„The War Terror” is a detective novel by Arthur B. Reeve (October 15, 1880 – August 9, 1936), one of his Craig Kennedy series, often regarded as American Sherlock Holmes. Each story features a fascinating look at life in the early 20th century, and even includes some action along the way. A major spy operation is deployed in the heart of Europe in time of World War II. Detective Kennedy lands right in the middle of it and begins his face off with Nazi secret service. But th...
Enter an American Sherlock Holmes solving crimes in the early twentieth century. Craig Kennedy is a Columbia University chemistry professor by day and New York’s premier sleuth by night. With the help of his roommate and partner in detection, newspaper reporter Walter Jameson, Kennedy uses his mastery of technology to solve the most puzzling of mysteries. It is interesting to see the different cases they take on and how they solve them. Originally published in 1910, these t...
„The Gold of the Gods” was first published in 1915. By then, Arthur Benjamin Reeve’s series of mysteries involving Professor Craig Kennedy and his sidekick, journalist Walter Jameson, had become something of a household name. Altogether, he wrote 18 novels featuring these two characters, and several short stories. Our story follows a theft of an ancient Inca dagger from an archeology professor. He asks Kennedy to assist in bringing it back. But there are threats beyond ones...
Detective Kennedy and his sidekick Walter Jameson are called in by a District Attorney to look into the murder of an actress in the middle of shooting a movie called „The Black Terror”. What follows is figuring out the puzzling trail of a calculating killer. Kennedy performs detailed tests in his laboratory and he eventually finds what caused the death of the film star, but he must still go through lots of adventures until he finds the murderer as well. The book is highly e...
The scientific detective known as the „American Sherlock Holmes” pursues a ruthless arch villain in this high-stakes suspense novel. „The Exploits of Elaine” is a collection of short stories about a beautiful young woman Elaine, who’s father was murdered by the mysterious gang leader The Clutching Hand, and who is subsequently terrorized by him and his gang. Using the latest advances in forensic science, the professor Craig Kennedy and his loyal sidekick, newspaper reporter...
The second collection of 12 of the early Craig Kennedy mysteries, written by Arthur Benjamin Reeve and published in 1912. His Craig Kennedy stories, of which these are early examples, earned their main character the nickname „the American Sherlock Holmes,” both for his highly rational and analytical detective work as well as for his ever-present Dr. Watson-like companion Walter Jameson. They solve crimes using cutting-edge technology of the early twentieth century with vary...
A railroad Vice President and his chauffeur have sudden and mysterious seizures on the way to work; a family in New York city undergoes an epidemic of beri-beri; the American consul in the Virgin Islands collapses and dies for no apparent reason; a Wall Street speculator is apparently stabbed to death with a rubber dagger. Who other than Craig Kennedy, armed with his knowledge of chemistry, technology and Freudian psychology could solve these mysteries? This mystery/detecti...
A charming thief rescues the not-so-innocent in this delightful crime novel from the creator of the Craig Kennedy detective series. Constance Dunlap is a young woman who turns amateur criminal in order to save her husband from disgrace and imminent arrest. When this sadly doesn’t work out exactly as planned, Constance goes on to embrace a new life. More antiheroine than heroine, she uses her photographic memory and her sharp wit to help amateur criminals get back on the rig...
Another classic book of murder mystery and mayhem skillfully written with an in depth journey to find out who really did the evil deed and why. „The Shrieking Pit” is one of Arthur Rees’s earlier works. American private detective Grant Colwyn is on a leisurely holiday in a fashionable seaside hotel in Norfolk when one morning during breakfast the strange behavior of one of the other guests catches his attention. The young man later leaves the hotel without paying his bill, ...
Professor Craig Kennedy is a scientist detective at Columbia University. He uses his knowledge of chemistry and psychoanalysis to solve cases, and uses exotic devices in his work such as lie detectors, gyroscopes, and portable seismographs. In this book Kennedy and Jameson (newspaper reporter) help Carton, the District Attorney, unravel a tangled web of corruption and criminal activity in their fair city. Carton is running for elections and is trying to clean up the corrupt...
Newspaperman Walter Jameson is assigned to shadow his friend Professor Craig Kennedy for a month to report on how he solves mysterious crimes and to give „an intimate picture of the man and his work.” Basically, Kennedy’s a scientist who uses his superior scientific knowledge and a bunch of contraptions he makes to expose the criminals. „The Dream Doctor” is the third book in the Dr. Kennedy series written by Arthur B. Reeve, the short stories were stitched together into ps...
Guy Garrick, a detective who has made a scientific study of crime, has been the hero of a number of earlier short stories. In the present novel he is engaged in tracking down a gang of motor bandits. The police, the city detectives, the automobile detectives and Guy Garrick are all working on the problems, and the unravelling and subsequent glory of Garrick are very exciting. The eleventh volume in the chronicles of Craig Kennedy, scientific detective, takes up the familiar...
