In the midst of our seventh birthday celebrations at The Mark Steyn Club, thank you for all your comments about this month's Tale for Our Time. Stéphane Erler, a First Week Founding Member back with us for his eighth year, writes from Taiwan because he is curious about what is in these mysterious "papers" everyone is so het up about:
I really wonder what kind of terms were in the papers that Jane Finn hid:
- release 30 dangerous war prisoners for every dead hostage, which is a license to kill to the remaining hostages,
- give the fanatics all the land they want in exchange of peace,
- send tons food and medicine to cities under siege and still firing rockets on parks for children.Agatha Christie probably never envisioned such stupid terms!
Anyway, thanks for the wonderful entertainment. Your voice is really able to take so many different personalities, accents and stick to them. Great job! And a wonderful listen on my long drive to the mountains of Taiwan.
Thank you, Stéphane. Well, I guess we'll find out whether "the papers" are just a Hitchcockian MacGuffin, or whether Mrs Christie has fleshed it out a little more. In tonight's penultimate episode of The Secret Adversary, in lieu of Hercule Poirot summoning everyone to the library, an American millionaire summons everyone to a private dining room at the Savoy:
The supper party given by Mr. Julius Hersheimmer to a few friends on the evening of the 30th will long be remembered in catering circles. It took place in a private room, and Mr. Hersheimmer's orders were brief and forcible. He gave carte blanche—and when a millionaire gives carte blanche he usually gets it!
Every delicacy out of season was duly provided. Waiters carried bottles of ancient and royal vintage with loving care. The floral decorations defied the seasons, and fruits of the earth as far apart as May and November found themselves miraculously side by side. The list of guests was small and select...
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part Twenty-Eight of The Secret Adversary simply by clicking here and logging-in.
If you're new to our Club, or if the day's developments simply make you despair, there's nothing healthier than taking a short break from the hell of the hamster-wheel news-cycle and exploring the delights of our Tales for Our Time home page. It's configured in Netflix tile style, with the stories organised by category - thrillers, fantasy, romance, etc - which we hope will make it easy for you to find a favourite diversion of an evening. You can access over sixty of our cracking yarns here - and all previous episodes of our current adventure here.
If you've yet to hear any of our Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club and enjoy our nightly audio adventures every evening twenty minutes before lowering your lamp - or hoard the episodes and binge-listen at the weekend or on a long car journey, if your government still permits you to leave your fifteen-minute city. For more details on that and other benefits to Steyn Club membership, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership.
Please join me right here tomorrow evening for the conclusion of The Secret Adversary.
