Men called it the Buddha’s Toe—a relic so terrible it was kept sealed in a strongbox few dared open. Those who did dare, perished—shriveled up like fruit in the tropical sun, all vitality and life-force sucked out of them by a thing whose thirst for human souls was insatiable.
What kind of treasure would motivate plutocrats and pirates alike to vie for the power invested in this unholy thing? What could be gained by unleashing it upon the world? Only superman-scientist Doc Savage understood the real threat, but to stop it he would have to become the Buccaneer of Bronze!
From cosmopolitan Singapore to the barbaric waters of the Yellow Sea, Doc Savage plunges into a desperate struggle for control of the Infernal Buddha—before it consumes the planet!
“The mad mystery of the Infernal Buddha, as it came to be called, started east of Singapore, which is a speck of an isle off the lowermost tip of Malaysia. It was a fitting day for a mystery to begin, there being a fog, which was highly unusual for that part of the South China Sea.”
The Metal Master was started, abandoned and then re-written from scratch. Will Murray took the notes of that novel to write The Infernal Buddha. Murray abandoned the novel after writing four chapters when Bantam dropped the series. Murray then published the those chapters on Larry Widen’s website until Bantam sent a cease-and-desist letter.
Murray wrote, “The Infernal Buddha is set in 1937, during the time of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. It takes place after my The Whistling Wraith, which follows Lester Dent’s The Sea Angel. ”
This novel was also based in part on Davis’ first outline for Land of Fear.