Arthur J. Rees is a past master in the art of fashioning ingenious mystery-detective yarns and „The Moon Rock” is one of his best. The author’s many admirers will find keen enjoyment and many puzzling moments in their endeavors to solve the mystery. Robert Turold had spent his life trying to prove his claim to an ancient title. Yet, when it seems he is about to finally succeed, his body is found in a remote cottage on the Cornish coast, an apparent suicide. Detective Branne...
An ancient English country house with a storied and bloody history is the setting for this intriguing mystery. The new Mrs. Meredith has invited all her friends from her freer, wilder life in London to meet with her at her husband’s family home. However, she is seemingly taken ill and can’t accompany the party on their final jaunt to a neighbor’s house after dinner. Later she is dead of a gunshot wound, an heirloom pearl necklace is missing, and Scotland Yard is homing in o...
Wiadomość o nagłej śmierci babci wyrywa pracującego w siedzibie NATO kapitana Henryka Sandomierskiego z codziennej rutyny jego żołnierskiego życia. Chcąc dowiedzieć się więcej na temat przeszłości członków swojej rodziny, mężczyzna odkrywa tajemnicze powiązania z polskim wywiadem działającym podczas drugiej wojny światowej. W nieoczekiwany ciąg wydarzeń, gdzie teraźniejszość przeplata się z historią, wmieszani są również zaprzyjaźniona z Henrykiem sąsiadka babci, jego ...
Już przeszłość zamknięta W grobach... Ja sama panią tajemnicy. Juliusz Słowacki, „Balladyna”, Akt V, Scena IV Balladyna ma wiele oblicz. Raz odcina głowę, bo taki ma kaprys; innym razem potrafi zabić po cichu, a winę zrzucić na kogoś innego. Jest pełna nienawiści i nie przebiera w środkach w dążeniu do realizacji swoich planów. Manipuluje, kłamie, oszukuje, zabija. Zło kusi ją od dziecka. Ma bardzo dobrą pamięć i nie zna litości. Czasem skryw...
Arthur Morrison, who was English novelist, short story writer and journalist, wrote pioneering realistic narratives about working-class life in London’s East End. He is also celebrated for his exciting mystery stories, featuring the detective Martin Hewitt, who served as a natural successor to Sherlock Holmes. This comprehensive book presents Morrison’s collection of short stories. The collection includes: „Chance of the Game”, „Spotto’s Reclamation”, „A „Dead ’Un”, „The Di...
Fourth and last collection of detective fiction featuring Martin Hewitt, a famous private detective whose methods closely resemble those of Sherlock Holmes. The plot lines of all six linked sensation stories in this collection center on the mystery of the Red Triangle, a group of villains known only from the Red Triangle left stamped on the heads of their victims, and the actions of Martin Hewitt and his narrator, esteemed journalist Mr. Brett, in bringing the members of th...
The dead body of a beautiful girl in a disused house, the secret meeting room in the cellar, a baffling murder mystery... „The Dagger and Cord” is another mystery by Aidan de Brune (Herbert Charles CULL). It’s all great fun and the author keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining. If you haven’t discovered the joys of Brune’s mysteries there is a good place to start. Aidan De Brune was a Canadian-born writer who...
A widow and her two children struggle to make ends meet in East London after their grandfather and provider is killed. First they are threatened by a sponging uncle and his friend Mr. Butson, a „cadger of suppers”, then by their new landlord Mr. Dunkin, a man who exudes a wealth of sympathy, a wealth that Mr. Dunkin squandered with no restraint but this, that it carried no other sort of wealth with it. „To London Town” novel was intended to provide a picture of working-clas...
Morrison, a novelist and short-story writer, is most often remembered for a series featuring the detective Martin Hewitt, but before that, he wrote several grim and violent books about life in the London slums. „The Hole in the Wall” is one of the most gripping adventure stories ever written. Stephen Kemp goes to live with his mysterious grandfather after his mother’s death, and is gradually drawn into the seedy world which Captain Nat Kemp inhabits. The author brilliantly ...
Morrison’s literary reputation is mostly based on his realistic novels and short stories about slum life in London. In addition, he wrote detective fiction that is openly derivative of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Possessed with a wide and free-ranging curiosity, Morrison wrote both fiction and nonfiction works on diverse subjects, from Japanese art to occultism, and participated in English literary life well into World War II. In 1930 Arthur Morrison moved...
Morrison’s most popular books are probably his detective stories, featuring Martin Hewitt, a methodical investigator, who uses his ability to be „thoroughly at home among any and every class of people” to invite confidences in gathering evidence. Martin Hewitt stories are similar in style to those of Conan Doyle, cleverly plotted and very amusing. Morrison made two other forays into the detective field, the first: „The Dorrington Deed-Box”, which introduces the quasi-crimin...
