Eyes of Prey [Import] [Unbound]

Barry Hoffman (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Leisure Books (August 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0585298521
• ISBN-13: 978-0585298528
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Barry Hoffman has been a teacher, a publisher, an editor, and, of course, a writer. Hoffman's eight adult books have been well received by critics and most recently, he is the author of the popular young adult novels, The Shamra Chronicles; the last novel in the series, Chaos Unleashed, will be released May 2011. What do all of his novels have in common? All have females as protagonists and more than half of the antagonists are also females. These female characters are strong and often flawed, but they are definitely not dependent on males to save the day.

As the father to two strong-willed, independent daughters (one of whom was named after Shamra's Dara), grandfather to a ten-year old granddaughter in the same mold, and teacher to fifth to eighth grade students, Barry was influenced to write these kinds of strong female characters. Throughout his thirty years as an inner-city school teacher in Philadelphia, he found the eleven to fourteen year old girls he taught to have unique and diverse personalities, which helped shape the young women in The Shamra Chronicles. In fact, each book of The Shamra Chronicles is populated with young women bearing a remarkable resemblance to those who have walked through his classroom door.

Barry believes that adolescent and teenage girls need to read books where there are positive role models with which they can identify. He has written all three Shamra Chronicles books: Curse of the Shamra, Shamra Divided, and Chaos Unleashed with the hope that girls will latch onto Dara as an independent, increasingly mature young woman, rather than reading novels where the main female character is submissive and subject to the whims of the boy over which she obsesses.

Inspired by President Obama's call to give back to the community, Barry set out to donate 10,000 copies of his young adult novel Curse of the Shamra in 2009. He provided copies to schools (with a special focus on Title 1 schools in dire need of resources), libraries, military families, Girl Scouts, and other organizations with a Young Adult audience. He has already surpassed his goal, giving away 11,145 copies of The Shamra Chronicles to date!


Barry also conducted an Author in Residence program in 2009 and 2010 at classrooms in Colorado. The students all received free copies of Curse of the Shamra, and Barry led weekly discussions about characters, plot developments, choices made and their consequences, along with discussing critical thinking and writing skills. The project culminated with student projects and essays.


In addition to writing The Shamra Chronicles and eight other novels, Barry is well-known as the Publisher and Editor of Gauntlet Magazine, a magazine dealing with censorship, and as Publisher at Gauntlet Press, Winner of 1999 Stoker Award for Best Small Press, which produces collectible editions of classic and previously unpublished books. Barry has lived in Colorado since 2002. He grew up in New York and spent his entire teaching career in Philadelphia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually 4 1/2 stars...., August 23, 2002

By 

Darren Jacks (North Hollywood, Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eyes of Prey (Mass Market Paperback)

Barry Hoffman has outdone himself again. This sequel to Hungry Eyes is just as good as the original if not better!!!

To my shock, Hoffman has left Leisure because a lack of PR, but this guy is too talented to remain unsigned by a major publishing house. He has a keen insight to sociological issues and is branching out to include the supernatural (Or so I am led to believe by Judas Eyes, which I will review when I get my hot little hands on it). YEAH!!!!

This novel is so good on sooo many levels. Hoffman's signature characterization is splendid here and he includes a whole cast of personalitites here. He writes a smooth story and as previously written in other reviews, he has a clear and concise voice, avoiding "over-writing."

Hoffman is going to become a great writer and I am shocked he is only selling in the 200,000's on Amazon.com. This guy needs to be displayed to the public so they can gobble up everything this man dishes out! I for one am a life-long fan and will search out is work! And I was only so-so happy with the first novel I read by him, BORN BAD. That was a decent novel, still worth reading, just not overtly impressive. Sorry, Barry!!

Look up the Prey series, you'll be glad and so will your mind!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars eyes of prey, February 6, 2000

By 

DON HENSLEY (jamestown usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eyes of Prey (Mass Market Paperback)

Great sequel. I was not real excited about making this a series but it works! The concept of female/ serial killer/ victim is still original and thrilling.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eyes of Prey, May 15, 2000

By 

EJ (US, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eyes of Prey (Mass Market Paperback)

Once I started I didn't want to stop. It has just the right amount of suspense, drama, and supernatural and at just the right times. These characters are almost like people he knows rather then people he has created. I didn't read Hungry eyes-yet. But it was nice that these characters were able to stand by themselves without having to read a book before or after to figure out who they are. I know they have a history; I don't need every detail as to why shara and deirdre have the relationship they do I know them and I can fill in the blanks...I eagerly await any sequels and hope Barry hurries up...