I, Lucifer
Encyclopedia
I, Lucifer is the title of an action-adventure novel
by Peter O'Donnell
which was first published in 1967, featuring the character Modesty Blaise
which O'Donnell had created for a comic strip
several years earlier. It was the third novel to feature the character.
I, Lucifer introduces parapsychology
, a theme that would recur in later books in the Modesty Blaise series. It also introduces the secondary character Steven Collier, parapsychologist, who would make numerous future appearances in both the comic strip and the novels.
. Modesty is being wined and dined by René Vaubois, head of the French Deuxième Bureau
(the French Intelligence Service), on a floating restaurant on the Seine
. René asks Modesty for advice regarding a new protection racket. High-level people all over the world are receiving death threats, and those who don't pay end up dead. The really crazy thing is that most of the deaths are apparently natural deaths.
Willie, waiting on the river bank for Modesty's return, encounters Chuli, a criminal whose specialty is planting bombs. René Vaubois' car has been wired with explosives. And when Modesty, Willie, René and Stephen Collier (making his first appearance) leave the scene they are followed by a car full of underworld killers, all bent on putting René down.
This is the start of a rather strange story about Lucifer and a pair of elderly puppeteers, Seth and Regina. Seth and Regina have turned to crime after being unable to get work when the music halls closed down. Now Seth has created an incredible worldwide protection racket based on Lucifer's ability to accurately predict impending deaths.
The action heats up when Modesty is taken prisoner and a radio-controlled cyanide capsule is surgically implanted under her skin. The final confrontation takes place on a remote island near Indonesia
. First Modesty and Willie are forced to fight a duel to the death against each other. Later the machine guns are blazing in a major battle between the good guys and the bad guys, with Modesty risking everything to try to save Lucifer.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Peter O'Donnell
Peter O'Donnell
Peter O'Donnell was a British writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of Modesty Blaise, a female action hero/undercover trouble-shooter/enforcer...
which was first published in 1967, featuring the character Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows the adventures of Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin...
which O'Donnell had created for a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
several years earlier. It was the third novel to feature the character.
I, Lucifer introduces parapsychology
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
, a theme that would recur in later books in the Modesty Blaise series. It also introduces the secondary character Steven Collier, parapsychologist, who would make numerous future appearances in both the comic strip and the novels.
Plot summary
Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin are in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Modesty is being wined and dined by René Vaubois, head of the French Deuxième Bureau
Deuxième Bureau
The Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany...
(the French Intelligence Service), on a floating restaurant on the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
. René asks Modesty for advice regarding a new protection racket. High-level people all over the world are receiving death threats, and those who don't pay end up dead. The really crazy thing is that most of the deaths are apparently natural deaths.
Willie, waiting on the river bank for Modesty's return, encounters Chuli, a criminal whose specialty is planting bombs. René Vaubois' car has been wired with explosives. And when Modesty, Willie, René and Stephen Collier (making his first appearance) leave the scene they are followed by a car full of underworld killers, all bent on putting René down.
This is the start of a rather strange story about Lucifer and a pair of elderly puppeteers, Seth and Regina. Seth and Regina have turned to crime after being unable to get work when the music halls closed down. Now Seth has created an incredible worldwide protection racket based on Lucifer's ability to accurately predict impending deaths.
The action heats up when Modesty is taken prisoner and a radio-controlled cyanide capsule is surgically implanted under her skin. The final confrontation takes place on a remote island near Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. First Modesty and Willie are forced to fight a duel to the death against each other. Later the machine guns are blazing in a major battle between the good guys and the bad guys, with Modesty risking everything to try to save Lucifer.