The Fifth Napolean

Most of the Shadow novels published in the 1930s and 1940s were written by the prolific Walter Gibson. But, though Gibson had no trouble keeping up with deadlines even after The Shadow became a twice-a-month magazine, the publishers brought in Theodore Tinsley to contribute a set number of novels per year.

Gibson will always be THE writer of the Shadow, but Tinsley proved to be a worthy substitute. He understood the character, had a talent that nearly equaled Gibson for coming up with surprise plot twists and could write truly exciting action scenes.

The Fifth Napoleon (February 1, 1938 issue of The Shadow Magazine) may be my favorite Tinsley novel. It begins with a crook named "Lifer" Stone getting released from Sing Sing. But Lifer's freedom is short-lived. He's kidnapped and replaced by disguised Shadow.

This is the Shadow's opening shot in a battle against the five Napoleons. There are four known criminals, each of whom runs a different racket, but who remain free because the cops can never pin anything on them. A master criminal--the Fifth Napoleon--is their boss of bosses. None of the other four know their leader's true identity.

There's another crook out there as well. Tiger Marsh has formed a gang of his own and is operating in opposition to the Napoleons. Posing as Lifer, the Shadow is in position to join or to work against either side. Or he will be, if he can avoid one faction or the other deciding to kill him.

The plot is full of wild twists and turns as the bad guys fight each other and the Shadow gathers information while occasionally whittling down the ranks of the ungodly himself. Everything builds to a bizarre and exciting conclusion, with the Shadow and police inspector Joe Cardona playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek with the bad guys in a large underground lair. By the time it all ends, we will discover that several of the people involved aren't who we thought they were.

The Fifth Napoleon is terrific fun, with the final extended action sequence in the underground lair particularly noteworthy. The plot twists are usually unexpected, but fair--Tinsley effectively explains each plot twist in a way that fits perfectly with what we've been reading. As I said earlier, no one has ever (or will ever) match Walter Gibson as the best Shadow writer. But Tinsley's efforts are nothing to wave a Tommy Gun at. He was also a great writer who knew how to effectively build a truly exciting tale.