„A Child of the Jago” is London-born journalist Arthur Morrison’s best known novel. It was first published in November 1896 and is set in a fictional East End slum known as the Jago, which Morrison based a real district called the Old Nichol. The novel recounts the brief life of Dicky Perrott, who is at heart full of humane instinct but his environment ensures his down fall. The Perrott family, and their friends and enemies, must struggle for their very survival in the hars...
Word of Honor is the perfect set of most magnificent stories. Some of them have something that can be supernatural. Someone is talking about an incident that happened to them or to a friend in the past, with a group aboard a ship. Most of the stories unfold in Africa, where there are many dangerous stories.
English writer Morrison chronicles the exploits of Horace Dorrington, a raconteur and scoundrel who hails from a very different social strata than the typical Victorian detective. Mr. Dorrington himself is a marvelous creation, charming and with no moral scruples whatsoever, clever, and entirely devoted to achieving as great a profit for himself as possible if this involves doing some honest detection, that is fine if it involved extorting the criminal instead of turning hi...
Second collection of detective fiction concerning Martin Hewitt, a famous private detective whose methods closely resemble those of Sherlock Holmes. The anthology is composed of six short stories, mysteries investigated by the investigator Martin Hewitt, and narrated by his friend, Colonel Brett. An artist’s work is vindictively vandalized, and the artist is found murdered in his smoking room. Gold bullion totaling L10,000 mysteriously vanishes from the ill-fated steamship ...
„Tales of Mean Streets”, published in 1894, is a collection of short stories describing the appalling conditions that many working people endured. These stories are a brilliant evocation of a narrow, close-knit community, that of the streets of London’s East End. Having lived and worked there, he author knew that East Enders were not a race apart, but ordinary men and women, scraping by perhaps, but neither criminals nor paupers. Here Arthur Morrison chronicles their advent...
„Green Ginger” is one of the humorous story from mixed collection of sixteen short stories by the author of the Martin Hewitt, Investigator series. Collects several mysteries, including a „Cunning Murrell” tale, also „The Seller of Hate”, a deal-with-the-Devil story, and „The Chamber of Light”, a humorous ghost story of psychic investigator driving the poor spectres to distraction. The stories are well written and definitely a product of their time and place. Arthur George ...
„Martin Hewitt, Investigator” is a collection of late Victorian short stories linked by the protagonist, Martin Hewitt. This book chronicles seven of Hewitt’s cases, and gave rise to his reputation as England’s „second-best-detective”. They are tales of impossible to solve crimes that Hewitt was able to crack by piecing together a few clues where the police detectives had failed. Like the Holmes stories, the author did not want the detective to talk about his own cases in t...
Who else could have so quickly connected a partial sheet of music wrapped around a rock and tossed through a sitting room window with an infamous decades-old robbery? Would anyone else have taken seriously the fears of an eccentric old woman who swore thieves were after her most prized possession: a snuffbox fashioned from the actual wood of Noah’s Ark? England’s greatest crime-solver Martin Hewitt uses his superior intellect and genial charm to unmask thieves, murderers, a...
A collection of nine superb Sapper stories. Of course, in the stories are present Ronald Standish and Bulldog Drummond. Two indispensable hero. They again take up their lovely deal, begin to solve various crimes. They are crazy in their own business. Detectives are so obsessed with crime that they are ready to do anything.
One of the few full-length novels by Sapper, in which the Bulldog Drummond does not appear. He does, however, show the second most important character, Ronald Standish. The two most intelligent characters were villains, but their schemes and plots remained mysterious for most of the novel. We are also told that all victims die from the same poison from a small scratch on the body, although the exact poison is nobody known. This is an unusual novel, which is full of mysterie...
Readers will be the interlocutors of our heroes. They gather in the Dinner club and tell stories related to their professions. Members of the club are different people: actor, lawyer, doctor, soldier, writer and „ordinary person”. Every member of this club is obliged from time to time to treat their fellows with dinner. The stories of these people will surprise you in a pleasant way.
The motive in the case of murder – this is the first thing that draws the attention of the police. No one except a madman commits murder for no reason. Passion, hatred, money – as soon as the motive is established, it, as a rule, unmistakably points to someone. That is why Pender took the club with Sinclair’s arm and walked with him part of the way to his house on Brook Street. A very normal phenomenon on the part of one of Sinclair’s best friends. He was damn smart about t...
Sapper was the pseudonym of Herman Cyril McNeile, who wrote many novels, mostly on military subjects. In the story, the author fulfilled a fascinating look at the consequences of the war not only at the front, but also at the problems of the social class and opinions about the role of women in the family. The hero finds himself in a difficult situation: life after the war. He experiences many moments, but the most difficult thing is to cope psychologically.
