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Shadow of the Lions
“My lungs began to burn as I started sprinting. It wasn’t just that I wanted to catch Fritz. I had the distinct feeling that I was chasing him, that I had to catch up with him, before something caught up with me.”
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend, Fritz, vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past, guilty, responsible, alone.
Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.
A sharp tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend, Fritz, vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past, guilty, responsible, alone.
Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.
A sharp tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.
384 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2017
263 people are currently reading
6136 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Swann
13 books330 followersChristopher Swann is an award-winning, bestselling novelist and high school English teacher. He earned his Ph.D. in creative writing from Georgia State University. He has been a Townsend Prize finalist, longlisted for the Southern Book Prize, and a Georgia Author of the Year winner. He lives with his wife and two sons in Atlanta, where he is the English department chair at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School.
He is the author of five novels:
Shadow of the Lions (2017)
Never Turn Back (2020)
A Fire in the Night (2021)
Never Go Home (2022)
Never Back Down (2023)
He is the author of five novels:
Shadow of the Lions (2017)
Never Turn Back (2020)
A Fire in the Night (2021)
Never Go Home (2022)
Never Back Down (2023)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 329 reviews
September 7, 2017
Dramatic and suspenseful, set in the elite world of a prestigious boy's private school. When Matthias is first brought to the school as a young teen, he feels abandoned by his parents. Through the next four years he will become acclimated, make a very good friend, and be accepted into college. In his last year, after a confession and argument his friend disappears. Ten years later, after a stalled writing career, broken relationship, he returns to the school as a temporary teacher. He vows to find out what happened to his friend, unfinished business. There are secrets, on top of secrets, both at the school and in the disappearance of his friend.
The insular world of a boarding school as always intrigues, much fertile ground is found within this environment. This is a literary and smart rendering of a young mans search for his lost self, a coming together of youth and man. I found it to be a page turner, the atmosphere at the school was written vividly, could picture myself there, totally immersive. The book moves swiftly, we watch as Matthias changes, grows more confident, both as a youth and a man. Some stereotypes are found within, but I found novel personalities within as well, all with interesting back stories.
The resolution, when it comes was partly expected, but the reason behind it totally out of my range of thought. A first novel and a very good start.
The insular world of a boarding school as always intrigues, much fertile ground is found within this environment. This is a literary and smart rendering of a young mans search for his lost self, a coming together of youth and man. I found it to be a page turner, the atmosphere at the school was written vividly, could picture myself there, totally immersive. The book moves swiftly, we watch as Matthias changes, grows more confident, both as a youth and a man. Some stereotypes are found within, but I found novel personalities within as well, all with interesting back stories.
The resolution, when it comes was partly expected, but the reason behind it totally out of my range of thought. A first novel and a very good start.
October 26, 2017
”The two lions crouched on top of their pedestals, frozen in preparation to leap. One was snarling, its stone teeth menacing in the late-afternoon shadows, while the other stared out with disdain at the broad sweep of empty soybean fields that lay just across the state highway, a disdain made all the more pointed because the lion was missing its left eye.
“The missing eye was their only flaw.“
A well-respected all-boys preparatory school, where young men are trained for their promising futures in a setting that brings to mind Dead Poets Society, among these fine young men are two who become good friends over these four years, Matthias and Fritz. Soon it will be time for college, and then their lives beyond as men, aware of the promise the future holds - providing they remember all they’ve been taught. Fritz disappears one evening, shortly after words came between him and Mathias over the honor code.
”Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal. Don’t permit others to do those things, either. Simple.”
Matthias goes off to the college of his choice, and becomes a writer. He lives the ‘high’ life for a while, and then, Matthias returns years later. He’s now a published author of a book, which did quite well, but he’s been unable to write another book since, the muse that inspired his debut novel seems to have abandoned him.
”The unchanging school had reminded them of how they had changed, and conjured in them sorrow at the loss of intangible things, innocence and youth and time.”
Ten years have passed since Matthias graduated, and left for college. In returning to the site of his friend’s disappearance, Matthias has still never accepted that Fritz will never be found. The memories associated with this place, the memory of their friendship, everywhere he looks is another memory.
”And all of this came to nothing, a void that grew around the hole that Fritz had left behind him, a hole that exerts its pull on us still.”
I was completely pulled into this world, it felt so insular, so far from the everyday world we know. Elite, yes, but almost as though it were enclosed in a bubble, knowing that life goes on outside, but why would anyone want to leave this lovely, peaceful, tranquil space set in the hills of Virginia? And yet… inside this world once again, Matthias seems to unravel even more, unwilling to accept the unresolved fate of Fritz, unwilling to accept that his family’s willing to let go, to give up.
This is told through Matthias as both a student, and a teacher, alternating times from days preceding and immediately after Fritz’s disappearance to ten years later when Matthias returns to teach. A coming-of-age tale to a re-discovering yourself tale, and finding a new way of life once the old has disappeared, when life or love have failed you.
This book has a slow build-up, but it’s so well-written I was enjoying every bit of this story, and then around the story picks up momentum and there was nothing in this that even hinted at the ending, which I loved. Part mystery, and partly a story of redemption, and, of course, the lasting bonds of friendship, and the influence those friendships have on us, and how we view the world.
Many thanks, once again, to the Public Library system for the loan of this book!
“The missing eye was their only flaw.“
A well-respected all-boys preparatory school, where young men are trained for their promising futures in a setting that brings to mind Dead Poets Society, among these fine young men are two who become good friends over these four years, Matthias and Fritz. Soon it will be time for college, and then their lives beyond as men, aware of the promise the future holds - providing they remember all they’ve been taught. Fritz disappears one evening, shortly after words came between him and Mathias over the honor code.
”Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal. Don’t permit others to do those things, either. Simple.”
Matthias goes off to the college of his choice, and becomes a writer. He lives the ‘high’ life for a while, and then, Matthias returns years later. He’s now a published author of a book, which did quite well, but he’s been unable to write another book since, the muse that inspired his debut novel seems to have abandoned him.
”The unchanging school had reminded them of how they had changed, and conjured in them sorrow at the loss of intangible things, innocence and youth and time.”
Ten years have passed since Matthias graduated, and left for college. In returning to the site of his friend’s disappearance, Matthias has still never accepted that Fritz will never be found. The memories associated with this place, the memory of their friendship, everywhere he looks is another memory.
”And all of this came to nothing, a void that grew around the hole that Fritz had left behind him, a hole that exerts its pull on us still.”
I was completely pulled into this world, it felt so insular, so far from the everyday world we know. Elite, yes, but almost as though it were enclosed in a bubble, knowing that life goes on outside, but why would anyone want to leave this lovely, peaceful, tranquil space set in the hills of Virginia? And yet… inside this world once again, Matthias seems to unravel even more, unwilling to accept the unresolved fate of Fritz, unwilling to accept that his family’s willing to let go, to give up.
This is told through Matthias as both a student, and a teacher, alternating times from days preceding and immediately after Fritz’s disappearance to ten years later when Matthias returns to teach. A coming-of-age tale to a re-discovering yourself tale, and finding a new way of life once the old has disappeared, when life or love have failed you.
This book has a slow build-up, but it’s so well-written I was enjoying every bit of this story, and then around the story picks up momentum and there was nothing in this that even hinted at the ending, which I loved. Part mystery, and partly a story of redemption, and, of course, the lasting bonds of friendship, and the influence those friendships have on us, and how we view the world.
Many thanks, once again, to the Public Library system for the loan of this book!
January 8, 2018
You know when you try to do too many things at once and end up somewhat unfocused? This is that book for me. Is this a mystery? A tale of adolescence? A story of salvation? A crazy caper? Yes to all of the above.
For every yang in this book I found a corresponding yin. The story was quite good, but a little heavily plotted and the twists became increasingly improbable and just a smidge melodramatic. It was also a literary entry in the mystery genre, yet suffered from a bit of overwriting that was sometimes distracting rather than illustrative. And while the main protagonist’s issues and failings marked his character, we had only fleeting looks into the other characters with very little to understand or contemplate about the young man whose disappearance was at the center of the mystery.
The overall reading experience, however, was quite enjoyable. After a slow moving start the story does take off and explores the intensity of those early friendships, how they imprint on us and affect our lives and our memories of that time.
In the end, I didn’t know with certainty why Fritz had disappeared any more than I had a decade earlier. His disappearance was an immutable fact, a stark iron signpost planted deeply and firmly in the middle of my life, compelling me to detour this way and that. I had come to think of it the way I think of natural disasters. Why the hurricane struck your coastal town isn’t as significant as the fact that it did, resulting in a complete upheaval of your life.
Even with my earlier quibbles I give Swann high marks for the things he did well and will very likely pick up his next book because his writing is that good and that bumps up a likable story to a remarkable one.
Thanks to Diane and Cheri for putting this one on my radar. And to the public library and the librarians who manage it. As a child it was a world of discovery, as an adult I appreciate its value even more.
