The Shadow: Atoms of Death

What is first of all most fascinating about this is that it was done in 1935 and used atomic energy, yet it wasn't until ten years later that the actual power of atomic energy was shown when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. There must have been a general knowledge of the existence and potentials of atomic energy if the topic made its way into one of the most popular pulps at the time.

The story is about a scientist who invents two things using atomic energy. First is a small device that is able to harness the energy to melt through rocks and anything else. Such a device, if bigger, would be a marvelous way to carve out tunnels and pathways for subways but, of course, crooks use it for their own purposes by breaking into banks.

The other device is a working but smaller model of an atomic gun that can shoot disintegrating rays for a distance of perhaps five miles. Such a device would have been of enormous use to the military.

The Shadow is able to find out what is going on but he ends up walking into two traps and gets banged up pretty good. Cliff, one of his agents, is captured. Mann, the agent that usually has a very passive job for the Shadow this times takes on the task of a front-line agent, endangering his life.

Still, the Shadow is not down for the count. He manages to kill a lot of the crooks and finds out that someone he thought was evil was not, whereas someone who appeared to be okay is actually evil. Also, early in the novel the Shadow, in his Lamont Cranston disguise gets to meet with Lamont Cranston and they work out for technicalities between them.

A very interesting story on a variety of levels.

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