The President’s Shadow

The Shadow #3

by James Patterson

Brought to you by Penguin.

In this gripping dystopian thriller inspired by the beloved DC comics, hero Lamont Cranston and his young protégé seek vigilante justice in New York City.

For over 150 years, Lamont Cranston has been The Shadow.

Possessed with an array of mental and physical powers, Cranston—a New York society-man turned crusader—uses his abilities in pursuit of justice.

When a series of deadly natural disasters strike the planet, The Shadow immediately sets out to identify the human threat…

A disgruntled graduate student? The power-hungry President of the Americas? Or could it be Shiwan Khan, The Shadow’s fiercest enemy?

Standing with The Shadow and his crime-fighting associates are his long love, Margo Lane, and his great-great granddaughter, Maddy.

Will they triumph or perish? Whether they rise or fall, they'll do it together.

___________________________________________

PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON

'It's no mystery why James Patterson is the world's most popular thriller writer ... Simply nobody does it better.' JEFFERY DEAVER

'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD

'Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind.' MICHAEL CONNELLY

'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN

'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL

James Patterson 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Crime, Action

Audible Audio

First published June 24, 2025

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was at times ridiculous, silly, down right stupid, and overall a thoroughly juvenile affair. This series had so much potential and it has been slowly destroyed over the last three volumes. I would imagine that this is the final nail in the coffin. Utterly disappointing…

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad, Bad, Bad

Boring and down right dumb In spots. The story is senseless, the twist down right stupid. This may be the worst book Patterson has ever been associated with.

[John H. Parmenter · Rating 1 out of 5]

The President's Shadow

I was looking forward to a fast paced, who done it. This is book is mothing like that. The characters are poorly formed. The story line is as written by a five uear old. And worst if all, James Patterson uses this book the spread his hate fir Conservativism. He attacks Presidents current and past even though they have nothing to do with a book set in the future. His attack on Fox News is absolutely ridiculous and totally misplace. He just randomly throws this crap in. He has lost it as a writer.

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Written like it is for middle schoolers. Simplistic and sophomoric.

[Nicole Zanella Thren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book. Horrible writing. Super disappointing. This is the first and last book I will read from Richard DiLallo. I love James Patterson and all the other collaborations of his I've read, but I couldn't even finish this. The premise is stupid, the characters jump from one emotion to the next without any warning, the dialog is really bad. Just an overall horrible book.

[Valerie Robbins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t waste your time on this one.

[Pab · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the book was awful. Very silly and a waste of time.

[Ryan Holland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow - this book truly is terrible, I should have read the reviews beforehand!

[Klare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different to his usual books. This one is a fantasy based story.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I like many of James Patterson's characters, and his Lamont Cranston, the Shadow (puhleeeze), was new to me, this book was a clunky, testosterone-laden sci-fi thriller that was fast to read but pretty doggone dopey. The lure of the word "President's" in the title was really a dupe, as the current president, in what appears to be some time after 2055, appears only passingly a few times, and Cranston and he mistrust and are wary of each other. There are plenty of villains in the book.

In the way of many thriller formulae, there are two story lines in the book; they parallel for almost the entire tale and then manage to intertwine at the end. Eh. Cranston, the Shadow, is a pompous sort of super hero, and I do not intend to read anything else in this series.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Might be the worst book Patterson ever put his name on. I know it is the worst one of his that I have read. No continuity, story jumped from place to place with no apparent rhyme or reason.
The shape shifting, seriously? Okay, a little might have been somewhat okay, have to suspend belief in most stories, but this was downright silly.
With the exception of a few expletives this should have been advertised for young teens as a science fiction novel or Fantasy, not the “thriller” as stated on the book cover.
Hopefully, this series is finished. Didn’t have near the success of the original Shadow. Perhaps Patterson should have stayed closer to original premise!

