In this the third of Boothby's Dr. Nikola novels, Nikola applies his almost hypnotic persuasion to convince an out-of-luck Australian, formerly from England, named Gilbert Pennethorne to assist Nikola unwittingly in an evil scheme. Nikola takes advantage of Pennethorne's intense desire for revenge against a former boss in Australia who stole information about the location of a gold field that would have made Pennethorne immensely wealthy. Using that information the boss made himself rich, ...

In this second of Boothby's Dr. Nikola novels, adventurer Wilfred Bruce meets Dr. Nokola, who wants to hire Bruce to help him penetrate a secluded Chinese monastic society to obtain the occult secret for immortality. Dr. Nikola demonstrates to Bruce that he and his black cat have magical powers. He learned of the Chinese society from a disgraced Oxford don who spent many years in China and from an old Buddhist priest. He tells Bruce:"I will confess that the prospect of what I am ab...

This is the first in Boothby's series of Dr. Nikola novels. It opens with the manager of a fine London restaurant preparing for a dinner reserved in an odd letter originating from Brazil 3 months prior, for 4 persons in a private room, where 3 guests will arrive showing cards with a red dot. One will be from China, one from South Africa, one from England, plus the host, Dr Nikola, who is of unknown nationality but is later revealed to travel the world widely. The letter specifies certain p...