When millionaire Lamont Cranston and attorney Ham Brooks are
kidnapped by gunmen driving a black hearse, it spells trouble for Doc Savage.
Trouble with compound interest when Cranston’s personal lawyer is mysteriously
murdered before he can consult with celebrated criminologist George
Clarendon—who is secretly The Shadow! These strange events put the Man of
Bronze and the Dark Avenger on a collision course that threatens to expose the
deepest secrets of both supermen. The conflict intensifies when underworld
figure Cliff Marsland is captured and shipped off to Doc’s secret Crime
College! Will these legendary crimefighters join forces—or will the diabolical
Funeral Director have the last laugh on Doc Savage and The Shadow?
“The Sinister Shadow” (Wild Adventures of Doc Savage)
By Kenneth Robeson (Will Murray)
ISBN #978-1618271983
Price $24.95
481 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
“Two of Pulps Greatest Heroes Finally Meet In Fantastic
Adventure”
It’s Fall of 1933, and Lamont Cranston receives a threat for a
quarter million dollars. If he doesn’t pay, the Funeral Director will murder
him. Other millionaires have already died from mysterious heart attacks. Lamont
makes an appointment to see Commissioner Weston, but when work keeps the police
commissioner from their appointment at the Cobalt Club, Cranston seeks out Ham
Brooks, a well-known attorney and asks for a meeting with Doc Savage, but the
Funeral Director has them captured as they arrive on the street of Doc’s
headquarters. This brings Doc Savage into the case, while The Shadow is already
preparing to protect Cranston. Now, the two powerful forces are drawn together
in the case; both seek the same ends, though through different means. Doc
Savage prefers to solve cases through nonviolence, while The Shadow battles
gangdom with blazing automatics and a taunting laugh. Can they set their
differences aside long enough to save their people, or will war break out
between these giants of pulpdom?
Fans have been waiting for this team-up between The Shadow and
Doc Savage for a long time, and they won’t be disappointed in THE SINISTER
SHADOW. Will Murray is the rightful heir to the Doc Savage adventures, and with
this team-up of pulp heroes, it proves he is the likely choice to continue The
Shadow series, as well. The 1933 setting was a perfect springboard to bring the
two characters together. Doc Savage had begun in early 1933, several months
before this novel takes place, and The Shadow had been around since 1931, but
was still a mysterious crime fighter, his identity not known. The author brings
back a super villain who escaped The Shadow twice before, but will he do so
again? I hope we see more new Shadow novels under the pen of Will Murray in the
future. Highly recommended.
Tom Johnson
Detective Mystery Stories