For every yang in this book I found a corresponding yin. The story was quite good, but a little heavily plotted and the twists became increasingly improbable and just a smidge melodramatic. It was also a literary entry in the mystery genre, yet suffered from a bit of overwriting that was sometimes distracting rather than illustrative. And while the main protagonist’s issues and failings marked his character, we had only fleeting looks into the other characters with very little to understand or contemplate about the young man whose disappearance was at the center of the mystery.
The overall reading experience, however, was quite enjoyable. After a slow moving start the story does take off and explores the intensity of those early friendships, how they imprint on us and affect our lives and our memories of that time.
In the end, I didn’t know with certainty why Fritz had disappeared any more than I had a decade earlier. His disappearance was an immutable fact, a stark iron signpost planted deeply and firmly in the middle of my life, compelling me to detour this way and that. I had come to think of it the way I think of natural disasters. Why the hurricane struck your coastal town isn’t as significant as the fact that it did, resulting in a complete upheaval of your life.
Even with my earlier quibbles I give Swann high marks for the things he did well and will very likely pick up his next book because his writing is that good and that bumps up a likable story to a remarkable one.
Thanks to Diane and Cheri for putting this one on my radar. And to the public library and the librarians who manage it. As a child it was a world of discovery, as an adult I appreciate its value even more.
February 2, 2018
I listened to the audiobook version but let me tell you I think if I'd been reading a physical copy I would have thrown it across the room.
I cannot remember a book ever giving me such mental whiplash and I mean that in not a good way. At the 50% mark I was CERTAIN this was going to be my first 5 starrer in a dry spell of meh. It's totally my wheelhouse: boarding school in Virginia, troubled youths, a bit of mystery in the backstory.
Then the second half of the book the dang wheels just fell off. I am just honestly impressed that I was equally so surprised at the ridiculous turns it was taking while simultaneously being predictable/cliche?
Every single characters' decisions make NO SENSE, like no human would make the choices you are making, WHAT EVEN IS WRONG WITH YOU.
Also the main character, who I liked at first grew more and more self important and smug and just, AWFUL TERRIBLE JUDGMENT and by the end I found him unbearable.
Anyway, I recommend reading the first half, having a pleasant feeling about it, then moving on to something else while meaning to come back and finish it so that you don't ruin an otherwise pleasant reading experience.
Two stars because I admit I couldn't stop and plowed through the end to find out what happened even though it was getting more and more laughably bad as I went on.
The audiobook narrator was good.
I cannot remember a book ever giving me such mental whiplash and I mean that in not a good way. At the 50% mark I was CERTAIN this was going to be my first 5 starrer in a dry spell of meh. It's totally my wheelhouse: boarding school in Virginia, troubled youths, a bit of mystery in the backstory.
Then the second half of the book the dang wheels just fell off. I am just honestly impressed that I was equally so surprised at the ridiculous turns it was taking while simultaneously being predictable/cliche?
Every single characters' decisions make NO SENSE, like no human would make the choices you are making, WHAT EVEN IS WRONG WITH YOU.
Also the main character, who I liked at first grew more and more self important and smug and just, AWFUL TERRIBLE JUDGMENT and by the end I found him unbearable.
Anyway, I recommend reading the first half, having a pleasant feeling about it, then moving on to something else while meaning to come back and finish it so that you don't ruin an otherwise pleasant reading experience.
Two stars because I admit I couldn't stop and plowed through the end to find out what happened even though it was getting more and more laughably bad as I went on.
The audiobook narrator was good.
October 8, 2017
I probably bumped this book up a half a star because I have a few personal reasons that I loved it so much. First, the author based much of the description of the boarding school in this book on a school that is dear to my heart - Woodberry Forest School. My son attended this school with the author, his stepson attended as well, and my grandson is there now. I do not know the author, although others in my family clearly do. The author writes beautifully and his descriptions of life at the school and the relationships between the students are wonderful. I have a fondness for coming-of-age novels and this aspect of the book is handed with beauty and skill.
In addition, one of the major themes of the book is one that I love to see in fiction - what do you do when life does not follow the path that you anticipate? How do you find a path that works for you? This is the question at the heart of this book and the author explores it very well.
This is a suspense novel and the plot involves a missing friend as well as nefarious activities that take place when the protagonist returns to the school to teach. Although there are a few points that stretch believability a bit, I enjoyed this aspect of the book as well, in particular the resolution of the question of the missing friend.
This author can write. I usually do not reread portions of books, but I have read the final paragraphs of this book several times, just because they are written so beautifully and they touch my heart. I love this book and I am looking forward to the author's next novel.
