The Eyes of the Shadow

The Shadow Pulp #2

by Walter B. Gibson, Maxwell Grant (Pseudonym), Sandy Kossin (Illustrator)

MARKED TO DIE
Six prominent men were expecting a share in a glittering fortune. But, one by one, they were being brutally murdered. Until the Shadow discovered the plan—a plan so fiendish that only the twisted mind of a monster could have conceived it...

Genres: Pulp, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Fiction, Adventure

171 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1931

About the author

Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and professional magician best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote "more than 300 novel-length" Shadow stories, writing up to "10,000 words a day" to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s.

Reviews

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this was a marked improvement over the first - somewhat clumsy, still looking for its identity - The Shadow novel. The plot was thicker and more engaging, and involved other people that I liked besides the crooks... although the crooks are still the best, and Harry Vincent continues to be the blandest of the lot.

Although I can't say I'm much of a fan of all these death traps and other such unlikely contrivances, where the bad guys could just shoot the heroes instead and have no practical reason to not do so. It's really just a cheap vehicle to introduce artificial peril and tension, as well as to drive home just how cruel and hateable the villains are. I'm glad we're mostly done with them nowadays.

On the other hand, I do appreciate how The Shadow is kept in the - well - shadows more often than not. It maintains his mysterious aura far better than anything else could, and watching the gangsters and crooks react at him with their dumbass plans, and be afraid of him afterwards, is always entertaining. The modern works - comics and such - lost a lot of this effect when they chose to make him the main character more overtly. I hope the books won't make the same mistake in a hurry.

[Leothefox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lamont Cranston appears! He's a millionaire, he into radio, and he and The Shadow never seem to be in the same place at the same time. Like the first book, The Shadow's agent Harry Vincent carries a good-sized piece of the story. Wealthy heir Bruce Duncan is also at the center of things here... from the moment he wakes up to find a freakin' monster stealing hidden papers from a secret compartment in his bedroom!

Book two here is not as concerned with twists and reveals as the other books I've read, which is a little disappointing, but I think that happened because of the space given to introducing Lamont Cranston.

The plot involved a fortune of a Russian prince to be paid to a group of men who helped him escape the revolution, only a villain is luring each of the men to his death before he can get his share. What's more important is that it pits colorful henchmen against The Shadow and friends, as well as a death-trap and a torture chamber!

This sequel does give us more of The Shadow himself, which is nice. We don't get a whole lot of time with the mastermind villain, which I was also a tad disappointed with. I'm already thoroughly obsessed with this series and lucky for me there are over 300 more of these!

Oh! And there's a chapter entitled “In the Black Ship”, which is among the most metal chapter titles I have ever encountered!

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what The Eyes of the Shadow is, a paperback reprint of a 1931 pulp fiction story of a prototypical superhero, the second one of a series that would end in the late 1940s, the storytelling is capable. Seven men are to meet to collect a reward they earned in Russia -- most of them are led to their doom by crafty enemies. It's up to the Shadow and his agents to risk their lives in New York City and eastern Pennsylvania to defeat the criminals and protect the remainder from harm.

The Eyes of the Shadow's an unlikely escapist romp that held my interest, not only as a period piece, but as a strong step in developing a character who was then emerging as a multimedia pop culture hero from his beginning as a nebulous radio show announcer in 1930. The Eyes of the Shadow are not only those of his brave and loyal agents, but also the nifty television enhancement to his wireless radio. The Shadow and his agents get into wild and crazy scrapes, and even get hurt, but they recover, they overcome the dastardly, and they make for a satisfying read.

[Nicoll Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well rounded tale with more complex storyline and a host of characters. Lamont Cranston is featured but Harry Winston is still the main narrator of the story. My only problem was the sudden departure of Mr Duncan and the ending seemed rushed like the writer was into the characters, that he realised he was only 15 pages from his allotted word count.

[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

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ripping good yarn from The Shadow's early days. Four stars because the character was still developing and remained largely absent from the story aside from key moments, making this more of A Harry Vincent Adventure with The Shadow functioning mostly as his deus ex machina and occasional guide from afar. Nothing wrong with that, it's an entertaining story with all the 30s atmosphere, prowling in the night, secret messages, adventure by flashlights, and plotting that I love in these, but I do recall preferring the later stories I read in my youth, where we get to watch The Shadow operate more, rather than having him be a mystery to us almost as much as to everyone in the story.

I knew going in that this is a pre-Margo story, but it occurred to me as I neared the end: I think there is literally not one woman in this entire story. I don't think one is even mentioned. No female players in the plot, no wives present (that I recall) at a social gathering, and if Claude Fellows had a secretary or the diner in Pennsylvania had a waitress, she was never mentioned. I guess it might not be surprising (45 years later look how few women there were in Star Wars), but reading this in the 21st century it becomes very conspicuous that we're having an adventure in a world populated only by men.

These are 90 year old pulps so I grade them very easily. Some clunky dialogue and frequent expeditious exposition, plus an ending that felt a little quick and anti-climactic, also influenced my decision to call this a four star tale, but it should be noted that if I were judging this as fine literature it would be a two or three star story, though an entertaining one nonetheless. It left me looking forward to the next one.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading through this I was struck by a few things. It's ostensibly about a millionaire vigilante with brilliant powers of deduction, adept at technology, and who dons a costume at night and goes around striking terror into the hearts of criminals. If that sounds familiar then that's because the creators of Batman said that they drew inspiration from The Shadow. Fascinating!

In this one The Shadow is somehow involved in trying to save a few men from death as a ruthless criminal tries to obtain treasure that rightfully belongs to these men.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

while not actually bad, this was a lot less entertaining than the living Shadow. I'll chalk this up to second book syndrome in trying to widen the world. Still looking forward to read more of the Shadow.

But it is becoming already strikingly apparent which influence these stories had on the development of Batman.

[Joshua Kittleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is a little bumpy at times, but overall another fun adventure with Harry Vincent, agent of The Shadow. The Shadow has more presence in this book than the first, but is still . . . in the shadows.

[Frédéric Bonin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun, but super dated pulp story featuring the Shadow. He still isn’t the main character but he is at the heart of everything, even as other characters’s story develop. And we get to meet Lamont Cranston for the first time!

[James Tomasino · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one got pretty convoluted toward the end

[Doris Raines · Rating 2 out of 5]

.?

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard pulp hero fare. Plenty of bad guys, plot twists and cliffhangers.

Not your radio show Shadow.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was fast-paced and enjoyable, and heavy on atmosphere, which I liked. Parts of it reminded me of scenes you would see in an old black and white movie.

[Michael Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

see book one. These are quick reads now, but remember taking days when first found. But then even at under $1, my allowance only went so far.

[JW David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction that aged well

[Raime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty fun crime/hero adventure. Secret rooms, deathtraps galore, killer man-ape.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 1, 1931

The basic plot is about six guys who are going to share in a fortune. The slight problem is that they are being killed off one by one. One of the main characters is Bruce Duncan who returns from Japan to live in his uncle's house. Bruce has to take care of the division of the money, but before he can do that the information he needs is stolen.

The Shadow himself shows his ability at disguises. This ties in to the idea that some readers have that the Shadow's real face was severely damaged somehow, probably during World War I, and that he is an expert at making up his face to look like it is real and normal.

The Shadow uses the Lamont Cranston identity for the first time in this book. Harry Vincent, Burbank and Claude Fellows are also in the book. There's also the Black Ship, which is an underworld saloon. The Shadow also shows his technical advances by using a short-wave radio (used many times in the radio programs) and something vaguely like a television. He also uses his fading ink.

I really prefer the pulp cover to the paperback cover that was released later.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's another from my overloaded mystery shelf that I will add to my husband's pile of thrillers that he and some friends circulate. It has an endlessly contrived plot, characters that aren't very interesting - and of course the criminals are either grunting thugs or evil masterminds - and little else to recommend it. However, Grant comes from an era when competent writing skills and a decent vocabulary were essential if a writer were to be published.

When I was a little girl, my dad would listen to The Shadow on Sunday afternoon radio. The opening scared me so badly that I'd hide behind our big armchair - loving every minute of it. Obviously, the book awakened no thrill or chill.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this is the second of "the Shadow" series and it was pretty good. I really liked the scenes where the "Shadow" was on stage. They were appropriately weird and a bit creepy. Unfortunately, the Shadow character is off stage through much of the book. And the writing in general is pretty weak, full of a false kind of dialogue where the characters explain things to each other that they already know. Still, it had a decent narrative drive and I can see why these books were popular at the time they were written.

I actually listened to this on my Kindle.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My original plan was to read the entire Shadow canon in publication order, but I'm not sure that's going to work. This is the second story and, while it is interesting to encounter the first appearances of some of the major elements of the series (Lamont Cranston, Burbank), the actual plot plods along, and in fact Harry Vincent spends much of the story sitting around waiting for things to happen. And then when he does get to do something he screws up and The Shadow has to fix it.

I don't think writer Walter Gibson (AKA Maxwell Grant) is anywhere near hitting his stride yet.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of a project to understand the appeal of pulp writers and writing. I am far from "getting" it, but the book holds some interest, especially after reading the first Shadow story in which he barely appeared. The book is overlong with too many pointless scenes, but I did not read it to experience WAR AND PEACE. I read it to learn about pulp fiction. This is a fairly worthy brick in that wall.

[Jon II · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second entry in "The Shadow" series was a solid effort, I felt. The characters are still being defined and introduced, so there was some sluggishness to the story, but it's still a good read and I'm looking forward to continuing on in the series.

[Monte Carlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The is one of my favorite Shadow books I've read so far. Got the first shadow to see how all the characters got involved, but this episode was far better.

[Ronald]

read some time in 1987

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable romp with the Shadow!

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: six prominent men were expecting a share in a fortune. One by one, they were being murdered. The Shadow discovered the plan.