The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (1913) by Sax Rohmer introduces one of fiction's most notorious villains: a brilliant Chinese mastermind plotting to destroy the British Empire. Narrated by Dr. John Petrie, the novel follows Nayland Smith of the British Secret Service as he races through foggy Edwardian London to thwart Fu Manchu's sinister schemes. Employing exotic poisons, venomous insects, and cunning death traps, Fu Manchu eliminates scientists and officials connected to a dangerous secret. With the help of the mysterious Egyptian woman Karamaneh, Smith and Petrie engage the fiend in a series of deadly battles of wits, establishing a classic of thriller fiction.
