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Shadows of the Seen
286 pages, Hardcover
Published May 15, 2025
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About the author
Timothy Gager
25 books87 followersBestselling Author, Timothy Gager has published 20 books of fiction and poetry, which includes his fourth novel, Shadows of the Seen, and his most recent book of poetry, Almost Bluing for X-Tra Whiteness. He hosted the successful Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, MA from 2001 to 2018, and started a weekly virtual series in 2020. He has had over 1000 works of fiction and poetry published, 19 nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His work also has been nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award, The Best of the Web, The Best Small Fictions Anthology and has been read on National Public Radio.
In 2023, Big Table Publishing published an anthology of twenty years of his selected work, with 175 pages of new material: The Best of Timothy Gager.
Timothy is the former Fiction Editor of The Wilderness House Literary Review, and the founding co-editor of The Heat City Literary Review. He also co-hosts the podcast, "the 2 deans: Dating, Dread and Disasters." A graduate of the University of Delaware, Timothy lives in Dedham, Massachusetts,and is employed as a social worker.
In 2023, Big Table Publishing published an anthology of twenty years of his selected work, with 175 pages of new material: The Best of Timothy Gager.
Timothy is the former Fiction Editor of The Wilderness House Literary Review, and the founding co-editor of The Heat City Literary Review. A graduate of the University of Delaware, Timothy lives in Dedham, Massachusetts,and is employed as a social worker.
In 2023, Big Table Publishing published an anthology of twenty years of his selected work, with 175 pages of new material: The Best of Timothy Gager.
Timothy is the former Fiction Editor of The Wilderness House Literary Review, and the founding co-editor of The Heat City Literary Review. He also co-hosts the podcast, "the 2 deans: Dating, Dread and Disasters." A graduate of the University of Delaware, Timothy lives in Dedham, Massachusetts,and is employed as a social worker.
In 2023, Big Table Publishing published an anthology of twenty years of his selected work, with 175 pages of new material: The Best of Timothy Gager.
Timothy is the former Fiction Editor of The Wilderness House Literary Review, and the founding co-editor of The Heat City Literary Review. A graduate of the University of Delaware, Timothy lives in Dedham, Massachusetts,and is employed as a social worker.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 19, 2025
reprinted from The Somerville Times
5.0 out of 5 stars Somerville Times, May 2025, Gager Offers a Raw, Relentless Portrait of Inner Lives on the Brink
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2025
Gager Offers a Raw, Relentless Portrait of Inner Lives on the Brink
Timothy Gager has long been a fixture in Boston’s literary underground—a prolific writer, spoken-word regular, and a familiar face to anyone who's spent time at the intersection of art and recovery in New England. With Shadows of the Seen, his latest and most ambitious novel to date, Gager steps fully into the national conversation with a work that confronts the psychic aftershocks of gun violence, addiction, and political hypocrisy in modern-day America.
Set in New Jersey and Tennessee, Shadows of the Seen follows four interwoven characters whose lives are quietly unraveling. The book opens with Candace, a politician whose well-curated image is shaken after a mass shooting forces her to reckon with both her platform and her past. Her storyline anchors the book, providing a moral throughline for a novel more interested in psychological depth than linear plot.
Gager, who has written candidly about his own struggles with depression and substance use, brings a clinician’s precision and a poet’s empathy into his work. Nowhere is that more evident than in the character of Lucky—a man ravaged by addiction and brain lesions, whose purpose reads not as hopelessness, but as unfiltered honesty. His chapters are not easy to read, but they are among the most affecting.
There’s also Peter, whose blackouts and panic attacks suggest a life teetering on the edge of violence. His sections simmer with dread, not because he’s a threat, but because Gager so effectively captures the experience of mental illness from the inside out—confused, circular, and terrifyingly isolating. Then there’s Bobby-Joe, a political opportunist, husband of Candace, whose self-interest serves as a foil to Candace’s late-breaking conscience. Though less nuanced than the others, he adds a necessary bite of satire to a book heavy with emotional weight.
This is not a novel that traffics in silver linings. Gager doesn’t resolve trauma, he dissects it. The structure is fragmented, the tone often bleak, and the emotional realism unflinching. That can make for a difficult read—but it’s also what makes the book feel honest. Shadows of the Seen doesn’t sensationalize mental illness or addiction; it renders them with the flat affect of lived experience.
At times, Gager’s reach exceeds his grasp. The political themes, while timely, are occasionally over-explained, and the multiple narrative voices don’t always maintain the same level of complexity. But when the novel is at its best—which is often—it pierces. The writing is sharp, direct, and deeply felt.
For readers familiar with Gager’s poetry or his personal essays, Shadows of the Seen will feel like a culmination—an artist applying his hard-won insight to fiction that dares to look at what most of us try to avoid. For new readers, it’s a bracing introduction to a voice that doesn’t flinch. In a literary market full of polished detachment, Timothy Gager is doing something riskier: he’s telling the truth, no matter how raw it is.
