"As he dropped the last grisly fragment of the dismembered and mutilated body into the small vat of nitric acid that was to devour every trace of the horrid evidence which might easily send him to the gallows, the man sank weakly into a chair and throwing his body forward upon his great, teak desk buried his face in his arms, breaking into dry, moaning sobs." Professor Maxon had set off to a secluded island to proceed in an experiment -- the creation of HUMAN life -- so that his daughter, Virginia, could marry the perfect man. His ultimate project -- Number Thirteen -- exceeded his wildest expectation. But the other twelve examples of his work -- the "monster men" of the title -- leave much to be desired. And much too much for Professor Maxon, his daughter, and perhaps even "Number Thirteen" . . .
Author Biography
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 - 1950) was an American writer best known for his creations of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres. Burroughs was in his late 60s and was in Honolulu at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Despite his age, he applied for and received permission to become a war correspondent, becoming one of the oldest U.S. war correspondents during World War II. This period of his life is mentioned in William Brinkley's bestselling novel Don't Go Near the Water.
