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The Shadow Pulp #9
The Mobsmen On The Spot
The Shadow series, Maxwell Grant, Pyramid paperbacks 1-13 in the ‘0-515 N” series. One through 12 are cover-priced at 95-cents, number 13 is $1.25. All have black spines and white text. All were printed between 1974 and 1977, all are edge-stained green with cover art by . Sold as a set. Good. All have signs of rubbing, soiling and creases but still show bright artwork and strong lettering to the spine. Number 8, top edge creased. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 and corner creases on the cover. A few have light water stains that do not affect the covers or text on the pages.
190 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
3 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Maxwell Grant
651 books32 followersMaxwell Grant was a pseudonym often used by Walter B. Gibson to write stories of "The Shadow".
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 17, 2024
Another good Shadow story! Not as exciting as previous chapters, but a good story nonetheless. The Shadow is a side-character, as per usual, but he shows up when he needs to. Looking forward to the next one.
Recommended
Recommended
April 16, 2024
The 9th novel in “The Shadow” series (#3 by Pyramid books), first published in April of 1932, is another very nice entry by Walter B. Gibson writing under the Maxwell Grant pseudonym. The Shadow and his agents go up against a network of protection rackets in Manhattan, facing down mobsters from the lowest level street thugs to the very top of the billion-dollar scheme.
This novel is notable for introducing one of The Shadow’s most trusted agents, Cliff Marsland, recently released from Sing Sing, after serving time for a murder he did not commit. Due to his big size, rugged looks and a reputation for having served time, Marsland is able to infiltrate the underworld on The Shadow's behalf. That’s what he does here, and it pays off in spades. Other agents that appear in this novel are Burbank, the mysterious communications specialist as well as ace reporter, Clyde Burke. The Shadow himself, as he often does, frequently assumes his guise as Lamont Cranston.
I’ve read four of these books so far and happily, I have quite a few more on my shelf to look forward to.
This novel is notable for introducing one of The Shadow’s most trusted agents, Cliff Marsland, recently released from Sing Sing, after serving time for a murder he did not commit. Due to his big size, rugged looks and a reputation for having served time, Marsland is able to infiltrate the underworld on The Shadow's behalf. That’s what he does here, and it pays off in spades. Other agents that appear in this novel are Burbank, the mysterious communications specialist as well as ace reporter, Clyde Burke. The Shadow himself, as he often does, frequently assumes his guise as Lamont Cranston.
I’ve read four of these books so far and happily, I have quite a few more on my shelf to look forward to.
August 9, 2022
After a couple lackluster issues, this story feels like a real return to the form. The Shadow goes back to the unknown void where he belongs, a mysterious force of ambiguous good, communicating by means of secret messages and destructible letters - leaving the spotlight for his agents, all decent and competent and driving the plot, no Harry Vincent in sight making things harder for everyone... and of course, the idiot mobsters get to show off a bunch too. I always liked those.
I'd rate this almost as high as Gangdom's Doom. The only thing missing is the personal stakes and revenge, and perhaps some of The Shadow's disguises.
I'd rate this almost as high as Gangdom's Doom. The only thing missing is the personal stakes and revenge, and perhaps some of The Shadow's disguises.
June 11, 2020
The Shadow breaks in Cliff Marsland as his newest agent, and Marsland must take on gangdom, with lots of help from The Shadow.
I miss Harry Vincent and the scrapes he used to get himself into, but Marsland comes with the backstory of just getting out of jail for a crime he didn't commit. He took the rap to save somebody else, but he met lots of wise guys in prison, so now he's in with these criminal types. The trouble is, no sooner does he get out than does a gangster frame Clint for a fresh gangland murder.
It all winds up involving a bigshot named Killer Durgan and a plot by racketeers to gain control of theaters, parking garages, or any other industry they can get their hooks in. Naturally there are various gangdom types, including the slimy Ernie Shires, who does the murder Cliff gets credit for. There is also a hidden mastermind behind the rackets which gives us the big reveal at the end.
