Beware the Kindly Stranger

by Clarissa Ross, W.E.D. Ross (AKA)

Who was Mr. Asmodeus? What strange power did he control? Mario Holt's fiance Hugh hinted darkly at the old man's illegal past, but Marie knew him only as a kindly white-haired stranger -- a patron of the arts who had offered to recoup the losses of her failing art gallery. She couldn't refuse his generosity, and when he had proven his honorable intentions, she couldn't refuse the hospitality of his Long Island mansion. But what he did he want in return? And, more important, why couldn't Marie ask him that question?

Genres: Gothic, Fiction, Horror

246 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

William Edward Daniel Ross, W. E. Daniel "Dan" Ross (born 1912) is a bestselling Canadian novelist from Saint John, New Brunswick who wrote over 300 books in a variety of genres and under a variety of mostly female pseudonyms such as Laura Frances Brooks, Lydia Colby, Rose Dana, Jan Daniels, Ross Olin, Diane Randall, Clarissa Ross, Leslie Ames, Ruth Dorset, Ann Gilmer, Jane Rossiter, Dan Ross, Dana Ross, Marilyn Ross, Dan Roberts, and W.E.D. Ross. As Marilyn Ross he wrote popular Gothic fiction including a series of novels about the vampire Barnabas Collins based on the American TV series Dark Shadows (1966-71).

Reviews

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Trash Panda mood strikes again! :)

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hail Satan

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this period gothic, struggling naive gallery owner Marie Holt gets taken under the wing—or is it the spell?—of mysterious investor Mr. Asmodeus. As the gallery flourishes, does Marie stand to lose her immortal soul? Marked by Ross’s trademark exclamatory fragments and frequent reminders to the reader of past conversations and of characters’ descriptions (“the young man with dark glasses,” “the white-haired gentleman”), the novel chugs along to its abrupt conclusion as if Ross had run out of steam. Ross was effective at what she did, but the reader always wishes for a less credulous, more sympathetic heroine.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange little satanic tale, this reads like a novel length chick tract and is just as fitfully entertaining. Parts of it are pretty good in a Lynchian way but the dull moral compass at the center keeps it from ever reaching the delirious heights necessary to make this worth reading now, over fifty years from it's original publication. The lead is passive and easily swayed and perhaps the biggest mystery is why the devil, or any of the characters, would be interested in her.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clarissa Ross is the pen name of W. E. Daniel Ross, who wrote over 300 books under a variety of names. He churned out a lot of books, and it is evident that he preferred quantity over quality. The writing is fairly juvenile and the plot is resolved too easily.

A woman opens an art gallery and meets a mysterious stranger, Mr. Asmodeus. After selling him 3 paintings, she begins to experience success at her gallery. Mr. Asmodeus becomes more involved with her life and the gallery. Her friends try to warn her something is wrong with him, but she is blinded by the money and doesn't believe them.

A fast read. Poorly written but interesting.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie was the owner of an art gallery that was less than successful until a stranger walks into her store and purchases several pictures that a close friend of hers painted. He agrees to purchase all of this friends paintings, but her friend Jean is reluctant to have that happen. Jean senses something very strange about this man. The stranger manages to persuade Marie to hang some paintings in the front window that belong to his Chinese friend. These paintings are very dark and evil looking, and Marie is hesitant to do so, but she does. After hanging the pictures in the window, Marie starts having all kinds of buyers. Marie's fiance Hugh tries to convince her that there is something very weird about the man ,but Marie constantly defends him. Marie seems to be very naive and weak minded, which leaves you wondering how she has survived in the real world. As the story unfolds, you begin to understand that her vulnerability was the reason that that the stranger needed her for his plan. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I finished it in one evening.

[Adrian Griffiths · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young woman with a struggling art gallery meets a wealthy and sinister patron who turns her fortunes around - but at what cost?

A gothic romance with a house that the heroine hardly ever goes into, and a romantic angle that is minimal - there's never any serious doubt about the outcome. Sadly (as in a lot of these novels), the heroine has no backbone. She only has a gallery in the first place because of an inheritance., so it's more of an indulgence than a career. I did like the sense of growing weirdness, as strange changes happen to our heroine's lifestyle, but any dangers she face are far too quickly and easily thwarted... in fact, the final confrontation of the story is resolved by one of the most laughable and anticlimactic scenes I have ever read in a novel.
Overall, very disposable.