When June Harte was very young, she and her father stumbled upon a magnificent deposit of jade along the border of China and Tibet. Her father spent his life trying to raise the money for an expedition to return and cull the treasure. Now June is a young woman of twenty-two and along with an old friend of her mothers‘, geologist Dr. Harper, has returned to China. The White Brigand by Edison Marshall is an old-school adventure story, June is quickly abducted and becomes the prisoner in a magnificent oriental palace. Gathered here are an strange and international group of people, all intent upon the jade.

Edison Marshall wrote many adventure stories of daring men and women, surmounting all obstacles to win out over cruel and sinister villains. The White Brigand is no exception, an exciting but dated story full of color, romance and intrigue. I had trouble getting past the fact that in his books women are admired more for the size of their bust than for their brains. The whole time I was reading this book I couldn’t help but picture Tyrone Power as the mysterious Lee and Virginia Mayo as his feminine counterpart. I think my days of truly enjoying an Edison Marshall read are in the past ( )