Pulpseed

April 1922, Nayaganj, India. American aviator Julian Brentwood, known in the war only as G-8, is found near death from a snake's bite. In his hand is an envelope believed to contain information about a vast buried treasure. Everyone wants it: British and American intelligence agencies represented by Commander Samuel Lindsay and Frank Reynolds; Communists; and Julian's former allies, Ram Dulal and Isuar.
     The letter slips their grasp and reaches one of Julian's adopted brothers, Kenton. He and his twin brother Lawrence set out from Liverpool to Bombay to claim the body. Arriving in Nayaganj the Brentwoods find themselves under suspicion and attack, since it's thought they have come to find the treasure. While searching for the truth of Julian's death they rescue a friend of his, Ram Singh, from the clutches of Isuar. He helps them escape British intelligence, and they flee to Tibet. There they come under the tutelage of two masters of a lamasery, Chen T'a Tze and Khünpela, who restore the weakened Brentwoods, as well as reshape their war-learned fighting techniques and war-damaged psyches for the purpose of fighting evil wherever it exists.
     Upon recovery, the twins, accompanied by Ram Singh, return to India, eventually making their way to the desert of Rajasthan, reputed site of the treasure, where there is a dramatic showdown with Lindsay, his aide Hothersall, Reynolds, and the Communist and Indian revolutionaries.
     At the end of the book, in May 1923, the Brentwoods and Ram Singh return to Nayaganj. Buried deep in the ground is a metal box Julian owned containing reports of his wartime adventures, documents revealing their biological parents' names as well as their own, and a photograph of a previously unknown sister. The twins separate, Kenton to return to Tibet for more training, and Lawrence, together with Ram Singh, to the United States. Pulpseed ends with them closer to embarking on their careers and new identities as Kent Allard (The Shadow) and Richard Wentworth (The Spider).