5.0 out of 5 stars Somerville Times, May 2025, Gager Offers a Raw, Relentless Portrait of Inner Lives on the Brink
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2025
Gager Offers a Raw, Relentless Portrait of Inner Lives on the Brink
Timothy Gager has long been a fixture in Boston’s literary underground—a prolific writer, spoken-word regular, and a familiar face to anyone who's spent time at the intersection of art and recovery in New England. With Shadows of the Seen, his latest and most ambitious novel to date, Gager steps fully into the national conversation with a work that confronts the psychic aftershocks of gun violence, addiction, and political hypocrisy in modern-day America.
Set in New Jersey and Tennessee, Shadows of the Seen follows four interwoven characters whose lives are quietly unraveling. The book opens with Candace, a politician whose well-curated image is shaken after a mass shooting forces her to reckon with both her platform and her past. Her storyline anchors the book, providing a moral throughline for a novel more interested in psychological depth than linear plot.
Gager, who has written candidly about his own struggles with depression and substance use, brings a clinician’s precision and a poet’s empathy into his work. Nowhere is that more evident than in the character of Lucky—a man ravaged by addiction and brain lesions, whose purpose reads not as hopelessness, but as unfiltered honesty. His chapters are not easy to read, but they are among the most affecting.
There’s also Peter, whose blackouts and panic attacks suggest a life teetering on the edge of violence. His sections simmer with dread, not because he’s a threat, but because Gager so effectively captures the experience of mental illness from the inside out—confused, circular, and terrifyingly isolating. Then there’s Bobby-Joe, a political opportunist, husband of Candace, whose self-interest serves as a foil to Candace’s late-breaking conscience. Though less nuanced than the others, he adds a necessary bite of satire to a book heavy with emotional weight.
This is not a novel that traffics in silver linings. Gager doesn’t resolve trauma, he dissects it. The structure is fragmented, the tone often bleak, and the emotional realism unflinching. That can make for a difficult read—but it’s also what makes the book feel honest. Shadows of the Seen doesn’t sensationalize mental illness or addiction; it renders them with the flat affect of lived experience.
At times, Gager’s reach exceeds his grasp. The political themes, while timely, are occasionally over-explained, and the multiple narrative voices don’t always maintain the same level of complexity. But when the novel is at its best—which is often—it pierces. The writing is sharp, direct, and deeply felt.
For readers familiar with Gager’s poetry or his personal essays, Shadows of the Seen will feel like a culmination—an artist applying his hard-won insight to fiction that dares to look at what most of us try to avoid. For new readers, it’s a bracing introduction to a voice that doesn’t flinch. In a literary market full of polished detachment, Timothy Gager is doing something riskier: he’s telling the truth, no matter how raw it is.
June 23, 2025
There are no straight-up good guys and bad guys here; in the end, we overhear someone saying "I couldn't tell if we were interviewing the hero or the murderer." That line will stick with me.
Like the real world, this story is filled with an interesting cast of twisting and twisted characters making their way through a complicated milieu. The structure of the book allows us to spend quality time with several of them. The prologue will hook you. The prologue will come back to haunt you. Gager scores many craft points with this effort. He resists tying it all up with a tidy moral bow, instead leaving us with much to think about. Highly recommend.
Like the real world, this story is filled with an interesting cast of twisting and twisted characters making their way through a complicated milieu. The structure of the book allows us to spend quality time with several of them. The prologue will hook you. The prologue will come back to haunt you. Gager scores many craft points with this effort. He resists tying it all up with a tidy moral bow, instead leaving us with much to think about. Highly recommend.
June 30, 2025
Some prophetic books, such as Timothy Gager's novel Shadows of the Seen, have the capability to stir the conscience. The story centers on a couple, politician Candace Malone, neé Taylor and her handler-husband Bobby Joe, of the pro-gun lobby. Incorrigible political opportunists, the Malones turn each shooting into a media event and in the process gain more power.
Written and published before the recent murders of background check advocate, Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark, the book is a disturbing exploration of self-betrayal, disallowed grievance, fanaticism, and mental illness. Gager's portrait of the Malones, as well as those who commit unspeakable acts are well-rounded, and full of insights.
Note: contains violence and dark humor.
Practically ripped from tomorrow's headlines, Shadows of the Seen is one of those books that people will read years from now to understand the nature of human tragedy behind the headlines.
Boston area novelist, poet, musician and teacher Timothy Gager is a full time counselor and the author of many published works.
Written and published before the recent murders of background check advocate, Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark, the book is a disturbing exploration of self-betrayal, disallowed grievance, fanaticism, and mental illness. Gager's portrait of the Malones, as well as those who commit unspeakable acts are well-rounded, and full of insights.
Note: contains violence and dark humor.
Practically ripped from tomorrow's headlines, Shadows of the Seen is one of those books that people will read years from now to understand the nature of human tragedy behind the headlines.
Boston area novelist, poet, musician and teacher Timothy Gager is a full time counselor and the author of many published works.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews