6 h 36 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How do you hunt a killer when no one can quite name the person you seek?
In Captain Shannon, Coulson Kernahan places a journalist on the trail of a phantom killer. Anarchist terror shadows the pursuit, while hidden identities make the hunt uncertain. The clues come slowly. In this Victorian thriller, the danger lies not only in finding the enemy, but in knowing who that enemy really is.
The streets of London form the setting for a story of secrecy and pursuit. Kernahan draws on a world where newspapers carry reports of bombings and plots, and secret societies feed public fear. With a reporter as its central hunter, the novel brings the search for a killer into the newspaper world's restless search for answers.
What you’ll discover
- A journalist in pursuit Follow a reporter whose relentless hunt puts the search for identity at the story's heart.
- An enemy without certainty Enter a mystery where the killer remains elusive and appearances offer little firm ground.
- London under a shadow Step into streets where anarchist terror and secrecy give the pursuit its threatening atmosphere.
- Clues that come slowly Let the gradual arrival of clues draw you deeper into the journalist's uncertain chase.
- Victorian fears laid bare Explore a thriller shaped by public fears of plots, secret societies, and hidden enemies.
Who will love it
Readers who love Victorian crime, clue-by-clue chases, disguises, forged letters and thames-side hideouts, and who enjoy an amateur sleuth who tells his own story with humour and a little self-mockery.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Outrages signed by Captain Shannon
- A manifesto and a rich reward
- A murder points to a name
- A face remembered through a smell
- Dynamite hulks and a false Mrs. Hughes
- Green's secret and the stolen letters
- A yacht, a disguise and a lost man
- What the hunt says about the hunter
- A telling full of wit, disguise and asides
Who’s who
- Max RisslerThe writer who tells the story. He recognises the wanted man's face and chases him for adventure, reward and growing hatred, though he calls himself a bungler.
- James MullenThought to be Captain Shannon. A fair-haired, clever, vain and violent man who disguises himself and covers his tracks to evade the law.
- Hardy MuirThe narrator's big-hearted painter friend, who lends a boat and his skipper without asking questions.
- GrantA trusted friend who watches the hulk, borrows a boat and helps follow the red-bearded man.
- GreenA private detective who finds Mullen's family secrets and hopes to claim the reward alone.
- HughesThe grumbling hulk keeper at Canvey who swears constantly and shelters a mysterious lodger for pay.
- Professor LawranceA Stanby barber and betting agent who handles Mullen's forwarded letters and tries to outwit the narrator.
- Mrs. Stanley BurgoyneMullen's half-sister, who writes with love and fear and offers him her yacht on condition that he gives up his plots.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 36 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 10 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le capitaine Shannon
by Coulson Kernahan · 1897
A writer sees a wanted man's portrait and remembers a stranger from a Southend train, then sets out to find him.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Captain Shannon is a thriller by Coulson Kernahan, set in the London of the 1890s. Anarchist bombings shake England and Ireland, and each crime carries the same signed order from a leader no one can name.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Outrages signed by Captain Shannon
The book opens in a year left blank, when a string of vicious crimes strikes England and Ireland. At each scene the police find the same signed line, By order, Captain Shannon. It is pinned to a body or chalked on a wall, always in rough capitals.
The police cannot learn who he is. People who may know something refuse to speak, because they fear him more than any punishment. Then a bomb wrecks New Scotland Yard, and public anger knows no limit.
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What is Captain Shannon about?
It is a Victorian thriller in which a writer hunts a terrorist who signs his crimes By order, Captain Shannon. After bombings and murders in London and Dublin, the narrator follows clues across the Thames estuary.
Who is Captain Shannon in the book?
The police name him as James Mullen, an Irish-American. The narrator learns he also uses the names Cross and Jeanes, and is the illegitimate son of a nobleman, with a half-sister who loves him.
Who is the narrator of Captain Shannon?
He is a writer who gives his name as Max Rissler. He tells the story himself, speaks to the reader often, and admits his many blunders while chasing the fugitive.
The author
Coulson Kernahan
1858–1943 · English novelist
Coulson Kernahan was a British writer born in Ilfracombe, Devon, in 1858. He wrote novels, essays, and poetry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His novels included Captain Shannon. He lived in England and died in 1943.
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