of free trade and with the enthusiasm of the British government, ie to balance their tea exports. So it seems a bit rich to then characterise all Chinese in the UK as dope-pedlars.
And that's my pulp quota for the month. On to more enlightening things.
Also, as I see some more evil Chinamen lurking in my 1920s reading list, I feel obliged to remember that it was Jardine & Matheson who introduced opium to China against the wishes of the imperial court in the 1840s, in the cause of free trade and with the enthusiasm of the British government, ie to balance their tea exports. So it seems a bit rich to then characterise all Chinese in the UK as dope-pedlars.
And that's my pulp quota for the month. On to more enlightening things.
December 31, 2014
The review from afar – No. 18
Re-revised forward to these overseas reviews:
Since emulating a yo-yo, I continue to rely on the old-style Kindle 3G for any non-technical reading. I tip my hat to the fine folks at Project Gutenberg: virtually every title I have or will be reading in the near future comes from them.
Dope, a Story of Chinatown is a non-Fu Manchu novel that marks the first appearance of Chief Inspector Red Kerry. Kerry is a smart cop who uses his brain as well as his brawn to outwit and capture the criminals that threaten his city and its people. He is a physically tough man with red hair (Rohmer plays up the description more than once during the book). He brooks very little BS from anyone including his fellow officers. Because he is incorruptible and gets results, he has the backing of his superiors.
In this tale, we have society and wealthy people who become ensnared in the drug culture of the early 20th century. Although there was no prohibition in the UK, they lived the same glittery life as did Americans before the Great Depression. Alcohol and drugs helped fuel the boom and the people. Kerry is trying to solve a mystery that involves a mystic/drug dealer and embroils him in a web of deceit, Chinese merchants, and passions.
There are descriptions of drug use that may alienate some people (just as the casual racism may.) Some of the places and situations remind me of Conan Doyle’s story, “The Man with the Twisted Lip” where Watson accidentally meets Holmes while the former is retrieving a friend’s husband. Written almost twenty years before “Dope” it has a stark description of the opium den as seen by Watson. Doyle was at the forefront of showing the negative side of what were then fully legal drugs (both in this scene and in Watson’s continuing efforts to rid Holmes of his cocaine use.) Like Doyle before him, Sax Rohmer is writing about the damage and repercussions of drug use and addiction in a time when it was not a popular crusade.
I like the story, I liked the character of Red Kerry who is not a clone of Nayland Smith or Paul Harley, and I was interested in all of the characters. Yes it is sensationalist fiction/pulp and yes it wouldn’t sell as written today (but one could write an adventure story that was similar after modifying the speech and behavior of just about everyone in it.) But, it is escapist literature (yes I use the term literature) and at that it succeeds.
Three and one-half (3.5) Stars for the detective who could have been a member of The Red-Headed League!
You can get this book for free from the Gutenberg Project site.
January 12, 2021
One of a handful of books from this time I was lead to via reading Kenneth Grant (Mostly "The Ninth Arch" and "Against the Light" I'm pretty sure.)
I really enjoy aspects of suspense/mystery/supernatural books from this period. Unfortunately, they all have various shades of racism to them..(The Worst offender I've read lately being "The Lair of the White Worm" by Bram Stoker that made my stomach churn some).
However looking past the authors disdain for Chinese and Jews..This book was paced rather well and I was able to read the whole thing in just a few sittings. It was a good companion on my days in quarantine and was a nice change of pace from other genres I regularly read.
I really enjoy aspects of suspense/mystery/supernatural books from this period. Unfortunately, they all have various shades of racism to them..(The Worst offender I've read lately being "The Lair of the White Worm" by Bram Stoker that made my stomach churn some).
However looking past the authors disdain for Chinese and Jews..This book was paced rather well and I was able to read the whole thing in just a few sittings. It was a good companion on my days in quarantine and was a nice change of pace from other genres I regularly read.
December 2, 2022
(First read Jan 2012]
The racism can be tough to stomach. and I imagine many people would have no reason or wish to do so! I like crime/adventure stories like this, and in a few ways Rohmer is pretty good at it. I love the sense of place in all the locations near the river, and on the river. And I love the fog.
