Shadow Man, Alan Drew
Shadow Man, Alan Drew
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

Shadow Man

Author: Alan Drew

Narrator: Will Damron

Unabridged: 13 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/23/2017


Synopsis

A novel of psychological suspense about an idyllic community rocked by a serial killer—and a dark secret.

“A stellar achievement, a book that unspools like a dark-toned movie in the reader’s mind.”—The Wall Street Journal (One of the Best Mysteries of the Year)

Detective Ben Wade has returned to his hometown of Rancho Santa Elena in search of a quieter life and to try to save his marriage. Suddenly the community, with its peaceful streets and excellent public schools, finds itself at the mercy of a serial killer who slips through windows and screen doors at night, shattering illusions of safety. As Ben and forensic specialist Natasha Betencourt struggle to stay one step ahead of the killer—and deal with painful episodes in the past—Ben’s own world is rocked again by violence. He must decide how far he is willing to go, and Natasha how much she is willing to risk, to protect their friendship and themselves, to rescue the town from a psychotic murderer and a long-buried secret.

Written in fine, chilling prose, Shadow Man reveals the treacherous underbelly of suburban life, as a man, a woman, a family, and a community are confronted with the heart of human darkness.

Finalist for the SCIBA T. Jefferson Parker Award • Named One of the Best Crime Novels of the Year by The Booklist Reader

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mary Beth on June 08, 2017

3.5 I won this in a GoodReads Book Giveaway! I enjoyed this book but the marketing department really had poor marketing in this book. They marketed it as a thriller and also said it was very suspenseful. To me it wasn't either of these and I must of missed the suspense. Lucky a Good Reads friend warned......more

Goodreads review by Esil on May 19, 2017

Shadow Man crept up on me. At first it seemed a bit ordinary, but as I got immersed in the story, it really got my attention. Set in the mid 1980s in Southern California, Shadow Man features police officer Ben Wade. A spate of murders suggest that a serial killers is at work in this usually quiet co......more

Goodreads review by Miriam on January 02, 2018

"Shadow Man" by Alan Drew is a suspenseful and entertaining thriller that I really enjoyed reading from start to finish. Although not the sadistic, psychotic serial killer book some maybe expecting but still a very well written crime book that's as much a character driven story as a murder one. It ha......more

Goodreads review by NILTON on August 09, 2022

As I said so many times: it’s all about the writing! And this man does it beautifully. This is an excellent psychological thriller. The opening scene is terrific. The pace is slow, but because of the author’s writing skills, it’s far from being boring. This book is labeled as a thriller but it should als......more

Goodreads review by Kristy on April 21, 2017

Detective Ben Wade and his then-wife, Rachel, returned to their hometown of Rancho Santa Elena for a peaceful, safe life for themselves and their daughter. After all, as a detective, Ben knows the darker side of life. But even the idyllic California community couldn't save his marriage with Rachel--......more


Quotes

“Excellent, atmospheric . . . [a] superb police procedural . . . [Ben Wade] is but one of many sharply etched characters who help make Shadow Man a stellar achievement, a book that unspools like a dark-toned movie in the reader’s mind.”The Wall Street Journal
 
“The crime part of this novel is superbly done: Wade, along with forensic expert Natasha Betencourt, are both indelible characters, and the passages from the criminal’s perspective are chilling. Yet there is also a lot of complex emotion—a lot of novel, if you will—going on here, especially in the excavation of Wade’s past and in the tension between the remaining wildness and the parcels of civilization carved out of the valley.”Literary Hub
 
“[Alan] Drew’s debut psychological thriller succeeds admirably. There are three hearts of human darkness within, and it is for the reader to decide which character is the true ‘shadow man’ . . . The Steinbeck-like passages about the vanishing cowboy landscape contribute to the novel’s power.”Booklist (starred review)
 
“Drew’s engrossing novel works equally well as psychological study and cop thriller, literary novel and genre piece.”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
 
“Drew’s cinematic descriptive powers, which he displayed so well in his debut, are on full and wonderful display [in Shadow Man], helping to make it an absolute must-read this summer. . . . Drew’s prose will remind readers by turns of Dennis Lehane and T. Jefferson Parker. This is a remarkable work that you will want to read in one sitting, simply because its author sinks the hook so deeply from its first paragraph that it is impossible to put down until completed.”Bookreporter

“Entertaining, well-constructed . . . The darkness that affects [Ben] Wade, a lone wolf rides horses for pleasure, forms the heart of the story, and Drew draws it out nicely while still moving the plot forward.”Publishers Weekly

“Recommend this one to fans of Michael Connelly, Tana French, and Dennis Lehane. . . . The Steinbeck-like passages about the vanishing cowboy landscape contribute to the novel’s power.”Booklist (starred review)

“Wonderfully imagined and wonderfully written, Shadow Man is everything a great thriller should be. . . . A home run.”—Lee Child
 
Shadow Man revises the old detective story and turns it in several fascinating directions. Alan Drew writes with precision, subtlety, and a streak of suspense that does not often color the literary novel.”—Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin
 
Shadow Man is smart, chilling, and impossible to put down.”—William Landay, author of Defending Jacob

“A descendant of Chandler’s The Big Sleep.”—Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Gold Fame Citrus