Published in 1911, Fantômas launched one of the most remarkable series in French popular fiction. The eponymous villain — a faceless, shape-shifting master criminal with no motivation beyond evil itself — set a new standard for the thriller genre and fascinated the Surrealists, who saw in Fantômas an embodiment of anarchic liberation. This English translation captures the original’s breathless pace.
Inspector Juve’s obsessive pursuit of the uncatchable Fantômas unfolds across dozens of sequels, but the first novel is the best entry point. Download this public-domain classic as a free EPUB.