Gold — the mineral which fosters war! — threatened to plunge America into a chaos of revolt, misery and death. In Washington, the fortified vaults of the nation’s Treasury lay empty — stripped of wealth. A madman, obscured in mystery, his face concealed by a mask of the precious metal, had allied himself with powerful foreign magnates to deliver the United States into misery and bondage. Robbed of her riches, her plans for military security disrupted, her strategic stores destroyed and her armament factories wrecked, the most powerful nation in the world seemed inevitably doomed. One man, Jimmy Christopher, ace of the Intelligence, had a feasible plan for wresting victory from the cunning clutches of the greedy syndicate... And that man, known to a few as Operator #5, under grave suspicion of treachery, spied upon and hampered by a stubborn superior, must sacrifice his father, his beloved, and his honor to save his native land from a cruel invader’s debauchery and butchery...!
Jimmy Christopher was the star of the most audacious pulp magazine ever conceived. With the rise of European fascism in the form of Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and General Francisco Franco of Spain—not to mention myriad lesser despots and dictators—Americans began to fear for their future. The dread of being drawn into a second World War became a topic of grave concern in that Depression year of 1934.
At pulp magazine publisher Popular Publications, they took note of this isolationist trend and commissioned writer Frederick C. Davis to help develop a hero for their new monthly magazine, entitled Secret Service Operator #5..
Into this unprecedented crisis plunged Jimmy Christopher. Only one man, but a man who embodied the American spirit — and stands prepared to perish to protect his country.
Hosts of the Flaming Death is read with stirring intensity by Milton Bagby. Originally published in the August, 1935 issue of Operator #5 magazine.
