Gypsies, Jewels and Double Crosses

cover art by George Rozen

 "Gypsy Vengeance (Shadow Magazine 8/15/34) not only has a typically cool cover, but also has a story by Walter Gibson--writing under the house name of Maxwell Grant--that gives us several typcially awesome plot twists. There's a reason the Shadow is the king of pulp heroes and this story is a prime example of why.

At first, the plot seems fairly straightforward. A woman named Lorrena is becoming well-known for telling fortunes and is often invited into the homes of the wealthy. She keeps her ears open and learns where jewels or other valuables are hidden. Soon after a visit by Lorrena, a gang led by a gangster named Mary Lunk breaks into that home and loots the valuables.

But the plot of the best Shadow novels is rarely that straightforward. Aside from Lorrena and Lunk's gang, there is a Gypsy named Valdo and his fellow Gypsies. There's Lorrena's manager, who might not have her best interests at heart. There's some particularly valuable jewels once owned by a Spanish nobleman and a guy who is particulary interested in finding them. And, of course, there's the Shadow and his agents.

 There's a number of great action sequences. Near the beginning of the tale, the Shadow fights Lunk's gang and leaves him with the necessity of recruiting a new gang. Later on, Cliff Marsland, one of the Shadow's agents, finds himself in a sticky situation and only barely survives.

The main plot thread in the novel invovles finding out where those Spanish jewels are. When they are located, the various characters converge on that location. This includes the Shadow, of course, who is cleverly manipulating matters so that the various villains meet their deserved ends. But some of those we think are villains are actually good guys, while some of those we think are good guys turn out to be villains. Bullets fly thick as the climax resolves itself.

"Gypsy Vengeance" really is a great example of Walter Gibson at the top of his form.