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The Spider #29 Audiobook
Slaves of the Murder Syndicate
by Norvell W. Page writing as Grant Stockbridge
Read by Nick Santa Maria
Never before had a shrewd criminal leader so successfully defied the Law — and the Spider’s sure vengeance! A powerful Eastern murder syndicate, employing two deadly weapons, held America for ransom, spreading pain and terror and red destruction... Never had the Spider’s struggle against the Underworld seemed so futile, for the name of Richard Wentworth was disgraced, his fortune was forfeit, and his beloved had betrayed him into the hands of the police — and certain death!
Richard Wentworth saw himself as a man on a holy mission, a self-appointed messiah with a martyr complex. A Christ covered in cobwebs:
He was the champion of oppressed humanity, its shield and protector against the murderous outbreaks of the Underworld; wherever crime struck terribly, that way he hastened, taking up the challenge. The police had offered rewards totaling thousands of dollars for his capture “dead or alive.” And the Underworld hated him, and plotted his destruction with a fierceness bred of abject terror.
But the Spider was indifferent alike to proscription by the Underworld and dogged persecution by police. Evading their bullets and traps, he continued to fight his thankless battle as humanity’s paladin....
And the Spider seemed to rejoice in being outnumbered by impossible odds. Captured by a modern-day buccaneer in one epic, Wentworth shrugged off the mood of black despair which often came over him when defeat seemed imminent:
One man against more than a hundred pirates, of course, a hundred killers. The Spider knew that, but it did not check the wild impulse to laughter that squeezed his lungs. It was no wonder that men call the Spider mad!
Nick Santa Maria reads this exciting suspense story of murder, mayhem and mystery that perfectly evokes 1936 Manhattan. Slaves of the Murder Syndicate originally published in The Spider magazine, February, 1936.
Chapter 1: The Feathered Dart
Chapter 2: Betrayed!
Chapter 3: The Horror at Headquarters
Chapter 4: Murder Gone Mad!
Chapter 5: Choice of Death
Chapter 6: Cold Steel Reception
Chapter 7: The Spider Springs a Trap
Chapter 8: Rendezvous With Death!
Chapter 9: The Spider Finds His Foe!
Chapter 10: The Spider Makes a Friend
Chapter 11: The Spider Surrenders
Chapter 12: Nita Lends a Hand
Chapter 13: Again, Corporal Death
Chapter 14: Four Men Who Die!
Chapter 15: A Life for a Life!
Chapter 16: Enter the Spider!
Nick Santa Maria Nick was born early in life in Brooklyn, NY. His theatrical background is based in Comedy Improv. He was a long standing member of the late lamented Miami based, Mental Floss, where he served as head writer/composer. From there he began his career in commercials, voice-overs, TV, Film, and theatre. He has performed in many roles on the stage including his award winning turn as Nick in Over The River And Through The Woods, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, in The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee as Mr. Panch (3-D Theatricals), Mr. Bromhead in No Sex Please, We’re British at The Norris, and as Pseudolus in, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Norris Theatre. Television: The Buffalo Bill Show, B.J. Stryker, and two Disney Christmas Specials. Off Broadway: Writer/Composer/Performer on Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, Soundtrack on RCA Victor. Broadway: Vince Fontaine in Tommy Tune’s production of Grease. He also appeared in every domestic company of Mel Brooks’ The Producers, understudying everyone from Nathan Lane and Jason Alexander, to Tony Danza and David Hassellhoff. He was the original Genie in Disney’s Aladdin, a Musical Spectacular, soundtrack on Disney Records. Nick is a resident of Los Angeles and is currently writing a book about classic film comedians, Nick’s been a long time film historian, and has written several articles on the topic.
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