A Bid for Fortune or Dr Nikolas Vendetta Annotated

A Bid for Fortune is a 1917 British silent crime film directed by Sidney Morgan and starring A. Harding Steerman, Violet Graham and Sydney Vautier A Bid for Fortune by Guy Boothby. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten-or yet undiscovered gems of world literature we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Dr. Nikola was a member of a curious genre of Victorian and post Victorian literature where a series is based around a villain. Other examples include Arsene Lupin, Dr. Fu Manchu and Fantomas. Although the story centers around the classically heroic Richard Hatteras and Nikola generally remains in the shadows it is Nikola upon which the series is hung. A Bid for Fortune is a mystery with Hatteras becoming increasingly entangled with the shadowy Dr. Nikola and on the surface it all seems very intriguing. Guy Boothby is a fine writer for his era. Victorian era writers tend to be very stiff with little effort put towards creating compelling characters and Boothby is clearly a product of his era. The problem is when you scratch the surface the plot falls apart.Dr. Nikola's actions often seem strange and self defeating but you can assume that in the end there is a method to his madness. Except there isn't. It was Nikola who first approached Hatteras inexplicably creating his own nemesis. When Nikola has Hatteras entirely in his power he simply lets him go with no explanation. His plan is entirely WAY too complicated for the achievement of his goal and ends up being completely counterproductive. In the end, rather than look like a brilliant tactician Dr Nikola's looks like a terrible planner.There are four more Dr Nikola novels and I plan on reading the next one particularly since this first book technically has an open ending but I'm hoping the next book is an improvement.