In His Shadow [Paperback]

Dave Zeltserman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

Denver private eye Johnny Lane runs a thriving agency. In fact, he’s so busy that he has to contract out his overflow cases. When Johnny's approached by a young woman to find her birth parents, he’s willing to take the case for almost nothing. It would be easy, and a breath of fresh air compared to the lowlife cases he was currently mired in.

The last thing Johnny expected was the path this case would lead him down. As Johnny’s dark side becomes horrifyingly clear, the chasm between words and reality grows wider and circumstances of past and present deeds press in on him.

Soon, everything good in Johnny’s life is unraveling and telling his client the truth about her parents would be nothing less than devastating—and potentially deadly.

Praise for In His Shadow

"In His Shadow...has plenty of shocks. Zeltserman leads the reader...with smooth prose and a sure hand. This one's a noir keeper."—Bill Crider, author of A Knife in the Back

"Zeltserman spins a fascinating tale...definitely not for the squeamish."—Peggy Guinn Bowen, MurderExpress.net

"A tale that spirals...into a pit of noir, lies, betrayal, murder...and worse!" —Gary Lovisi, Hardboiled magazine

"...flows like a Lawrence Block thriller. More tension and suspense than anyone can anticipate."—Phillip Tomasso III, BookBrowser.com and author
of Third Ring and the upcoming Johnny Blade

"...a brilliant idea...ambitious...In His Shadow is an interesting descent into the darkest levels of noir...."—E. Borgers, HardBoiledMysteries.com

"...appeal(s) to readers who crave new work...another hard-boiled romp in some blood-soaked hay."—Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Denver private eye Johnny Lane takes on a case he figures will be easy, but he's unexpectedly plunged into a private hell in this ambitious but unwieldy first novel. On the side the PI writes a monthly column called "Fast Lane" about his detective work for the Denver Examiner, and everything seems norm for the tough guy form-a tiny office, women hanging on his every move, beating up lowlifes with impunity. When he's hired to find the birth parents of an adoptee named Mary, however, Lane is drawn into his own past, with nightmarish visions of his abusive father. "The next day started off bad and only got worse. It wasn't that anything really bad happened, it was just the way I was feeling." Zeltserman dedicates this effort to the giant among noir writers for the paperbacks, Jim Thompson, and obviously is working a variant on his hero's masterpiece, The Killer Inside Me (1952). Although the action takes place today, many of the descriptions hark back to Thompson and even earlier pulp influences: "I wanted to turn him into the same queasy mush my stomach had become." Too derivative to stand on its own without unfavorable comparison to Thompson, this novel nonetheless may appeal to readers who crave new work in that vein of arch-sociopathology and to those fans ever ready for another hard-boiled romp in some blood-soaked hay.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Mystery and Suspense Press (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595210848
• ISBN-13: 978-0595210848
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,326,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In His Shadow, April 23, 2003

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In His Shadow (Paperback)

As a reader, I like to be surprised by an author. All too often, it seems like about halfway through the book, I know pretty much everything that is going to happen. I may not have all the exact reasons and details down but I have a very good idea where the person is going. Then along comes Dave Zeltserman and his book "In His Shadow." This is a book well worth reading.

Johnny Lane is a very successful private investigator in Denver, Colorado in this dark, sometimes comedic but almost always tragic, mystery novel. His business is wildly successful thanks in large part to a case a number of years ago. The resultant media attention earned him new clients as well as a column in the Denver Examiner titled "Fast Lane." His notoriety in which he is known just walking down the street as well as his column and public appearances bring in even more clients. As such, he has a number of private investigators working for him on a case-by-case situation and he splits the fee with them with Lane taking the larger share as he took the case in the first place. For some that are working for him the deal is an issue, but Lane has more serious problems.

While outwardly successful, his mental stability is hanging by a thin thread and it isn't going to take much for him to lose it all. After successfully concluding as best as he could under the circumstances his previous case, Mary Williams arrives in his office. Lane is a ladies man and loved by all the women, at least in the beginning of the relationship, and he instantly attracted to her. While the young lady is beautiful, there is also something else about her that disturbs him tremendously and he does not know why. She knows she was adopted and wants to hire Lane to find her birth parents. He agrees at a fee far lower than normal for reasons he does not know himself.

Though she has the barest of information and over the strident objection of her parents, Lane has almost immediate success in the search. Soon a nagging suspicion that he was not able to put into words is confirmed and presents Johnny with an escalating series of problems. Not only does he find her birth parents, he finds links to his own past and events that he thought he had put long behind him.

I first had the pleasure of reading this novel about a year ago and even after all this time, I think it is one of the best books I have read in a long, long time. The ending has such a twist that I never saw coming and at the same time it absolutely works. Written in a Mike Hammer style with strong currents of Shakespearian tragedy, this novel is a fast read at 254 pages and full of interesting characters. The trail is full of twists and turns and slowly unravels the man behind the façade. Though tragic and dark in tone, the novel is well written and enjoyable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Look on the dark side, October 15, 2002

By 

Joan M. Lewis "georgiagirl2002" (GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In His Shadow (Paperback)

"In His Shadow" has so many twists and turns that you need to start reading early in the evening. It's a book I couldn't put down, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about the dark side.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Travel Companion, September 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: In His Shadow (Paperback)

Being a big fan of Dennis Lehane's novels, a friend introduced me to 'In His Shadow'. I was happy he did. I travel a lot so I am always on the lookout for good crime novels and new writing talent to help pass the time on long plane rides. This book hit the target for me. This is a 'page-turner' with interesting - yet dark - characters and a suprise ending. I recommend it highly.