THE YELLOW CLAW

The Yellow Claw is a 1915 crime novel by Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, known better under his pseudonym of Sax Rohmer. Sax Rohmer’s The Yellow Claw was originally serialized in five installments in Lippincott’s from February through June 1915. The serial was subsequently published in book form later that same year by Methuen Press in the UK and McBride & Nast in the US. The story features Gaston Max, a Parisian criminal investigator and master of disguise, and his battle with Mr. King, a master criminal similar to Rohmer's earlier character Dr. Fu Manchu. Rohmer hoped to create a second Oriental crime series with this book, but sales proved disappointing. Still in 1915, The Yellow Claw made quite a splash on the bestseller list and has earned a deserved place among Rohmer’s most influential works in its day. The novel was the basis for the 1921 British silent film, The Yellow Claw.