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Secret Agent X vs. Doctor Death
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 20, 2026
2 people are currently reading
About the author
Will Murray
694 books75 followersWill Murray is an American novelist, journalist, and short-story and comic-book writer. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms. Will is the author of over 50 novels in popular series ranging from “The Destroyer” to “Mars Attacks”. Collaborating posthumously with the legendary Lester Dent, he has written to date nine Doc Savage novels, with “Desert Demons” and “Horror in Gold” now available. For National Public Radio, Murray adapted “The Thousand-Headed Man” for “The Adventures of Doc Savage” in 1985, and recently edited “Doc Savage: The Lost Radio Scripts of Lester Dent” for Moonstone Books. He is versed in all things pulp.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2026
As you may know, Will Murray has an army of Pulp Heroes living in his head. Having already unleashed his own renditions of Doc Savage, The Shadow, Tarzan, John Carter, The Spider, Operator #5, G-8 and the Avenger, he now opens the floodgates to bring us FIVE MORE classic heroes. And it’s a good thing he does, because it will take all their efforts to challenge the fiend who is just possibly the most powerful and most evil villain of the pulp era. The result is one of Will’s most ambitious undertakings yet, and he pulls it off in grand style.
If you’ve already met Secret Agent X, Dr. Death and the other four heroes presented here, you’re for a special treat. But if not, you’re in for an even greater treat, because this book will open up six new worlds of adventure for you. Will does such a great job of introducing and enlivening each main character that you’ll leave wanting to see more of them. (And you’ll be pleased to know the complete adventures of all six have been reprinted—filling 28 volumes—most of which are readily available.)
Dr. Death reigns supreme among pulp villains because he’s not only a mad scientist, but a master of the occult. He augments his diabolical inventions with a stable of mythical monsters and a horde of zombies he has personally raised from the dead. His ultimate goal is to obliterate modern civilization and form a new world order—with himself as ruler. He’s one of the rare bad guys who starred in his own magazine (three issues) and had four more stories in All Detective.
Laboring to stop him is Secret Agent X, a man of unknown identity who can disguise himself as anyone, and has access to unlimited funds and resources. Armed with a gas gun and a cigarette lighter shooting knock-out darts, X has vanquished many foes in his long career, but when Dr. Death proves too much for him, he’s forced to recruit a Secret Circle of heroes. One of these, revealed on the book’s cover, is the mysterious crimefighter the Moon Man, and another is detective Wade Hammond, a specialist in tackling weird mysteries. (X starred in 41 issues of his own magazine, while Hammond and Moon Man appeared in Ten Detective Aces.) The other two equally cool heroes are not introduced until later in the book, so I’ll let you discover them yourself.
Will Murray took on a herculean task here, balancing the point of view of all these characters with the supporting casts of both the X and Death magazines. Cops and other folks from the two series are thrown together for the first time, pooling their efforts to fight the doctor and puzzle over what X is up to—and what face he’s wearing at any given moment. We’re kept guessing, too, as X is liable to turn up as just about anyone.
With harpies, minotaurs, zombies, a bat-winged owl and an evil Egyptian princess on the loose, there’s never a dull moment. The tension mounts until all forces and characters converge in a slam-bang climax worthy of a big-budget action movie.
Will Murray has given us many a Wild ride, but he’s pulled out all the stops here, and this might be his Wildest book yet. It’s one you DO NOT want to miss!
If you’ve already met Secret Agent X, Dr. Death and the other four heroes presented here, you’re for a special treat. But if not, you’re in for an even greater treat, because this book will open up six new worlds of adventure for you. Will does such a great job of introducing and enlivening each main character that you’ll leave wanting to see more of them. (And you’ll be pleased to know the complete adventures of all six have been reprinted—filling 28 volumes—most of which are readily available.)
Dr. Death reigns supreme among pulp villains because he’s not only a mad scientist, but a master of the occult. He augments his diabolical inventions with a stable of mythical monsters and a horde of zombies he has personally raised from the dead. His ultimate goal is to obliterate modern civilization and form a new world order—with himself as ruler. He’s one of the rare bad guys who starred in his own magazine (three issues) and had four more stories in All Detective.
Laboring to stop him is Secret Agent X, a man of unknown identity who can disguise himself as anyone, and has access to unlimited funds and resources. Armed with a gas gun and a cigarette lighter shooting knock-out darts, X has vanquished many foes in his long career, but when Dr. Death proves too much for him, he’s forced to recruit a Secret Circle of heroes. One of these, revealed on the book’s cover, is the mysterious crimefighter the Moon Man, and another is detective Wade Hammond, a specialist in tackling weird mysteries. (X starred in 41 issues of his own magazine, while Hammond and Moon Man appeared in Ten Detective Aces.) The other two equally cool heroes are not introduced until later in the book, so I’ll let you discover them yourself.
Will Murray took on a herculean task here, balancing the point of view of all these characters with the supporting casts of both the X and Death magazines. Cops and other folks from the two series are thrown together for the first time, pooling their efforts to fight the doctor and puzzle over what X is up to—and what face he’s wearing at any given moment. We’re kept guessing, too, as X is liable to turn up as just about anyone.
With harpies, minotaurs, zombies, a bat-winged owl and an evil Egyptian princess on the loose, there’s never a dull moment. The tension mounts until all forces and characters converge in a slam-bang climax worthy of a big-budget action movie.
Will Murray has given us many a Wild ride, but he’s pulled out all the stops here, and this might be his Wildest book yet. It’s one you DO NOT want to miss!
Displaying 1 of 1 review