Play of Shadows
Published on 14. November 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
447 pages
978-1-6625-0998-8 (ISBN)
Description
An ancient creature of Greek mythology drives a killer's unspeakable motives in a pulse-pounding thriller by the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Dark of Night.
On a stormy Chicago night, renowned semiotician Dr. Evan Wilding and his brother, River, who's back from an archaeological dig, reunite in a mystery. A package addressed to both of them contains a hand-drawn maze, an ancient Cretan coin, and a cryptic greeting: Let the game begin.
The opening move is murder.
In a downtown alley, a man has been found nearly cleaved in two, a symbol drawn on his forehead and a savage rip in his throat. Given the clues, Evan sees a parallel to a fearsome Greek myth. Which means his friend Detective Addie Bisset is on the trail of a legendary flesh-eating monster-one terrifyingly human and tumbling a panicked city toward chaos.
Evan, Addie, and River scramble to discover who's behind the appalling crimes and decipher the baffling motives. The body count is rising. The endgame is nowhere in sight. And the stakes are nothing less than life and death.
On a stormy Chicago night, renowned semiotician Dr. Evan Wilding and his brother, River, who's back from an archaeological dig, reunite in a mystery. A package addressed to both of them contains a hand-drawn maze, an ancient Cretan coin, and a cryptic greeting: Let the game begin.
The opening move is murder.
In a downtown alley, a man has been found nearly cleaved in two, a symbol drawn on his forehead and a savage rip in his throat. Given the clues, Evan sees a parallel to a fearsome Greek myth. Which means his friend Detective Addie Bisset is on the trail of a legendary flesh-eating monster-one terrifyingly human and tumbling a panicked city toward chaos.
Evan, Addie, and River scramble to discover who's behind the appalling crimes and decipher the baffling motives. The body count is rising. The endgame is nowhere in sight. And the stakes are nothing less than life and death.
Reviews / Votes
"A brisk and clever whodunit with chills and verve." -Kirkus Reviews"Barbara Nickless hits the ball out of the park on this one....This is the third in the series but can be easily read as a standalone." -Midwest Book Review
"Play of Shadows is an artful mystery, heavily researched...and one that combines a contemporary serial killer with a complex of ancient myths and symbols." -The Denver Post
"An intense thriller that resonates with dark myth, Play of Shadows is another fascinating case for Dr Evan Wilding, one of the most interesting and original protagonists in mystery fiction. I want more!" -J.F. Penn, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
"Play of Shadows is a work of mythic proportions! Once again Barbara Nickless demonstrates her masterful storytelling, and her outstanding character development. We get to see a more nuanced side of Dr. Evan Wilding (already my favorite literary character), his archeologist brother, River, his assistant, Diana, and detectives Addie Bisset and Patrick McBrady of the Chicago police department as they delve deeply into mythology (the Minotaur of Crete) to solve this grisly crime and stop the killer's deranged game. Nickless skillfully plays with the idea of Shadow, as we see the darker side of humanity. Barbara Nickless's research is staggering, her grasp of mythology is impressive, and the story is riveting. Once I got started, I could not put it down. This is Barbara Nickless' finest work to date." -Francesca Ferrentelli, PhD, LPC, Mythologist and Psychotherapist
"Featuring a truly sinister monster and one of the best chase sequences put to page, Play of Shadows is equal parts harrowing and intriguing. Fans of the series will be familiar with the multi-layered tensions between Dr. Evan Wilding and Chicago detective Addie Bisset, but this time out Evan's brother River adds a feisty, action-oriented element to the mix. The puzzle they face is a doozy, the clues are manifold, and the trail they follow is littered with traps. Play of Shadows is as smart as it is captivating, right down to the last page." -Mark Stevens, author of The Fireballer and The Allison Coil Mystery Series
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Publishing group
Amazon Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 208 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6625-0998-8 (9781662509988)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Barbara Nickless is the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of At First Light and Dark of Night in the Dr. Evan Wilding series as well as the Sydney Rose Parnell series, which includes Blood on the Tracks, a Suspense Magazine Best of 2016 selection and winner of the Colorado Book Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence; Dead Stop, winner of the Colorado Book Award and nominee for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence; Ambush; and Gone to Darkness. Her essays and short stories have appeared in Writer's Digest and on Criminal Element, among other markets. She lives in Colorado, where she loves to cave, snowshoe, hike, and drink single malt Scotch-usually not at the same time. Connect with her at www.barbaranickless.com.