12 OCTOBER 1889, Page 45

The Spell of Ashtaroth. By Duffield Osborne. (Sampson Low and

Co.)—The theme which the writer has taken is certainly one to attract both writer and reader. It is the storming of Jericho, and a young Israelite of the tribe of Judah falls in love with an inhabitant of the doomed city, whom he saves. Needless to say, retribution overtakes him and his father Achan, who has hidden treasures of gold and silver. It cannot be said that the writer has made the most of his plot. His power of description is very crude and indefined, and he struggles in vain to impress us with the solemnity of the siege of Jericho and the character of the Israelitish nation.