The Thunder Dragon Gate is the name of a monastery in Tibet, thought to be the portal to Shambala, and therefore revered as a symbol for the threshold to higher levels of spiritual consciousness. American secret agent Tom Grayne and his wife Elsa are trying to smuggle the keeper of the gate, Thö-pa-ga, back into Tibet to resume his ordained duty and to learn what they can about the path to Shambala. Only a few things stand in their way--a power-mad rajah named Dowlah, an array of Chinese and Japanese agents, the Tibetan government, the Indian government, and a huge man-eating spider called a shang-shang. This ferocious spider--the female eats its mate after copulating is the source of many common Tibetan superstitions which are most effective in keeping the ignorant and the fanatical away from the Thunder Dragon Gate. It is said that the gate itself is guarded by a shang-shang! This fast-paced adventure novel by Talbot Mundy illuminates the power of the mind to defeat superstitions and the need to do so before one can tread the path to enlightenment.