The Shadow Catchers [Hardcover]

Thomas Lakeman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2006

FBI Special Agent Mike Yeager is in trouble. His most recent case---a child kidnapping, his usual---ended tragically, and the FBI has suspended him. Worse, Mike can't seem to forgive himself. He's run away from everything he knows in Philadelphia to the mountains of Nevada in an attempt to forget.

Now in Nevada, he's stumbled into the world of a killer: in the small town of San Cristobal, one child was killed accidentally---or so it seems---a few weeks before Mike's arrival. The day after he shows up, an adult is murdered, and soon another child disappears. Mike doesn't want to get involved, but he can't help himself, first because as a stranger in town he's got to prove to the local law enforcement that he's not the killer, and second, because he's in the perfect place to solve the case and redeem himself in the eye of the FBI. Not to mention that at least one more child's life is at stake.

Thomas Lakeman is one of those rare talents who has composed a first novel that doesn't read like a debut at all, but instead is written with the precision and tightly drawn suspense of one of the genre's masters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lakeman's enjoyable but flawed debut introduces FBI Special Agent Michael Yeager, who hits the road to escape his conscience after a child kidnapping case he was working on in Philadelphia goes horribly wrong. He winds up in Dyer County, Nev., where he brawls with a man apparently snatching a handicapped boy while ranting about his missing daughter. When the man turns up dead and disfigured, Yeager is the first suspect, but local sheriff Rafe Archer clears Yeager and recruits his unofficial help investigating the murder and the missing girl, crimes that clearly point to a skilled serial killer. Lakeman delivers a winning protagonist, good pacing and natural dialogue. The plot, however, becomes ever more contrived as it develops, twisting into unlikely and gory shapes that also require psychologically unlikely contortions of the characters. (Sept.)
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Review

"Comes on like gangbusters... an auspicious debut."-- Boston Globe

 

 "Engrossing."--The Washington Post

 "Thomas Lakeman had me hooked to the end, where the plot twisted like an Olympic diver."
--The Charlotte Observer
 
"Lakeman delivers a winning protagonist, good pacing and natural dialogue."--Publishers Weekly
 
"Lakeman relates his nightmare with skill, confidence and a sharp eye for detail...The Shadow Catchers is an engrossing read."--The Washington Post
 
"Pitch perfect noir, filled with dark corners, even in the sunlight...one of the best debuts of 2006."--Florida Sun-Sentinel
 
"When a debut novel like The Shadow Catchers by Thomas Lakeman comes on like gangbusters and stays that way through 100 pages, then 200 pages, it's like watching a rookie pitcher on the way to a no-hitter... an auspicious debut."--The Boston Globe

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312347995
• ISBN-13: 978-0312347994
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,251,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting police procedural, September 10, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shadow Catchers (Hardcover)

His last case involved a kidnapped child that turned out so catastrophic that FBI Special Agent Mike Yeager is on administrative leave and self imposed exile in nowhere, Nevada, a long way from his Philadelphia base and three hours outside of Vegas where he "profiles for food". Mike disagrees with his superiors who were going to exonerate him over the Tonio Madrigal tragedy but he caused the debacle back east so he left town before they could.

In San Cristobal, he intervenes in an incident with an ex-marine Dale, the man's nephew and the sheriff; only to have his car impounded for the weekend. That night, Dale Dupree calls Mike hysterically claiming his beloved daughter Cassie is missing; he fears for her and asks Mike that if he (Dale) goes away, will Mike find and protect her. The next morning Detective Tippet and deputy Sheriff Clyde take Mike in on the suspicion of murdering Dale, but cannot hold him as they lack evidence. He feels he owes Dale for not taking the man's night call seriously so Mike begins investigating worried about Cassie especially with her dad killed by someone who knew him and another child recently buried perhaps also murdered.

Mike turns this exciting police procedural into a great read that grips the audience from the start and never lets them go until the final confrontation. The story line is fast-paced and the support cast top rate. However, this is Mike's mystery from the moment he pulls profiling sleight of the hand tricks in the diner until his last ditch effort to save Cassie's life. Thomas Lakeman provides a terrific thriller.

Harriet Klausner

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful and fast read!, September 14, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shadow Catchers (Hardcover)

FBI agent Mike Yeager is devastated over a child kidnapping case that went bad. He's on a road trip to photograph the Nevada Mountains--and to heal from the mistakes he made on his last job.

In San Cristobal, Nevada he finds himself in the middle of a world of trouble. One child is dead, a man he had an altercation with is murdered, and a mother and her child are missing.

The last thing Mike wants to do is become involved in the problems of San Cristobal, but the local sheriff has other ideas. Mike races against time to find the child and prevent other kidnappings by the shadow catcher. It seems someone is trying to teach the local sheriff a lesson by killing the people closest to him. And it is all tied up in an old case from the sheriff's past.

Thomas Lakeman's debut novel, The Shadow Catchers, is a suspenseful and fast read that catches your attention and keeps it through the darkness that is the lives of the residents of San Cristobal.

Armchair Interviews says: We hope there is another Mike Yeager novel in the future.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting reading!, May 18, 2008

By 

Janice Mitchell (Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shadow Catchers (Mass Market Paperback)

I absolutely could not put this book down!!!! Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book!