CIRCLE OF DEATH - James Patterson & Brian Sitts


 Regular readers of my reviews will know that I have an affinity for the old pulps and pulp fiction.  Is there a better-known example of the pulps than The Shadow? I've listened to many of the old radio shows and back in the 1970's I read a number of the 'Maxwell Grant' penned books so I was excited to see that popular fiction author James Patterson (with Brian Sitts) was bringing the character back for a new generation of readers to discover and enjoy.

Unfortunately the first book in this revised series, which I recently read and reviewed, didn't catch my interest, but I had already requested (and was granted) an ARC of this second book.  Now I almost wish for that first book again.

Why does upgrading or modernizing a classic have to involve such drastic changes?  In the original radio Shadow stories, Lamont Cranston had traveled through the Orient where he learned hypnotism that could cloud men's minds so as to become invisible to them. Now that Lamont and his wife have survived being revived from a cryogenic sleep and find themselves in the distant future with a great great grandchild, they discover that the world isn't exactly a better place and in fact their same arch nemesis has also found a way to get to this future.

Fortunately for The Shadow and his now protégé relative, Maddy, they are discovering new powers being bestowed on them from the ancient Orient. When invisibility isn't enough ... Shadow ... meet the Animorphs.  Yes, The Shadow can now turn into an animal! Surely that will come in handy as Lamont and Maddy take on The Destroyer of Worlds, the leader of a grand criminal organization called Command.

Of course a 1930's era hero taking on a late-21st century criminal is going to need a little help, and so Cranston recruits the great (4th generation) grandsons of his old partners, who just happen to be as skilled as ancient grandparents were with specific traits.

While Patterson's writing is very much modern day pulp fiction (fast, furious, page-turning action), I don't understand why the need to take a character who already exists and change it so much that it's no longer recognizable as that character.  Why not create someone new?

The story, as a pulp action story, is fine. It leans toward the incredulous which you might expect and the action is pretty much non-stop.  But as a Shadow story?  I don't think so.   Maybe there aren't many Shadow readers out there who remember the old radio shows and pulps, so they don't have anything to compare it to.

Looking for a good book? Circle of Death by James Patterson and Brian Sitts is an updated, brought-into-the-future Shadow story. Other than the character names, this has little-to-nothing to do with the classic Sahdow, but as a scifi action thriller it is just fine.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

* * * * * *

Circle of Death

author: James Patterson and Brian Sitts

series: The Shadow #2

publisher: Grand Central Publishing

ISBN: 9781538711118

hardcover, 368 pages

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