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Bat Wing

by Sax Rohmer (1883–1959)

  • Free to read
  • 6 hours to read
  • 35 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"Bat Wing" by Sax Rohmer is a mystery novel likely written during the early 20th century. The story revolves around the enigmatic character Paul Harley, a private detective in London, as he becomes embroiled in a bizarre case involving Colonel Juan Menendez, a mysterious Spanish figure who fears for his life due to dark forces and superstitions tied to Voodoo. Themes of danger, suspense, and the interplay between the exotic and the familiar permeate the narrative. The opening of "Bat Wing" introduces readers to Paul Harley in his London office just as he is about to finish a report for the Home Office. His day is interrupted by the arrival of Colonel Menendez, who expresses his urgent need for Harley's services. As the conversation unfolds, the Colonel reveals his paranoia, detailing a series of ominous events that suggest he is being watched and targeted for harm. The curious atmosphere thickens when he presents Harley with a bat wing, which he claims is linked to supernatural threats originating from his past in Cuba. In this beginning, we're set on a path that hints at supernatural elements woven through a detective story as Harley prepares to confront these unsettling mysteries.

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  • Detective and mystery stories

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Chapter I

PAUL HARLEY OF CHANCERY LANE

Toward the hour of six on a hot summer’s evening Mr. Paul Harley was seated in his private office in Chancery Lane reading through a number of letters which Innes, his secretary, had placed before him for signature. Only one more remained to be passed, but it was a long, confidential report upon a certain matter, which Harley had prepared for His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department. He glanced with a sigh of weariness at the little clock upon his table before commencing to read.

“Shall detain you only a few minutes, now, Knox,” he said.

I nodded, smiling. I was quite content to sit and watch my friend at work.

Paul Harley occupied a unique place in the maelstrom of vice and ambition which is sometimes called London life. Whilst at present he held no official post, some of the most momentous problems of British policy during the past five years, problems imperilling inter-state relationships and not infrequently threatening a renewal of the world war, had owed their solution to the peculiar genius of this man.

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Contents

Show all 35 chapters
  1. Chapter I
  2. Chapter II
  3. Chapter III
  4. Chapter IV
  5. Chapter V
  6. Chapter VI
  7. Chapter VII
  8. Chapter VIII
  9. Chapter IX
  10. Chapter X
  11. Chapter XI
  12. Chapter XII
  13. Chapter XIII
  14. Chapter XIV
  15. Chapter XV
  16. Chapter XVI
  17. Chapter XVII
  18. Chapter XVIII
  19. Chapter XIX
  20. Chapter XX
  21. Chapter XXI
  22. Chapter XXII
  23. Chapter XXIII
  24. Chapter XXIV
  25. Chapter XXV
  26. Chapter XXVI
  27. Chapter XXVII
  28. Chapter XXVIII
  29. Chapter XXIX
  30. Chapter XXX
  31. Chapter XXXI
  32. Chapter XXXII
  33. Chapter XXXIII
  34. Chapter XXXIV
  35. Chapter XXXV

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About this edition

This free edition of Bat Wing by Sax Rohmer comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #6382, released 2004-08-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery, Novels, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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