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The Shadow Pulp #4
The Red Menace
WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?
The Shadow lives by darkness, gliding through the waiting night unseen, a mocking laugh his only calling card. None who have trafficked in crime will ever forget him. The may sneer at the law...but not at The Shadow. Each generation of evil breeds a newer, stronger root, and The Shadow's latest adversary is no exception: The Red Menace. This brilliant, diabolical political assassin has decided to play both sides of the Revolution in order to steal the ultimate weapon...and invincible power. Time is running out if The Shadow is to stop this crimson-masked megalomaniac from making his insane dreams come true!
Originally published in SHADOW magazine, Volume 1, Number 4, November 1931.
The Shadow lives by darkness, gliding through the waiting night unseen, a mocking laugh his only calling card. None who have trafficked in crime will ever forget him. The may sneer at the law...but not at The Shadow. Each generation of evil breeds a newer, stronger root, and The Shadow's latest adversary is no exception: The Red Menace. This brilliant, diabolical political assassin has decided to play both sides of the Revolution in order to steal the ultimate weapon...and invincible power. Time is running out if The Shadow is to stop this crimson-masked megalomaniac from making his insane dreams come true!
Originally published in SHADOW magazine, Volume 1, Number 4, November 1931.
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
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88 people want to read
About the author
Walter B. Gibson
636 books85 followersWalter 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.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 18, 2019
The Shadow takes his secret war to communists and their agents. Obviously some suspension of disbelief will be required for modern readers, what with the Russians being our friends now.
That considered, this isn't a bad story, with some spy work and the occasional awesome moment and sacrifice and tense situation, though I feel like they could have done more with the theme and really upped the stakes. In the end the villains ended up feeling rather impotent and petty and small-scale, with the exception of the Red Envoy, who briefly feels like a match for The Shadow himself... but only briefly.
That considered, this isn't a bad story, with some spy work and the occasional awesome moment and sacrifice and tense situation, though I feel like they could have done more with the theme and really upped the stakes. In the end the villains ended up feeling rather impotent and petty and small-scale, with the exception of the Red Envoy, who briefly feels like a match for The Shadow himself... but only briefly.
March 12, 2012
There is a check mark in this one, telling me that when I read this as a kid, I really liked it. But I can't remember what it's about, so maybe it'll get another go round. Or maybe I'll just leave with the kid in me instead.
July 2, 2017
Yep, commies! But, of course, it can't just be boring old regular commies. These commies are spies who meet in a basement wearing robes and are lead by a red-masked leader called The Red Envoy! But are they a match for The Shadow? Yes! No? Yes?...
Here we reach the fourth entry in “Maxwell Grant”'s classic “The Shadow” series and it is chugging along nicely. Two strange crimes kick things off and then Harry Vincent must go to work again, shadowing a man at the glamorous Metrolite Hotel (he does that a lot, lucky stiff!). Lamont Cranston appears here again and gets to shoulder part of the investigation, when he isn't slipping into other random disguises as The Shadow.
The plot brings back the Russian jewels from “The Eyes of The Shadow” as well as Bruce Duncan. Prince Zuvor and other Czarist loyalists are the targets of The Red Envoy and his gang of bloodthirsty commie spies. There's also an inventor who may or may not be in on an evil murder plot that might involve... ghosts?
Vic Marquette, the g-man from “The Shadow Laughs!”, also returns, since the US government's interests are threatened by those crafty commies. The plot gets nice and twisty, placing hidden enemies and friends in every camp. Harry Vincent even winds up with a sort-of girlfriend when he is saved from enemy agents in a shady bar called “The Pink Rat” (pink, like those pinkos you love to hate!).
The politics here are obviously part of what makes this a relic, even though it's a delightful relic. A modern progressive reader like myself can appreciate that the commies were everybody's favorite villains before nazis and commie-nazis were invented. Pre-WW2 pulp delighted in casting any brand of foreigner as a villain, but making them conniving greedy lustful communists just made it more fun.
This book contains: an island lair in Connecticut called “Death Island”, confession obtained through hypnotism, that commie spy-ring, a flooding basement with torpedo tube, an elevator rigged to be a death-o-vator, secret escape routes, double-crosses and twists, a trans-Atlantic flight from back when that was a big-deal, a reporter who get a big scoop without even realizing it, a secret chamber, a secret weapon, and a really neat scene on a train!
Yep, I'm still digging it, and I still plan to read all 300 of these.
Here we reach the fourth entry in “Maxwell Grant”'s classic “The Shadow” series and it is chugging along nicely. Two strange crimes kick things off and then Harry Vincent must go to work again, shadowing a man at the glamorous Metrolite Hotel (he does that a lot, lucky stiff!). Lamont Cranston appears here again and gets to shoulder part of the investigation, when he isn't slipping into other random disguises as The Shadow.
The plot brings back the Russian jewels from “The Eyes of The Shadow” as well as Bruce Duncan. Prince Zuvor and other Czarist loyalists are the targets of The Red Envoy and his gang of bloodthirsty commie spies. There's also an inventor who may or may not be in on an evil murder plot that might involve... ghosts?
