The Master Mystery
Gelesen von Roger Melin
Arthur B. Reeve
(3,839 Sterne; 96 Bewertungen)
While Harry Houdini didn't rise to fame as a screen actor, silent film makers of the day sought to capitalize on his fame. The Master Mystery was Houdini's first such attempt, and it was embraced by the viewing public, leading to other screen roles following.
The hero (or superhero) is Quentin Locke, scientist, agent of the U.S. Justice Department, and not surprisingly, an escape artist extraordinaire.
The Master Mystery follows agent Locke through many pitfalls, in true serial fashion, as he is tasked with uncovering a band of thugs and a peculiar metal robot (reportedly the first robot in film) with a brain, called an automaton, which has been robbing potential inventors of their patent rights.
All in good fun by today's standards, we find our hero escaping a straitjacket, a diver's suit, and an electric chair to name but a few, and of course winning the hand of the daughter of one of the industrialists along the way. (Summary by Roger Melin) (7 hr 51 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
serial story
(4 Sterne)
to understand why there are so many action packed, almost comic book style drama, you must know that this was probably a newspaper serial, so every chapter had to contain action, peril, damsels in distress, heroes amazingly escaping by the skin of his teeth, etc. but, making literary allowances for these repetitious, sometimes fantastical and plentiful scenes, this is a really fun story to listen to, and it offers a glimpse into the development of science fiction and newspaper serials in the early part of the 20th century. Thanks to the reader, who does an exquisite job, as always.
The Master Mystery
David R. Smith
(5 Sterne)
Well Read, Fun listen and recommended... Thanks!
its a SERIAL
CraZinventor
(4 Sterne)
This story keeps getting bad reviews, like that it has a lot of stupid situations, and they constantly get into new danger, but this is a serial. It was released every week along side the film, so they had to do that to keep people interested in the story. They only published one chapter a week. I've watched the film this goes with. An interesting story, especially seeing Houdini acting. parts of it are missing, so this book fills in the holes. I was very happy to find this. I would recommend it to anyone who can appreciate stories like this, with the counterpart film. I will say, to people not used to these stories, it will mostlikely seem weird and unnatural, but if you appreciate stories of this kind, you'll like this one.
great reader
Hiker1956
(3 Sterne)
As mentioned, this is a serial story. repetition of drama in each chapter got to be too much. About halfway through the book I had to skip to the last two chapters. The ending was OK with predictable plot twists. Perhaps it would have been different if I had listened to a chapter each week but two chapters a day on my commute was a bit too much hoaky drama. As always, Roger was a great reader.
A Caricature of Serials
gl1200phil
(2 Sterne)
I really enjoyed other works of Reeve, like "The Silent Bullet" here at IA http://www.archive.org/details/silent_bullet_1010_librivox which are clever crime mysteries, for the most part more believable IMHO than Sherlock Holmes. I enjoy Sherlock Holmes, but I think Holmes' sleuthing in general lies on the outskirts of fantasy. Having reread the description, I see it appears to be the basis for a Harry Houdini silent flick. That explains why the protagonist heads straight for every trap set for him, and gets tied up, locked up or ensnared two or three times in every chapter (okay, I exaggerate...), and against a thousand to one odds, (SURPRISE!!!) manages to extricate himself every time. There are so many ridiculous and unbelievable situations, that I shook my head and considered to stop listening, but I wanted to hear the solution and had to listen to the end. I can't recommend this story, but I enjoyed other stories by Reeve. This was co-written with John Grey, so maybe we can blame the shortcomings on him! Thanks to Mr Roger Melin for offering his talents! As always, he gives a great performance!
its a SERIAL
CraZInventor
(4 Sterne)
This story keeps getting bad reviews, like that it has a lot of stupid situations, and they constantly get into new danger, but this is a serial. It was released every week along side the film, so they had to do that to keep people interested in the story. They only published one chapter a week. I've watched the film this goes with. An interesting story, especially seeing Houdini acting. parts of it are missing, so this book fills in the holes. I was very happy to find this. I would recommend it to anyone who can appreciate stories like this, with the counterpart film. I will say, to people not used to these stories, it will mostlikely seem weird and unnatural, but if you appreciate stories of this kind, you'll like this one.
BACK AT THE SATURDAY MOVIES
AVID READER
(3,5 Sterne)
Reminiscent of the old Saturday serials. As others have commented, it was written in serialized form. Understanding that, the tale makes sense. I sincerely hope that Quentin is happy with Ava, but she has to be one of the most naive and capricious of women.
(4 Sterne)
Interesting story! A little unbelievable how dumb some of the main characters are at times, but I guess being based from a serial, there has to be enough action to hold a reader/ watcher's attention week by week.