{"product_id":"2940013763067","title":"Legion of the Living Dead","description":"IT was an afternoon in late spring and from a cloudless sky, the sun\u003cbr\u003ebeat shimmering rays on the stream of motor cars that flowed\u003cbr\u003esluggishly along the narrow canyon between the rows of tall buildings.\u003cbr\u003eAlong the sidewalks, men and women, many of them richly attired,\u003cbr\u003ehurried about their business and pleasure. It was a street of wealth,\u003cbr\u003ea main stem of American finance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut the men and women in the street seemed oblivious to the criminal\u003cbr\u003emonster who preyed like a vampire upon this veritable artery of\u003cbr\u003ewealth. Had they noticed the faces of the men in the great black\u003cbr\u003etouring car that cruised along slowly with the traffic, they might\u003cbr\u003ehave lost some of their sense of security. For these men were grim-\u003cbr\u003efaced police--one of many specially picked squadrons that had been\u003cbr\u003epatrolling the streets day and night, waiting for the radio call to\u003cbr\u003eduty--and probably to their own destruction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man at the wheel of the squad car was young for a position that\u003cbr\u003einvolved so much responsibility. His face told of many anxious\u003cbr\u003emoments, of the torment of trying to fathom the unfathomable. He\u003cbr\u003esteered the car without apparent effort, yet his every nerve was keyed\u003cbr\u003eto a high pitch. His brilliant eyes strained ahead; yet sometimes\u003cbr\u003esought the rear vision mirror, watching for that with which human\u003cbr\u003eforces seemed powerless to cope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly, from the radio speaker came the voice of the police\u003cbr\u003eannouncer. At the first word, the driver of the squad car detected a\u003cbr\u003edifferent note in the man's voice. The drab monotone was gone; rather\u003cbr\u003ethe announcer's voice was colored with a tremor of excitement and\u003cbr\u003edread. He was exercising his duty in transmitting the message that had\u003cbr\u003ecome to him, but he seemed to know that in doing so he was sending\u003cbr\u003esome of his companions to their doom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Special cruiser twenty-four... Calling special cruiser twenty-four,\"\u003cbr\u003ecame from the loudspeaker. \"Proceed at once to the Krausman store.\u003cbr\u003eRobbery going on. Robbery going on at Krausman store... Number one-\u003cbr\u003ethree... Number one-three.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe last group of figures was simply a code which the department used\u003cbr\u003eto identify the activities of a mysterious criminal gang which had\u003cbr\u003eterrorized the city with daring thefts accompanied by what amounted to\u003cbr\u003enothing short of wholesale butchery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the driver of the squad car set his siren going, another very human\u003cbr\u003eappeal came from the radio loud-speaker. For a moment, the vast police\u003cbr\u003eorganization was forgotten. It was simply one anxious father speaking\u003cbr\u003eto his son: \"For the love of God, watch your step, Jimmy!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe jaw of the young man at the wheel of the squad car was thrust far\u003cbr\u003eforward, as his foot came down heavily upon the accelerator. The\u003cbr\u003epolice announcer was an elderly man who had been pronounced unfit for\u003cbr\u003eactive service. It was his son who manned the wheel of Special Cruiser\u003cbr\u003eTwenty-four. Duty had made heavy demands upon father and son. The\u003cbr\u003eanxiety of the father could well be imagined. He might just as well\u003cbr\u003ehave pronounced his own son's death sentence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA wide lane in the traffic appeared miraculously before the speeding,\u003cbr\u003escreaming squad car. The police sat on the edge of the cushions. Their\u003cbr\u003eknuckles whitened as they clenched the butts of heavy revolvers. Now\u003cbr\u003eand again one of the men would send a strained glance back through the\u003cbr\u003erear window.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly, the man beside the young driver pinched his companion’s arm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's coming!\" His voice was hard and brittle, strained to the\u003cbr\u003ebreaking point. The driver's lower jaw protruded a bit more. He\u003cbr\u003euttered a heartening oath through clenched teeth. His eyes flashed\u003cbr\u003eupward toward the rear vision mirror. The stretch of cleared street\u003cbr\u003ebehind them was broken by a sinister blot of speeding destruction. A\u003cbr\u003elong-nosed streamlined roadster, black as midnight was rapidly\u003cbr\u003eoverhauling them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE police car was still three blocks from the scene of the robbery\u003cbr\u003eand the car behind them seemed to have no speed limit. Nor did the\u003cbr\u003edriver of the black roadster have any compassion for human life. The\u003cbr\u003epolice cruiser swerved sharply to avoid hitting a careless pedestrian.\u003cbr\u003eA split second later, the black roadster bore down upon the frightened\u003cbr\u003eman. The pedestrian became panic stricken, put out both arms in a\u003cbr\u003eridiculously futile effort to halt the speeding car, and in the next\u003cbr\u003emoment was knocked flat--a piteous blot that lay deathly still on the\u003cbr\u003epavement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe roadster was within a few feet of the squad car. Through the rear\u003cbr\u003ewindow, the police could see the two men crouched low and motionless\u003cbr\u003ein the cockpit. With a dexterous yank on the wheel, the driver of the\u003cbr\u003epolice car sent the cruiser far to the left, trying to block off the\u003cbr\u003eblack speed demon.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152693772528,"sku":"2940013763067","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013763067_p0.jpg?v=1763589933","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013763067","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}