Sax Rohmer's the Drums of Fu Manchu

In this volume, #9 of 14 in the Fu Manchu series, we find that Fu has decided that, in the interests of world peace, all warmongering European dictators must be brought to task, and either desist in their belligerent ways, or die a macabre death. Actually, it isn't so much genuine world peace that the good doctor is interested in, but rather a state that is more conducive to the eventual takeover by his Si-Fan organization. While the book does seem to make the case that Nazi and Fascist dictators are preferable to the "yellow menace" as represented by the Manchu man, it still shows those men to be overbearing, arrogant and ripe for being brought down. The book is certainly racist (to a degree, all the other entries in the series are, too), as the reviewers below mention, but at the same time it does make a plea for peace and sanity in the year before WW2 broke out...and that's not too bad a message for any novel. In this book we have a new narrator, the journalist Bart Kerrigan, who joins Nayland Smith on his seemingly endless quest to foil the Doctor's plans. The action hops around quite a bit in this installment, from Essex and Suffolk to London, from Venice back to London, and finally off to (not so) gay Paree. The action is fairly relentless, the book's real saving grace. What with Green Deaths, a run-in with the Doctor on the Essex marshes, brainwashing via television, a new kind of superrifle, the Ericksen disintegration tube, torture chambers under creepy Venetian palazzos, a yacht trap on the Adriatic, killer pygmies and on and on, this book really keeps the reader glued to the page. One of our old friends from previous volumes makes a return in this book, and it's a real stunner when this character does reappear. So despite the racist elements, the book entertains. I did, however, have more serious problems with the book than just the racial comments. There are numerous inconsistencies with previous entries that just bug the bejeebers out of me. For example, in one scene of this volume, Fu Manchu refers to "the Seven Gates," a grisly rat torture used on Nayland Smith in book 2, "The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu." But in that earlier volume, it was called "the Six Gates." Grrrrr. In the current book, Smith is referred to as a "deep, silent sleeper," while in the previous book, #8 ("President Fu Manchu"), he is referred to as a light, "hair trigger" sleeper. Huh?!?!? Fey, Smith's manservant, in previous volumes, has had a rather normal pattern of speech. In this volume, his speech is telegraphic and robotlike all of a sudden. What!?!?!? These kinds of inconsistencies can and do drive alert readers bonkers. But the worst thing of all in this book is when Smith tells someone that a description of a Japanese suspect is not necessary, as all descriptions of his "countrymen sound identical." Jeeeeezzzzz!!!!! Get past these groaners, though, and you'll have a fun time. I did.

THE DRUMS OF FU MANCHU sees Sax Rohmer bringing Fu Manchu into play in the months leading up to World War II. Originally published in 1939, the book returns to the classic FU MANCHU format with narrator/hero Bart Kerrigan (a worthy successor to Dr. Petrie, Shan Greville, and Alan Sterling) teaming with Nayland Smith to prevent Fu Manchu from assassinating fascist dictators from Germany and Italy (the names have been changed to protect the guilty). A marked change from the paranoiac American presidential campaign documented in PRESIDENT FU MANCHU (which inspired THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE). Long-time fans will thrill to Rohmer's patented breakneck pace, sharp characterizations, and brisk dialogue. Highly recommended to mystery fans and adventure-lovers alike. A word of warning--the book ends abruptly paving the way for 1941's THE ISLAND OF FU MANCHU.