This is not quite the joyride that was “The Black Master” or “The Silent Seven”, however we do get plenty of Lamont Cranston in this one, he happens to be involved with some of the theaters that the racketeers are trying to move in on.
What do we get in this one? There's a drawing room with a handy poison-gas execution device, clues via film run backwards, gangsters' girlfriends switching teams, long lost other girlfriends, suspicious secretary, murder in a movie theater timed to gunshots on screen, clues in pencil on glass tabletops, kidnapping, exploding trucks, and lots of shooting.
I feel like “The Shadow” works a little better when he's taking on the weird exotic villains or foreign spies, etc. This and “Gangdom's Doom” are done well enough, but they don't quite equal stuff like “The Red Menace”.
I miss Harry Vincent and the scrapes he used to get himself into, but Marsland comes with the backstory of just getting out of jail for a crime he didn't commit. He took the rap to save somebody else, but he met lots of wise guys in prison, so now he's in with these criminal types. The trouble is, no sooner does he get out than does a gangster frame Clint for a fresh gangland murder.
It all winds up involving a bigshot named Killer Durgan and a plot by racketeers to gain control of theaters, parking garages, or any other industry they can get their hooks in. Naturally there are various gangdom types, including the slimy Ernie Shires, who does the murder Cliff gets credit for. There is also a hidden mastermind behind the rackets which gives us the big reveal at the end.
This is not quite the joyride that was “The Black Master” or “The Silent Seven”, however we do get plenty of Lamont Cranston in this one, he happens to be involved with some of the theaters that the racketeers are trying to move in on.
What do we get in this one? There's a drawing room with a handy poison-gas execution device, clues via film run backwards, gangsters' girlfriends switching teams, long lost other girlfriends, suspicious secretary, murder in a movie theater timed to gunshots on screen, clues in pencil on glass tabletops, kidnapping, exploding trucks, and lots of shooting.
I feel like “The Shadow” works a little better when he's taking on the weird exotic villains or foreign spies, etc. This and “Gangdom's Doom” are done well enough, but they don't quite equal stuff like “The Red Menace”.
September 11, 2020
A refreshingly simple yet engaging read where the good guy becomes aware of a crime, solves it and punishes the criminals. Nuance and layers are great but sometimes you just need pulp.
January 19, 2016
April 1, 1932.
In a way it's not at all surprising that the Shadow is still popular today and his popularity may even be growing. One thing about the Shadow: the evil men get taken care of, one way or another. Most of them, it seems, end up dead. If not dead, they are at least arrested and put away for a very long time, unlike today's world where evil people with kill themselves or get a relatively short prison term, if that much. The nature of crime was also simpler, then. Evil people hurt other people physically, killing them, injuring them, robbing them or something of the like. In today's world, many of the evil people sit at the top of corporations and agencies and are able to cheat people out of their money and get away with it, sometimes even getting paid a lot of money for doing good at fleecing people.
A new agent for the Shadow appears in this story, Cliff Marsland who had served his own time in prison. He's the perfect agent for finding out information from other crooks since he fits in so well with them, having been considered a crook himself (although he wasn't actually a crook at all).
The story involves various rackets that were set up at the time. A racket was when a crook, or group of crooks, obtained control over some branch of business, like dock work, for example, skimming money from them. If the people didn't go along with that, they tended to get hurt, bad. One guy refuses to give in and the crooks kidnap his daughter. Clyde Burke and Burbank are also in the story.
The Shadow uses a silencer on his gun (for the first time). He also shows how he can climb the sides of a building, although the rubber cups he wore later don't seemed to be used this time. There's also an indication that the man who is the Shadow had worked with Marsland during World War I, possible on something to do with codes.
