Rohmer, Sax - Satin And Sand
Dick Cartaret slows his vehicle to a crawl, so thick is the London fog that night. Without warning, a girl throws herself into his car; she is the most beautiful, most exquisite girl Dick has ever seen. “Hurry!” she begs, “Don’t let them catch me!”
At that point, Dick is drawn into the inescapable web of Sumuru.
Sumuru is Rohmer’s femme fatale version of Fu Manchu. She is seemingly all powerful, unstoppable, the control behind wide ranging organization.
She is hardly an original, however. A decade earlier, L. T. Meade hurled Madame Koluchy, than Madame Sara against decent society. Each was more wicked, and more human. A decade before those two was Ayesha, H, Rider Haggard’s ageless queen. Peer further, Cleopatra, Asherah, Lilith.
Satin And Sand is a fun read, brisk page turner, although Sumuru, in comparison with the earlier females, strikes me as omnipotent. Resistance is futile.