Part of Series
Why did a desperate man shave his head before visiting Doc Savage headquarters, only to be struck down, his pulsing brain turned to inert stone? What sinister secret did his strange slaying silence? And how was a lizard-green shadow resembling Medusa branded on Doc’s office wall? These are only some of the questions confronting the Man of Bronze as he pursues a grisly trail of petrified corpses to post-Prohibition Chicago, whose criminal underworld is being terrorized by a serpent-haired demon engaged in a seemingly senseless slaughter spree whose ultimate target will shake Doc Savage’s men to their core. Suspects are many, clues baffling. Death and danger lurks everywhere they turn––symbolized by the silhouette of a faceless Gorgon. From the concrete canyons of Manhattan to the coal fields of Illinois, Doc Savage tracks a phantom fiend the likes of which he has never before hunted. Or is he the one being hunted?
Author
Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including: William G. Bogart Evelyn Coulson Harold A. Davis Lawrence Donovan Alan Hathway W. Ryerson Johnson Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson. All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.
