The Bat [Paperback]

Mary Roberts Rinehart (Author), 1stWorld Library (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

You've got to get him, boys - get him or bust! said a tired police chief, pounding a heavy fist on a table. The detectives he bellowed the words at looked at the floor. They had done their best and failed. Failure meant "resignation" for the police chief, return to the hated work of pounding the pavements for them - they knew it, and, knowing it, could summon no gesture of bravado to answer their chief's. Gunmen, thugs, hi-jackers, loft-robbers, murderers, they could get them all in time - but they could not get the man he wanted. "Get him - to hell with expense - I'll give you carte blanche - but get him!" said a haggard millionaire in the sedate inner offices of the best private detective firm in the country. The man on the other side of the desk, man hunter extraordinary, old servant of Government and State, sleuthhound without a peer, threw up his hands in a gesture of odd hopelessness. "It isn't the money, Mr. De Courcy - I'd give every cent I've made to get the man you want - but I can't promise you results - for the first time in my life." The conversation was ended.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rinehart's 1920 mystery features a remote country house filled with suspects, a forbidden romance, a cache of hidden money and a mysterious killer known only as The Bat. But sadly, this novel does not adapt well to audio. Long, descriptive passages and repetitive conversations (particularly between wealthy spinster Cornelia Van Gorder, who insists there's no danger, and nervous maid Lizzie, who insists there is) can be skimmed over by the reading eye, but on audio they seem interminable, draining all suspense. Frasier is a competent but unremarkable narrator. She differentiates between male and female characters, but does not create distinctive voices. Her Irish accent for Lizzie is passable; her Japanese accent for butler Billy is laughable. This tale would probably work better as a radio play or audio theater, with a troupe of actors playing the parts. In that medium, a shrilling phone or a sudden scream would indeed startle the listener, and spooky music would create a more suspenseful atmosphere.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Rinehart was a mystery and romance writer.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: 1st World Library - Literary Society (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421821613
• ISBN-13: 978-1421821610
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,944,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great imagery, characters, plot - high moments of wonder, July 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bat (Kensington mystery) (Paperback)

I always enjoy reading her books due to the imagery and variety of different character types and personalities she incorporates into her story lines. The Bat was my favorite...it had the "old" mystery feel. The characters were very well described and therefore, easy to imagine. I began feeling what the characters felt and encountered in that dark, old estate. It is hard for me to get through a book without getting bored and starting on another. However, The Bat traveled with me to work, the gym and house each day, just so I could finish it. I couldn't seem to put it down. Great piece of literature...one I would highly recommend for those who love a good mystery!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Generally speaking, don't read "The Bat" -- here's why..., May 21, 2009

By 

Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Bat (Paperback)

"The Bat" was originally written by Mary Roberts Rinehart as a play in 1926 -- it ultimately emerged as a silent film, additional remakes, etceteras. It's a cool mystery story, albeit the text/dialogue is notably stilted (justifiably) due to its intended purpose for the stage.

However, "The Bat" is clearly a re-working of a far superior story (an actual novel, which was also later made into a film), brilliantly written by Rinehart in 1908 and entitled: THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE.

So here's the deal. I'm pretty sure that if you're a huge Rinehart fan and assuming you've already read "The Circular Staircase," (Rinehart's Magnum opus) then you're not going to care much for "The Bat," due chiefly to the writing style and additionally considering the fact that it comes off as a watered-down version of its genesis.

Here's the basic story of "The Bat": An elite, rich, and spunky older lady rents a country house for the summer along with her skittish Irish maid and her niece. Some servants sort of come with the property but most soon abandon their new matron due to happenings within this large mansion. A converging plot concerns the homeowner (a banker) who has recently died and whose bank has just coincidentally failed -- the suspicion falls upon a youthful bank clerk who is the heart-throb of the old lady's niece. The central plot revolves around a mysterious and effective murder/burglar dubbed by the frustrated police as The Bat, (a character who does not appear in the original novel form) and who has been operating in the vicinity of this country home. The subsequent happenings in the house are almost slapstick in nature, in the old lady's efforts in solving the mystery of both the infamous Bat's activities and the bank embezzlement.

Rinehart is nowadays generally lauded as the "If I had but known" school of mystery writing and she was infinitely successful in carrying out that novelistic endeavor. Her mysteries typically focus upon the happenings within some mysterious edifice, ergo: The Yellow Room and The Red Lamp. Both of these well-known mystery novels are terrific and the former may arguably be the greatest mystery of all time, (in fact, Agatha Christie's renowned fictional detective, Hercule Poirot, asserts this as fact in The Clocks (Hercule Poirot).)

If you wish to read "The Bat" as a pure Rinehart fan, I heartily endorse your decision to do so. And if you prefer a more pulp-fiction era detective approach to mystery writing, conveying the ambiance of Ellery Queen and/or Raymond Chandler, then you may actually prefer "The Bat" over "The Circular Staircase." But if you favor a Christie/Sayers cozy murder, then go for the former alternative. One final difference between the two works is this: "The Circular Staircase" is conveyed in First Person, while "The Bat" is yielded up in Third Person.

In any case, just because the marketers have published this edition to "appear" to be a novel, don't be fooled -- this one is a re-tread, and was originally intended for production as a play. A minor point, I should also mention that the text contains some fairly mild racist language which was very typical of the fiction of this period.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent example of the genre, March 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (NJ,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bat (Kensington mystery) (Paperback)

_a fine blend of the gothic and mystery ...makes this novel an excellent example of the "had I but known" school of detective fiction . This fast pace novel will keep noir fans captivated.