img

The Assassination Bureau Ltd.

Jack London

What do you do when you have to order your own execution?

The plot follows Ivan Dragomiloff, who, in a twist of fate, finds himself pitted against the secret assassination agency he founded and because of a rigid condition set in place having to issue a hit on himself. The Assassination Bureau, Ltd., will assassinate evildoers, for example, corrupt police commissioners, legislators, politicians, etc.; but will not act unless convinced that the target truly is worthy of assassination.

The novel was based on a story idea London purchased from author Sinclair Lewis (Elmer Gantry) in early 1910. London wrote 20,000 words of the novel before he gave it up later that same year, saying he could not find a logical way to conclude it. He died in 1916, leaving the book unfinished. The overall concept borrows heavily from G.K. Chesterton's novel The Man Who Was Thursday and has shades of The Four Just Men.

In 1963, mystery writer R.L. Fish completed the novel based on the unfinished manuscript with additional notes by London and an ending outline done by London's widow Charmian shortly before her death in 1955.

  • Classification : Classic Crime & Adventure/Thrillers
  • Pub Date : JUN 20, 2023
  • Imprint : YELLOWBACK
  • Page Extent : 186
  • Binding : PB
  • ISBN : 9789357311335
  • Price : INR 299
image

Jack London

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (12 January 1876 22 November 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

London was part of the radical literary group 'The Crowd' in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers' rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.

His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories 'To Build a Fire', 'An Odyssey of the North', and 'Love of Life'. He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as 'The Pearls of Parlay', and 'The Heathen'.

London died on 22 November 1916, in a sleeping porch in a cottage on his ranch.

Robert Lloyd Fish (21 August 1912 23 February 1981) who completed this novel was an American writer of crime fiction.

Discover more books

Advanced Search