Dr. Petrie is having a lovely evening at home when he is visited by his old friend, Nayland Smith, who once worked for Scotland Yard. He has come with news. An insidious man named Dr. Fu Manchu is rumored to be in England with a huge contingent of thugs for the sole purpose of eliminating key players in the politics of India. Nayland has come to Petrie in such a late hour to assist him in catching the criminal mastermind. They chase Dr. Fu Manchu through country estates, opium dens and the most dangerous places one could imagine. And they must find and arrest him before his victims are disposed with and save themselves from becoming Dr. Fu Manchu's latest victims.Sax Rohmer was a prolific author of early science fiction and fantasy. He was perhaps best known for creating the super-villian, Dr. Fu Manchu -- a character who went on the become the subject of many films and, in fact, much plundering. (Think about it for a moment: how many evil Chinese Mandarin masterminds have you heard tell of? Remember Ian Fleming's Dr. No? Be careful. They're everywhere.)