The Black Coats 6: The Cadet Gang
THE BLACKCOATS: THE CADET GANG
by Paul Féval
adapted by Brian Stableford
cover by Jean-Michel Ponzio
"Cadet-l'Amour," said The Colonel. "What are you thinking about?"
"You've just condemned me to death, Master."
"We're alone. I'm weaker than a fly. You're the most ferocious assassin I know, and I've known many assassins. Why don't you strangle me?"
Cadet-l'Amour clenched his fists, but he replied: "What good would it do? What can one do against the Devil?"
The Colonel laughed dryly. "If I forgive you, Cadet, will you be my servant?" he asked.
"I'll be better than that."
"My slave?"
"Your dog, Master!"
"Agreed, Cadet! I need a dog, and I forgive you."
Marguerite Sadoulas continues her efforts to wrest the fabulous fortune of the de Clares by ensnaring its rightful heirs, one-armed Clément and circus girl Lirette, in a murderous conspiracy. Meanwhile, the deadly sociopath Cadet-l'Amour has stepped into the vacuum created by the destruction of the High Council and seeks the Treasure of the Black Coats. But he is thwarted by the specter of Colonel Bozzo-Corona, the ruthless leader who ruled the evil empire for over a century and seems to have mysteriously returned from the grave...
Written last in the series in 1875, before Féval was "born-again", The Cadet Gang is the apotheosis in the criminal saga of the Black Coats, a sequel to both Heart of Steel and The Companions of the Treasure. Paul Féval, the father of the modern detective novel, gave its lettres de noblesse to criminal literature by creating all the modern archetypes of crime fiction.
Contents:
La Bande Cadet (1874-75) by Paul Féval; Introduction, Afterword and Notes by Brian Stableford.