Book Review 1: The Spider Strikes by R.T.M. Scott ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Spider Strikes

In 1933, Popular Publications brought out their competitor to the Phantom: The Spider.

Notably, Stan Lee of Marvel fame was a fan of the series as a boy and credits it—in part—for inspiring Spider-Man.

Written by R.T.M. Scott, The Spider Strikes was the 1933 premiere of a character who would go on to star in 117 more novels; nearly one 60,000 word novel per month. NaNoWriMo was every… mo.

My normal genres are Dark Fantasy or Humor/Satire, with some Space Opera for good measure, but I’ve been reading pulp fiction to get to know the genre better, plus I’m working on a story set in 1945 where two characters bond over a shared love for pulp fiction, so I’m reading some of the books I have them read.

THE SPIDER: Richard Wentworth, scion of the Wentworth family, is a man with family money and no need to work, so he solves crimes and punishes bad guys, often by killing them. Meanwhile he is friends with the chief of police and has famously helped the police with cases, keeping his public image of a dashing and daring detective not too far from his secret identity of an invisible and murderous punisher of crime.

We meet Richard Wentworth on a transatlantic steamer, returning from an attempt to catch a wily and notoriously successful criminal in Europe. His trip was mostly a failure, but onboard, he takes pity on a young man who was cheated by a card sharp, ending up having to kill the card sharp in the process. You know how things go.

Despite the trouble it could cause him, he pulls out his stamp and marks the man with the imprint of The Spider. How he escapes the cruise ship I won’t describe… because spoilers.

But when he returns to New York it turns into a game of cat and mouse with the criminal trying to kill Wentworth while Wentworth tries to kill the criminal.

Wentworth is lithe and athletic, clever and deadly, a wealthy vigilante crimefighter, and in this Mr. X, he may have met his match.

Of course he doesn’t, because the Spider saw 117 more adventures over the next ten years, but at least the author keeps it interesting before the gripping finale.

For fans of the newish hardboiled detective genre back then, the twists and turns of the story may have seemed ingenious. That was 90 years ago. Today, it feels familiar, but remains a fun and fast-paced read. Also, think about it. We’ll be waiting three years for eight more episodes of the continuing adventures of Carol Sturka, but the writers, mainly one dude, were churning out a full-length novel every MONTH.

We’re sorry if we upset you, Carol.

For my first review, I was going to come up with some cutesy rating system like “Greg’s Goblets!”… but let’s not.

Four Stars out of five. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

RELATED LINKS:

1. Other reviews by Greg

2. The Spider Strikes

3. Greg’s gripping adventure: Hell on $5 A Day ^* – BUY / More Info & Sample

^* Book 1 of The New Heroes of Old™