 | #029 "The Golden Grotto"
Vol. 5, No. 5 Published: 05/01/33 Submitted: 09/09/32 under the same title Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Sep 01, 2000 |
THE GOLDEN GROTTO was originally published in the May 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. The Golden Grotto is the lair of a supervillain, the likes of which The Shadow has never seen before! But before this story is over, it will become the grotto of doom, wherein innocent lives are threatened with drowning. And it all hinges around the secret identity of a master plotter whose opening salvo is piracy on the high seas!
As our story opens, Clyde Burke is aboard the steamship Paragonia sailing back from Europe. The ship is transporting over two million dollars in gold bullion, and as a secret agent for The Shadow, Burke is keeping an eye on things. But before he can send a cable of warning, the ship is hijacked at sea. A bold act of piracy, the entire shipment of gold is stolen, and the mystery raiders get away without a trace.
After weeks of searching in vain for the pirates and their loot, authorities have just about given up. But not The Shadow. He uses the information gained by authorities to narrow down his search for the place where the treasure could have been taken. Then he sends out his ace agent Harry Vincent to scout the area around East Point, a remote area on the east coast.
Three men are living on that solitary point of the coast. Harry Vincent is sent out to watch them, to judge which one might fall under the suspicion of The Shadow. Malbray Woodruff, artist, alone and eccentric, yet pleasant enough to have Vincent as his guest in the small bungalow which is his home. Professor Kirby Sheldon, lecturer of note, lives at East Point with his house servants. He comes here to get away from the hubbub that he so dislikes - the confusion of New York, where he is forced to go when he delivers his lectures. And finally, there's Elbert Cordes, a sour, ugly-faced man, a retired banker with a reputation not too good. On the surface he lets the other residents alone - but Harry Vincent sees beneath the surface.
The Shadow stays mostly out of the picture during the first half of the story. Clyde Burke is the proxy hero for the first two chapters, and Harry Vincent takes over as proxy hero for the next eight chapters. It's only in the latter half of the novel where the story starts focussing on The Shadow and his own exploits.
By this point in The Shadow's chronology, Clyde Burke was an experienced agent, having appeared in the stories for the previous year and a half. When this story opens, Burke is a freelance journalist, not yet working for the New York Classic. Due to his brush with the pirates, he gains a position on the New York Classic as a special staff writer.
I really liked this story, perhaps more than any other Shadow novel I've read in the past six months. It flows so smoothly and naturally, and contains thrills and excitement galore. It's a great story from the early years of The Shadow, when he unlimbered his .45 caliber automatics and ruthlessly gunned down hoodlums without hesitation.