COPYRIGHT INFO
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack is copyright © 2013 by Wildside Press LLC.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Over the last year, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums for joining our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).
A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS
The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: We only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
THE MEGAPACK SERIES
The Adventure Megapack
The Christmas Megapack
The Second Christmas Megapack
The Cowboy Megapack
The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack
The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack
The Ghost Story Megapack
The Horror Megapack
The Macabre Megapack
The Martian Megapack
The Military Megapack
The Mummy Megapack
The Mystery Megapack
The Science Fiction Megapack
The Second Science Fiction Megapack
The Third Science Fiction Megapack
The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack
The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack
The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Pinocchio Megapack
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Rover Boys Megapack
The Steampunk Megapack
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack
The Tom Swift Megapack
The Vampire Megapack
The Victorian Mystery Megapack
The Werewolf Megapack
The Western Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
AUTHOR MEGAPACKS
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The G.A. Henty Megapack
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The Rafael Sabatini Megapack
INTRODUCTION
Jacques Futrelle (1875-1912) is widely considered “the American Sherlock Holmes” for his series of stories about Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, who is better known as The Thinking Machine. Van Dusen, a master of logic, believed he could think himself out of any situation—and solve any crime—through the use of his immense intellect. Through dozens of stories, The Thinking Machine solved locked-room puzzles, kidnappings, and more murders than can be easily counted, proving again and again that brain-power is the answer to any problem.
Jacques Futrelle himself was born in Georgia. His father was a college teacher, and Jacques was brought up with an appreciation for great literature. His first jobs were in pubishing, working at the Atlanta Journal as an assistant to the business manager, then at the Boston Post, and then back to the Atlanta Journal, where he established the newspaper’s first sports column.
He married Lilly May Peel in 1895, and they moved to New York, where he worked as telegraph operator for the New York Herald. Their neighbors included such luminaries as Edith Wharton.
Following the birth of their two children, Virginia and John, the Futrelles moved to Massachusets, where Jacques worked for the Boston American, William Randolph Hurst’s new newspaper. Here he would begin writing fiction, creating not just The Thinking Machine short stories, but a number of popular novels: The Chase of the Golden Plate (whose cast includes The Thinking Machine), The Simple Case of Susan, The Diamond Master, Elusive Isabel, The High Hand, Blind Man’s Buff, and My Lady’s Garter. Two volumes of The Thinking Machine stories were collected as The Thinking Machine and The Thinking Machine on the Case. Jacques Futrelle left the newspaper business to become a full-time writer in 1906.
In January 1912, leaving their children at home with their grandparents, Jacques and May Futrelle journeyed to Europe to meet publishers, market Jacques’ stories and books, and have a vacation. Unfortunately, they decided to return home on the
