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A Bid for Fortune

Guy Newell Boothby

132 ratings
A Bid for Fortune | Guy Newell Boothby

A Bid for Fortune

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This book is the first in a series of five and introduces the good doctor himself. Dr Nikola Is a criminal mastermind with an occult twist and like much fiction of that era this book and the following are more about how others fall under his spell and into his web. Here we have an adventure and love story that sweeps us from Australia, the South Seas, the Middle East and rural Hampshire with our lovestruck hero constantly battling against Dr Nikola and his cohorts. The sense of mystery and the exotic settings are exceptionally well portrayed and give the book a nostalgic appeal for the days of imperialists and hardened empire builders.
elieve they are called—holding shields in their claws, looked down on passers-by in ferocious grandeur. From behind the gates an avenue wound and disappeared into the wood.

Without consulting me, my old charioteer drove into the inn yard, and, having thrown the reins to an ostler, descended from the vehicle. I followed his example, and then inquired the name of the place inside the gates. My guide, philosopher, and friend looked at me rather queerly for a second or two, and then recollecting that I was a stranger to the place, said:—

"That be the Hall I was telling 'ee about. That's where Sir William lives!"

"Then that's where my father was born?"

He nodded his head, and as he did so I noticed that the ostler stopped his work of unharnessing the horse, and looked at me in rather a surprised fashion.

"Well, that being so," I said, taking my stick from the trap, and preparing to stroll off, "I'm just going to investigate a bit. You bring yourself to an anchor in yonder, and don't stir till I come for you again."

He took himself into the inn without more ado, and I crossed the road towards the gates. They were locked, but the little entrance by the tumble-down cottage stood open, and passing through this I started up the drive. It was a perfect afternoon; the sunshine straggled in through the leafy canopy overhead and danced upon my path. To the right were the thick fastnesses of the preserves; while on my left, across the meadows I could discern the sparkle of water on a weir. I must have proceeded for nearly a mile through the wood before I caught sight of the house. Then, what a strange experience was mine.

Leaving the shelter of the trees, I opened on to as beautiful a park as the mind of man could imagine. A herd of deer were grazing quietly just before me, a woodman was eating his dinner in the shadow of an oak; but it was not upon deer or woodman that I look

Julie 02/20/2021
Boothby is no Edgar Wallace or Sax Rohmer but this story has enough resonance with them that I enjoyed it a lot. I'm looking forward to trying more of his books.
Robert 06/30/2018
Published in 1895, A Bid for Fortune (aka Dr Nikola's Vendetta) is a thriller featuring the first of many appearances by evil genius Dr Nikola. The convoluted plot is daft as a brush, with way too many coincidences in order to give the good guy some chance of winning I can't decide whether the good
Vuk 01/18/2017
Awful pacing, awful resolution. I expected a conflict between the burly manly hero and the manipulative mesmerist, but all I got was a bunch of scenes where characters recap off-screen action to each other.
Wreade1872 04/29/2016
A romance/thriller/crime/adventure story. Our hero is a down to earth everyman australian who inexplicably switches to a Holmes level detective whenever the plot calls for it, and gets involved in the nefarious plans of Dr. Nikola through a sequence of badly plotted coincidences.
Our villain Dr. Niko
Jake 08/05/2012
I never heard of Guy Boothby until randomly finding him on my Kindle (I liked the cover), but now consider me a fan. This is the first of five books concerning Dr. Nikola, evil mastermind. It was written shortly after Doyle's "Study in Scarlet" and you can see the influences. But this book is not a

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