Vic Marquette, the g-man from “The Shadow Laughs!”, also returns, since the US government's interests are threatened by those crafty commies. The plot gets nice and twisty, placing hidden enemies and friends in every camp. Harry Vincent even winds up with a sort-of girlfriend when he is saved from enemy agents in a shady bar called “The Pink Rat” (pink, like those pinkos you love to hate!).
The politics here are obviously part of what makes this a relic, even though it's a delightful relic. A modern progressive reader like myself can appreciate that the commies were everybody's favorite villains before nazis and commie-nazis were invented. Pre-WW2 pulp delighted in casting any brand of foreigner as a villain, but making them conniving greedy lustful communists just made it more fun.
This book contains: an island lair in Connecticut called “Death Island”, confession obtained through hypnotism, that commie spy-ring, a flooding basement with torpedo tube, an elevator rigged to be a death-o-vator, secret escape routes, double-crosses and twists, a trans-Atlantic flight from back when that was a big-deal, a reporter who get a big scoop without even realizing it, a secret chamber, a secret weapon, and a really neat scene on a train!
Yep, I'm still digging it, and I still plan to read all 300 of these.
August 29, 2018
Assassins from the Soviet Union are after exiled Russians living in the United States. The person behind it all is a masked villain known as the Red Envoy. But who is he, really? The Shadow is on the case. This story reads much like a movie serial and there are some neat plot twists. Great pulp fiction!
March 22, 2022
Although listed as book #7 in the Pyramid publishing order, this was actually the 4th story published in the original "The Shadow" pulp magazine (and #91 in the Sanctum order). It was first published in November, 1931. As is the case with most Shadow novels, Walter Gibson is the author behind the Maxwell Grant pseudonym.
A mysterious character who wears a red mask and refers to himself as “The Red Envoy” is making his presence known in New York City. Supernatural observances are just the tip of the iceberg, so The Shadow decides to investigate further. Using his agents as well as working under his own disguises, he unravels the mystery, tracing it to an attempt to steal a new aerial weapon which the Red Envoy will likely use in his own efforts as a political assassin.
This was another fun Shadow novel, complete with danger, perilous rescues, clever disguises, and plenty of intrigue to go around. Since this one was written very early on in the series, we don’t know The Shadow’s real identity yet, and he remains an enigma. The primary POV character this time is Harry Vincent, a regular and valuable agent working for The Shadow. Two other agents assist: Burbank and Claude Fellows. Although not an actual agent of The Shadow, this story is one of the three in the series to include Bruce Duncan. Bruce is heir to a Russian fortune and thus communist agents like to target him in order to steal his wealth.
During the course of the novel, The Shadow takes on several disguises, as he often does and this time around makes especially good use of the wealthy world traveler, Lamont Cranston. Additionally, G-Man and Shadow ally, Vic Marquette plays an important role in solving the mystery. Finally, The Pink Rat, a dive bar located on the west side, wharf area of New York City is one of the primary locations in this novel, a well-known underworld hangout and a place for cheap booze. Quite a few Shadow novels include this setting as well as a couple of other crossover pulp series.
A mysterious character who wears a red mask and refers to himself as “The Red Envoy” is making his presence known in New York City. Supernatural observances are just the tip of the iceberg, so The Shadow decides to investigate further. Using his agents as well as working under his own disguises, he unravels the mystery, tracing it to an attempt to steal a new aerial weapon which the Red Envoy will likely use in his own efforts as a political assassin.
This was another fun Shadow novel, complete with danger, perilous rescues, clever disguises, and plenty of intrigue to go around. Since this one was written very early on in the series, we don’t know The Shadow’s real identity yet, and he remains an enigma. The primary POV character this time is Harry Vincent, a regular and valuable agent working for The Shadow. Two other agents assist: Burbank and Claude Fellows. Although not an actual agent of The Shadow, this story is one of the three in the series to include Bruce Duncan. Bruce is heir to a Russian fortune and thus communist agents like to target him in order to steal his wealth.
During the course of the novel, The Shadow takes on several disguises, as he often does and this time around makes especially good use of the wealthy world traveler, Lamont Cranston. Additionally, G-Man and Shadow ally, Vic Marquette plays an important role in solving the mystery. Finally, The Pink Rat, a dive bar located on the west side, wharf area of New York City is one of the primary locations in this novel, a well-known underworld hangout and a place for cheap booze. Quite a few Shadow novels include this setting as well as a couple of other crossover pulp series.
November 10, 2010
I have to give this one four stars because it actually caught me by surprise at the end. I didn't see the secret identity of the villain coming, and that's the first time that's happened in the Shadow books. I thought the villain, the Red Envoy, was also very well done. Listened to this on my kindle. Good stuff.
March 23, 2022
Within the context of these being old pulps, this one's five stars because this fourth story feels to me like the point where Gibson really hit on the formula and balance for the series. It's been too long since I've read The Living Shadow to remember it in detail (I think it was pretty similar to what immediately followed), but stories two and three were very much Harry Vincent Adventures, like a Hardy Boys where the brothers do all the legwork and Fenton Hardy mysteriously swoops in to pull them out of danger they can't handle, and eventually take down the main villain. With Red Menace we finally see the dynamic I remember from these stories: Harry and other agents working angles of the case, but The Shadow visible and active at the center of things, doing his own investigating, clue gathering, and pondering of the known facts.
