Terror Wears No Shoes

Doc Savage (publication order; no omnibus) #176

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), Lester Dent

When one of his trusty crew mysteriously vanishes in the Orient, Doc’s investigation leads to a beautiful glamour-puss, a deadly virus, and a diabolical plot to poison America!

150 pages, Paperback

About the author

Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:

William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson

Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.

All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman]

Like a lot of America it seems Lester Dent (the man behind the Robeson pseudonym) was swinging from the Axis Threat to the Red Menace in the late 1940s. Here Doc Savage is investigating a Soviet plot to launch germ warfare against the United States. We get a lot on how evil and ruthless the enemy is (more than we got in some WW II books) but nothing that makes the title make sense. The female crime lord who helps Doc out would be more interesting if Dent hadn't used a similar character just a few books earlier in Danger Lies East.

[Clay]

I have only read the pre-war Doc Savage adventures. This was very different from those. Doc in disguise is looking for Long Tom Roberts who went missing in Singapore.

The plot starts in the middle of things and there really wasn't any gadgets or science used within the story, though Monk laments later that all the stuff they used earlier in the search just about went to waste. Even do, it was a tight little story, but I wonder if Doc was getting tired or Dent knew that Doc's adventures were coming to the end of their publication.

[Rob Leininger]

Oh, those dastardly Soviets (circa 1948)! They don't have The Bomb yet, so they're trying to take over the world using "some other" means. No spoiler there. Another historical Doc Savage thriller by Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent). Five stars, even though the dialogue was, at times, entirely incomprehensible.

[Rich Meyer]

Excellent post-war Doc Savage adventure. The reader is no longer constantly reminded of what a fantastic specimen Doc is, and there's a lot more intrigue and action. Monk and Ham are along for the ride, and I believe Long Tom makes his final appearance in the original adventures in this story. Fun tale and definitely a must-read for Doc Savage fans!

[Jeff J.]

This is one of the later novels in the Doc Savage series, when his adventures were overcome by World War II. While Robeson adapted well to the new world order I prefer the earlier, more escapist adventures.