Spring Reading Thing Challenge

SHADOW MAN

Cody McFadyen ~ BOiPod

Personal Rating: 4.75/5

Yearly Count: 50

Whoa. Pick any synonym of gruesome and you've got this book pegged. It was some piece of work. I can't believe that I was hunting for things to do in the house, so that I could keep listening to this book. There is no doubt that this was well beyond my comfort zone and that I have thoroughly shocked myself, but the psychological storyline was extremely compelling. I didn't want to put my iPod down!

The narrator Kate Reading was fabulous, but what she read was incredibly shocking. So why did I rate it as I did? It was spellbinding (maybe Kate had a lot to do with that) and incredibly interesting to follow Special Agent Smoky Barrett (female) and her team into the depths of a monster's mind. I wish I was spared some of the graphic violence, the s*xual degradation, and the foul language (still can't believe I willingly listened to all of that), but I loved the characters, the mystery (although I solved it early on) and definitely the narrator.

I have discovered that Smoky is back (evidently the second in a series) in The Face of Death (May, 2007). I've got to give myself a break, but I will be picking it up. In my world, Mr. Mcfadyen has made it big just by the mere fact that he kept me intrigued and curious. Kudos to you, Cody, on this debut suspense novel! Whoa.

*Recommended By: Lesley's Book Nook

ADDENDUM:

(6-30-07)

After responding to Les's comment, I decided to venture over to Cody Mcfadyen's website. What follows is a portion of his talk with Shots Ezine that absolutely astounded me:

...I also wanted to ensure that the look at evil was an unflinching one. Not so much in terms of the graphic, but in not glossing over the consequences.

(No glossing over anything. It's all there.)

When people are murdered - it matters. Evil leaves a footprint on the lives of normal people, and it's a bloody one. I wanted the reader to feel that, to the bone.

(I felt it! I still have a vivid image in my mind.)

I suppose, in my writing, I hope to make the reader feel something, and not half-way. I don't want them to sniffle a little - I want them to cry. I don't want them to smile - I want them to laugh. And when it comes to the evil side of things - I don't want them to recoil - I want them to go 'Oh my God', and spend a moment staring off into the distance, dazed.

(Without a doubt, all of the above happened to me.)

I wanted the book to leave a mark, a little bit of a bruise, without ever making the reader regret taking the ride. I hope I achieved that balance, so that by the end of it, the reader feels wrung out but happy for the experience.

(This is exactly how I felt. No regrets and thankful that there was a balance.)

Smoky will be an ongoing character - I'm well into the second book featuring her.

(I look forward to it!)

As far as how I feel about the impending publication... list out every synonym for 'ecstatic' that you can find, multiply that by 100, and carry it to the 10th power, and you'll get an idea of just how happy I am to become a published author!

(This blew me away! This was the same exact sentiment I began with - well, except for a minor word change of "ecstatic" to ummmm ... "gruesome". Anyway, is that a sign that Great Minds Think Alike?!? LOL If so, yikes!)