Devil's Paw

E. Phillips Oppenheim's World War I-set novel &quote;The Devil's Paw&quote;, written in 1920, is rife with international espionage and intrigue. After being given access to extremely private documents, Miss Katherine Abbeway is quickly detained on suspicion of being a spy. She gives the confidential papers to a friend, but are they really secure? Will they fall into the wrong hands? The Devil's Paw is a perfect illustration of both Oppenheim's qualities and flaws. The plot, which centers on an attempted Bolshevik-style revolution in England during World War I, starts off as both an exciting thriller and a masterful representation of the political premise that battles on the subject that overthrow rulers are frequently required to safeguard a free society. Peace is not the greatest virtue. The backdrop of World War I provides the readers an insight into the hardships of people during that time. This is a compelling book because of the combination of suspicion, conspiracies, and the general threat of war which is present throughout the course of the novel.