The scenes of this story are laid in Egypt featuring Abu-Tabah, the inscrutable Egyptian, who appears and disappears so mysteriously. Abu-Tabah is is not so blood-curdling a villain as Fu Manchu, but his exploits possess the same exotic interest that characterized the often nefarious activities of the yellow doctor. In the latter half of the book, notably in the story, The Valley of the Sorceress, there is an element new to Sax Rohmer’s work, the supernatural.