Shadow Season: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Tom Piccirilli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2009

An ex-cop, Finn was left literally blinded by violence. The one thing he can still see is the body of his wife, Dani, and a crime scene that won’t fade from his mind’s eye. Now a professor, Finn never would have guessed that an isolated girls’ prep school could be every bit as dangerous as city streets. Especially when he stumbles upon a local girl lying in a graveyard in the middle of a raging blizzard.

Finn may live in a world of total darkness, but it’s about to get a splash of red. The memories that torment him still have the power to kill, and a group of innocent students has been put in harm’s way by a pair of vicious criminals stalking Finn for unknown reasons. Secrets are creeping from the shadows around him—the kind that even a man with perfect vision never sees until it’s too late. They’re about to become terrifyingly clear to Finn—and it all begins with the scent of blood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In Piccirilli's brooding, character-driven chiller, former New York City cop Finn, recently blinded, wallows in his new role as an English teacher at a posh girls' boarding school. A storm looms as Finn and a skeleton staff remain to supervise a handful of girls staying at the school during winter break. Piccirilli (The Fever Kill) harps on his theme of isolation with palpable glee as Finn, surrounded by self-absorbed adolescents and mysterious, brutally violent attackers roaming the campus, grapples with blindness amid a sonar-dulling snowstorm in a remote area with no cellphone service. Terrified of solitude and driven by his cop instincts, Finn embarks on a wrenching journey that exposes the raw emotion of a man nearly destroyed by disability and circumstance. (Nov.)
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Review

“One of the most chilling thrillers of the year. Shadow Season is an intriguing story of isolation and violence with a haunted man at its center….Piccirilli uses Shadow Season’s unusual setting to ratchet up the tension, telling a story that is simple, but nevertheless very suspenseful. He also does a convincing job of portraying the life of a man who can’t see, adding a unique and inviting twist to what is already an exciting plot.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“In Piccirilli's brooding, character-driven chiller, former New York City cop Finn, recently blinded, wallows in his new role as an English teacher at a posh girls' boarding school….Terrified of solitude and driven by his cop instincts, Finn embarks on a wrenching journey that exposes the raw emotion of a man nearly destroyed by disability and circumstance.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“Shadow Season has enough mystery, suspense, dread, and mayhem to satisfy nearly every crime fan....The blizzard ratchets up tension, as does our eagerness to learn why Finn wants to kill Ray….Terrific entertainment.”—Booklist
 
“Shadow Season is a brilliantly paced thriller, and the first book in a long time that I've stayed up all night reading….In the world Piccirilli has created, darkness takes many forms, both real and metaphorical. Make sure you have a bright reading lamp on your bedside table...you'll need it.”—Crimespree Magazine
 
“Shadow Season is a beautifully written thriller filled with heart and wit, sharp dialogue and characters you utterly believe in. A great ride.”—Robert Ferrigno, author of Heart of the Assassin
 
"Reading Shadow Season is like being put through an emotional wringer.  Visceral.  Savage.  Intense.  Powerful.  Finn is a fascinating character...I can't think of another in recent memory with such a multi-faceted personality or more compelling mix of gut-level feelings."--Bill Pronzini, MWA Grandmaster
 
"Tom Piccirilli is at the forefront of the new breed of crime writers, welding his sense of history to a modern sensibility, creating a strong new voice."--Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition
 
“This is an intense thriller not for sissies….You will appreciate the portrayal of the main character Finn’s so-called disability, which really isn’t one given the way he knows how to utilize it. The entire plot never lets the reader take a breath and never lets up on the gut-wrenching emotional safari into Finn’s world of blackness. The dialogue, plot and the multi-layered character reveals itself to you with hammer blows page after page. Highly recommended for thriller fans who appreciate a quality read.”—The Coloradoan
 
“The book rockets along. This is an 'anyone can die at any time' thriller, and if you think you've figured out what's going on before it's all over, well, you're better at figuring than I am....Piccirilli's been establishing quite a nice reputation for himself, and this book will only add to that. Check it out.”—Bill Crider
 
“Shadow Season is Tom Piccirilli at his absolute best. It is an erotically charged and brutally violent novel that will please not only his fans, but should delight anyone who enjoys intelligently written, high octane thrillers.  Shadow Season is highly recommended.”—Horror World

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Original edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553592475
• ISBN-13: 978-0553592474
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Piccirilli is the author of more than twenty novels including THE LAST KIND WORDS, SHADOW SEASON, THE COLD SPOT, THE COLDEST MILE, and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN. He's won two International Thriller Awards and four Bram Stoker Awards, as well as having been nominated for the Edgar, the World Fantasy Award, the Macavity, and Le Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire.

www.thecoldspot.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting action-packed thriller, October 29, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: Shadow Season: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

A former NYPD cop Finn teaches literature at the prestigious Upstate New York St. Valarian's Academy for Girls. Finn finds it ironic that his students wonder how he keeps his collection of books so brand new conceding how easy it is to maintain a pristine collection when you are blind. He has a relationship with Roz the nurse and muses over the crushes his students have on him except for Vi who he and the dean Judith worry about; he also wonders about his former wife Danielle.