In a way it's not at all surprising that the Shadow is still popular today and his popularity may even be growing. One thing about the Shadow: the evil men get taken care of, one way or another. Most of them, it seems, end up dead. If not dead, they are at least arrested and put away for a very long time, unlike today's world where evil people with kill themselves or get a relatively short prison term, if that much. The nature of crime was also simpler, then. Evil people hurt other people physically, killing them, injuring them, robbing them or something of the like. In today's world, many of the evil people sit at the top of corporations and agencies and are able to cheat people out of their money and get away with it, sometimes even getting paid a lot of money for doing good at fleecing people.
A new agent for the Shadow appears in this story, Cliff Marsland who had served his own time in prison. He's the perfect agent for finding out information from other crooks since he fits in so well with them, having been considered a crook himself (although he wasn't actually a crook at all).
The story involves various rackets that were set up at the time. A racket was when a crook, or group of crooks, obtained control over some branch of business, like dock work, for example, skimming money from them. If the people didn't go along with that, they tended to get hurt, bad. One guy refuses to give in and the crooks kidnap his daughter. Clyde Burke and Burbank are also in the story.
The Shadow uses a silencer on his gun (for the first time). He also shows how he can climb the sides of a building, although the rubber cups he wore later don't seemed to be used this time. There's also an indication that the man who is the Shadow had worked with Marsland during World War I, possible on something to do with codes.
June 18, 2011
The major failing of the Shadow novels so far is that The Shadow's sheer awesomeness tends to over-Shadow his lackeys. So to speak.
The Shadow goes to effort to recruit his minions and give them missions, but he himself shows up in the nick of time to rescue them. If he already knows what is going on and where to be, why bother having subordinates, especially those whose understanding and autonomy is sharply limited, and whose management is by circuitous routes of secret codes and messages?
The Shadow as a concept and character seems to work best as a master puppeteer, more rumored than actually seen, pitted against another puppeteer.
The Shadow goes to effort to recruit his minions and give them missions, but he himself shows up in the nick of time to rescue them. If he already knows what is going on and where to be, why bother having subordinates, especially those whose understanding and autonomy is sharply limited, and whose management is by circuitous routes of secret codes and messages?
The Shadow as a concept and character seems to work best as a master puppeteer, more rumored than actually seen, pitted against another puppeteer.
September 4, 2016
This book was real fun. Don't forget that it is just a pulp, so do not expect something else. It has a cool 1930s Manhattan atmosphere perfect for nostalgia lovers. The shadow knows, that is the premise of the story. He directs Cliff Marsland as he investigates and takes down the racketeering business. Definitely has a reason on why he has "helpers" working for him and then showing up in the nick of the time to save them from sticky situations. He works as a protective "shadow" but also he is helping his helpers. Totally recommended for people that enjoy pulps!
May 13, 2020
The Shadow battles racketeers. Primarily, garage racketeers. As in, gangsters slash tires parked over night on the street to make people park them in garages. That's the big crime ring the mobsters are running. That, and a theater protection racket.
As usual, the Shadow himself is not a main character, and the story is better for it, leaving him a mysterious force. The new protagonist is a gangster newly released from prison, who ends up working for the Shadow.
As usual, the Shadow himself is not a main character, and the story is better for it, leaving him a mysterious force. The new protagonist is a gangster newly released from prison, who ends up working for the Shadow.
April 15, 2025
This early Shadow novel, written by Walter Gibson (using the usual house name of Maxwell Grant) introduced us to Cliff Marsland. Cliff is a man who did a term in Sing Sing after being convicted of a crime he didn't commit. He's out now and recruited by the Shadow to help break up a multi-layered protection racket that plagues New York City.
That racket is run by a crook named Killer Durgan, though there's a number of other lower-level crooks involved. The novel opens with the Shadow finishing off a scheme to extort protection money from the owners of warehouses. But Durgan is also getting protection money from garage owners, dock workers, and theater owners.
With Cliff getting inside information, the Shadow takes down these rackets one by one. At one point, he has Cliff recruit a small gang of his own to work against Durgan's organization. This leads to a wonderful sequence in which Durgan attempts to plant bombs in garages that won't pay protection--only to have those bombs mysteriously transplanted to garages he owns. (They go off at night, so there's no innocent people hurt.)
