Terence O'Rourke. By Louis J. Vance. (E. Grant Richards. 6s.)
—Mr. Terence O'Rourke, or "the" O'Rourke, as he becomes before the end of the volume, is a genial ne'er-do-weel of pleasant manners and smooth address, able to take on a great many antagonists at a time with that old-fashioned weapon, the rapier, although he occasionally finds his master in combats with the broadsword. The reader will be surprised, after this information, to hear that the date of Mr. O'Rourke's adventures is so modern as to include the use of motor-cars, and it must be owned that the second part of the book, which treats of adventures in Europe and Egypt, is much less credible than the first long adventure, which deals with North Africa, and includes battles with that mysterious tribe, the veiled Tawareks. It is, of course, quite easy to believe in the adventures of the would-be Emperor of the Sahara (we hope that the author has obtained permission to use his idea from the authentic Emperor), for English people are well accustomed to battles with native tribes under conditions which cannot be called ultra-modern. but when one comes to mysterious castles, portcullises, Grand Duchesses disguised as waiting-maids, &c., &c., all in the early years of the twentieth century, it is extremely difficult to find the sketches credible enough to be in the least interesting. There is a brisk vivacity about Mr. O'Rourke's fighting and a suave catholicity about his love-making which, at any rate, keep the book from being trite or monotonous. People who like a series of hair's-breadth escapes, and are not particular as to whether they can believe in them or not, will thoroughly enjoy the story, which is written with some skill and a good deal of ingenuity.
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