Jacques Futrelle's "The Thinking Machine": The Enigmatic Problems of Prof. Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., M.D.S.

2003

Ellison makes a significant deposit in his karmic savings account by editing and presenting this first-ever collection of stories from a mediocre, mostly forgotten but still significant author of the early 20th century.

Jacques Futrelle was no literary master, as Ellison himself concedes ("a one-hit wonder") in his introduction. Futrelle's protagonist, dubbed "The Thinking Machine," is not even a poor man's Sherlock Holmes; he shares little of that landmark character's depth or believability. Professor Van Dusen is, rather, all quirk and no personality. And the mysteries he solves are, more often than not, no more intricate or compelling than -- well, than the bland story titles that Ellison also admits generally fall short.

All of the standard plot devices of the pulp era make appearances here: amnesia, hypnosis, secret codes, exotic poisons and mistaken identities. Mostly they serve in these tales as static props; occasionally -- particularly with "The Fatal Cipher" and "The Superfluous Finger," and especially with Futrelle's masterwork, "The Problem of Cell 13" -- the author puts them to clever use.

Ellison has written often about a writer's work as more than legacy, but a form of virtual immortality. With this book, he has done the favor of resurrecting an otherwise forgotten author and giving his words extended, if not eternal, life.

Contents

• Enter: "The Thinking Machine"
• My First Experience with the Great Logician
• Introduction (by Harlan Ellison)
• The Thinking Machine's First Problem: Dressing Room "A"
• The Problem of Cell 13
• The Phantom Motor
• The Mystery of the Grip of Death
• The Problem of the Hidden Million
• The Ralston Bank Burglary
• The Problem of the Auto Cab
• The Silver Box
• The Jackdaw Girl
• The Brown Coat
• The Problem of the Stolen Rubens
• The Fatal Cipher
• The Superfluous Finger
• The Motor Boat
• The Problem of the Broken Bracelet
• The Problem of the Cross Mark
• The Roswell Tiara
• The Problem of the Red Rose
• The Man Who Was Lost
• A Piece of String
• The Problem of the Deserted House

Click here to order this book
from your local bookseller