Sapper stories focus on the individuals than overall strategy. They describe what the things are like for the soldiers in the trenches. The story of an excellent young man, noble and deeply versed in the intricacies of etiquette. Most of the human race was unaware of its existence; but the „ladies” and „gentlemen” in the Mogmoth Emporium of Mogg considered him the ultimate arbiter of elegance. There is no direct story about the war, but there is a story about the man who he...
Cassidy is a loyal and legendary soldier in the Corps of Royal Engineers. He is brave, proud, and even his elders are afraid of him. Cassidy meets the narrator, a high-ranking officer in Flander. They talk about life at the front. Indeed, a spiritual story, the reader himself will be able to feel all those spiritual moments of life.
The protagonist, the real adventurer Jim Maitland returns to England. There he meets a charming girl, Judy Draycott, who needs his help. She tells the story of her brother Arthur, who knew where the treasures were hidden, but he was killed. Judy decides to first get to the treasure and asks Jim to help her.
The Lieutenant and Others – a collection of stories written during the First World War. A novella written and published at the height of the war in 1916 by a soldier is approaching a real deal in its self-deprecating and ironic views on life in wartime. Here we can see a lot of dangerous moments that soldiers went through in the First World War. The book will not leave anyone indifferent.
The story of Staunton and Barstow, who are witnesses of a strange spectacle at a bar in an Austrian village. The aristocrat begins a formidable target training session on some playing cards – the Five of Hearts and the Five of Spades. Barstow remains to witness this several times. Further stories of love, revenge, jealousy and destiny complete this exciting volume.
The story of real men who sacrificed themselves for the sake of their homeland and family. McNeile pays attention to people, their psychological state. Great attention to how things are in the trenches of soldiers. About how terrifying they could be and how long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of terror could break any man after a while.
Men, Women, and Guns – collection of short stories. Events occur at the time of the First World War. The story of the soldiers who boldly defended their homeland and about women who helped their men. Although the topic of the story is more adult, for teenagers it will also be interesting and instructive.
The story goes on the background of a heavy war. A person whose physical growth is impressive, but his mental state is not considered the best. This is a story about the wonderful awakening of the main character on one hot May day, when he serves in the trenches of the front line. The reader also learns about the exciting military experience of the protagonist.
Professor Goodman gets tragically in avaraet and dies. So many thought, except for Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond. He suspects that something is wrong. It turns out, his latest discovery – a miraculous new formula for manufacturing flawless diamonds at negligible cost. His suspicions are even more awakened when he notices a member of the Metropolitan Diamond Syndicate during the investigation. Subsequently, the detective unravels an ominous conspiracy and begins the race f...
World War I ended, but the fighting continues. Captain Hugh „Bulldog” Drummond forms the Black Gang, aimed at finding those responsible for conspiracies. They set a trap to lure the criminal leader of the gang. However, the criminals began to manipulate the main character. How does it all end?
In Bulldog Drummond, we meet with Captain Hugh Drummond, who lives boringly. Therefore, he places an ad in the newspaper, offering his services in any adventure, regardless of their legality or danger. Most answers are hopeless, but then one sentence is found – the real girl in need. This adventure will surely be interesting.
The story revolves around revenge. First, the main character, Bulldog Drummond, kills his stormy enemy, Carl Peterson. And his mistress wants revenge for Peterson. Suddenly, Drummond’s wife is kidnapped, but the criminal leaves traces. By which the main character is trying to find his wife. This chase takes place all over England, leading to an ominous house and a torture chamber.
The events of the story take place during the Second World War. Jim Brent, a soldier who serves Belgium, learns that his lover is marrying another. In desperation, he doesn’t care about his destiny anyway, and he rushes into battle with a hot head. He offers to blow up the bridge, which could cost him his life.
This is a well-written book with a fast-changing storyline. One of Drummond’s colleagues dies in a mysterious way. The main character wants to find out the cause of death. There were no traces of wounds on the body of the victim, no traces of weapons. Drummond was amazed that one of the millionaires was traveling in a boat with the victim.
In this story, Hugh is joined by Ronald Standish, who previously appeared in many of the author’s stories. Ronald Standish is a charming guy and a free detective. He receives a call from a friend who asks for his help, but the line abruptly interrupts. With horror, he rushes to his friend, but upon arrival finds him dead with wounds in his eyes. Can dektivev solve this riddle?
A stranger comes to the house of detective Hugh „Bulldog” Drummond asking for help. Hugh is always ready to get down to business. However, two overseers abruptly appear, asking about a man named Morris, the famous assassin who escaped from Dartmoor. The detective says that they are looking for the wrong man and helps the criminal to hide. So who is this stranger?
