Stolen Souls

Stolen Souls (1895) is a short story collection by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux’s career as a leading author of popular thrillers, Stolen Souls contains stories of mystery, espionage, and international crime. Using his own research and experience as a journalist and adventurer, Le Queux crafts an accessible, entertaining world for readers in search of a literary escape. Known for his works of fiction and nonfiction on the possibility of Germany invading Britain—a paranoia common in the early twentieth century—William Le Queux also wrote dozens of thrillers and adventure novels for a dedicated public audience. Although critical acclaim eluded him, popular success made him one of England’s bestselling writers. Stolen Souls is a collection of fourteen entertaining and thought-provoking short stories set throughout Europe. In “The Soul of Princess Tchikhatzoff,” an English journalist enters a popular restaurant on Nevski Prospekt in St. Petersburg. Dining alone, he cannot help but notice the strange couple sitting at the table next to him. The man, handsome, with a devious look in his eye, seems to be controlling the conversation, while his partner, a beautiful, ornately dressed woman, looks entirely uncomfortable. After they’ve left, the journalist goes out into the frigid Russian night, when suddenly a stranger approaches who cryptically invites him to a meeting of local Nihilists. In “The Golden Hand,” a reporter on assignment in Spain receives a tip to where the nation’s leaders—who have fled Madrid in a time of unrest—will be staying. Hungry for a story, anxious to provide information to the British people, and overall looking to break with several months of aimless wandering, he checks into his hotel and awaits his chance. This edition of William Le Queux’s Stolen Souls is a classic short story collection reimagined for modern readers.

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