Edgar Wallace

Miss Ella Creed had been knocked out by thieves outside her home and her jewels were taken. She seemed to care little about them - they were just a very clever imitation after all - but when she discovered a card tied round her neck she was terrified. On it was a crude drawing of a feathered serpent. Reporter Peter Dewin soon discovers that a wealthy artist, a boxing promoter and a nouveau riche stockbroker share her fear. But why? And who is behind the crimes of 'The Feathered Serpent'?

A novelization of the 1930s cinematic classic follows the discovery on a remote island of the giant ape, the beast's ill-fated affection for a young woman, and his capture and exploitation by greedy would-be entrepreneurs. Reprint. (A Universal Pictures film, directed by Peter Jackson, releasing December 2005, starring Adrien Brody, Naomi Watts, & Jack Black) (Science Fiction)

This Modern Library edition of a true colossus among adventure stories is reprinted from the original 1932 novelization of the movie script, and includes a Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz, the preeminent biographer of Merian C. Cooper, producer of the original 1933 classic film. Introduction by Greg Bear Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz The giant prehistoric gorilla King Kong is one of the most recognized images in our culture. So great is the mighty Kong's hold on the popular imagination that his story-a gripping yarn of man versus nature, coupled with a fantastical update of the Beauty and the Beast legend-has been thrice made into a motion picture (most recently in 2005) and referenced endlessly in every medium, from books to prime-time sitcoms. Beneath King Kong's cultural significance, however, is a tense and surprisingly tender story. One cannot help but be frightened by Kong's uncontrollable fury, be saddened over the giant's capture, mistreatment, and exploitation by venal showmen, or sympathize with the beast's ill-fated affection for the down-on-her-luck starlet Ann Darrow. This Modern Library edition of a true colossus among adventure stories is reprinted from the original 1932 novelization of the movie script, and includes a Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz, the preeminent biographer of Merian C. Cooper, producer of the original 1933 classic film.

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 - 10 February 1932) was an English writer. Drawing on his time as a reporter in the Congo, covering the Belgian atrocities, Wallace serialised short stories in magazines such as The Windsor Magazine and later published collections such as Sanders of the River (1911). In addition to the creation of King Kong, he is remembered as a writer of 'the colonial imagination', for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, and for The Green Archer serial.