Drummond was a hard muscular and most powerful man. He was a magnificent boxer, a lightning and a deadly shot with a revolver, and utterly lovable. There is a person in the world who has a colossal brain, unshakable nerve and unlimited ambitions. However, there is a kink in his brain, which has turned him into a completely unfair criminal. For him, killing means nothing more than some kind of fun. Drummond must defeat such a criminal.
Bulldog Drummond At Bay is another story from the famous series of Herman Cyril McNeile. This story is full of mysteries for the reader. Drummond hears cries near his yard, then notices traces of blood there. He meets two guys who claim to be after a madman. The main character is determined to explore in his unique style, but discovers a mysterious message.
One of the men is Captain Hugh „Bulldog” Drummond – an officer with a strong desire for adventures. His friend, Peter, who tells this exciting story about a man who fears his life and desperately needs the help of a friend to penetrate the sinister Temple Tower. The author, as always makes an interesting story. The plot is full of dynamics actions.
Hamilton Cleek is a renaissance man for the ages: an intellectual giant with the brawn of ten men, he serves as a consulting detective, often helping Scotland Yard with particularly challenging cases. With the power to distort and transform his visage and mimic any mannerism he desires, Cleek, with the assistance of his cockney assistant „Dollops”, makes a super natural detective! In „The Riddle of the Spinning Wheel”, a young woman concerned that the turmoil in her family ...
Hamilton Cleek, once known to Scotland Yard as „The Vanishing Cracksman” is a reformed crook turned detective. He has a gift for both deduction and impersonation, a curious combination of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Sellars, which he uses to solve mysteries. After a long Channel crossing, Cleek drives a lady home only to discover her aunt has been murdered. But the mystery has only just begun. It leads to a mysterious and sinister chain of events, which Cleek and Superintende...
Sherlock Holmes fans will find a lot to like in Thomas W. Hanshew’s „The Riddle of the Night”. Thomas W. Hanshew (1857-1914), who also wrote as Charlotte Mary Kingsley, was an American author and actor best known for his stories of Hamilton Cleek, the man of the forty faces, who through his talents for disguise solves crime and mystery in London. He wrote some books in collaboration with his wife, Mary E Hanshew. In it, renowned consulting detective Hamilton Cleek is faced ...
This is another classic of golden-age detective fiction featuring Detective Hamilton Cleek who was introduced in „Cleek: The Man of the Forty Faces” first published in 1913. This super sleuth and master of disguise will bedazzle you once more as he ingeniously solves a new case. Without the logical mind and condescending manners of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Hamilton Cleek worms into your heart through your eyes and via your brain. In this tale, Cleek investigates the siniste...
Collection of several short mysteries, starring consulting detective Hamilton Cleek and his incredible skills at disguise with the assistance of his cockney assistant „Dollops”. Cleek is poacher-turned-gamekeeper, a master criminal who decides to turn straight and work for Scotland Yard after being stricken by the sight of a lovely, innocent young woman whose jewels he was about to pinch. Told as a fairly continuous narrative, held together by the underlying thread of Cleek...
Hamilton Cleek is back – or is he? Margot, Queen of the Apaches, the notorious French criminal gang, has been released on bail and vanished, Inspector Narkom of Scotland Yard has a series of inexplicable murders to solve, there is talk of revolution in Mauravania. And Cleek is missing. The stories collected here are some of the best about the clever and resourceful private detective Cleek, the man of the forty faces, who through his talents for disguise solves crime and mys...
In „The Riddle of the Mysterious Light”, consulting detective Hamilton Cleek is en route to meet with Scotland Yard detective Narkom when he’s intercepted by a roving gang of nefarious ne’er-do-wells. Can he muster his mighty intellect and physical prowess and hatch a plan to escape his captors? Hamilton Cleek is the central figure in dozens of short stories that began to appear in 1910 and were subsequently collected in a series of books. Cleek is a detective as remarkable...
A classic mystery novel featuring Hanshew’s best-known creation, the consulting detective Hamilton Cleek, known as „the man of the forty faces” for his incredible skill at disguise. An ex-cracksman turned Scotland Yard detective, Cleek’s slim and faultlessly dressed form is topped by an india-rubber-like face, of which he has remarkable control. Cleek is based in Clarges Street, London, where he is constantly consulted by Inspector Narkom of Scotland Yard. Cleek is the cent...
Thrilling detective novel taking place in the Engadine Express from Calais to Lucerne. It is a well-planned, logical detective story of the better sort, free from cheap sensationalism and improbability, developing surely and steadily by means of exciting situations to an unforeseen and satisfactory ending. A mysterious woman, followed by two detectives, shows up at the last minute to book a compartment for her servant, an infant and herself. The lady is afraid that someone ...
