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Shadow Man  By  cover art

Shadow Man

By: Cody McFadyen
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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Publisher's summary

Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best - until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead - but her life was shattered forever.

Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again. She dreams about placing the cold steel between her lips and pulling the trigger one last time. Because for a woman who's lost everything, what is there left to lose?

She's about to find out.

In all her years at the Bureau, Smoky has never encountered anyone like him - a new and fascinating kind of monster, a twisted genius who defies profilers' attempts to understand him. And he's issued Smoky a direct challenge, coaxing her back from the brink with the only thing that could convince her to live.

The killer videotaped his latest crime - an act of horror that left a child motherless - then sent a message addressed to Agent Smoky Barrett. The message is enough to shock Smoky back to work, back to her FBI team. And that child awakens something in Smoky she thought was gone forever.

Suddenly the stakes are raised. The game has changed. For as this deranged monster embarks on an unspeakable spree of perversion and murder, Smoky is coming alive again - and she's about to face her greatest fears as a cop, a woman, a mother...and a merciless killer's next victim.

©2006 Cody McFadyen (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"First-time novelist McFadyen writes like an old pro." (Booklist)
"McFadyen's writing is crisp and smart, and his scenes pack a visceral punch without being cheap or exploitative." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Shadow Man

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    54
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    16
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Horrifying, excellent

It was not particularly pleasant, some of it, but I could not put it down, as they say.
The purpose of my review is to merely say that I will buy whatever this author writes.
I go thru at least 20 audiobooks a month, and I rarely if ever, say that about an author.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow!

This book has a punch on your emotions. I really liked this one because I had a bit of a tough time with it. a bit gory in some parts for me but it challenged me to follow through with it. I loved the characters and I had some real hate for some characters. The plot was intriguing and it had a real punch in the end. Narration was great, but Kate Reading is always wonderful.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

GREAT!!!

I have been listening to audio books forever and this is a new aurthor and I truly enjoyed it....

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A Book Full of Cliche Characters

What disappointed you about Shadow Man?

I was disappointed by everything in the book. There was nothing at all believable in it, it read like a Hollywood blockbuster - and I don't mean that as a compliment. The characters, most of all the main character were pure cliches of what we "expect" FBI agents to be - tough talking and patronising, with witty one liners spat out as often as possible. The story line in the book has been done a million times over, it even included the revelation of a secret love child! Give me a break.
I also have to mention that the amount of times "honey love" is uttered in the book made me want to puncture my eardrums with a pair of chopsticks. Enough already!

What could Cody McFadyen have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Cody McFayden could have done more research on law enforcement procedure and a hell of a lot more character development to make the entire book more believable and not such a laughable cliche.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kate Reading?

The problem wasn't with the narrator, though Michael Kramer has got to be my favorite.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Shadow Man?

I would have cut every scene out until it was nothing!!!

Any additional comments?

Waste of my credit and time listening to this drivel.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Rated F for foul language

The plot and characters were excellent and the bad guy is a REAL surprise, but the language is rediculously and unnecessarily foul. I could have done without that and would have appreciated a warning. I wish authors would learn that adding such wasted words doesn't build the personality of the character or express their mood, it only cheapens an otherwise excellent work.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brutal but Good

This book was recommended to me by a reading buddy because she loved it and because she knows I like Karen Slaughter books. It is the beginning of a series that is not at all light reading. A brutal tale with all the suspense and twists that make up a good crime thriller. On to the next book, I hope the series gets better as it goes. Kate Reading does an excellent job with the different voices.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic!

Absolutely loved this book. It was intense and I couldn't stop listening to it. 5 stars (the first 5 stars I've given) and I can't wait to listen to the next book in the series!!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Worth a listen

The story has a great flow. And the idea of having a defendant of Jack the Ripper calling himself Jack
Jr as your antagonist is pretty cool. The character development is solid. You actually end up caring about the characters, which in many books in this vein you don't 😏. The use of "Honey love" was a huge negative, over used & annoying to the point of hoping for that characters death early in the book. I did find the ending a little anticlimactic. After all the build up to the reveal of Jack Jr to have it end so quickly was not really satisfying to me. I would say that was my biggest disappointment with the book & the nauseating use of "honey love." Aside from that it was very entertaining & worth a listen. The narrator did a wonderful job.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

For Slaughter fans?

Previous reviews say for Slaughter fans, not quite on par with Karen Slaughter but can hold her own on the creepy killer factor. I enjoyed the listen and may continue on with the series in between Slaughter releases.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I could not stop listening. One of the best books

This book is on the top of my best read books. I just might listen to it again. The story and the characters make your emotions be all over the place

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1 person found this helpful