The Shadow Passes

Snell, Roy J. (Roy Judson), 1878-1959Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 206K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Shadow Passes by Roy J. SnellAuthor: Snell, Roy J. (Roy Judson), 1878-1959,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Dec 5, 2013

Editor's review

This book also comes from Project Gutenberg's public-domain juvenile literature list, by Roy J. Snell, known for adventure and mystery stories for young readers. The title has a clear suspenseful quality—"the shadow passes" suggests the story may revolve around a mystery, pursuit, or hidden events—and the overall tone leans toward plot-driven light suspense. For Chinese readers, its core value is as a free, directly accessible original English text: its length and language are usually suitable for sustained reading, helping readers become familiar with suspense buildup, dialogue-driven progression, and scene shifts in English narrative, and making it easy to observe how early twentieth-century juvenile fiction balances tension and security. As an electronic text, it has no modern editor's introduction, so readers need to build their own framework of understanding. In terms of reading scenarios, it suits short weekend reading, brief suspenseful bedtime segments, or one title in an English extensive reading plan. Read alongside the same author's A Ticket to Adventure, it also allows comparison of his adventure and suspense narrative approaches.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of original English fiction who enjoy light suspense and suspense-driven plots
Readers who want to compare the same author's handling of different genres
Learners using public-domain eBooks as extensive English reading material
Readers interested in early youth suspense fiction

Not a good fit for

Fans of classic detective fiction who demand rigorous deduction and fair clues
Readers who need a Chinese translation or modern annotations
Readers with little patience for the pacing of old-fashioned juvenile literature

Reading tips

Before reading, look at the chapter titles and predict the suspense clues; after reading, check whether your predictions held, which makes the reading more engaging.
If there are many characters, make a simple relationship chart to avoid confusing roles as the suspense develops.
Read alternately with the same author's A Ticket to Adventure to compare the adventure and suspense approaches.
For extensive reading, set a fixed number of pages per day and summarize that day's plot in two or three sentences after finishing.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and A Ticket to Adventure?

According to the available information, both books are by Roy J. Snell, both were released by Project Gutenberg, and both belong to the juvenile literature category, but the information does not indicate any direct connection in plot or characters; they are best regarded as two independent works by the same author.

What does "the shadow" in the title refer to?

The available information provides only the title, author, and classification, with no plot summary, so it is impossible to confirm what "the shadow" specifically refers to in the book. It may serve a suspense function; it is best to rely on the original text rather than speculate about the content from the title.

Can this book be read for free?

Yes. This book was released by Project Gutenberg, a platform dedicated to providing free eBooks, so readers can usually obtain the text free of charge. For specific access, refer to the instructions on its platform page.

Is reference material needed while reading?

The text itself comes without a modern introduction or annotations. If you want to learn about the author's background and the juvenile literature classification, you can consult material related to the PZ classification. General readers need only dictionary tools and can read in chapter order.

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About the author

Snell, Roy J. (Roy Judson), 1878-1959 Author

Roy Judson Snell (1878–1959) was an American writer of adventure fiction for children and young adults, though public information about his life is limited, and his exact birth and death dates and nationality are not fully confirmed in our records. The library holds forty of his works, spanning aviation adventure, mystery and detection, and adventure stories for girls. Representative titles include The Crimson Flash, White Fire, Riddle of the Storm, The Crimson Thread: An Adventure Story for Girls, Red Dynamite, The Galloping Ghost, Curlie Carson Listens In, and Lost in the Air. His writing is known for its brisk pacing and tightly woven plots, often placing young readers in tense settings such as flight, storms, and mysterious events, using suspense to drive the story while emphasizing courage, quick thinking, and teamwork. Some works were explicitly aimed at girl readers, giving him a modest place in early juvenile genre fiction.