Forged in war, The Phantom Detective wages a one-man battle on crime! Solving impossible mysteries and delivering his own justice, he is the underworld’s masked nightmare!
Spydom’s crimson undercurrent sweeps The Phantom Detective into a balding sea mystery when the fate of Free France hangs in the balance as modern pirates create panic!
The concept of finding oneself didn’t just make The Phantom Detective appealing to war veterans, although many could see themselves in Richard Curtis Van Loan’s journey. In 1933, The Depression was still in full swing in The United States, leaving many wondering where their next job, their next dime, their next meal was going to come from. Men who had had promising careers just four short years ago now found themselves in bread lines and crossing the country to pick fruit just to survive. This lost sense of purpose imbued the character of The Phantom Detective, being the primary reason that Van Loan put the mask on to begin with. Left adrift after returning home from World War One, Van Loan, even with his vast wealth, could not find peace until friend Frank Havens suggested he tackle solving a crime that the police could not crack. This character came at a time in American history when many people, especially men seeing themselves as providers for their families, had the same issues. Though not millionaires, many during the 1930s had a wealth of poverty, a richness of nothing, and this caused them to feel just as lost as Richard Curtis Van Loan. Scraping together a few cents to escape from the humdrum of unemployment or, for the lucky ones, the monotonous daily grind in a factory, readers sought out not only over the top adventures and unsolvable crimes, which The Phantom Detective provided plenty of in his long run.
Murder Stalks A Billion was originally published in the December 1941 issue of The Phantom Detective Magazine and is read with pulse pounding intensity by award winning voice actor Milton Bagby.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Sea Won’t Tell
Chapter 2: Strange Witnesses
Chapter 3: Murder in the Sky
Chapter 4: Reward for Murder
Chapter 5: Meet the Corpse
Chapter 6: Murder Pay
Chapter 7: Chips for Death
Chapter 8: Big Dan’s Defiance
Chapter 9: What Does Penny Know?
Chapter 10: Signal to the Dead
Chapter 11: Out of the Sea
Chapter 12: Hate’s Cross Pattern
Chapter 13: Run of the Tide
Chapter 14: His Best Disguise
Chapter 15: Vanished Ina Lou
Chapter 16: Dead Men Can’t Talk
Chapter 17: One Kent Too Many
Chapter 18: Keep Them Alive
Chapter 19: Greed of a Woman
Chapter 20: Ina Lou at Heart
Chapter 21: Flaming Decoy
Chapter 22: A Billion in Gold
