Book excerpt: This carefully edited collection of thriller novels has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. John R. Coryell (1848–1924) was a prolific dime novel author. He wrote under many pseudonyms, one of them being Nicholas Carter, probably the best known. Nick Carter is a fictional character, invented by John R. Coryell and Ormond G. Smith, who began as a thriller novel private detective and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. His father, Sin Carter, was also a detective and he taught young Nick some investigation techniques from early ages. After his father's death during one case, Nick takes over the investigation and continues to work as a detective. A master of disguise, Nick Carter spends most of the time under cover and keeps a low profile, based in an apartment on Madison Avenue in New York. Table of Contents: The Crime of the French Café Nick Carter's Ghost Story The Mystery of St. Agnes' Hospital The Solution of a Remarkable Case With Links of Steel (The Peril of the Unknown) A Woman at Bay (A Fiend in Skirts) The Great Spy System (Nick Carter's Promise to the President)