There's a supporting character involved in all this I really enjoy--a crook named Nippy who teams up with Cliff. He thinks Cliff is working to take over the rackets himself and has no idea he's working on the side of the angels. But he's brave and very loyal--saving Cliff's bacon on a couple of occasions. There's also Madge--Durgan's moll who develops a thing for Cliff, which puts her in great danger. Her relationship with very-possessive Durgan is toxic and we can't help but feel for her. The Shadow novels are usually very black-and-white in their portrayal of crooks. But in this case, we can't help but like Nippy and sympathize with Madge.
As is usual with Gibson's Shadow novels, there's some really fun action scenes. Most notable are a shootout in a night club when Nippy first teams up with Cliff. Later on, Cliff and his mini-gang become mixed up in a massive shoot-out between two gangs at the docks.
As usual, the Shadow keeps popping up at key moments to also keep Cliff save and thin out the ranks of the ungodly. And he's one step ahead of us readers as well--when it seems as if the leader of the racket is finally taken down, we find out this isn't quite true. There's a secret mastermind out there. We don't know this is, but... well, the Shadow knows.
In the end, the Shadow takes out the main villain in a pretty cold-blooded manner, but the guy definitely had it coming. Besides, who are we to question the methods of the Master of Men?
That racket is run by a crook named Killer Durgan, though there's a number of other lower-level crooks involved. The novel opens with the Shadow finishing off a scheme to extort protection money from the owners of warehouses. But Durgan is also getting protection money from garage owners, dock workers, and theater owners.
With Cliff getting inside information, the Shadow takes down these rackets one by one. At one point, he has Cliff recruit a small gang of his own to work against Durgan's organization. This leads to a wonderful sequence in which Durgan attempts to plant bombs in garages that won't pay protection--only to have those bombs mysteriously transplanted to garages he owns. (They go off at night, so there's no innocent people hurt.)
There's a supporting character involved in all this I really enjoy--a crook named Nippy who teams up with Cliff. He thinks Cliff is working to take over the rackets himself and has no idea he's working on the side of the angels. But he's brave and very loyal--saving Cliff's bacon on a couple of occasions. There's also Madge--Durgan's moll who develops a thing for Cliff, which puts her in great danger. Her relationship with very-possessive Durgan is toxic and we can't help but feel for her. The Shadow novels are usually very black-and-white in their portrayal of crooks. But in this case, we can't help but like Nippy and sympathize with Madge.
As is usual with Gibson's Shadow novels, there's some really fun action scenes. Most notable are a shootout in a night club when Nippy first teams up with Cliff. Later on, Cliff and his mini-gang become mixed up in a massive shoot-out between two gangs at the docks.
As usual, the Shadow keeps popping up at key moments to also keep Cliff save and thin out the ranks of the ungodly. And he's one step ahead of us readers as well--when it seems as if the leader of the racket is finally taken down, we find out this isn't quite true. There's a secret mastermind out there. We don't know this is, but... well, the Shadow knows.
In the end, the Shadow takes out the main villain in a pretty cold-blooded manner, but the guy definitely had it coming. Besides, who are we to question the methods of the Master of Men?
December 16, 2022
A solid Shadow story. Not one of the amazing classics, not one of the dull ones that don't entirely know where they're heading. Just an entertaining tale of The Shadow taking down various rackets.
There are some cringy moments as far as the writing of women. I noted in the second story that I realized after that there were no women anywhere in the story, not even mentioned. Now in this one we see some women taking key roles in the story, and... the dialogue and actions made me think there was a reason why the author avoided trying to write women.
Once again this is one of those stories where you'll see where things are going pretty early, and The Shadow will show up as deus ex machina with no explanation of how he got there, or, in one case, why his agent was doing what he was, since how things played out made it seem like he was never necessary, except for the purpose of being in danger and creating a conflict. Maybe four stars is generous given those failings, but I found it enjoyable overall.
