Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The story that has captured the imagination of readers for a century, this world-renowned gothic novel, the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical, is now available in this striking Centennial Edition, featuring a new Afterword. Revised reissue.
Synopsis
Filled with the spectacle of the Paris Opera House in the nineteenth century, this classic work of suspense remains a riveting journey into the dark regions of the human heart.
The tale begins as an investigation into the strange stories of an Opera ghost, legendary for scaring performers as they sit alone in their dressing rooms or walk along the building s labyrinthine corridors. Some even think they ve seen the ghost in evening clothes moving in the shadows. But it isn t until the triumphant performance of beautiful soprano Christine Daae that the Phantom begins his attacks striking terror in the hearts of everyone in the theater. A story that has captured the imagination for a century, The Phantom of the Opera continues to this day as an unparalleled work of sheer entertainment.
With an Introduction by Dr. John L. Flynn
and an Afterword by J.R. Ward"
About the Author
Gaston Leroux, born in Paris in 1868, was a French journalist, playwright, and detective/thriller writer. Beginning his career as a crime reporter and war correspondent, he lived an adventurous life that took him to Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and even into North Africa disguised as an Arab. His high-spirited, often dangerous, escapades and questioning nature provided much of the background and plot material for his sensational mystery and adventure stories, particularly those starring his reporter-sleuth, Joseph Rouletabille. One of his most famous detective novels,
The Mystery of the Yellow Room, was published in 1907, and his works have been called “among the finest examples of the detective stories we possess.” But Leroux’s best-known story is
The Phantom of the Opera (1911), whose macabre hero has been played in film by classic horror film stars Lon Chaney and Claude Rains. Leroux died in Nice in 1927.
Dr. John L. Flynn is a Chicago-born author, university professor, psychologist, and science fiction enthusiast. In 1977, he received the M. Carolyn Parker award for outstanding journalism and in 1987, he was listed in Who’s Who Men of Achievement. He sold his first book, Future Threads in 1985.