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The Wild Adventures of the Spider #2
The Spider: Fury in Steel
When a New York subway station is torn apart by inconceivably powerful forces, Richard Wentworth––feared by the Underworld as The Spider––springs into action. Prowling by night to intercept the next attack, Wentworth encounters a band of destroyers far different than any who ever challenged him before––a fearless, merciless foe that does not quail before The Spider's menacing laugh and which sheds his avenging bullets without injury. As a reign of sabotage sweeps the nation, the Master of Men realizes that an old enemy has returned from the grave. But which one? There is only a cryptic warning symbol signed with the cruel taunt, “I AM BACK." While The Spider deploys new weapons to combat this horrific challenge, the F.B.I. sends its top man-hunters into the fray, a trio of disgraced agents whose orders are to blast The Spider on sight. Caught between bulletproof Steel Men and Federal guns, The Spider struggles to balk the destruction of Manhattan while facing a personal holocaust….with his unknown enemy determined to permanently brand Richard Wentworth with his own searing symbol of guilt—the seal of The Spider! Guest starring the F.B.I.'s infamous Suicide Squad!
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2021
10 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Will Murray
686 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 19, 2021
THE SPIDER – FURY IN STEEL
Will Murray’s done it again.
Fresh on the heels of his triumphs with Tarzan: Conqueror of Mars and The Wild Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, comes Fury in Steel, the second entry in his series featuring the Spider.
And like all Will’s books, including the many Wild Adventures of Doc Savage (two of which also feature The Shadow), it’s a damn good read.
His first Spider book, The Doom Legion, guest-starred pulp legends Operator #5 and G-8. Fury in Steel continues that tradition, with an appearance by Emile C. Tepperman’s Suicide Squad. The Squad (not to be confused with the current film series that borrowed its name) is a trio of hard-charging, tommy-gun wielding FBI agents who appeared in a long series of novelettes in the pages of Ace G-Man Stories.
This is especially appropriate, because Tepperman was the number 2 author of the Spider pulps, excelled only by Novell W. Page. Fury in Steel is dedicated to Page, and it’s the spirit of Page that Will Murray is channeling in writing his Spider books. There was always a hint of madness peeping from behind the mask (or makeup) of Page’s Spider, and Will has captured that same brand of crazy.
How he manages this is a wonder. Lester Dent, Walter Gibson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Arthur Conan Doyle and Novell Page all had distinctive styles, but Will is somehow able to shift gears between books and deliver convincing performances with each man’s characters.
Fury in Steel, set during WWII years of the Spider’s career, is firmly planted the Spider canon, with connections to adventures in the pulp series, and also to Will’s previous Spider book, The Doom Legion.
The standard Spider formula is dutifully followed. 1) Present a horde of weird and deadly minions to terrorize the New York City. 2) Introduce our hero, in real life wealthy criminologist Richard Wentworth, to battle the minions. 3) Meet the weird and deadly mastermind who controls the minions. 4) Up the ante, the violence, and the death toll as the baddies run wild, defying all attempts to stem the tide. And 5) See the Spider and his aides strive and fail several times to defeat them, but ultimately succeed, earning a short respite before the next menace comes along.
In Fury in Steel, the minions are steel robots with steam-shovel jaws, so powerful they can take bites out of locomotives, skyscrapers, and even The Statue of Liberty. They are also particularly fond of biting off people’s heads. The mastermind is a fellow the Spider has met before, providing a little extra animosity. And our hero’s efforts to stop the carnage are complicated by the Suicide Squad, who suspect him of being in league with the mastermind, and are more interested in catching him than in going after the real villain.
One of the highlights in this one is the bloodthirsty performance of the Spider’s loyal friend and servant Ram Singh. The Sikh warrior is at his savage best, burning to slit the robots’ throats with his knife or sword.
Just like it sounds, it’s hair-raising action from start to the finish, just the way you like it. And best of all, it’s almost assuredly not the end of the Wild Adventures of the Spider.
Will Murray’s done it again.
Fresh on the heels of his triumphs with Tarzan: Conqueror of Mars and The Wild Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, comes Fury in Steel, the second entry in his series featuring the Spider.
And like all Will’s books, including the many Wild Adventures of Doc Savage (two of which also feature The Shadow), it’s a damn good read.
His first Spider book, The Doom Legion, guest-starred pulp legends Operator #5 and G-8. Fury in Steel continues that tradition, with an appearance by Emile C. Tepperman’s Suicide Squad. The Squad (not to be confused with the current film series that borrowed its name) is a trio of hard-charging, tommy-gun wielding FBI agents who appeared in a long series of novelettes in the pages of Ace G-Man Stories.
