22 MAY 1926, Page 29

OTHER NOVELS The Fatal Face. By William Le Queux. (Hurst

and Blackett. 7s. 6d.)-In his anxiety that the opening mystery should remain a mystery, Mr. Le Queux hardly holds our attention sufficiently to persuade us to make the necessary effort to follow the turns and twists of his plot. It is, moreover, not in the best taste at this moment for the author of a work of fiction openly to accuse Germany of intending to make a sudden attack " in the great To-marrow." The scene of the book is chiefly laid on railways and in hotels, and the story hurries between' the various villains and their victims in a manner which is often rather obscure. There is an air of artificial excitement and hubbub about the whole novel, but it cannot. be said that the interest is well sustained.