The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu

Sax Rohmer

May 2021 · Author's Republic · Narrated by Edward E. French

About this audiobook

The year is 1920. Dr. John Petrie, a physician, and our narrator, meets his friend Denis Nayland Smith who served as British police commissioner in Asia. Smith seems to know all things Asia and the innate ability to get all the support he needs from British government officials. Smith stands for everything good, proper, and most importantly, BRITISH. Petrie is, of course, knowledgeable in medicine, forensics, chemistry and an ace with a pistol – for good measure.

Together they must thwart the fiendish arch-criminal Dr. Fu-Manchu’s diabolical plan to restore China to its former glory and replace the British Empire with a Chinese one as well as exterminate the white race. Fu is the pulp fiction embodiment of evil, a master of alchemy (for poison gas), a mad genius physician, leader of assassins and vicious animals, a specialist of torture, arts of occult darkness and more. The Fu Manchu stories made author Sax Rohmer (1883-1959) one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s. Oscar nominated, and Emmy Award Winning Special Effects Makeup Artist narrates this weird tale of murder, mayhem and madness!

Ratings and reviews

Brilliant story and I loved the voice acting BUT omg what a way to ruin an audiobook experience by adding in clashing cymbals and weird theremin type noises whenever 'the baddies' appear. I would have loved to have listened to it all but I don't have the mental energy to parse noises from voice. These days there should be a notification that loud blasts of incidental music which you wouldn't suddenly play if you were reading with your eyes is part of the audiobook because to my mind that's an audio play. and I don't want those.