This is especially appropriate, because Tepperman was the number 2 author of the Spider pulps, excelled only by Novell W. Page. Fury in Steel is dedicated to Page, and it’s the spirit of Page that Will Murray is channeling in writing his Spider books. There was always a hint of madness peeping from behind the mask (or makeup) of Page’s Spider, and Will has captured that same brand of crazy.
How he manages this is a wonder. Lester Dent, Walter Gibson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Arthur Conan Doyle and Novell Page all had distinctive styles, but Will is somehow able to shift gears between books and deliver convincing performances with each man’s characters.
Fury in Steel, set during WWII years of the Spider’s career, is firmly planted the Spider canon, with connections to adventures in the pulp series, and also to Will’s previous Spider book, The Doom Legion.
The standard Spider formula is dutifully followed. 1) Present a horde of weird and deadly minions to terrorize the New York City. 2) Introduce our hero, in real life wealthy criminologist Richard Wentworth, to battle the minions. 3) Meet the weird and deadly mastermind who controls the minions. 4) Up the ante, the violence, and the death toll as the baddies run wild, defying all attempts to stem the tide. And 5) See the Spider and his aides strive and fail several times to defeat them, but ultimately succeed, earning a short respite before the next menace comes along.
In Fury in Steel, the minions are steel robots with steam-shovel jaws, so powerful they can take bites out of locomotives, skyscrapers, and even The Statue of Liberty. They are also particularly fond of biting off people’s heads. The mastermind is a fellow the Spider has met before, providing a little extra animosity. And our hero’s efforts to stop the carnage are complicated by the Suicide Squad, who suspect him of being in league with the mastermind, and are more interested in catching him than in going after the real villain.
One of the highlights in this one is the bloodthirsty performance of the Spider’s loyal friend and servant Ram Singh. The Sikh warrior is at his savage best, burning to slit the robots’ throats with his knife or sword.
Just like it sounds, it’s hair-raising action from start to the finish, just the way you like it. And best of all, it’s almost assuredly not the end of the Wild Adventures of the Spider.
May 5, 2021
Will Murray's pulp stories are comfort food for me. They take me back to an earlier, simpler time, when there was a lot of black and white, and not much gray. Yes I'm talking about escapism, and that's something everyone needs once in a while.
The Spider is an interesting character. Not so pure as Doc Savage, The Spider never hesitates to kill with impunity. His double life is not so secretive as that of The Shadow. His alter ego, millionaire Richard Wentworth, is clearly the basis for the later Bruce Wayne, whose avatar was yet another animal species. The original Spider stories are more apocalyptic than those of the other pulp heroes, and the Spider seems more deranged than any of those others.
Will Murray brought the Spider back in The Doom Legion, and this new novel is connected to that earlier one. The attack on long suffering New York City this time is by giant robots, reminiscent of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and that film itself reminiscent of the Fleischer Superman cartoons. There is an awful lot of text devoted to fighting giant robots, maybe too much for some readers, though there is enough cross action involving the Spider's identity and the 3 FBI agents known as the Suicide Squad, as well as bickering between Jackson and Ram Singh, two Spider compatriots, to keep the story moving forward. Unfortunately there is not enough Nita van Sloan in the book for my taste!
The hard cover edition I read also contains an add-on G-8 story, connected closely to the main novel, as well as an afterword covering the genesis of the book. Certainly if you are a 1930s pulp fan, and specifically a fan of The Spider, this book will fulfill your pulp cravings.
The Spider is an interesting character. Not so pure as Doc Savage, The Spider never hesitates to kill with impunity. His double life is not so secretive as that of The Shadow. His alter ego, millionaire Richard Wentworth, is clearly the basis for the later Bruce Wayne, whose avatar was yet another animal species. The original Spider stories are more apocalyptic than those of the other pulp heroes, and the Spider seems more deranged than any of those others.
Will Murray brought the Spider back in The Doom Legion, and this new novel is connected to that earlier one. The attack on long suffering New York City this time is by giant robots, reminiscent of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and that film itself reminiscent of the Fleischer Superman cartoons. There is an awful lot of text devoted to fighting giant robots, maybe too much for some readers, though there is enough cross action involving the Spider's identity and the 3 FBI agents known as the Suicide Squad, as well as bickering between Jackson and Ram Singh, two Spider compatriots, to keep the story moving forward. Unfortunately there is not enough Nita van Sloan in the book for my taste!
The hard cover edition I read also contains an add-on G-8 story, connected closely to the main novel, as well as an afterword covering the genesis of the book. Certainly if you are a 1930s pulp fan, and specifically a fan of The Spider, this book will fulfill your pulp cravings.
