A mad scientist has invented a way to decapitate people and let them live as his headless slaves. The Man of Bronze and his crew pursue this deadly genius to Central America, where they are all trapped and captured. Only Doc Savage can prevent the headless horde from taking over the world — but he is strapped to a sacrificial altar and is scheduled to lose his head at midnight!
A pretty good Hathway Doc, not as good as Devil’s Playground but better than Mindless Monsters. Hathway might not have had the manic charge of his friend Harold Davis, but his plotting and prose were tighter, if not perfect.
To be blunt, it stinks. Starts out well enough, but once the action moves to San Roble (a fictional Central American country) the story falls completely apart. The notion of Chemistry the ape switching places with Monk not once, but twice, without the villain’s henchmen noticing is utterly ludicrous. Also, Doc’s gadget-filled equipment vest is said to be so undetectable that only a “microscopic” examination would reveal it. Complete balderdash!