Customer Reviews

The Shadow Catchers

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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

Thomas Lakeman is an excellent writer. His characters come to life with ease and I feel as if I know Mike Yeager well. Although this is his first book, he is right up there with Lescroart, Baldacci, Patterson, etc. I'm looking forward to reading his second book, "Chillwater Cove."

This was my first read on my new Kindle. Because I got so engrossed in the story, I pretty much went through non-stop....a great way to see how long the battery lasts, light on the eyes, etc...

So much for the equipment.

The story is captivating and fast moving. I like the writing style and hope to be reading many more Thomas Lakeman novels. I'm not a writer, so I can't tell you specifically what set this book apart. I can just tell you I am a reader, I read a lot (4 to 5 books per month) and I know what I like. A great new author for me.

Don't let those first few pages available on Amazon mislead you: Although the novel opens nicely with these hard-boiled words, the first couple of chapters don't fully prepare you for the humor, subtlety, and deep human insight that the rest of "The Shadow Catchers" has to offer. Detective Mike Yeager may on the surface be your archetypal FBI investigator with a troubled past, but that isn't just a brief backstory tacked on to a standard mystery plot (which in this case is about dead, missing, and secretive children in a small Nevada town ruled with an iron fist by a slightly corrupt sheriff). His character remains central to the story. He makes mistakes. His past never stops haunting him, and plays a crucial role in the mystery that unfurls around him.

Thomas Lakeman's debut is very impressive. He has a command over the English language that you don't see in most contemporary mystery writers. His prose is to the point, yet fluid. His observations on human behavior ring true - sometimes hilariously so. And even while "The Shadow Catchers" delivers the goods - cryptic clues, red herrings, an array of suspicious characters and a big finale - it dares to plumb the darkest depths of the human soul, not for shock value but to find the troubling real-world truths that lie at the heart of every murder. There is an authentic sadness that lurks in the corners of "The Shadow Catchers," and though it's thankfully not enough to derail the twist-filled storyline, it helps the novel linger in the mind long after it's over.

This is a fine, haunting book. Here's hoping Lakeman gets to write more novels and is allowed the freedom to explore his characters more in his future work, before those third act chase scenes set in. He tells a good story, and "The Shadow Catchers" is a great page-turner, but his real talents lie in the people he creates.

Bought this book on a lark... damn do I regret it. I am a 41 year old man, not thin skinned, but I don't enjoy gory entertainment and this book is gory. I found it impossible to suspend disbelief while reading, partially because the plot has too many coincidences (how convenient that an FBI agent who specializes in child abduction shows up right after a child's been abducted!), but also because there are so many scene of horrific, bizarre death in this book, including:

* A man gets beheaded in front of his young daughter, while is young nephew takes pictures of the event. (WTF?)
* All the blood is drained out of person while still alive (exsanguination)
* A child is exsanguinated
* A man has his feet cut off and his eyes and mouth sown shut
* A man is poisoning (this isn't so bad, esp in context of all the other macabre deaths)
* A woman burns to death
* A woman commits suicide in front of her child

Additional there are countless incidents of child molestation. Seriously, almost every major character was molested as a child.

An author is empowered to create any world he wants... I think it's sad that Thomas Lakeman chose to create this terrible world.

Save yourself the time and just rent Faces of Death... at least your avoid the child molestation.

THE SHADOW CATCHERS is a very capable thriller novel. It's a fine choice if you're interested in a fast-paced suspense story with lots of clever dialogue. The quality of the prose in this book is very high, especially considering that this is Mr. Lakeman's first book.

My major qualm with THE SHADOW CATCHERS is the plot, which I think is a bit too convoluted for its own good. Toward the end, I found it somewhat confusing. There is also very little in this novel that I would describe as truly original; I have read many other thrillers with similar storylines and situations.

This book moves at a rapid-fire pace, and is dominated by many scenes of dialogue. As a result, character development suffers a bit. I felt that most of the characters in THE SHADOW CATCHERS were rather underdeveloped, including the square-jawed hero, who I did not find particularly distinctive or memorable.

All in all, though, THE SHADOW CATCHERS is a fine debut. It will be interesting to see what Mr. Lakeman writes next.

I like Thomas Lakeman and am looking forward to seeing more from him. I like his main character and hope he writes more

Thomas Lakeman's debut thriller is simply, a must-read. I simply could not put this book down. At a time when we are inundated with books about serial killers, macho cops, & simply unbelievable PI's or FBI sleuths, we have an author who not only can he write well, but he really knows how to construct a story, weave a spider-like web of a plot, introduce us to plausable characters (not all of them nice, mind you), including FBI agent Yeager, who does not come across like some unrealistic comic book super hero. And "The Shadow Catchers", with all these important facets, is also downright exciting from start to finish. So much so, that I completed it in one sitting. I could go & give you a breakdown of the storyline, but what's the point? Hell, just go out & buy it; you won't be sorry. This is one of the most enjoyable books of its type that I have ever read.