Mary Harald

Jacques d'Athys, a French adventurer, returns to his home in Nice after an expedition to Indochina where he has picked up a Eurasian fiancée and a book that, unbeknownst to him, contains a coded message revealing the whereabouts of both secret treasures and sensitive government intelligence. This makes him the target of foreign spies, including a Marquise of mysterious Latin origin, a Hindu hypnotist and an evil German doctor, who will stop at nothing to obtain the book.

Set in WWI, a soldier given medical leave and sent to help harvest vineyards finds himself amongst an array of interesting characters.

Jacques Chauvry, the new government delegate for a French protectorate in Cambodia, meets the young Soun who, due to a series of circumstances, will become heir to land that houses a large oil field. Tao , an evil mestizo, along with his minions, tries to get hold of these lands, terrorizing the locals by appearing disguised as the “spirit of evil”.