In addition, one of the major themes of the book is one that I love to see in fiction - what do you do when life does not follow the path that you anticipate? How do you find a path that works for you? This is the question at the heart of this book and the author explores it very well.
This is a suspense novel and the plot involves a missing friend as well as nefarious activities that take place when the protagonist returns to the school to teach. Although there are a few points that stretch believability a bit, I enjoyed this aspect of the book as well, in particular the resolution of the question of the missing friend.
This author can write. I usually do not reread portions of books, but I have read the final paragraphs of this book several times, just because they are written so beautifully and they touch my heart. I love this book and I am looking forward to the author's next novel.
July 28, 2017
Thank you to Algonquin for the advance copy of this title for review - all opinions are my own.
SHADOW OF THE LIONS is a breath of fresh air in the suspense genre - it is supremely intelligent and definitely lives up to its description as a literary thriller. The prestigious boarding school setting provides a dramatic backdrop for Mathias' story, both as he describes his time there as a student and while he is navigating that same world as a failed novelist returning as an English teacher. Swann's Ph.D. in creative writing shines through clearly in this story as he incorporates first classical literature references, and then in the next page, corporate and military espionage. While not a complete page turner during the first half, I whipped through the second half of the book in one sitting, dying to know just WHAT HAPPENED TO FRITZ. No spoilers, but absolutely loved the ending and how everything turned out.
Swann's essay in THE ALGONQUIN READER gave me a deeper look into his motivation for writing this book and his personal experiences with the world of boarding schools. He learned from reading classic mysteries that he needed "to create a compelling character, and then imagine that character in a situation that demands answers." He certainly did just that in this book, as well as throw us into the world he imagines where a character must deal with the lifelong aftermath of a disappearance. I really love these essays that accompany the advance copies I receive from Algonquin (I know they are also available on NetGalley) - they give excellent insight into the world and people behind the stories.
I highly recommend this book to fans of sharp, literary suspense stories that educate and enlighten as you are trying to unravel the mystery at hand.
SHADOW OF THE LIONS is a breath of fresh air in the suspense genre - it is supremely intelligent and definitely lives up to its description as a literary thriller. The prestigious boarding school setting provides a dramatic backdrop for Mathias' story, both as he describes his time there as a student and while he is navigating that same world as a failed novelist returning as an English teacher. Swann's Ph.D. in creative writing shines through clearly in this story as he incorporates first classical literature references, and then in the next page, corporate and military espionage. While not a complete page turner during the first half, I whipped through the second half of the book in one sitting, dying to know just WHAT HAPPENED TO FRITZ. No spoilers, but absolutely loved the ending and how everything turned out.
Swann's essay in THE ALGONQUIN READER gave me a deeper look into his motivation for writing this book and his personal experiences with the world of boarding schools. He learned from reading classic mysteries that he needed "to create a compelling character, and then imagine that character in a situation that demands answers." He certainly did just that in this book, as well as throw us into the world he imagines where a character must deal with the lifelong aftermath of a disappearance. I really love these essays that accompany the advance copies I receive from Algonquin (I know they are also available on NetGalley) - they give excellent insight into the world and people behind the stories.
I highly recommend this book to fans of sharp, literary suspense stories that educate and enlighten as you are trying to unravel the mystery at hand.
October 14, 2017
DNFed at 47%.
I listened to the audiobook which is well narrated by James Anderson Foster.
Every year when the air gets chilly and the leaves start to fall I find myself in the mood for a campus novel. This one is set at elite Blackburne, a boys boarding school, with two main timelines, one when the main character is at the school as a student, and one where he comes back a decade later as a teacher. It does have an atmospheric setting, but this is mislabeled as a thriller. Yes, there is a mystery, but there wasn't much of a plot or a compelling enough reason to keep reading. I bailed at about the halfway point, at the play by play account of a football game. There is no character development to speak of, so the characters are all rather flat, and ultimately I didn't care enough to see how this story played out. The writing itself is not bad, but if I'd read it through it might have received a 2 star rating, so why bother?
I listened to the audiobook which is well narrated by James Anderson Foster.
Every year when the air gets chilly and the leaves start to fall I find myself in the mood for a campus novel. This one is set at elite Blackburne, a boys boarding school, with two main timelines, one when the main character is at the school as a student, and one where he comes back a decade later as a teacher. It does have an atmospheric setting, but this is mislabeled as a thriller. Yes, there is a mystery, but there wasn't much of a plot or a compelling enough reason to keep reading. I bailed at about the halfway point, at the play by play account of a football game. There is no character development to speak of, so the characters are all rather flat, and ultimately I didn't care enough to see how this story played out. The writing itself is not bad, but if I'd read it through it might have received a 2 star rating, so why bother?
