1 OCTOBER 1898, Page 24

Max. By Julian Croskey. (John Lane.)—We cannot under- stand the

passion some writers have for making a man of Max's type the hero and principal character of a story of five hundred pages. He is a selfish profligate of inordinate conceit whose only gleam of better things is his having assisted in a Chinese insur- rection,—and been duped by a woman. The beginning, which is good, introduces us to the Chinese jail and the departure of the released rebel to England. But the remainder of the story, which is simply a morbid analysis of Max's diseased mind, would pall on any taste. The description of Max's attempts to get a lodging in the East End is extremely well done ; the author knows his Mile End Road well. " Julian Croskey " should be able to write something better than this.