Reviews

The Unholy Three by Tod Robbins

mabusecast's review against another edition

4.0

A very good piece of pulp literature with a trio of bizarre sideshow performer villains that feel like the prototype for the rouges gallery of both Batman and Dick Tracy!
I will admit that I'm not as crazy about this book when said sideshow trio are off screen but the fact that something this bizarre was written in 1917 cannot be understated!

A fun book that was turned into a Lon Chaney senior movie twice, once as a silent film, and once as Chaney senior's only sound film!

Read via the new LibriVox audio-book recording which can be found here:

https://librivox.org/the-unholy-three-by-tod-robbins/

poliver's review against another edition

4.0

Like many others, I was aware of this book because of the silent film classic directed by Tod Browning (there is also a sound version made a few years later , which I haven't seen). It is interesting to see the differences between the film and book version. While the film follows the book closely, there are some major differences such as the addition of the female character Rosie. But back to the book - it is quite readable, brisk and entertaining. At times, the writing style can be a bit ornate and dated but there are undeniably quite a number of lyrical passages that are quite beautiful. The book is dark and psychologically astute with well-drawn and developed characters. Although written to achieve a big reveal in the last chapters that exposes the major characters deceptions, if you've seen the film, you know what is going on all the time but that doesn't diminish the enjoyment of the book.