J B Priestley

The Doomsday men J B Priestley

"This is a story in Mr. Priestley's best vein, and he uses all the arts of suspense, all the twists and turns of fate, as well as his own cheerful and kindly reading of the human heart to make it so. It is really true that you cannot put the book down till you finish it, and you do that with a sigh." - The Observer

"[T]he most completely unified novel that Mr. Priestley has written . . . an exciting tale for holiday reading. The novel is, in short, something like a masterpiece ... would do credit to any novelist." - Manchester Guardian

"Mr. Priestley is in lighter and more fanciful mood in this new novel of his ... He has pleasant little excitements to offer and some sufficiently entertaining passages of dialogue ... an interesting Wellsian fantasy ... a smooth and pleasant mixture of sentiment and thrills." - Times Literary Supplement

"Grand melodrama and mystery ... [a] fast-paced adventure story.... It's a well conceived tale, exceptionally well told - and makes first rate vacation reading." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[D]esigned to raise our hair ... piling menace on suspense, and desolation on both, and letting us hear the brilliant minutes tick away in Californian light. For this is a horror story - with a difference.... a very wild story ... love, horror, death, and escape." - The Spectator

"Wicked and bizarre ... communicates the author's excitement to the reader." - Saturday Review

"No one who likes Priestley will be disappointed or disillusioned by this book." - New York Times

Three strangers, each on a separate mission, converge in the California desert. Jimmy Edlin is hot on the trail of a religious cult he believes is responsible for his brother's murder; George Hooker is a physicist in search of a missing colleague; and Malcolm Darbyshire is an Englishman looking for a beautiful heiress who has vanished without a trace. When the three men come together and discover that their situations are intertwined, they join forces to try to unravel these mysteries. Braving danger and death at every turn, they follow a trail of clues that leads to an explosive conclusion, as they uncover a sinister group whose insane philosophy calls for the destruction of all life on earth and who possess the awesome power to bring about doomsday!

Written against the backdrop of the rise of Hitler and Mussolini and with the threat of the Second World War looming, The Doomsday Men (1938) is one of J. B. Priestley's most thrilling novels and a story with frightening implications. This edition, the first in over fifty years, features a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes and a reproduction of the original jacket art.