First published in 1931, “The Living Shadow” is the very first pulp novel in The Shadow series. It was written by Walter B. Gibson, the creator and main writer of the series under the name "Maxwell Grant." The character would evolve considerably over the years, branching out into all forms of media entertainment but many of the character’s traits are already found in this first story, including the red-lined black cloak and slouch hat, and of course his uncanny ability to hide by blending into shadows.
Throughout the book The Shadow remains an extremely nebulous character. We tend to learn about him through other characters and their reactions to what they encounter but never The Shadow himself. Certainly not his name or who he actually is. Instead, the story’s main character is Harry Vincent, a man down on his luck who has decided to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge in New York. A mysterious man prevents this and extracts a loyal promise that Harry will work for him from now on. The Shadow, of course.
Harry becomes the foil for the reader, accepting circumstances as they are no matter how strange. We follow along in his shoes as he assists his mysterious benefactor in solving a case involving a Chinatown mastermind, a murdered millionaire, and missing jewels. Harry knows no more about The Shadow than we do.
There are a number of “firsts” in this book; characteristics that would become hallmarks of the series. These include The Shadow as a master of disguise, messages written in disappearing blue ink, verbal messages with emphasized words, and The Shadow’s Fritz the janitor identity. Harry is the first of an entire network of recruited agents that work for The Shadow and we also meet Claude Fellows who is more of an administrative desk man.
All in all, I was fairly well impressed with the quality of the writing and the complexity of the mystery tale that unfolded. I’ll be reading many more of these books to be sure.