Guy Newell Boothby

The Lust of Hate Illustrated Guy Newell Boothby

In this the third of Boothby's Dr. Nikola novels, Nikola applies his almost hypnotic persuasion to convince an out-of-luck Australian, formerly from England, named Gilbert Penne Thorne to assist Nikola unwittingly in an evil scheme. Nikola takes advantage of Penne Thorne's intense desire for revenge against a former boss in Australia who stole information about the location of a gold field that would have made Penne Thorne immensely wealthy. Using that information the boss made himself rich, living a high life in London, while Penne Thorne remained penniless. Nikola contrives a plan and a device for Penne Thorne to commit the perfect murder of the wealthy thief. Unknowingly, Penne Thorne thus becomes a party to another one of Nikola's insidious schemes.