June 12, 2022
Loved parts of this, the description of the college, following the main character as he goes from youth into adulthood, I even liked the romance, which wasn’t exactly happy, but I wasn’t so keen on reading about football matches and the rodeo experience also took up a lot of space. But the author managed to make me really feel for the protagonist, and I would love to read a sequel.
February 3, 2018
Read my review on p 34 of the August issue of Perimeter North Lifestyle magazine: http://issuu.com/lifestylepubs/docs/p...
or check it out on my blog:
https://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/...
Two massive concrete lions have guarded the front entrance to Virginia’s Blackburne School for more than a century. Respected and revered, they symbolize the school’s fiercely held traditions, especially its honor code. After Matthias Glass confesses his honor code violation to his best friend, Fritz Davenport, they briefly argue before Fritz runs into the woods—and vanishes without a trace.
In the decade following Matthias’ graduation from Blackburne, he attends college, grad school, and writes a successful first novel. When he finds himself abandoned by his writing inspiration (and his model girlfriend), he accepts a position at Blackburne teaching English. Upon his return to his alma mater, he becomes consumed with finding out what really happened to his friend all those years ago. While looking for answers, a student death on campus opens his eyes to the dark underbelly of the prestigious boys’ boarding school. Partnering with a local ex-cop to solve the mysteries, Matthias begins to suspect a campus figure may have connections to both the recent student death and Fritz’s disappearance. As he digs deeper, his search turns up much more than he bargained for, including links to the FBI, cyber surveillance, exorbitant bribes, and issues of national security. He also uncovers various Blackburne secrets as well as the dark realities of a powerful Washington, DC, family.
Sandy Springs author, Christopher Swann, creates a complex protagonist and conjures an alluring and ominous prep school setting from his firsthand academic experiences. As the English Department chair of Atlanta’s Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, Swann’s twenty-one years of teaching English are evident in Matthias Glass, a novelist turned English teacher turned amateur detective. Swann also draws on his own four years of high school at Woodberry Forest School, an all male boarding school in Virginia, to transport his readers to the insular community of Blackburne. In true Southern style, Swann also weaves the underlying theme of football into his debut novel. While the unofficial religion of the South offers many metaphors on life, Swann perfectly exemplifies the painfully tenuous transition between adolescence and adulthood with his powerfully detailed descriptions of grueling practices and an intense annual football game against their rival school.
Alternating between Matthias’ student and teacher periods and filled with literary references, Swann’s bildungsroman draws comparisons to beloved boarding school novels The Catcher in the Rye, Dead Poets Society, and A Separate Peace. Like these classics, Shadow of the Lions explores love, loyalty, loss, duty, and betrayal. It exposes burdens of privilege, the desperation to belong, the layered creation of one’s character, and the fact that intense adolescent friendships shape all of our adult lives, for better or worse.
or check it out on my blog:
https://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/...
Two massive concrete lions have guarded the front entrance to Virginia’s Blackburne School for more than a century. Respected and revered, they symbolize the school’s fiercely held traditions, especially its honor code. After Matthias Glass confesses his honor code violation to his best friend, Fritz Davenport, they briefly argue before Fritz runs into the woods—and vanishes without a trace.
In the decade following Matthias’ graduation from Blackburne, he attends college, grad school, and writes a successful first novel. When he finds himself abandoned by his writing inspiration (and his model girlfriend), he accepts a position at Blackburne teaching English. Upon his return to his alma mater, he becomes consumed with finding out what really happened to his friend all those years ago. While looking for answers, a student death on campus opens his eyes to the dark underbelly of the prestigious boys’ boarding school. Partnering with a local ex-cop to solve the mysteries, Matthias begins to suspect a campus figure may have connections to both the recent student death and Fritz’s disappearance. As he digs deeper, his search turns up much more than he bargained for, including links to the FBI, cyber surveillance, exorbitant bribes, and issues of national security. He also uncovers various Blackburne secrets as well as the dark realities of a powerful Washington, DC, family.
Sandy Springs author, Christopher Swann, creates a complex protagonist and conjures an alluring and ominous prep school setting from his firsthand academic experiences. As the English Department chair of Atlanta’s Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, Swann’s twenty-one years of teaching English are evident in Matthias Glass, a novelist turned English teacher turned amateur detective. Swann also draws on his own four years of high school at Woodberry Forest School, an all male boarding school in Virginia, to transport his readers to the insular community of Blackburne. In true Southern style, Swann also weaves the underlying theme of football into his debut novel. While the unofficial religion of the South offers many metaphors on life, Swann perfectly exemplifies the painfully tenuous transition between adolescence and adulthood with his powerfully detailed descriptions of grueling practices and an intense annual football game against their rival school.
