Project Gutenberg 2020-05-18 Public domain in the USA. 148 Wylie, Dirk 1920 1949 Dockweiler, Joseph Harold Dockweiller, Henry Lavond, Paul Dennis Pohl, Frederik 1919 2013 Pohl, Frederick Pohl, Frederik George, Jr. MacCreigh, James Lavond, Paul Dennis Asteroid of the Damned Produced from Planet Stories Summer 1942 Attributed to Pohl and Wylie by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1417015 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Asteroid of the Damned" by Dirk Wylie is a science fiction novel likely written in the early 1940s. The story is set on a lawless asteroid known as Pallas, which serves as a refuge for outlaws and an infamous gambling den populated by a peculiar race called the Kiddies. The narrative revolves around a protagonist named MacCauley, who is on a mission to track down a crime lord involved in the narcotics trade flooding the inner planets with a dangerous drug called narcophene. The plot unfolds as MacCauley navigates the chaotic life on Pallas, encountering various alien species and the close-knit, odd inhabitants known as Kiddies, who have a bizarre obsession with metal. After being robbed by one of them, MacCauley faces numerous challenges, including the treachery of a fellow TPL (Tri-Planet Law) agent named Kittrell, who is revealed to be part of the narcophene operation. The story builds up to a tense climax where MacCauley cleverly uses his knowledge of the Kiddies' affinity for metal, ultimately using it to negotiate his escape and seize control of the situation, setting up for a potential future empire on the asteroid. The concluding twist highlights themes of ambition and the unexpected ways one can turn adversity into an opportunity for success. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 75.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Detective and mystery stories Drug traffic -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Asteroids -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery Category: Novels 70128 2025-06-24T13:56:16.122215 text/html 46407 2024-10-18T03:30:33 text/html 263330 2025-06-24T13:56:17.994301 application/epub+zip 262141 2025-06-24T13:56:16.571247 application/epub+zip 87561 2025-06-24T13:56:16.277315 application/epub+zip 302310 2025-06-24T13:56:19.254278 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 294681 2025-06-24T13:56:17.806208 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 120457 2022-09-28T04:09:43.915269 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 63316 2023-09-26T12:26:23.164368 text/plain 43476 2024-10-18T03:30:33 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18182 2025-06-24T13:56:19.383186 application/rdf+xml 28590 2025-06-24T13:56:16.448209 image/jpeg 4932 2025-06-24T13:56:16.406205 image/jpeg 447630 2025-06-24T13:56:16.140222 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia More titles under McCann, Edson