Shadow of the Lions

A Novel

By: Christopher Swann

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth?

It has been almost 10 years since Matthias graduated from the elite Blackburne School, where his roommate and best friend, Fritz, fled into the woods, never to be heard from again, in the middle of their senior year. Fritz vanished just after an argument over Matthias' breaking of the school's honor code, and Matthias has long been haunted by the idea that his betrayal led to his friend's disappearance.

Years later, after hitting the fast lane in New York as a successful novelist - then falling twice as hard - Matthias is stuck, a failure as a writer, a boyfriend, a person. When he is offered the opportunity to return to Blackburne as an English teacher, he sees it as a chance to put his life back together. But once on campus, Matthias gets swiftly drawn into the past and is driven to find out what happened to Fritz. He partners with a curmudgeonly local retired cop and tries to solve the case, dealing with campus politics, the shocking death of a student, Fritz's complicated and powerful Washington, DC, family, and his own place in the privileged world of Blackburne.

©2017 Christopher Swann (P)2017 HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books

Great listen!

This was a compelling story, set in a boys boarding school. It had the elements of a story that I enjoy—primarily a web of characters and intrigue that keeps one interested because the story is a mystery that could happen in any setting. It’s definitely worth a listen.

Excellent Book!

Great story! I would recommend this book to anyone. I plan to see if the author has anymore novels.

So so...

Interesting background. Implausible story. Narration was a distraction. But I finished it. All I have to say. i

if you're looking for something different

this is one you may like. the plots, twists and turns were certainly unexpected. overall a good story line and ending.

Enjoyable suspense mystery prep school style

I thoroughly enjoyed this suspense mystery set mainly in a New England prep boarding school for boys. The novel starts out with the MC Matthias as a senior in prep school, the story does move back and forth from past to present recounting the circumstances of the event that changes and affects Matthias in his personal and professional life for the next 10 years. But even moving from past to present, the story flows smoothly.
Haunted by the disappearance of his best friend and room mate Fritz, he is so emotionally frozen by the series of events that occurred that he can't get past "his past".
When life inadvertantly sends him back to Blackburn prep school as a teacher, he finds the past haunting him even more strongly and resolves to find out what happened to the friend who vanished without a trace. Twists and turns ensue.
What a very entertaining read this was, the mystery element kept me guessing til the secret was revealed. I like Mr Swann's writing style very much, I believe this is his first novel, but i will be on the lookout for more.
And Of course I love narrator James Anderson Foster, he is terrific. (side note, if you haven't listened to Adrians Undead Diary series by the wonderful Chris Philbrook, and narrated by James Foster, I highly recommend it also).

Nice one!

Is it offensive to described a murder mystery-thriller as “cute”? That’s how I felt about this one 🤷🏽‍♀️. A boy goes missing an an all-boys school, and years later his friend is still looking for him. I like it, good amount of suspense.

Decent narration and “OK” writing

Narrator was excellent at varying voices for the characters - and capturing their characteristics in the voice. But the overall tone was one of foreboding dread. He misses capturing the different moods. The storyline itself is good but rushed to the conclusion.

So much potential, but a little disappointing

The story had so many suspenseful directions it ventured into, only to retreat again and veer off in another direction. The denouement was so unbelievable that I was shocked when the story ended, thinking “Surely this can’t be all there is after all that build-up.” It started off reminding me of Gentlemen and Players but lacked the complexity and realism of conflict. Not terribly bad, but left me needing more.

Prep school intrigue

A well written story, maybe a bit too much plotting in the latter half of the book, which detracted from the characterization. I enjoyed the prep school setting and the dynamic between students. Narration was adequate, nothing special, but not distracting either.

Not great, but pretty good. Weak ending.

This book started out strong. I thought from the very beginning that I would like it. About two thirds of the way through it kind of lost ground as the protagonist seemed to have gone from a pretty smart individual to one who was less-than. The entire book rested on an unanswered question which was ultimately answered, and in a way that I had not anticipated. For me, it was still somewhat anti climactic and the ending just seemed to fizzle out. I cannot write and admire and appreciate those who do so so I always feel badly leaving less than stellar reviews, but want to be honest.