Black Falcon, The

The Shadow Pulp #47

by Maxwell Grant

The Black Falcon, a mysterious master of crime, has solved the Shadow's identity by cracking one of The Shadow's clever disguise. Keeping his own identity hidden, The Black Falcon assigns an evil henchman named Terry Rukes to carry out a bold kidnapping plan and capture The Shadow. With his identity compromised, the Shadow takes flight to avoid capture and triumph against this worthy foe.

Genres: Pulp

MP3 CD

Published March 27, 2018

About the author

Maxwell Grant was a pseudonym often used by Walter B. Gibson to write stories of "The Shadow".

Reviews

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Shadow goes up against The Black Falcon, a super villain (or "super criminal" here) nearly as clever and enigmatic as he is. We get my favorite version of The Shadow here: An almost mystical force that stalks around "like a vampire", and any who look upon his true face are doomed to die!

If I had any complaints, it would be the one that I have most often with the Shadow novels: not nearly enough Shadow. When he is on the page, though, good times ensue.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Black Falcon by Maxwell Grant is the penultimate Shadow novel that I own. I procured a batch of five not too long ago, and have steadily been working my way through them. This one is a better than the last one. It has an interesting atmospheric set up, it builds on the mystery of the shadow (even though I've already been spoiled on that), and the villain is halfway capable. You could even see the meeting between the Shadow and the Black Falcon as a regular old competition and baiting session, which while a bit obvious, does give the reader an opportunity to get clued into what's about to happen next. While The Black Falcon is capable, right around the mid-novel reveal I found myself less than compelled by him. The mystery of the Face of the Shadow is intriguing, but in a cheap way. In a latter book we find out what he looks like, and it doesn't seem like it would inspire the type of horror it did in this outing.

Ah well.

A good, quick read down pulp thriller lane, but little more. The set up and intrigue is better than the payoff.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Falcon is constructed here, like Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes. He has been born in this novel, wholesale, shown as an incredibly effective counter to The Shadow. Most of this story is told from the Falcons perspective, or the perspective of the Police. The Shadow, is merely a force of nature (To the police) and an easily removed obstacle (To the falcon). However, despite how intricately the falcon believes he has tied every loose thread, it all unravels excellently in favor of The Shadow.

[Dan Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrator was good. The voice of Weston seemed a little sinister but that was the only thing that did not seem quite right. Good story and the Lamont story was a nice touch.

[Mark Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting spin on set ups in previous novels. The real Lamont Cranston is kidnapped by a masked crime boss who thinks he’s got the Shadow. Oh! And other stuff happens too.

[Ronald]

read some time in 2007