Speaking of Hardy Boys, the Death Island location, with its skull rock, really did feel like something pulled straight from a Hardy story, but in a good way this time.
Eyes of The Shadow was decent for how early it was, The Shadow Laughs was a little weak and tedious, but The Red Menace was truly enjoyable classic Shadow fun.
Speaking of Hardy Boys, the Death Island location, with its skull rock, really did feel like something pulled straight from a Hardy story, but in a good way this time.
Eyes of The Shadow was decent for how early it was, The Shadow Laughs was a little weak and tedious, but The Red Menace was truly enjoyable classic Shadow fun.
February 14, 2025
Czar's loyalists against Bolshevik super villain. Meanwhile, Harry Vincent meets a good looking girl and visits Death island. Contrary to expectations promised by such a set-up, book is somewhat low on action.
October 14, 2017
A step up, in subplots this time around. A touch of romance this time around for the narrator of the story
September 1, 2023
Historical Fiction that aged well.
April 6, 2024
The Shadow battle communist agents! And unmasks their secret plot!
August 3, 2024
My favorite of THE SHADOW pulps -- so far.
August 19, 2024
A pulp novel featuring The Shadow. Soviet assassins target exiled Russians in New York City. Much chaos ensues.
August 14, 2022
One of those books that makes me debate: 2 stars or 3, because 2 and a half would be just right.
It starts wonderfully, such good writing, then it goes slack a quarter of the way in and stays that way until shortly before the end. I'm glad I read it, but I also wish I enjoyed it more.
It starts wonderfully, such good writing, then it goes slack a quarter of the way in and stays that way until shortly before the end. I'm glad I read it, but I also wish I enjoyed it more.
January 19, 2016
November 1, 1931.
It's quite obvious from the title that this book has something to do with Communism. It probably would have done especially well during the McCarthy era. What the book does is make the Czarists the good guys and the revolutionaries, the Communists, the bad guys. The Red Envoy is the main villain of the Communists.
Bruce Duncan, from The Eyes of the Shadow, returns in this book to help the Shadow. The Communists are after the plans for an aerial torpedo.
Harry Vincent is in this issue, along with the office of B.Jones, where messages are dropped off for the Shadow. New to this issue is showing that the Shadow is ambidextrous and has the power to hypnotize people. We also learn about the method of communication in which certain words are emphasized to deliver a special message. We also learn the Shadow is excellent at languages, and he has something called 'The Devil's Whisper' which is something he puts on his thumb and finger to produce a burst of light.
Harry Vincent, Claude Fellows and Burbank are also in the story.
It's quite obvious from the title that this book has something to do with Communism. It probably would have done especially well during the McCarthy era. What the book does is make the Czarists the good guys and the revolutionaries, the Communists, the bad guys. The Red Envoy is the main villain of the Communists.
Bruce Duncan, from The Eyes of the Shadow, returns in this book to help the Shadow. The Communists are after the plans for an aerial torpedo.
Harry Vincent is in this issue, along with the office of B.Jones, where messages are dropped off for the Shadow. New to this issue is showing that the Shadow is ambidextrous and has the power to hypnotize people. We also learn about the method of communication in which certain words are emphasized to deliver a special message. We also learn the Shadow is excellent at languages, and he has something called 'The Devil's Whisper' which is something he puts on his thumb and finger to produce a burst of light.
Harry Vincent, Claude Fellows and Burbank are also in the story.
September 2, 2016
The mystery for me is why Pyramid Books reordered the stories the way they did, and why they waited for #7 to present something that diverges from the mostly-interchangeable formula of: mysterious criminal mastermind with harebrained gangland scheme to make money; collection of lunkheaded thugs; Shadow's minions investigate; Shadow saves the day at the last second. This story is more complex, and the character of The Shadow himself becomes more than a faceless nick-in-time superhero.
Strangely, by the original publishing order, the previous two stories share these characteristics. Pyramid never reprinted them.
Strangely, by the original publishing order, the previous two stories share these characteristics. Pyramid never reprinted them.
July 2, 2012
A must-read if you're a fan of The Shadow and this particular form of cut-rate, bargain-basement, old-school pulp writing. This isn't Erle Stanley Gardiner or Rex Stout. Its crude; clunky; corny; and great in its own right. Just look at that cover art! Folks this is the kind of book that big Hollywood blockbusters often filch from--precisely because it oozes 'grand style' by the gallon. Fun stuff: invisible ink; secret panels; underworld dens; and secret panels. Gotta love it or gotta go home.
February 2, 2016
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
December 7, 2014
After a couple of rather ho-hum entries, this one had a little more meat to it. The villain wasn't obvious, which is always a pleasure.
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June 14, 2016read some time in 1985
September 10, 2016
Another fun romp with The Shadow!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews