THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU by WIlliam Patrick Maynard (Black Coat Press 2009)

The insidious Dr. Fu Manchu is back!

Officially sanctioned by the Sax Rohmer estate, Black Coat Press recently published this new novel featuring his greatest creation: Asian supervillain Fu Manchu, the criminal genius/master hypnotist dedicated to the destruction of the West and eventual world domination. The book is canonical, fitting in comfortably with the established series, for which author William Maynard shows great respect. He writes in the early 20th Century style of Rohmer (albeit less prolix and somewhat more risqué), yet is not bound by the political/racial conventions of that era. Its Anglo-Saxon protagonists still fight against the “Yellow Peril” but they’re cognizant that the danger is partly a result of “blowback”, a fanatical nationalism born of imperialist policies towards China by Britain and other western powers. That they recognize this fact does not in any way lessen their steely resolve to combat Fu and his forces of subversion and terror.

London, 1913: The bizarre murder of an ex-clergyman has Special Commissioner Nayland Smith and colleague Dr. Petrie fearing the worst — that Fu Manchu is alive, that the Si-Fan, Fu’s secret, lethally efficient organization, is once again active on British soil. The dead man, an acquaintance of Smith and Petrie’s from a previous adventure, was about to have the memoirs of his experiences in China during the Boxer Rebellion published. Now he’s dead and the only copy of his manuscript is missing. Smith believes that the book may well hold the key to Fu Manchu’s true identity. Investigating the publisher, a link to another secret society — a Theosophist occult group called the Brotherhood of the Magi — is uncovered. Is the Brotherhood working with or against the Si-Fan, or is it being unwittingly manipulated by them? As Smith hunts for clues in England, Petrie travels to Paris and joins in an uneasy alliance with master detective Gaston Max of the Sureté to learn more about the Brotherhood. The trip proves to be anything but a Gallic holiday…

Our heroes face numerous pulpy perils, to include a giant snake, a crocodile pit, Si-Fan operatives dressed in weird snowman costumes, and people unknowingly hypnotized into becoming assassins. And that’s as it should be — pure Rohmer. Like the titular vampire of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Fu himself makes only brief appearances in the flesh yet casts his sinister influence over everything and everyone… When he does appear it is for maximum dramatic impact, signifying key moments in the narrative.

The Terror of Fu Manchu marks the welcome return of one of pulp fiction’s all-time greatest villains and a fine debut by Maynard.