Zemba

The Shadow Pulp #91

by Maxwell Grant (Pseudonym), Walter B. Gibson

It began with a murderous game of cat-and-mouse played on trains hurtling between London and Paris. When the game was over, three men were dead, and the terrible truth was the most critical military secrets of the Western powers were in the hands of the legendary Parisian arch-criminal, Gaspard Zemba! The police find and destroy Zemba. But how? His henchmen roamed every street and alley in Paris, yet he himself was so cunning, so elusive that no officer of the law had ever seen him, much less apprehended him. Here indeed was a master of darkness, without peer in the world. Except one. One whose astonishing skills at moving by night and disguising his person were employed in the service of good, not evil. One whose lightning-fast hands wielded the blazing automatics of justice, not crime. One whose implacable pursuit was the despair of villains everywHere

Genres: Mystery, Pulp, Novels, Adventure, Action

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1933

About the author

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

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 91st published Shadow Magazine adventure, and the 19th that Jove released in their reprint series, which may lead to momentary suspicion of dyslexia. Gaspard Zemba is one of the best Shadow opponents; he's a criminal mastermind whose powers of disguise and deception rival The Shadow's himself. The story takes place in London and and Paris and in Europe in-between, much of it on The Golden Arrow, a passenger train depicted quite strikingly by James Steranko on his nifty cover painting. Assisted by Cliff Marsland and Harry Vincent, The Shadow tries to get to the bottom of things, and the reader is left unsure of the real identities of many of the characters much of the time until the exciting finale. It's one of the best Shadow novels I've read.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book known as the one where The Shadow fights robots. Of course, there's more to it than that. There's a mysterious mastermind, all kinds of plots within plots, and mysteries.

Highly recommended for pulp fans!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadow and two of his agents, Harry Vincent and Cliff Marsland, travel to Paris to try to derail the plans of master criminal Gaspard Zemba, who is holding military secrets for ransom. A fast moving story with a very cool twist toward the end.

[Morgan (Turbo) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pulp fiction ... very droll

[Dan Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shadow in Paris!

[Hellblau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the other Shadow issue I read, it gets much better as it begins to wrap up at end. But too much of the writing seems to be deliberately written for maximum word count. This one did have a fast paced engaging first few chapters but then resumed the usual pace again until the exciting finale.

[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