It's probably not fair to link or compare them, but I couldn't escape the feeling that this story was to make up for Gangdom's Doom, a story that was assigned, directed by editorial against the wishes of the author, and which ended up as a very generic gangster story where you literally could remove The Shadow entirely and it wouldn't hurt the quality or general direction of the story, it would only alter a few incidental details throughout. This time around we get The Shadow taking on some big gangster rackets and doing it in more proper Shadow fashion, and it actually feels like truly a Shadow story. And I kind of appreciate that, whether intended or not.
There are some cringy moments as far as the writing of women. I noted in the second story that I realized after that there were no women anywhere in the story, not even mentioned. Now in this one we see some women taking key roles in the story, and... the dialogue and actions made me think there was a reason why the author avoided trying to write women.
Once again this is one of those stories where you'll see where things are going pretty early, and The Shadow will show up as deus ex machina with no explanation of how he got there, or, in one case, why his agent was doing what he was, since how things played out made it seem like he was never necessary, except for the purpose of being in danger and creating a conflict. Maybe four stars is generous given those failings, but I found it enjoyable overall.
It's probably not fair to link or compare them, but I couldn't escape the feeling that this story was to make up for Gangdom's Doom, a story that was assigned, directed by editorial against the wishes of the author, and which ended up as a very generic gangster story where you literally could remove The Shadow entirely and it wouldn't hurt the quality or general direction of the story, it would only alter a few incidental details throughout. This time around we get The Shadow taking on some big gangster rackets and doing it in more proper Shadow fashion, and it actually feels like truly a Shadow story. And I kind of appreciate that, whether intended or not.
May 8, 2020
One of the better Shadow novels. This has everything! A villain bent on taking down our hero, a mobster's moll, a man who owes our hero a favor, and even The Shadow himself! It's all the things you love about your favorite pulp hero all rolled into one book
May 13, 2024
Average, not the best. But Walter Gibson started increasing the violence here. Crooks getting shot to death more regularly, as the series moves closer to the tough action it eventually becomes known for.
January 6, 2026
This was so good, better written than a pulp reader has a right to expect, then the story goes daft in the penultimate chapter and the chapter before that. Enjoyable most of the way, but a letdown at the end.
July 31, 2020
pulp yes, but if you’re into that it rules. The Shadow rules!! love absolute weirdo Lamont Cranston!!! more of THAT thanks
February 21, 2021
The action developed very slowly, representative of the time. It was okay.
July 8, 2021
Buena ambientación, trama aceptable, traducción regulera.
June 14, 2022
A pulp novel featuring the Shadow. Manhattan mobsters face the wrath of the Shadow.
March 12, 2023
see book and two for comments
September 29, 2025
Rereading some good old Pulp Fiction from the 30’s. Nothing better!
December 12, 2015
Excellent Shadow novel, which introduces Cliff Marsland as one of his operatives. Well-written, a good mystery, a lot of action, and even a bit of pathos. This is the way a good ol' fashioned pulp story is done!
February 2, 2016
When it comes to pulp heroes there are 2 or 3 great standouts and the Shadow is one of those. The stories are fast paced and action filled. The mystery just adds to the excitement. With his army of agents to help the Shadow never lets you down for a great read. Highly recommended
April 6, 2018
Another good, fast-paced thriller, this time with The Shadow battling racketeers in New York City. If you like pulp crime fiction and old black and white gangster movies, I highly recommend this book.
December 15, 2011
Better than average early Shadow pulp novel reprint. I'll be looking for more of these.
March 12, 2012
The Shadow recruits underworld figure Cliff Marsland in this one. Blazing .45's ensue.
February 24, 2016
I enjoyed this racket busting rouser. The prose couldn't be much purpler, nor the dialog much more hard-boiled. Say, you'll read this one if you know what's good for you!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews