Jack O'Judgment

"Jack O’Judgment" is a classic thriller novel by the inimitable Edgar Wallace. The memorable crime story revolves around a masked vigilante, who wreaks havoc among a successful gang of organised London blackmailers, leaving only a Jack of Clubs as a trace that he was there. The star of the novel is a male protagonist that is both light-hearted and frivolous, as well as cruel towards injustice and the larger-than-life villains. Just like in "The Four Just Men", Wallace arguably promotes vigilantism as the only solution to a feeble justice system. An excellent mystery that leaves the reader guessing in suspense about the identity of the elusive masked man, perfect for lovers of the likes of Sherlock Holmes.

Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was an English writer so prolific, that one of his publishers claimed that he was behind a quarter of all books sold in England. An author, journalist and poet, he wrote countless novels, short stories, screen plays, stage plays, historical non-fiction, etc. Today, more than 160 films have been made from his work. He died suddenly in Hollywood in 1932, during the initial drafting of his most famous work, "King Kong".