Christmas empties the school leaving a few loners with no place to go behind. A blizzard further isolates those still at the academy including Finn. However, the nurse and a student seem to have vanished. Almost immediately afterward, two thugs arrive demanding Finn pay his debt or else. As he fears for those trapped inside the school, he thinks of his detective partner Ray and how many ways he would relish killing him, but for now must somehow deal with the "ill will" of a killer leaving dead students and faculty in his or her wake.

This is an exciting action-packed thriller that hooks the audience from the moment Finn begins his musing and never slows down as the readers wonders why someone is mass murdering those trapped at the school. The story line is fast-paced once the characters are set and never slows down until the anticipated final confrontation with the ill wind and the academy's champion, a sort of good vs. evil battle on a small scale. SHADOW SEASON is an engaging tense tale as Tom Piccirilli provides a superb suspenseful story.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow." Chinese proverb, July 31, 2010

By 

michael a. draper (Guilford, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shadow Season: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Finn is a former NY cop who is haunted by the incident that left him blind and his wife, Danielle, dead.

He works as a professor at an exclusive girl's school. St. Valarian's Academy for girls is located a half hour out of Manhattan.

The story centers on events during the Christmas vacation when the campus is mostly deserted. The only other male on the school grounds is an Irishman named Murphy, also called Murph. He has a bad shoulder and, to the blind Finn, Murph "...smells of shaving leather and whiskey." Murph serves as the groundskeeper at the school.

Although blinded, Finn's other senses are heightened and one night, during a heavy snow storm, he discovers a town girl who has been injured. Harley Moon had been moaning when Finn comes upon her at the grave yard. He brings her to his room to bandage her wounds. While being treated, Harley tells him not to call the police but at the same time warns him that he is in danger. Then she leaves.

The author uses flashbacks to allow the reader to learn of Finn and his former partner, Ray. When Finn was on the police force, there were a number of police offiers who were being paid off by a criminal named Carlyle. We find what part Ray had in this crime. We also come to know that Ray is jealous of Finn and is untrustworthy.

A number of the female students are having a Christmas party with some alcohol that has been smuggled into the school. Finn is considered to be a pal and is invited. As the party progresses, they notice that one of the girls isn't there and Finn goes after the missing student.

The suspense is well done and the author does a good job in describing how a person who cannot see might be able to defend himself.

The setting was well described and I enjoyed the story and the manner in which Finn overcame his handicap.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brooding, action-filled masterpiece, November 4, 2009

By 

Willeford's Kid "willefordskid" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow Season: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

A suspenseful tale of a blind ex-cop turned professor at an all-girl's academy who struggles against his own demons and handicap to save his students when some violent offenders arrive during a snowstorm. Piccirilli is masterful in providing the reader with some sense of what it means to be blind; the hero here isn't a superman who easily conquers his adversity. Instead Finn is resentful, a little bitter, and in genuine pain as he's forced to rely on others more than he'd ever care admit to. He loses his way, physically and figuratively, more than once through the story. He's also distracted by seductive adolescents and his own powerful memories of his dead wife, his former partner, and the terrible event that blinded him and destroyed his life.

The novel is written in alternating chapters as Finn in the present struggles to solve the mystery of a strange townie girl who shows up during a blizzard and promises that evil will be visited on the school. Through clever and powerful flashbacks we witness Finn fall in love, begin his career on the force, partner up with his best friend Ray, slowly discover Ray is a dirty cop, and then do everything he can to protect his loved ones when a mob sting goes terribly wrong.

Soon the students and staff either go missing or are found dead as Finn does his best to protect them and defend himself from unknown assailants. This is far from your average mystery: Piccirilli presents us with realistic characters thrown into a world of dread, fear, suspense, thrills, chills, and darkness. That's not to say there isn't any lightness because there's plenty of wit, sardonic humor, and wisecracking. There's something here in SHADOW SEASON for every fan of dark, gripping literature.