The Flower of Fate

by J. Allan Dunn

1928. Chin Yu Wei has a bizarre task for Dick Thorne. Wei wants Dick to steal a statue from a wealthy Japanese art collector that was stolen from his family during the Boxer Rebellion and in return, Wei will give him a vast estate. Thorne breaks into the house, grabs the statue, but when he is making his getaway, he is discovered by the owner. Thorne drops the statue, which breaks, revealing a scroll hidden inside. He seizes the scroll and returns to Wei. Wei tells him this scroll reveals the position of an undiscovered island in the South Pacific. On this island, a unique blossom grows that contains the secrets of good and evil. No one is able to lie after smelling the flower and Wei hopes he can use the flower to change the world.

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Joseph Allan Dunn (1872-1941), best known as J. Allan Dunn, was one of the high-producing writers of the American pulp magazines. He published well over a thousand stories, novels, and serials from 1914-41.

He came to the United States in 1893. He spent about five years in Colorado, five years in Honolulu, ten years in San Francisco, and then relocated to the East Coast in 1913, after which his writing career blossomed. From 1914 forward, and in his pulp-writing career, he was known as "J. Allan Dunn"; before that he primarily went by "Allan Dunn."

While living in San Francisco, he worked for the Southern Pacific Company, which published Sunset magazine. He wrote an article for Sunset on author Jack London. The two became friends. In 1913, Dunn was a frequent visitor to London's Beauty Ranch in Glen Ellen, California. According to the diaries of Charmian London, London's second wife, she and Dunn spent a lot of time together, which prompted Jack London to reinvigorate his interest in her.