The Sinister Shadow -- Will Murray

As I mentioned last Friday, I prepared myself for reading The Sinister Shadow by first giving myself a refresher course in the history of The Shadow by reading Will Murray's nonfiction book on the subject, The Duende History of The Shadow Magazine.  That was a wise move on my part because in The Sinister Shadow, Murray brings in a lot of Shadow material that I wouldn't otherwise have been aware of.  In fact, I'd have missed the significance of the book's last line if I hadn't prepared myself.  Devotees of The Shadow will catch it, of course, with no trouble.

In The Sinister Shadow, Doc Savage and The Shadow are after a criminal mastermind known as The Undertaker.  They're not teamed up at first, but they both have the same goal.  The setting is the early 1930s, so The Shadow isn't quite as well known as he would become.  The cops aren't even sure, in fact, whether he's real or just a voice on the radio.

As I've mentioned before, Murray captures Lester Dent's style perfectly, and in the chapters involving The Shadow, he proves equally adept at channeling Walter B. Gibson.  There's everything you could be hoping for here, I think: the known associates (not including Margo Lane, who wasn't part of the pulp Shadow stories for a long time), the twin .45s, the laugh, the almost supernatural abilities (not including the power to cloud men's minds, which was a radio thing).

The Sinister Shadow is based in part on an outline and some chapters written by Lester Dent, but I suspect that most of it is the work of Murray.  It's nonstop fun with plenty of action, as Doc and his associates interact with the characters from the world of The Shadow and vice-versa.  Fans of both series will love this one.