Set in an era when train travel was a privilege of the wealthy few, Arthur Griffiths’ „The Rome Express” features the exciting story of a murder on a luxury train and the ensuing investigation with most of the characters coming from higher classes. The passengers in the sleeping car of the Rome Express were just woken and informed that they will reach Paris soon, and a general bustle fills the train. Only one passenger cannot be awoken by the porter, no matter how loudly he...
The Fort Edward Hotel, better known as the Maroney’s Hotel, looked in the middle of the streets like a packing box among soap dishes. Other habitats stretched out on both sides of the wrong double row. At eleven in the morning there were few humans in sight, because the black? ies were in murderous fettle, and anyway, the principal industry of the place was waiting for the railway. Strange things happen on these streets. The reader will not immediately be able to understand...
The historicity of this story captivated everyone. After all, it gives a feeling of a sense of thinking and adventure of that time. A young free fur trader challenges the practices of the North West Company trader who is cheating the Natives of proper prices and enslaving them with debt for goods. Here, not only sinister characters, rebellion and accusations, but also love stories unfold against the backdrop of all this.
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To format zapewniający taki sam wygląd strony jak w wersji papierowej – w tym formacie podział na strony jest sztywny. PDF służy do długoterminowego archiwizowania elektronicznych danych i może być odczytywany na większości komputerów, laptopów, smartfonów, czytników czy tabletów.
Książki sensacyjne są z nami nie od dziś - już w średniowieczu, kiedy królowały romanse rycerskie, wciągające, pełne intryg fabuły były niezwykle popularne. Obecnie ebooki należące do tego gatunku są niezmiennie jednymi z najchętniej czytanych nie tylko w Polsce, ale także na całym świecie. Książki sensacyjne pełne są wartkiej, pełnej zwrotów akcji fabuły oraz częstych wątków kryminalnych. Dodatkowo napisane są przystępnym, często lekkim językiem, który sprawia, że jesteśmy w stanie spędzić długie godziny, podążając za kolejnymi odkryciami i niespodziewanymi wydarzeniami w życiu bohaterów. Choć niektórzy uważają książki sensacyjne za mało ambitną literaturę, której celem jest przede wszystkim dostarczenie emocji i silnych wrażeń, trudno się z tą opinią w pełni zgodzić. Często sięgają one także po political fiction, tworząc nieistniejące w realnym życiu scenariusze oparte na napięciach i rozgrywkach politycznych.
Powieści sensacyjne z najwyższej półki potrafią zaskoczyć czytelnika na każdym kroku, wciągają w tajemnicę oraz wielowątkowe fabuły osadzone w realistycznym świecie pozbawionym wątków fantastycznych. Do takich historii należy chociażby seria powieści autorstwa Camilli Läckberg i Henrika Fexeusa, która składa się z tomów “Mentalista” oraz “Kult”. W pierwszej części policja zostaje wezwana do mocno nietypowego znaleziska - skrzyni ze zwłokami młodej kobiety, która przebita jest mieczami. Brutalne morderstwo czy nieudana magiczna sztuczka? Prowadząca śledztwo inspektor Mina Dabiri prosi o pomoc Vincenta Waldera, mentalistę, który jest ekspertem od mowy ciała oraz świata iluzji. Wspólnie szybko udaje im się odnaleźć wcześniejszą, bardzo podobną sprawę, co prowadzi do wniosku, że mają do czynienia z seryjnym mordercą. Tym bardziej więc muszą się spieszyć, by powstrzymać go, nim pojawią się kolejne ofiary…
Innym przykładem wciągającej serii powieści sensacyjnych jest kultowy już cykl “ Jack Reacher ” Lee Childa - ponad dwadzieścia tomów historii związanych z życiem emerytowanego majora żandarmerii wojskowej Armii Stanów Zjednoczonych, który wychowywał się i uczył całe życie w bazach wojskowych. Służył w 110. Specjalnej Jednostce Dochodzeniowej, gdzie zajmował się szczególnie wymagającymi sprawami żołnierzy Armii Amerykańskiej. Kiedy odszedł z wojska, Reacher rozpoczął życie jako włóczęga, a przez wrodzoną ciekawość często pakował się w różne intrygi, pościgi oraz tajemnice. Jack Reacher mierzy się z kolejnymi wyzwaniami i zagadkami, a także niejednym fałszywym oskarżeniem. Na serię składają się tytuły: "Poziom śmierci", "Umrzeć próbując" (także znane jako "Uprowadzony"), "Wróg bez twarzy", "Podejrzany", "Echo w płomieniach", "Bez pudła", "Siła perswazji", "Nieprzyjaciel", “Jednym strzałem”, "Bez litości", "Elita zabójców", "Nic do stracenia", "Jutro możesz zniknąć", "61 godzin", "Czasami warto umrzeć", "Ostatnia sprawa", "Poszukiwany", “Nigdy nie wracaj”, "Sprawa osobista", "Zmuś mnie", "Sto milionów dolarów", "Adres nieznany" oraz "Nocna runda". Znajdziecie je wszystkie na Woblink - czekają na Was jako książki papierowe, audiobooki lub ebooki (epub, mobi, pdf).
Czasami pojawia się poważny dylemat - czy mamy do czynienia z sensacją, czy z kryminałem? Granice pomiędzy tymi dwoma gatunkami bywają bardzo nieostre, postaramy się jednak pomóc. Obydwa opierają się na niespodziewanych rozwiązaniach fabularnych, jednak kryminał odróżnia od sensacji przede wszystkim fakt, że jego głównym wątkiem niezmiennie pozostaje zbrodnia, której zagadkę próbują z reguły rozwiązać bohaterowie powieści. Kryminały są zatem bardziej oparte na rozważaniach dotyczących sensu życia, wartości czy ludzkich działań niż doświadczeń zmysłowych, które z kolei są głównym elementem wyróżniającym literaturę sensacyjną. Tutaj czytelnik aktywnie zaangażowany jest przede wszystkim w odczuwanie fizycznych doświadczeń, jakich doświadczają zaprezentowani w książce ludzie. Wszystko dzieje się tam dynamicznie, znacznie mniej niż w kryminale jest tu także skupienia na wyglądzie bohaterów czy opisach miejsc, a racjonalnie zbudowana zagadka rozwiązuje się wraz z końcem historii. To oczywiście dzieje się także w kryminałach, tu jednak dość często zakończenie ma gorzki smak - choć zabójca zostaje odnaleziony, nie przynosi to upragnionej satysfakcji i zadośćuczynienia. Tak dzieje się chociażby w klasycznych już kryminałach noir autorstwa Raymonda Chandlera, takich jak “Wysokie okno”, “Głęboki sen” czy “Żegnaj laleczko”, które znajdziecie na Woblink jako ebooki w formatach epub, mobi lub pdf. Do jednych z najbardziej uznanych autorów polskich kryminałów należą z pewnością Katarzyna Bonda (“Urodzony morderca”, “Do cna”, seria “Cztery żywioły Saszy Załuskiej”) oraz Remigiusz Mróz ( seria z Joanną Chyłką, "Widmo Brockenu ", "Langer"), którzy od wielu lat zajmują najwyższe miejsca na listach bestsellerowych powieści. Z kolei kryminały retro, osadzone w przeszłości, tworzy w Polsce chociażby Marek Krajewski - do nich należy jego seria powieści Eberhardzie Mocku, na którą składają się między innymi “Śmierć w Breslau”, “Mock. Golem” czy “Błaganie o śmierć”.
Szukacie czegoś z dreszczykiem, a przy tym dużą dawką humoru? Komedie kryminalne to coś dla Was! Sięgnijcie po książki autorstwa Maryli Szymiczkowej - pod tym pseudonimem kryją się pisarze Jacek Denhel oraz Piotr Tarczyński. Stworzone przez nich powieści to także kryminały retro, które opowiadają o licznych zagadkach kryminalnych, które rozwiązuje fikcyjna krakowska profesorowa Zofia Szczupaczyńska. Wśród dzieł Marii Szymiczkowej znajdują się takie tytuły jak: “Seans w domu egipskim”, “Złoty róg” czy “Rozdarta zasłona” pełne nie tylko tajemnic i intryg, ale także charakterystycznego poczucia humoru i lekkości.
Niewątpliwie ważnymi pozycjami wśród ebooków kryminalnych są te zaliczane do kryminału skandynawskiego. Pełne elementów charakterystycznych dla powieści noir, trudnych tematów oraz nierzadko atmosfery ciężkiej od wzajemnych podejrzeń, niepewności i wrogości kryminały skandynawskie nie od dziś cieszą się ogromną popularnością na całym świecie. Wśród nich warto wskazać na Jo Nesbø i jego seria z Harrym Holem, niepokornym i nieuznającym kompromisów policjantem stosującym niekonwencjonalne metody, dzięki którym ma tyle samo przyjaciół, co wrogów. Jego zmagania znajdziecie w tomach “Człowiek-nietoperz", "Karaluchy", "Czerwone gardło", "Trzeci klucz", "Pentagram", "Wybawiciel", "Pierwszy śnieg", "Pancerne serce", "Upiory", "Policja", "Pragnienie" czy "Nóż". Szukajcie ich wszystkich na Woblink!
Zarówno w thrillerach, jak i kryminałach mamy do czynienia z jakąś zagadką i tajemnicą, napięciem, a także silnymi emocjami. Czym zatem różnią się od siebie te dwa gatunki literackie? W niektórych wypadkach trudno jednoznacznie przyporządkować powieść do któregoś z nich. W kryminale mamy do czynienia ze śledztwem i łamigłówką kryminalną, którą próbuje rozwikłać detektyw lub policjant. W thrillerze także spotkamy się z różnego typu tajemnicami, jednak nad ich rozwiązaniem pracują nie tylko ci funkcjonariusze - tak dzieje się na przykład w thrillerze prawniczym, gdzie głównymi bohaterami są osoby związane ze środowiskiem prawniczym takie jak sędziowie, adwokaci czy prokuratorzy. Należy do nich na przykład bardzo popularny cykl powieści autorstwa Remigiusza Mroza oparty na postaci Joanny Chyłki. Bezwzględna i bezkompromisowa prawniczka staje w szranki z niesprawiedliwością nie tylko na salach sądowych, ale także na miejscach zbrodni. Jej historia zawarta jest w powieściach: “Kasacja”, „Zaginięcie”, „Rewizja”, „Immunitet”, „Inwigilacja”, „Oskarżenie”, „Testament”, „Kontratyp”, „Umorzenie”, „Wyrok”, „Ekstradycja”, „Precedens¨, „Afekt”, „Egzekucja” czy „Skazanie”, wszystkich dostępnych na Woblink. Innym znanym komisarzem, który jest głównym bohaterem powieści Mroza, jest Wiktor Forst, który mierzy się z licznymi zbrodniami przede wszystkim w okolicach Tatr. Znajdziecie je w tomach: „Ekspozycja”, „Przewieszenie”, „Trawers”, „Deniwelacja”, „Zerwa”, „Halny” bądź „Przepaść”.
Obok thrillerów psychologicznych innym chętnie czytanym podtypem tego gatunku jest thriller medyczny. Ich akcja rozgrywa się w środowisku medycznym i często dotyczy zaskakujących zbrodni popełnianych właśnie wśród jego przedstawicieli. Akcja obejmuje często zagrożenia z zakresu biologii medycznej, inżynierii genetycznej lub biotechnologii. Jedną z czołowych przedstawicielek tego nurtu jest Tess Gerritsen. Jej cykl książek o detektyw Jane Rizzoli i doktor Laurze Isles, na podstawie którego powstał serial “Partnerki”, rozpoczyna powieść “Chirurg”. Jej akcja rozgrywa się w Bostonie, po którym grasuje nieznany morderca polujący na samotne młode kobiety, nazywany przez prasę Chirurgiem z racji swoich okrutnych metod. Policja odnajduje trop - podobne zbrodnie miały miejsce dwa lata wcześniej, tyle że sprawca został zastrzelony przez doktor Catherine Cordell, jedyną ofiarę, której udało się przeżyć. Teraz znów czuje się jak w potrzasku - jej jedynym sprzymierzeńcem wydaje się być Thomas Moore, który wraz z Jane Rizzoli prowadzi to śledztwo. Czy jednak uda mu się ocalić Cordell przed genialnym skalpelem mordercy? Dowiedzcie się, sięgając po “Chirurga”, którego znajdziecie na Woblink jako ebook w formacie epub, mobi lub pdf. Innym niezwykle popularnym twórcą thrillerów medycznych jest Robin Cook, uważany za mistrza tego gatunku. Głównymi bohaterami jego bestsellerowego cyklu powieści są patolog Jack Stapleton i jego współpracowniczka Laurie Montgomery. Spotkacie ich w takich tomach jak: “Interwencja”, “Marker”, “Ciało obce” czy “Niebezpieczna gra”.
Amy Engel, B. A. Paris, Fiona Barton, Jenny Blackhurst czy Sharon Bolton - to tylko kilka nazwisk spośród wielu autorów i autorek, którzy tworzą thrillery psychologiczne. Skupiają się one przede wszystkim na motywacjach i przeżyciach bohaterów. Często za punkt wyjścia obierają zwyczajnego, niczym nie wyróżniającego się człowieka, który niespodziewanie zostaje wrzucony w wir zagadkowych, zaskakujących, często mocno niepokojących wydarzeń. F abuły thrillerów psychologicznych do końca trzymają nas w ogromnym napięciu i niepewności. Zaliczyć można do nich “Żmijowisko” Wojciecha Chmielarza kojarzonego bardziej z kryminałami, sięgającego jednak również do bogactwa nurtu thrillerów psychologicznych. Także “Zaginiona dziewczyna” Gillian Flynn, “Jedno po drugim” Ruth Ware, “Złota klatka” Camilli Läckberg czy “Nieznajomy” Harlana Cobena należą do tego podgatunku. Te i wiele innych kryminałów, sensacji oraz thrillerów znajdziecie na Woblink jako książki papierowe, audiobooki lub ebooki (epub, mobi, pdf) - dajcie się porwać pełnym napięcia i emocji historiom!