[Bonnie Sundermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

This is a must read I couldn't put it down. It is full of turns two story plots that keeps you reading on.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished Reading: The President’s Shadow by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARIES!! I borrowed this book from my local library, Loutitt Library 📚!

This is a fiction, suspense,mystery novel. Published July 2025 softcover large print edition around 485 pages

This is the 3rd book in the A Shadow Thiller series.

This was an ok read 😕The storylines, although engaging, are just to drawn out. The characters are just so so. The first 2 books in this series were great. I think this one was way off the mark, maybe it the end of this series 😳not sure. But this could have been a novella. The start of the plot was really interesting and entertaining, then it was just, ugh 😑 you really had to push through to finish reading it.
Summary from back cover:
For over 150 years, Lamont Cranston- and his alter ego, The Shadow- has possessed an array of mental and physical powers: scientific skills, shape-shifting abilities, and mind control . When a series of deadly natural disasters strikes the planet, he immediately sets out to identify who’s responsible…..

[Aniruddha M · Rating 3 out of 5]

if I hadn't read it, wouldn't have missed much! Not worth wasting time reading this.

[Matt. · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 61% I just couldn’t force myself anymore. If this series continues I won’t even give it a thought

[Terri Palermo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never quite figured out how two authors can write one book, but I had trouble getting into this one. I think it might be part of a series and I jumped into the middle of it, but I’m not sure.
In any case, time ran out on my loan from the library so I will have to revisit this at some point in the future.

[Francesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stopped reading. Did not like storyline.

[Jan Mullady]

Worst ever!! Total waste of time. I stopped reading with 4 chapters left. Who cares how it ends!

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 2nd Shadow book ( books 2 & 3). Loved them both. Need to crack down and read the first by Patterson. I also have enjoyed his Doc Savage story. Good for him for giving a new take on these classic characters!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you didn’t know the author’s politics before reading it you do now.
Definitely not up to the typical standards of James Patterson. The storyline was flat and made no sense in some parts.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The President's Shadow" - written by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo and published in 2025 by Little, Brown & Company, Hachette Book Group. I've generally enjoyed Patterson's Alex Cross series, but not his other books. This one continues the trend. It seems to have been written by a young middle schooler or perhaps by AI. So stilted and unbelievable. My experience was also marred by entering this Shadow series in the third book - I had no concept of the characters and the book made no attempt to describe them or past important plot points.

[Michelle Seiffert · Rating 1 out of 5]

These have always been my least favorite series of his. Think I’m done even trying to read them anymore. Reads like it was written by a middle schooler. Just terrible, couldn’t get through 20 pages this time. Time to move on from these.

[Linda Hendon · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have read. I kept going because it was Patterson but what a waste of my time.

[Karan Osowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst James Patterson book ever. Could not finish it

[Christi · Rating 2 out of 5]

in my 20 years of reading James Patterson books, this is the first one that I did not like. I don't know if it was the style of writing and the narration from the first person perspective of the shadow, or the fast forward and skips over action scenes. This book bothered me so much, but I was committed to finishing it, hoping that at least the end would improve. it didn't happen. This is the first Patterson book that I've ever rated so low. I hope this is an anomaly and not a foreshadowing of books to come.

[Darlene Torday · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get into this at all. Did read 50 pages but just to lackluster for me to want to push forward and read more.

[Jill Donaldson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t bother with this series.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculous characters

[bob mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure garbage!!

This book must have been written for a ten year old. Such a ridiculous story line I could never imagine. Sure it's fiction, but fiction is supposed to transport you to a p!ace that you can somehow believe to exist. This tripe did nothing of the sort, just little blasts of unimaginative slop.🤐

[Dee Duncan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wrong, just totally wrong. If I could give a quarter star that would be my rating.
I should have known when I opened the book and found it was the third installment of the "Shadow Series" that it wasn't worth my time reading it.
The plot is nonsense, the characters ridiculous and it reads like a kindergarten class put it together. Don't waste your time or money on this.