The front cover of the paperback (artist unknown). It shows a scantily-clad white woman seemingly encased in a large cut gem. The tagline reads, "The great diamond flashed with the brilliance of hellfire—many had died to own it—all who owned it had died. Now it was hers…"
The back cover. It reads:
The legendary diamond was bigger than a lover's heart, more dazzling than the fires of hell…
Through the centuries men had sold their souls for it, women had given their bodies for it…
For the man who stole it it meant freedom—a terrible, final freedom.
For the girl in the shadow of the guillotine it was a dream of love and marriage—and the price she must pay for living.
For the belle of New Orleans it was an insult to Southern womanhood, a threat to virtue no gentleman could fail to avenge.
For the spy it was a gift of love—to the woman he meant to kill.
And for all who possessed it it was fate, irresistible and evil.
CORNELL WOOLRICH, whose suspense classics (The Bride Wore Black, The Phantom Lady, and many others) have held millions breathless through countless printings, is the acknowledged master of sudden terror. His recently published Beyond the Night (Avon) was hailed as "an original collection of six short truly gripping thrillers in the unexcelled Cornell Woolrich-William Irish manner" (Clark Kinnaird, in his syndicated Parade of Books column.) The Doom Stone, published here for the first time, is Woolrich at his hair-raising best.
The first page teaser. It reads:
INDIA, 1757
From the great doors of the sacred temple, a man dashes into the torchlit night. In one hand he grasps a bloody dagger, in the other the fabulous diamond that will buy his freedom. Terror drives him into the jungle as the torches close in behind him—and ahead…
PARIS, 1792
In the foul, dark dungeons of the Bastille, a beautiful young countess clutches the great gem that is her last, useless treasure and dreams of lost love. Tonight she must choose: her head to La Guillotine or her body to the coarse hands of Citizen Dunot. She rises, beckons the guard…
NEW ORLEANS, 1871
Diamond Davey, with the city in his pocket, sends a jewel to a lady whose family he has ruined; a present, with strings attached, that is to come back to him wrapped in nightmares…
TOKYO, 1941
East meets West in a tragic lovers' tryst, while a world gone mad mocks their passion. And in the great diamond the fires of hell flash brighter, as the curse claims two more lives…
Picked up a cheap copy of Cornell Woolrich's THE DOOM STONE today! Published in 1960 (so one of his later novels), it was an expansion/rewrite of his 1939 three-part serial, "The Eye of Doom" (as published in ARGOSY). I have yet to read either. #pulp