The racism can be tough to stomach. and I imagine many people would have no reason or wish to do so! I like crime/adventure stories like this, and in a few ways Rohmer is pretty good at it. I love the sense of place in all the locations near the river, and on the river. And I love the fog.
November 7, 2015
From a literary point of view, this is most certainly no master piece. It's a sensationalist "mystery", not very well executed, and full of the absolutely worst kinds of stereotypical and xenophobic character depictions (remember, this IS a book by Sax Rohmer). But as a source on the contemporary view of the drug and nightclub scene, it's very useful, and rather entertaining.
March 1, 2011
There are lots of things wrong with this story, but there is a fun bit of mystery to be had in the end.
It's set in London, roughly a century ago. The main characters are society types who are mixed up with drugs and a fierce cop who is trying to get to the bottom of the matter.
It's set in London, roughly a century ago. The main characters are society types who are mixed up with drugs and a fierce cop who is trying to get to the bottom of the matter.
December 27, 2012
1910 novel of British upper class, opium dens and murder. (This author wrote all the Dr. Fu Manchu books.) Fun froth.
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September 12, 2020Imagine Sherlock Holmes peppered with trite and offensive racial and sexist stereotype.
The author of Fu Manchu describes his characters, especially foreigners and Jews as unsavoury by definition.
July 30, 2017
A better read than the Fu Manchu series in that this story was considerably more plausible. The beautiful people turn out to be not so beautiful after all. I would say that this could apply to today, but there isn't even an attempt to conceal anything now.
cons: Most overused word: Savagely. And a guy showing up in a rowboat with all the drugs London could handle was a bit of a stretch as well. The fake walls and the trap doors hearken back to the Fu Manchu stories. Entertaining anyway.
And for those taken aback by the racist inferences, consider the time, the upbringing and the fact that we are seeing it from a singular point of view. Every race has a cast of thousands in this regard. Not defending it, just acknowledging reality. Times have changed for most of us.
cons: Most overused word: Savagely. And a guy showing up in a rowboat with all the drugs London could handle was a bit of a stretch as well. The fake walls and the trap doors hearken back to the Fu Manchu stories. Entertaining anyway.
And for those taken aback by the racist inferences, consider the time, the upbringing and the fact that we are seeing it from a singular point of view. Every race has a cast of thousands in this regard. Not defending it, just acknowledging reality. Times have changed for most of us.
October 11, 2024
The story is incredibly lowbrow in its wildly distorted view of Scotland Yard's early 20th century efforts to stem the flow of narcotics from China into Britain. Unfortunately, for all the melodrama, the story rarely rises above the level of a standard police procedural. As for the bigotry against Asians mentioned in other reviews, it is terrible and unfortunately still exists in the world today. What's also interesting is Rohmer's habit, despite his obvious disdain for Eastern peoples, in choosing those same Asians as supervillains against whom the forces of Western law and order are largely helpless. Significantly, Scotland Yard is no more successful in capturing Sin Sin Wa than its agents were in putting a final stop to Fu Manchu.
August 31, 2021
Entertaining listening 🔰
A will written romantic thriller mystery adventure novel by Sax Rohmer with interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in London where murder, drugs, kidnappings, and deception lead the Chief Inspector of New Scotland Yard on a merry chase. I would recommend this novel to readers of British mystery novels. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening 2021
I got this novel free and it is the first book by the author but not the last.
A will written romantic thriller mystery adventure novel by Sax Rohmer with interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in London where murder, drugs, kidnappings, and deception lead the Chief Inspector of New Scotland Yard on a merry chase. I would recommend this novel to readers of British mystery novels. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening 2021
I got this novel free and it is the first book by the author but not the last.
September 28, 2017
Rohmer's account of the girls descent into drug addiction that makes up the books second section is surprisingly truthful for the times and for Rohmer. However the book in it's last half is more typical of Rohmer as the police chase down yet another villainous Chinaman, although Rohmer has to gain a few points for naming him Sin Sin Wa.
December 13, 2022
Excellent read, but...
...lots of typos and punctuation errors. Good plot with lots of twists. The writing is superb, the characters realistic and well developed. Just have to get around those typos.
...lots of typos and punctuation errors. Good plot with lots of twists. The writing is superb, the characters realistic and well developed. Just have to get around those typos.
September 22, 2019
Interesting history but not very well written.
December 31, 2019
Well this was a pretty ace read. What an adventure, pretty cunning too. I was on the edge of my seat.
June 22, 2019
The first appearance of New Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Red Kerry, a two-fisted policeman in post WWI London. A minor Lord is killed and a rich socialite is missing, and they are both tied to the enigmatic Kazmah the Dream Reader, who has also disappeared. Kerry scours London of 1919 looking for clues, encountering rich Bohemians, theatre people, landed gentry, sailors, and, as always, sinister Chinese people and sneaky Jews. Rohmer builds atmosphere and gives a bit of POV from the villains to make a richly entertaining murder mystery. But there's much more than that.
The full middle third of the book is dedicated to the rich socialite's descent into drug addiction. From her early days as a middle class wannabe actress to her final downfall, we get a shockingly accurate portrayal of how an otherwise intelligent and moderately successful woman could nearly destroy her life with basically every drug known at the time, mostly cocaine and opium. Not so difficult since cocaine and opium were commonly prescribed by doctors at the time, but Rohmer shows how a little experimental fun with friends can lead to selling the family jewelry, lying to the husband, getting deep in debt, and ending up in the company of some really unsavory characters. And how an honest and desperate attempt to get clean can be easily derailed when the craving gets too strong. The description is so spot on it's like watching reality TV.
Everything is suitably foggy and damp, and the period pieces like hand torches and bowler hats just add to the atmosphere. Some fun can be had at the idea that Red Kerry is aware of some drug dealing in town, but the idea of a single drug kingpin is totally alien to him. Times change. And the character Molly(I think?) is jarring for today but absolutely gobsmacking for 1919. Basically she's Cheryl Tunt from "Archer". Here's a quote, not exactly but close enough: "She's married to that deliciously evil looking Chinaman? He looks like the kind of man who ties her to a post and beats her with a leather strap. Englishmen are all so proper today that I could never find one to beat me with a leather strap." Ummm....OK. This from a time when proper women wouldn't think of going out in public wearing pants. Times change, but being beaten with a leather strap is still a bit outre.
The full middle third of the book is dedicated to the rich socialite's descent into drug addiction. From her early days as a middle class wannabe actress to her final downfall, we get a shockingly accurate portrayal of how an otherwise intelligent and moderately successful woman could nearly destroy her life with basically every drug known at the time, mostly cocaine and opium. Not so difficult since cocaine and opium were commonly prescribed by doctors at the time, but Rohmer shows how a little experimental fun with friends can lead to selling the family jewelry, lying to the husband, getting deep in debt, and ending up in the company of some really unsavory characters. And how an honest and desperate attempt to get clean can be easily derailed when the craving gets too strong. The description is so spot on it's like watching reality TV.
Everything is suitably foggy and damp, and the period pieces like hand torches and bowler hats just add to the atmosphere. Some fun can be had at the idea that Red Kerry is aware of some drug dealing in town, but the idea of a single drug kingpin is totally alien to him. Times change. And the character Molly(I think?) is jarring for today but absolutely gobsmacking for 1919. Basically she's Cheryl Tunt from "Archer". Here's a quote, not exactly but close enough: "She's married to that deliciously evil looking Chinaman? He looks like the kind of man who ties her to a post and beats her with a leather strap. Englishmen are all so proper today that I could never find one to beat me with a leather strap." Ummm....OK. This from a time when proper women wouldn't think of going out in public wearing pants. Times change, but being beaten with a leather strap is still a bit outre.
March 14, 2009
guilty pleasure ;)
January 29, 2011
Couldn't put this one down... Great fiction transcends time.
December 6, 2011
Classic murder mystery featuring dope fiends, opium dens and sinister chinamen
February 14, 2016
read SOMETIME in 2006
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews