A sinister criminal organization called  "The Hand"  challenges the Dark Avenger to a fight to the finish. From out of darkness comes The Hand to confront The Shadow - and only he could read completely the terrible message it held!

"Crime does not pay". The Shadow knows! The Master of Darkness journeys to the sunny South to unmask hidden plotters. The Shadow confronts a European mastermind of evil to end the murderous menace that lurks on Terror Island.

The Shadow follows a trail of espionage that begins on Death Island and leads to the inner chambers of Washington D.C. to confront "The Plot Master."

THE SHADOW - He fights crime that the Police can't stop, then fades back into the shadows from which he sprung!

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow Knows!" The lure of gold -- that lust which has made men kill throughout the ages -- had gripped the enemies of justice. The swindle of the century threatened to put the world at the mercy of either a power-hungry, underhanded financier and his cohorts, or an eccentric creator of synthetic gold. But the common purpose which brought Forster, Morales, and Armagnac to inventor Lucien Partridge did not stop them from cunningly plotting behind each others' backs. Only The Shadow could halt the creation of a Gold Empire. Garbled in black, silently stalking the streets, he alone could triumph over evil. The insidieous princes of the underworld would be crushed by this Master Crime-Fighter -- The Shadow!

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" The Knight of Darkness investigates supercrime. Lamont Cranston is called in to investigate "The Case of Congressman Coyd". What is behind the bizarre turnaround of a veteran lawmaker whose new deregulation proposals will profit unscrupulous business interests?

Was it the face of death? Only The Shadow knew!

This is the first Shadow story which appeared on April 1, 1931. It's sort of an introduction to the Shadow but, as such, does not give any actual background to the character.  Most of the book actually deals with Harry Vincent, a man who was going to kill himself but was stopped by the Shadow. He then becomes one of the Shadow's agents and we see a little about how they operate. He's to keep watch on a certain man and report to Claude Fellows, another of the Shadow's agent.  The Shadow is investigating the robbery and murder of a millionaire and, as with Shadow novels, things are not ever as simple as they seem at first. Harry Vincent has to visit someone named Wang Foo and that visit goes terribly wrong but he's rescued by the Shadow. Then Harry poses as a cab driver and nearly gets himself in more trouble and again the Shadow rescues him.

The Road of Crime. It leads through various ways - but in the end it comes to The Shadow, creature of justice and vengeance!