Emissaries of Space and Death Plays a Game

Armchair Fiction presents classic science fiction double novels. Our first novel is "Emissaries of Space" by Nathan Schachner. Who could have known that during the depths of the great depression, the Earth was being scrutinized by beings from outer space? The Emissaries, beings from the farthest reaches of the cosmos, had set their sights on our world. First there were electrical storms of enormous intensity, the aftermaths of which left thousands of victims temporarily babbling under some outside influence. Then one of the victims, a wealthy industrialist named John Boling, invented a world-changing invention shortly after his recovery. Boling devised a revolutionary new atomic motor--a motor that could make current forms of energy production obsolete. With his course set, Boling and his coalition of other powerful men set out to change the social and economic makeup of the entire world. But who was really in control, and what insidious plans did they have for Earth? The second novel is "Death Plays a Game" by David V. Reed. It's a roaring good piece of space opera, full of action and intrigue. It deals with an interplanetary gambler named Cary Harper, constantly in trouble, and on the run from the Interplanetary Police. Harper is the favorite target of Maxwell Green, an IP man who's been on his trail ever since Harper decked him during an altercation. Adding to the intrigue is Harper's beautiful girlfriend, Lois Van Horn. Author David V. Reed then keeps you guessing and takes you from one prickly situation to another. However, things take a strange turn when Lois' brother Ralph is found in a trancelike state and in possession of a glowing white globe--a telltale sign of having taken the Lindite "drink of honor." A strange alien race from a faraway planet, the Lindites have a passion for gambling; and it's soon obvious that the younger Van Horn has been losing money to the Lindites. Unfortunately when you lose to the Lindites, the only way out is to gamble for your life...