Welcome to the latest in our series of audio adventures, Tales for Our Time. This month's pick is very timely after the last few years: The Secret Adversary. A cabal of proto-globalists - American, Russian, German, Irish, English - is at loose on the streets of London, and all that stands between them and a coup are Agatha Christie's young adventurers Tommy and Tuppence.
Some listeners enjoy our tales as a mug of nightly audio Ovaltine twenty minutes before they lower their lamp. Others leave it a few episodes to see if it's worth their commitment and then jump in for a big binge-listen. Well, the bingers have come on board. Charlene Pinkava, a First Day Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, enthuses:
Holy cow Mark! I've just binge listened the first eight episodes and was hoping number nine would be in my mailbox by now. Cliffhangers! I do hope that you are as invigorated in reading this wonderful book as I am in listening.
Tales for Our Time is my favorite. I'm trying to alleviate my depression by avoiding regular news and reading a good book is the best way forward. Thank you!
Gloria Thompson, a Steyn Clubber from Utah, is with Charlene:
I just binged the first seven and hot footed in here to get number eight!
Mark, you are just the best! You take such good care of us. Your storytelling is truly artful. Agatha was a genius! Thank you so much.
Thank you, ladies. Hope you enjoy the episodes ahead just as much. In tonight's installment, Tuppence insinuates herself into the lair of the enemy by getting hired as the new parlourmaid. But can she pull it off?
Tuppence was ushered into a room on the right of the long passage. A woman was standing by the fireplace. She was no longer in her first youth, and the beauty she undeniably possessed was hardened and coarsened. In her youth she must have been dazzling. Her pale gold hair, owing a slight assistance to art, was coiled low on her neck, her eyes, of a piercing electric blue, seemed to possess a faculty of boring into the very soul of the person she was looking at. Her exquisite figure was enhanced by a wonderful gown of indigo charmeuse. And yet, despite her swaying grace, and the almost ethereal beauty of her face, you felt instinctively the presence of something hard and menacing, a kind of metallic strength that found expression in the tones of her voice and in that gimlet-like quality of her eyes.
For the first time Tuppence felt afraid. She had not feared Whittington, but this woman was different. As if fascinated, she watched the long cruel line of the red curving mouth, and again she felt that sensation of panic pass over her. Her usual self-confidence deserted her.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Ten of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
If you have friends who might appreciate The Secret Adversary, Northanger Abbey, Nineteen Eighty-Four or our other tales, we have a special Steyn Club Gift Membership that lets them in on that and on all the other fun in The Mark Steyn Club.
If you've only joined the Steyn Club in recent days and missed our earlier serials (Conan Doyle's The Tragedy of the Korosko, Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel, Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda, plus Kipling, Kafka, Dickens, Gogol, Louisa May Alcott, P G Wodehouse, H G Wells, Scott Fitzgerald and more), you can find them all on our easy-to-access Netflix-style Tales for Our Time home page. Indeed, it's so easy to access that we've introduced a similar format for our poetry and music outings.
The Mark Steyn Club is approaching its seventh birthday, and helps keep all our regular content - whether in print, audio or video - out there in the world for everyone. In return, membership confers, aside from Tales for Our Time, a few other benefits:
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with yours truly, such as this coming Wednesday's;
~Transcript and audio versions of The Mark Steyn Show and our other video content;
~My video series of classic poetry;
~Booking for special members-only events such as The Mark Steyn Christmas Show (if my woeful health permits);
~Advance booking for my live appearances around the world, such as our next Mark Steyn Cruise;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~and the opportunity to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here - and please join me tomorrow for Part Eleven of The Secret Adversary.