"Fantômas...means death!"

An immediate sensation upon its original publication in 1911, "Fantômas" - Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain's thrilling novel of international crime and intrigue - has proven to be one of the most popular crime fiction book series of all time.

Centered around the title character - an early literary villain reminiscent of the type of international criminal James Bond might face - Fantômas himself is a merciless, brilliant crime lord who will stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious ends. A master of disguise, Fantômas often would impersonate his own murder victims and this elusive and enigmatic character became known for his cold-blooded ruthlessness.

Pursued by the tireless Inspector Juve - one of the few people to be able to detect and follow Fantômas' twisted path - Fantômas is also similar to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarty, sitting at the center of an enormous web of criminal enterprises and evil plots.

The popularity of Fantômas was so huge that it would spawn no less than forty-two sequels and a variety of adaptations to the screen, including movies and television shows, turning Fantômas into one of the most popular literary characters of all time.

Here, we present the original novel in its unabridged and original form, translated by Cranstoun Metcalfe.