Alternating between Matthias’ student and teacher periods and filled with literary references, Swann’s bildungsroman draws comparisons to beloved boarding school novels The Catcher in the Rye, Dead Poets Society, and A Separate Peace. Like these classics, Shadow of the Lions explores love, loyalty, loss, duty, and betrayal. It exposes burdens of privilege, the desperation to belong, the layered creation of one’s character, and the fact that intense adolescent friendships shape all of our adult lives, for better or worse.
September 4, 2018
Read as an e-book via Scribd!
T/W- Violence, Death, Drugs
The first 50% of Shadow of the Lions was an interesting set-up to a thriller novel. But the second half ultimately fell flat for me. The novel revolves around a character called Matthias who as a student at his boarding school, breaks one of the codes by cheating in a test. After confessing to his best friend Fritz, he runs off and is never seen or heard from again. Ten years later, Matthias is a bestselling author, called back to his old boarding school to teach the students English Literature after a teacher shortage. While back, it's very clear that someone doesn't want him there but Matthias wants to find out what really happened to Fritz. The setting of the boarding school was very atmospheric. There was some language mentioned that I wasn't comfortable reading as well as a scene involving drug dealing with teens. The storyline went in a different direction and sadly, failed to grip me fully as a reader.
T/W- Violence, Death, Drugs
The first 50% of Shadow of the Lions was an interesting set-up to a thriller novel. But the second half ultimately fell flat for me. The novel revolves around a character called Matthias who as a student at his boarding school, breaks one of the codes by cheating in a test. After confessing to his best friend Fritz, he runs off and is never seen or heard from again. Ten years later, Matthias is a bestselling author, called back to his old boarding school to teach the students English Literature after a teacher shortage. While back, it's very clear that someone doesn't want him there but Matthias wants to find out what really happened to Fritz. The setting of the boarding school was very atmospheric. There was some language mentioned that I wasn't comfortable reading as well as a scene involving drug dealing with teens. The storyline went in a different direction and sadly, failed to grip me fully as a reader.
July 1, 2019
Overwrought and overwritten. A genre salad with every cliche from all of them. And about 20 more minor characters then you need that have nothing to do with anything but make the school sections hard to follow. It’s as if the novelist had a half dozen books buzzing in his head but was afraid he wouldn’t get a second contract, so he put them all down on paper at once.
August 4, 2018
Some early reviews and blurbs:
"Swann’s deft mastery of language and his sense for academia come through the novel strongly. Shadow of the Lions is believable, tense, and rich. Blackburne’s insular community is the perfect stage for this literary thriller, which earns positive comparisons to Dead Poets Society and The Marriage Plot…Witty, fast paced, and satisfying, Shadow of the Lions is a perfect literary thriller for back-to-school season." --Foreword Reviews
"Suspense, mystery and the risks of homecoming figure prominently in Swann’s absorbing debut, a literary thriller and coming-of-age story set at an elite Virginia boarding school." --Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"A wonderful coming-of-age story, a taut emotional rollercoaster, and a hell of a debut. Christopher Swann hits the sweet spot with a novel that has a gripping plot, beautifully rendered characters, and an accomplished style. I loved it." --David Liss, author of The Day of Atonement
"If you were to throw A Separate Peace, Dead Poets Society, and The Secret History into a literary blender, you might get something like Christopher Swann’s Shadow of the Lions, a novel which manages at once to be both a poignant coming-of-age tale and a suspenseful mystery. Set in the persistently alluring environs of an elite prep school, where the idealistic image of striving achievement is always in conflict with the dark realities that trouble even the most privileged of lives, Shadow of the Lions illuminates the complexities of friendship, love, loyalty, and duty with remarkable wisdom and compassion." --Ed Tarkington, author of Only Love Can Break Your Heart
"Christopher Swann is a gifted storyteller, a master at the twisty tale. Swann’s must-read debut, Shadow of the Lions, is written with depth and mystery, transporting the reader through the gates of an elite private school and into the heart of an unsolved student’s disappearance: a novel that gives us the privilege of walking through the world with Matthias and his astute observations—the childhood ache of loneliness at a boarding school; a first love; a best friend’s disappearance; a career that should be more than it is, and eventually toward a shocking reckoning of who he is meant to be. Under Swann’s deft hand, ultimately, Shadow of the Lions explores the timeless complexity of deep friendship—how it shapes us, destroys us and sometimes remakes us." --Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Bookshop at Water's End
"A twisty tale that surprises at every turn, Shadow of the Lions will keep you turning pages compulsively into the wee hours, cursing Christopher Swann for the inconvenience." --Jonathan Evison, author of This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!
