Sax Rohmer's the Trail of Fu Manchu

"The Trail of Fu Manchu" -- The seventh of the perilous adventures of Sir Denis Layland Smith and his trusted companion, Dr. Petrie. An intriguing full-length thriller in which the logic and ordered knowledge of the civilized Englishman confronts the strange powers and evil forces of the Orient's most sinister master of loathsome deeds, Dr. Fu Manchu.

From the epigraph: "Nayland Smith strained against his bonds, seared by the heat of the furnace, deafened by its thunderous roar. This was the heart of Fu Manchu's devilish 'science' -- from these white-hot flames came the elixir that gave the insiduous Doctor his incredible powers. Fu Manchu's hypnotic green eyes looked at his prisoner -- and a wave of horror swept over Smith. For he knew that the flames of Fu Manchu's fires must be fed with human flesh -- his flesh!"