Ebook270 pages4 hours
The Wire Devils
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this ebook
Harry Maul, also known as The Hawk, is a safe-breaker, forger, jewel thief, and one of the cleverest 'gentleman' crooks, wanted by the police and also by criminal gangs. He follows another band of criminals, cracks their communication code, keeps outsmarting them and getting to their target before they do.
Frank Packard (1877-1942) was a Canadian novelist best known for his Jimmie Dale mystery series. As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His experiences working on the railroad led to his writing a series of railroad stories and novels. Packard also wrote number of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale, a wealthy playboy by day and a fearless crime fighter by night. Jimmie Dale novels brought the idea of a costume and mask for hero's secret identity, and also established the concept of a hero's secret hideout or lair.
Frank Packard (1877-1942) was a Canadian novelist best known for his Jimmie Dale mystery series. As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His experiences working on the railroad led to his writing a series of railroad stories and novels. Packard also wrote number of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale, a wealthy playboy by day and a fearless crime fighter by night. Jimmie Dale novels brought the idea of a costume and mask for hero's secret identity, and also established the concept of a hero's secret hideout or lair.
Read more from Frank L. Packard
50 Essential Classic Adventure Short Stories You Have To Read Before You Die, Vol.1: Jack London, Robert Ervin Howard, E.Nesbit, Max Brand... (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Four Stragglers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures of Jimmie Dale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Four Stragglers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Red Ledger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoors of the Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPawned Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJimmie Dale and the Phantom Clue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Belovéd Traitor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Night Operator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wire Devils Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPawned Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Cat Weekly #61 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wire Devils Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Wire Devils
Related ebooks
The Wire Devils Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wire Devils Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Novelists - Frank L. Packard: canadian mystery stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House of the Wolf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Trust A Lady Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lone Trail Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Apartment Next Door Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExpiation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hungry Gun (Jubal Cade Western #03) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Masquerader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMark the Sparrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stolen Souls Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Box Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Mystery of Edwin Drood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife or Death by Darknet: Darknet Mysteries, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Old Man in the Corner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free-Wrench Collection: Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJigsaw Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Red Snow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Little Knights of Kentucky Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Calderan Problem Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Short Sleep Past: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNanopunk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The State Counsellor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soul of the Stalker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Cozy Mysteries For You
Murder with Collard Greens and Hot Sauce Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Line to Kill: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret of Poppyridge Cove Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Word Is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures: a joyful and heart-warming novel you won't want to miss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Epitaph: A Gripping Murder Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Color Me Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murders at the Montgomery Hall Hotel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Accidental Alchemist: An Accidental Alchemist Mystery, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Caribbean Mystery: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murderous Affair at Stone Manor: A Completely Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret, Book & Scone Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on a Mystery Tour Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Death Du Jour: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistletoe and Murder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Whispers Underground Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Herb of Death: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaudy Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Murder Is Announced: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rivers of London: 10th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder in the Dark: A Gripping Crime Mystery Full of Twists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Spoon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nearly Departed: Miss Fortune World: Sinful Stories, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5They Do It With Mirrors: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Wire Devils
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
4/5
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wire Devils is the 1918 equivalent of a Tom Clancy high-tech mystery-thriller. The protagonist of the Wire Devils is Harry Maul, alias ‘The Hawk’, a master criminal who has made his way to the western town of Selkirk City located somewhere in the Rockies. The antagonists are The Wire Devils, a group of technically sophisticated organized thieves who have hijacked the railroad’s telegraph system and are using it to further their own nefarious ends. The book opens with a breaking and entering. The Hawk, using skeleton keys, enters a small station without a night operator, sits down at the telegraph sounder, cuts himself into the main circuit, waits a few minutes and then, as the sounder begins to chatter, copies a telegraph transmission consisting of a jumble of letters. The jumble is a Caesar shift cypher with varying null patterns which The Hawk proceeds to decrypt. It details the plans for a Wire Devil heist which is scheduled to happen that very evening. What follows is a series of robberies all of which are foiled by The Hawk. That is, each time the Wire Devils set up a robbery, The Hawk interferes with its success. The Wire Devils become very aggravated by The Hawk’s intrusions and make repeated attempts to eliminate him. Naturally, all of this crime on railroad property has the railroad detectives out in force. They are aware of the existence of both the gang and The Hawk and believe him to be the Wire Devils mastermind. As a result, the Hawk finds it necessary to avoid and outwit both the gang and the law. Packard worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railroad before he began writing railroad and mystery fiction and, not surprisingly, The Wire Devils is filled with technical information conveyed to the reader via narration and character dialog. The railroad theme allows for the casual introduction of facts of railroad practice and the use of the telegraph as an instrument of crime provides Packard a platform for discussing telegraphy. This includes many aspects of telegraphic practice, issues involved in building an undetected line tap, and methods one might use to intercept a telegraph message without being detected. The text is a testament to Packard’s ability as a writer of popular fiction and his well phrased word pictures and plot twists still holds the reader’s interest. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in railroad fiction.
Book preview
The Wire Devils - Frank L. Packard
>e book_preview_excerpt.html |۲F@~#^&F
9ul#$$S.O0{%ڙ HSQ. /k}I<{r_ݫO'_}x\_^_}rWK`aOU'|9_Cn}\xwӼ\l?i;)4?>5{m}syֵ|v~zۏUSXEUq.Ӝ㛇y
qAo!;|4wG/\_j¿曶1X؇C1>qUETq[I;4j}9zY,W76\W1PA}x3|`X}O!Vq=DC܈0Vwgu$..̻VւgUG)W7~2>C_2S>?8mj}_{-H
Vjyj4Cij#y1vI篺G=U+xxh;-ӉRX:ENeppKK,P"lǹ:ixדOq0ATyN]n"Sд4[QU6]UniX/NjV