The Black Box
by E. Phillips Oppenheim
If you are going to read a novelized film serial, this is the right one for a feller like me.
The characterizations are good for this type of yarn.
The mystery element keeps you goin' thru most of the story as it switches location from New York, to London, to Arab country, to Cowboy country and back to New York.
And there are plenty of fun hokey devices that our scientific detective Sanford Quest makes use of. (e.g. a mind-reading device that projects thoughts onto a mirror, a pocket wireless, etc.) There is even a sort-of man-ape thrown into the fray for good measure.
The 1915 film was well received but it is now lost. However, the novel has a photoplay edition. It has more than the usual share of stills to help recreate the film in your mind.
The only minuses:
1) Like many serials, it went on for too long. I lost track of how many times the "villainous" John Craig escapes only so that the chase could continue.SPOILERS
It wasn't him!!
2) Like many novels of the time, there were some unpleasant racial stereotypes used.
written: 12/16/2001