September 18, 2021
The death of a milkman may have been news but it would have quickly passed as the world moved on. The destruction of a subway train and its motorman by some sort of metallic and armored attackers was something else entirely. But, even in the aftermath of that unexplained act of terror, plans were being made that would make that pale in comparison as scientific monsters were stalking the streets ready to inflict untold horrors on a scared and trembling city. Its those plans...plans made by an old enemy long thought dead...that Richard Wentworth dedicates himself to disrupt. To do so, though, means sacrificing a promise...a sacrifice that will soon have the full weight of the police...the military...and an elite team of the FBI's best...attempting to make him regret that broken promise. But the SPIDER will sacrifice anything for the city he loves.
With FURY IN STEEL, the acknowledged current master of all things pulp, returns to the world of what many consider the bloodiest and most hard core of the heroes from the past...THE SPIDER, MASTER OF MEN! With this, the sequel to Murray's first foray into the world of Popular Publications original heroes, THE DOOM LEGION, the Spider returns in all his blazing glory. Will once more shows his ability to channel the writers and styles that made pulps the best selling forms of publications of the 20s and 30s. He also brings his modern abilities and techniques to make those old stories fresh and appealing to new readers.
Of chief concern is today's modern sensibilities with regard to yesterdays morays and beliefs. While the ideas and...yes...prejudices of an earlier time, were considered acceptable in the post-great war era. Those do not play well with many readers in today's culture. Murray is able to blend the two eras in a way that appeals and entertains both.
Another great story from the mind of William Patrick Murray.
With FURY IN STEEL, the acknowledged current master of all things pulp, returns to the world of what many consider the bloodiest and most hard core of the heroes from the past...THE SPIDER, MASTER OF MEN! With this, the sequel to Murray's first foray into the world of Popular Publications original heroes, THE DOOM LEGION, the Spider returns in all his blazing glory. Will once more shows his ability to channel the writers and styles that made pulps the best selling forms of publications of the 20s and 30s. He also brings his modern abilities and techniques to make those old stories fresh and appealing to new readers.
Of chief concern is today's modern sensibilities with regard to yesterdays morays and beliefs. While the ideas and...yes...prejudices of an earlier time, were considered acceptable in the post-great war era. Those do not play well with many readers in today's culture. Murray is able to blend the two eras in a way that appeals and entertains both.
Another great story from the mind of William Patrick Murray.
April 17, 2021
This is a solid follow up to The Doom Legion. The Spider once again faces off against Steel Mask over the safety of the city. His identity is also once more in jeopardy as the FBI is hot on his heels. I really enjoyed certain aspects of this more than Doom Legion. I enjoyed the interplay between the Spider, Jackson and Ram Singh. I liked the plucky FBI Suicide Squad. I like the era the story takes place just prior to the US involvement in World War II. My only concerns albeit minor was the constant will they or won't they unmask Wentworth as the Spider and that the FBI agents were so thoroughly distracted in trying to stop the being problem because of their pursuit of the Spider. I felt that what Operator 5 and G-8 did in the Doom Legion was the more desired outcome., an unwilling team up. Other than that htis was a really great read. I look forward to Murray's next feature.
May 19, 2021
Will Murray is a Grandmaster of the "new pulp" genre that breathes fresh life into old characters. I especially love his Tarzan and Spider stories. Murray is a major pulp scholar, so he makes sure his characters and stories are well grounded in their traditional pulp origins. But he has a subtle way of making them fresh for modern readers and a knack for giving them terrifically entertaining new adventures. THE SPIDER: FURY IN STEEL is a case in point. It's one of the best examples of "new pulp" writing I've read. Highly recommended.
October 30, 2025
Another terrific Spider tale
I've been a fan of The Spider since finding some of his original pulp books in a used bookstore. I'm a fan of the Shadow, too, but the Spider's takes move faster and tend to be more action packed. This one follows that trend. A terrific tale of killer robots while the Spider also has to dodge the FBI.
I've been a fan of The Spider since finding some of his original pulp books in a used bookstore. I'm a fan of the Shadow, too, but the Spider's takes move faster and tend to be more action packed. This one follows that trend. A terrific tale of killer robots while the Spider also has to dodge the FBI.
December 11, 2022
Excellent pastiche. Mr. Murray has successfully re-created the spirit, style, and tone of the original Spider novels. I look forward to reading more of these modern tales of the Spider's adventures.
February 21, 2023
A Spider novel from pulp historian Will Murray. New York City is invaded by giant robots. Much chaos ensues.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews