The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu

By: Sax Rohmer

Narrated by: B.J. Harrison

Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie's underground war against the nefarious genius of Dr. Fu-Manchu continues in this, the second in the Fu-Manchu series by Sax Rohmer. Join in the adventure of kidnappings, poisonous cats, a haunted house, rat torture, mummy attacks and more!

©Public Domain B.J. Harrison (P)2014 B.J. Harrison

Basically, a repeat of the 1st Dr. Fu-Manchu novel

B. J. Harrison does a superb job of narration. Unfortunately, the story falls somewhat short. It is almost a duplicate of the original Dr. Fu-Manchu novel. That is, there is a lot of action and exotic drama--but very little plot. Throughout both novels, Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr Petrie (patterned after Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson) try to capture Fu-Manchu and to foil his plans of world domination. Meanwhile, Fu-Manchu sends his minions and various exotic animals to kill or capture Smith and Petrie. The struggle goes back and forth throughout the entire book. For awhile, one side seems to be prevailing, and then things change and the other side seems to prevail. This continues from the first chapter through the very last chapter.

I can see how this would have made exciting radio drama serials, Saturday afternoon matinees, or comic book serials. But it gets repetitious for a novel--particularly if you've read the first novel in the series.