The Motor Pirate

by G. Sidney Paternoster

Excerpt from The Motor Pirate
Of course every one has heard of the Motor Pirate. No one indeed could help doing so unless he or she, as the case may be, happened to be in some part of the world where newspapers never penetrate; since for months his doings were the theme of every gossip in the country, and his exploits have filled columns of every newspaper from the moment of his first appearance until the day when the reign of terror he had inaugurated upon the roads ended as suddenly and as sensationally as it had begun. Who the owner of the pirate car was? Whence he came? Whither he went? These are questions which have exercised minds innumerable; but though there have been nearly as many theories propounded as there were brains at work propounding them, so far no informed account of the man or his methods has been made public.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

George Sidney Paternoster (1866-1925) was a British author. Born in Cirencester, he wrote many stories for magazines and newspapers including: The Red Magazine, The Grand Magazine, Crampton's Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and Truth Newspaper.

Reviews

[Pam]

As more than half of the reviewers mention, the author gives the villain away almost immediately, but we are supposed to believe the hot stuff main character, the police and everyone else is in the dark. As a detective story this book is awful. Its early though, published in 1903, so the author hasn’t had the opportunity to learn from Agatha Christie. It’s basically a pulp thriller but a poor one.

I’ll give it a few stars for its use of the novelty of racing around in early autos, its way-over-the-top villain—black mustache, bruh-ha-ha attitude and all the stereotypes. That might have been fun but went on far too long. George Lucas might have made a great send-up of the story and characters. The villain races around southern England in a torpedo shaped 100 mile per hour car, robbing other motorists, a brougham carriage with liveried coachman and old lady in fancy dress, the mail train and even an “August Personage.” Fans of early cars and racing might enjoy some of this. Paternoster even suggests the car is propelled by liquid hydrogen, something that has been done, but not until 1966.

[Andrew Ward]

There will be spoilers in this review, because the book itself is crammed with them. I have never known another book where the author makes the villain's identity so clear, so often. For example in chapter 3 (of 24), after the narrator has been held up by the Motor Pirate's supercharged futuristic car, he meets his friend Mannering:

Was it indeed Mannering's voice, or were my ears deceiving me? The intonation was remarkably like that of the stranger, who so short a time previously had bade us stand and deliver, that I sprang to my feet with an exclamation of astonishment.

In chapter 4 we learn that Mannering is something of a recluse, "the object of his retirement being to perfect some mechanical invention upon which he was engaged", about the details of which he "had never returned us any but the vaguest of answers, nor ever invited us into the workshop".

Again in chapter 7 "There flashed across my mind the strange similarity between Mannering's voice and the Motor Pirate's".

In chapter 9 a man believed to have been murdered by the Motor Pirate turns up to a dinner party where to the amazement of the guests: "Mannering appeared to be the most astonished, for he turned pale and his lips became livid."

At the same dinner party secret information is revealed to the handful present about the cargo of the Brighton Parcels Mail. The following night the Brighton Parcels Mail is robbed by the Motor Pirate.

In chapter 12 the narrator exchanges gunshots with the Motor Pirate, and shortly after Mannering appears with a bullet wound in his shoulder. While Mannering is recovering, the Motor Pirate "entered upon a long period of quiescence".

And so on and so on. At this point we are only halfway through the book, and yet somehow the narrator (and the Scotland Yard detective assisting him) are baffled by their inability to discern any clues as to who the Motor Pirate might be.

A 1904 review of the books says correctly:

The first two or three manifestations of the Motor Pirate are interesting; but when his identity is a secret to no one but the hero of the book and the police, matters become a little monotonous for the reader.

Still I quite enjoyed it. The Motor Pirate is entertainingly psychotic and murderous and the idea of a highwayman in a car very novel for the time. However I can't pretend that this is literature. PS Reader, the Motor Pirate was Mannering.

[Sem]

A ripping yarn!

[Jennifer Booth]

One word dull

I have many penny dreadfuls. I love earliest form pulp. I thought this book is not as exciting as Frank reade.

[Karen]

A mildly entertaining "car thriller" written in 1903, all a bit bonkers, but interesting from a historical perspective. Not so much a "whodunnit" as that seemed fairly obvious but more of a "how-will-they-catch-whodunnit". The detectives both professional and amateur did however seem a little slow on the uptake.

[Lanelle]

I really enjoyed this story. Even though I figured out who the villain was towards the beginning of the book, it was entertaining to watch how he was defeated. A quick read.