To Kill a Shadow

Traveler #4

by D.B. Drumm

TO AVENGE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD WORLD, HE HAD TO TAKE ON ALL THE TWISTED HORRORS OF THE NEW...

After the nukes came down, most people were too busy surviving to worry about the past. But for Traveler, survival meant settling scores with Major Vallone, the officer whod betrayed him in World Warr III's opening act... and who'd destroy Traveler if Traveler didn't get him first.

But Vallone had allies: President Andrew Fayling, whose plan to "rebuild" America might mean razing it a second time, and the The Black Rider, the mutant road-rat whose pwoers were those of darkness itself. And as Traveler stalked his enemies, they were stalking him -- with the most hideous denizens of the atomic wasteland as their hired assassins!

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic

173 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1984

About the author

Pen-name for Ed Naha
Pen-name for John Shirley

Reviews

[Karl]

Book 4 in the series. Written by John Shirley as D. B. Drumm that takes place 15 years after a nuclear apocalypse and the antics of the remaining survivors. Back when paperback boos cost two bucks new!

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is kind of like a mix between The Road Warrior and Lord Of The Rings type book. Post apocalypse, 80's style with heavy fantasy elements. Crazy man cars. Giant maggots. And other weird creatures. The story is pretty simple, though. Traveler hunt's his nemesis, Major Vallone and The Black Rider down to kill them. Runs across a commune of religious survivors that help him. Less D&D and more Mad Max would of made this better.

[Lewis Szymanski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by John Shirley as D. B. Drumm.

John Shirley delivers another fast-moving Traveler installment that reads more like horror fiction than the typical post-nuke pulp. This book is full of mutants, but they are not the result of nuclear fallout. The mutants are the product of a secret military lab. They are all grotesque, but several are not very believable. Not that that matters in a book like this.

This episode takes place in Northern California. Traveler has heard of some weird military activity in the area, so he decides that it is a good place to look for Vallone and the Black Rider. He ends up helping a religious cult to defend themselves against glory boy raids. It's like The Magnificent Seven, but with one protector. He leads a successful counter-assault against the military base. The captives are rescued, the genetics lab is destroyed, and Traveler kills both of his arch enemies. It seems strange that Shirley would kill both bad guys in the same book and two books before the end of his turn as D.B. Drumm. Vallone and the Black Rider appear in just a handful of pages each. Given that it turns out this is the last we’ll ever see of them, it would’ve been more satisfying if they’d been a little more visible throughout the novel.

Traveler has a fling with one of the members of the religious community, Sister Ilana. No graphic sex scenes again. Sister Ilana ends up dead before the end of the book, so there is probably some pulp fiction etiquette about that.

Nicholas Shumi and Ronin show up to help a few times.

When Traveler leaves the cult one of the rescued captives goes with him. Link is a tall, bald, black guy. All we know about him is that he used to train CIA operatives to use M16s. Their immediate goal is to find a replacement windshield and door for Traveler's van, the Meat Wagon, then to find Jan's tribe.

This was an odd, not completely satisfying Traveler volume.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, with a really strong ending. The only criticism I had is that some of the mutants introduced in this volume were rather ridiculous. The Cen-cars, which are like hybrid human cars and the Gutters, which were sort of like rhino-humans. They played a role in the story but it was a bit hard for me to suspend disbelief about these. Otherwise, though, lots of action and good characterization. Enjoyable.

[Wes · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I am pretty sure this is the last Traveler book I'll be reading. At least for a very long while. I don't plan to seek out any more as I'm not so into the character or these books to really try and go the extra mile and find them. If I come across them, and they are cheap, then maybe.

That being said, this book actually kind of wraps up a lot for the main character. It doesn't solve the post apocalyptic problem, but the main villains that drive traveler are axed from the series at this point. Their death was lack luster, but who knows, maybe they make some kind of magical appearance later on in the series. There are still some stray threads from the earlier books and from what I know they get wrapped up a couple of books later, but again, I'm not trying to find them right now.

You'll know where you stand on this series at this point. If you haven't read any of the other ones and you're interested, then you should go back to the first, but reading this one won't kill the series or anything for you.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this novel had ever made into the movies, I hope the director would’ve been John Carpenter. It reminded me of grindhouse gratifications like Escape from New York and Mad Max. I’ve been told by a reliable source the author here is John Shirley, writing behind a pseudonym.

This book is non-stop action and violence with a graphic sex scene thrown in for good measure (perhaps to satisfy a contract requirement). Glory Boys, Gutters, Trompers, snake-things, a Black Rider, holy Brother John, Robbie the blossoming assassin, and Luke the last-minute African American kick-ass hero—it’s quite a cast romping through 173 pages of gutsy combat splatter.

There is an over-arcing plot, but much of this reads like stream of consciousness, batted out in a fever pitch of flow. If apocalyptic dystopia strikes your fancy, you’ll love the Traveler. And lucky for you Dell published thirteen novels in the series from 1984–1987.

[Paperbackbooks86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

To a kill a shadow takes the Traveler series into a whole new direction! A direction I was hoping would happen ever since I believe book 2. In book 2, you will recall the Traveler goes into a top secret base and something almost paranormal comes from the ground. Ever since that moment happened, I was hoping the series would go full tilt in a wild post apocalyptic world.

In book 3, we saw small glimpse of it, but in book 4, Drum just went for it! So many wild things a brought forth in this book. What a wild ride from start to finish. A lot of action that makes this book go by lighting quick. I’m curious to see where the series is going to go now.

I have enjoyed reading traveler and the Guardians side by side, and seeing how different and how similar authors depicted the WW3 outcome to be.

If you’ve enjoyed the the series so far, this one won’t disappoint! 5 stars.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the preview chapter in the previous Traveler book, I was kind of excited to read a book about post-apocalyptic car/human hybrids. Unfortunately, that concept is immediately dropped for more typical post-apocalyptic gang warfare story lines. We eventually get some more mutant humans, but its hard to shock me with anything else when you lead with cannibalistic car guys.

It might be a slapdash effort, but it's not without charm.

[Kenneth Krammager · Rating 4 out of 5]

En ok drenge aktion bog med en masse super seje klamme mutanter, in The middle of nowhere…
Jeg personligt synes ikke bogen har en god afslutning. Hovedpersonens hævn problem, bliver løst alt for nemt. Desværre foregår klimaks alt for hurtigt til sidst. Jeg havde forventet mere af den sorte Ridder… derfor får den 4 stjerner.

[James]

While he stalks his enemy Major Vallone, the officer who betrayed him, Traveler suddenly finds himself the intended prey of the Black Rider, the mutant biker, and his hideous army of assassins

[Steve]

John Shirley writing as D.B. Drumm.