Shadow Man [Mass Market Paperback]

Smoky Barret was one of the best serial killer hunters the FBI had, until the day an unspeakable act of violence brought her world crashing down...

With her husband and daughter dead by the hands of a killer that she hunted, Smoky believes she has nothing to live for. Relieved of her duties with the FBI, Smoky is on the verge of suicide, until another act of violence pulls her back into the FBI.

Smoky receives a phone call that one of her best friends has been murdered and the killer has left a message specifically for her. The last thing Smoky needs is to be back in the business that took away everything she loved, but when she hears that her friends daughter, who also happens to be her god-daughter, is in a catatonic state as a result of the horrific ordeal she knows she needs to stop this killer.

As time starts running out and the killer's sick game becomes more brutal, Smoky races to stop a madman before she loses her mind.

'Shadow Man' is the most gruesome, twisted, and scary thriller to come out in a long time. As fast-paced as a book can be, it echoes 'Silence of the Lambs' with a razor-sharp plot, and a killer as ruthless, and terrifying as any in a novel in recent years.

Cody McFadyen has crafted a masterpiece that will rocket up the best-seller lists and establish him as a major new author.

Be warned...this thriller might not be for everyone due to it's sick and graphic killings, but those brave enough to dive in will be rewarded with an amazing, and un-put-downable read.

Do NOT miss this excellent book.

Nick Gonnella

Meet FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett. She's 4'10" tall, with dark hair to her waist, and half her face is crosshatched with severely disfiguring scars. Six months ago, a serial killer Smoky was hunting broke into her home, killed her husband and daughter, and raped and tortured her for hours before she was finally able to kill him. Smoky's scars from the trauma are emotional even more than they are physical, so for the last six months she's been on leave, seeing a therapist, trying to decide if she'd rather return to the FBI or put her gun in her mouth.

The decision is made for her when Smoky gets a phone call from one of her coworkers, informing Smoky that her best friend, Annie, has been savagely raped and murdered. And it gets worse: Instead of killing Smoky's goddaughter, Bonnie, the killer tied the girl to her mother's corpse, face to face--and she's still there three days later when the police arrive at the scene, in a near catatonic state. To top it all off, the killer leaves a message at the scene, addressed specifically to Special Agent Smoky Barrett. Only a day ago Smoky was dreaming of suicide; now, she's been thrust back into two roles--mother and FBI agent--and she's not sure she's ready for either one.

But this killer doesn't care about Smoky's emotional state. It doesn't take long for her to realize that she's dealing with a serial killer who's brilliant, twisted, ruthless, charismatic, and beastly all at once, one who somehow knows more about her than she knows about herself, who knows all the secrets she--and the members of her team--have kept hidden for years. He calls himself "Jack Jr." because he believes he's a descendant of Jack the Ripper, and the knowledge that he's being hunted excites him to new levels of violence. To catch him, to survive him, Smoky will have to come face to face with her past--whether she's ready to or not.

If you think the police procedural thriller genre is getting tired, SHADOW MAN--the debut novel by Californian Cody McFadyen--will quickly change your mind. This novel singlehandedly rejuvenates the genre with a compelling cast of characters and an unflinching, riveting plot. It's relentless and suspenseful, an intense look into the mind of a serial killer and the people hunting him.

And it's the people hunting him who are the heart of McFadyen's debut. Smoky is an incredible creation, a haunted and complicated heroine, above and beyond the standard-issue characters usually found in this genre. I'm always a little bit apprehensive when I begin a novel written by a man with a woman as the main character, but McFadyen's portrayal of Smoky and her emotional turmoil is spot-on. He's deftly mastered the ability to write from the perspective of a woman, and he does so with grace and stirring attention to detail. I hope McFadyen revisits Smoky's world in his next novel; she'd be a perfect series heroine (she reminds me of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan in some ways, though maybe she's a bit more tortured than Dr. Brennan).

And while Smoky's supporting team of agents may at first glance seem stereotypical--the computer geek, the unfeeling human robot, the hulking black man with a heart of gold, the untouchable beauty with a sad secret--they are equally well-fleshed-out. The dialogue is spot-on, and the characters interact in compelling and realistic ways.

Although I know this is going to sound strange, this novel was actually a joy to read (despite the brutality of McFadyen's descriptions of the crime scenes--they definitely aren't for the faint of heart). SHADOW MAN is a literary novel as well as a suspenseful one, with sharp, seasoned prose that makes McFadyen seem like someone who's been writing books for years. His first novel definitely doesn't read like most debuts; it's much, much better. In fact, this is one of those books I wish I could thank the author for writing, just because I enjoyed its amazing characters, precise prose, and meticulously orchestrated suspense so much.

In the crime fiction genre, SHADOW MAN is just as good as it gets. It's going to be a joy to watch McFadyen (and his characters) develop as his career continues. SHADOW MAN is sure to be a bestseller this summer, and it definitely gets my highest recommendation!

I wish I could tell you more about Cody Mcfadyen. He is married, has a family, lives in California, and is involved in some capacity with a software company. That is about all I know, besides the fact that his first novel is the wildest night ride I have been on for quite a while.

SHADOW MAN is soul-numbing, a stiff-legged march through a five-mile-long frozen food locker with bouncing betties intermittently placed beneath the ice. It has a convincing, badly damaged heroine named Smoky Barrett and a brilliant serial murderer who calls himself "Jack Jr." after Jack The Ripper. Jack Jr. knows everything about Barrett. He is intimately familiar with the incident that caused Barrett, an FBI Special Agent, to take a leave of absence, that left Barrett physically and emotionally scarred and her husband and daughter dead. And he's privy to more details than even Barrett is.

Jack Jr. commits an unspeakable act to get her out of the house and back on the job, and then proceeds to go after her FBI team members in the same manner. Everyone on Barrett's team is very highly motivated to catch this guy, but they can't. He might just be too smart. At first blush, the team members are stereotypical: a nerdy brainiac with an anti-social personality, a gentle black giant with a heart of gold and a terrifying façade, and a gorgeous redhead who is almost, but not quite, Barrett's equal on the team. Forget about the first blush, however, and wait for the second.

Remember those bouncing betties I mentioned earlier? Those are the revelations about Barrett, et al. that will jump off the page and explode in your face. Whether Barrett and company catch Jack Jr. almost takes a back seat to the next hidden truth, past and present, about each team member whom Jack Jr. reveals in dribs and drabs. By the time you finish reading this book you'll be running on adrenalin you never knew you had.

If you're sick of books about serial killers, SHADOW MAN is the cure. Mcfadyen's writing and characterization run long, deep and true. And, by the way, he is beyond scary. Not to be missed.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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