"Swann’s deft mastery of language and his sense for academia come through the novel strongly. Shadow of the Lions is believable, tense, and rich. Blackburne’s insular community is the perfect stage for this literary thriller, which earns positive comparisons to Dead Poets Society and The Marriage Plot…Witty, fast paced, and satisfying, Shadow of the Lions is a perfect literary thriller for back-to-school season." --Foreword Reviews
"Suspense, mystery and the risks of homecoming figure prominently in Swann’s absorbing debut, a literary thriller and coming-of-age story set at an elite Virginia boarding school." --Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"A wonderful coming-of-age story, a taut emotional rollercoaster, and a hell of a debut. Christopher Swann hits the sweet spot with a novel that has a gripping plot, beautifully rendered characters, and an accomplished style. I loved it." --David Liss, author of The Day of Atonement
"If you were to throw A Separate Peace, Dead Poets Society, and The Secret History into a literary blender, you might get something like Christopher Swann’s Shadow of the Lions, a novel which manages at once to be both a poignant coming-of-age tale and a suspenseful mystery. Set in the persistently alluring environs of an elite prep school, where the idealistic image of striving achievement is always in conflict with the dark realities that trouble even the most privileged of lives, Shadow of the Lions illuminates the complexities of friendship, love, loyalty, and duty with remarkable wisdom and compassion." --Ed Tarkington, author of Only Love Can Break Your Heart
"Christopher Swann is a gifted storyteller, a master at the twisty tale. Swann’s must-read debut, Shadow of the Lions, is written with depth and mystery, transporting the reader through the gates of an elite private school and into the heart of an unsolved student’s disappearance: a novel that gives us the privilege of walking through the world with Matthias and his astute observations—the childhood ache of loneliness at a boarding school; a first love; a best friend’s disappearance; a career that should be more than it is, and eventually toward a shocking reckoning of who he is meant to be. Under Swann’s deft hand, ultimately, Shadow of the Lions explores the timeless complexity of deep friendship—how it shapes us, destroys us and sometimes remakes us." --Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Bookshop at Water's End
"A twisty tale that surprises at every turn, Shadow of the Lions will keep you turning pages compulsively into the wee hours, cursing Christopher Swann for the inconvenience." --Jonathan Evison, author of This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!
April 11, 2017
Shadow of the Lions by Christopher Swann
The lions sit on either side of the gate to Blackburne School, a boarding school with "fierce traditions" and a fervent belief in its honor code. A code that Matthias has violated. The prologue has Matthias jogging in place in front of the lions, overcome with guilt and trying to justify his actions. The tension from this information already has the reader apprehensive.
Matthias is joined shortly by his best friend Fritz; they argue and in the heat of anger, hurtful words are said on both sides. Fritz eventually turns and runs back toward the school. After a few moments, Matthias runs after him, his guilt escalating as he attempts to apologize. But Fritz is too far ahead and when Matthias gets back to the school, he can't find Fritz. He assumes that Fritz is avoiding him. Fritz isn't in their room; he isn't at dinner; he isn't at study period. Matthias begins to worry and before lights-out, the sheriff is called
Fritz is gone, and a search proves fruitless. There is no body, no trace, no explanation.
Nearly ten years later, Matthias returns to Blackburne to teach English. He had a one-hit wonder novel, but was unable to follow it up. His New York high life has come to an end, and he hopes that a return to Blackburne will give him a chance to start over.
The novel moves back and forth from Matthias' arrival at Blackburne at fourteen and his gradual assimilation into boarding school life, new friends, and rigorous education--to the present and his place as a member of the faculty and his deepening obsession with finding out what happened to Fritz. In the process, he uncovers some other secrets at the school and beyond it.
Suspense, mystery, and coming-of-age intertwine in this debut novel that hooked me from the prologue and kept me on edge thereafter.
read in April; blog post scheduled for July.
NetGalley/Algonquin Books
Suspense/Coming of Age. August 1, 2017. Print length: 368 pages
The lions sit on either side of the gate to Blackburne School, a boarding school with "fierce traditions" and a fervent belief in its honor code. A code that Matthias has violated. The prologue has Matthias jogging in place in front of the lions, overcome with guilt and trying to justify his actions. The tension from this information already has the reader apprehensive.
Matthias is joined shortly by his best friend Fritz; they argue and in the heat of anger, hurtful words are said on both sides. Fritz eventually turns and runs back toward the school. After a few moments, Matthias runs after him, his guilt escalating as he attempts to apologize. But Fritz is too far ahead and when Matthias gets back to the school, he can't find Fritz. He assumes that Fritz is avoiding him. Fritz isn't in their room; he isn't at dinner; he isn't at study period. Matthias begins to worry and before lights-out, the sheriff is called
Fritz is gone, and a search proves fruitless. There is no body, no trace, no explanation.
Nearly ten years later, Matthias returns to Blackburne to teach English. He had a one-hit wonder novel, but was unable to follow it up. His New York high life has come to an end, and he hopes that a return to Blackburne will give him a chance to start over.
The novel moves back and forth from Matthias' arrival at Blackburne at fourteen and his gradual assimilation into boarding school life, new friends, and rigorous education--to the present and his place as a member of the faculty and his deepening obsession with finding out what happened to Fritz. In the process, he uncovers some other secrets at the school and beyond it.
Suspense, mystery, and coming-of-age intertwine in this debut novel that hooked me from the prologue and kept me on edge thereafter.
read in April; blog post scheduled for July.
NetGalley/Algonquin Books
Suspense/Coming of Age. August 1, 2017. Print length: 368 pages
August 30, 2017
I have to say that I was really liking this book and following every twist and turn for uncovering where the missing Fritz had gone and why. Well written prose with authentic prep school setting and great current and past day transitions and stories.
The last 1/4 of the book just lost me and unraveled as I could no longer connect the dots and find plausibility in certain circumstances and outcomes. Like a roller coaster that doesn't quite make it up the last hill, I was left feeling less than satisfied. My 4 stars faded to 3.
The last 1/4 of the book just lost me and unraveled as I could no longer connect the dots and find plausibility in certain circumstances and outcomes. Like a roller coaster that doesn't quite make it up the last hill, I was left feeling less than satisfied. My 4 stars faded to 3.
August 1, 2017
Review originally posted at
All Books Considered: 3 STARS
This was on the verge of being really interesting but the big reveal was just such a letdown for me. I still enjoyed this, even though it meandered quite a bit, and it was a fast read. The book started off great - a snapshot 10 years back in time at the boarding school when the MC's best friend just vanishes off campus before graduation. Fritz's disappearance sets of a downward spiral for his family and for Matthias, the MC, which culminates in Matthias coming back to teach at his alma mater where Fritz is constantly on his mind. He halfheartedly begins his search in earnest but it never felt organic to me. Something just felt off and what Matthias ultimately discovered was weird. Not good weird but it felt like the author didn't know how to end the book and to taper from all this build-up and just ended up cobbling a story together. I think this could have benefited from more direction and more editing but I am interested to see what this author writes next.
Shadow of the Lions comes out next week on August 1, 2017, and you can purchase HERE. I would definitely read another book from this author, especially in this genre. You can see some of my favorite books set in boarding schools HERE.
This was on the verge of being really interesting but the big reveal was just such a letdown for me. I still enjoyed this, even though it meandered quite a bit, and it was a fast read. The book started off great - a snapshot 10 years back in time at the boarding school when the MC's best friend just vanishes off campus before graduation. Fritz's disappearance sets of a downward spiral for his family and for Matthias, the MC, which culminates in Matthias coming back to teach at his alma mater where Fritz is constantly on his mind. He halfheartedly begins his search in earnest but it never felt organic to me. Something just felt off and what Matthias ultimately discovered was weird. Not good weird but it felt like the author didn't know how to end the book and to taper from all this build-up and just ended up cobbling a story together. I think this could have benefited from more direction and more editing but I am interested to see what this author writes next.
Shadow of the Lions comes out next week on August 1, 2017, and you can purchase HERE. I would definitely read another book from this author, especially in this genre. You can see some of my favorite books set in boarding schools HERE.
I had always enjoyed reading poetry, although it's a very different thing to teach others how to read it. My students felt that poets were weird, which had actually been true of some of the poets I had known at NYU. They had scared me a little, to be honest--at parties, the poets were the ones swinging from the light fixtures and trying to get the faculty, or their souses, into bed, whereas we fiction writers leaned against walls, drank early, and snuck glances at our watches. That hadn't kept me from sleeping with two of the poets. Beth was blond and warm and wrote Whitmanesque verse about rivers; Giselle was dark haired and dark spirited, with fingernails bitten to the bone, and wrote tight, acidic poems about death and betrayal, as if she were the love child of Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe. Beth said I was a lost soul while Giselle called me a fucking asshole, both of which, when you think about it, are pretty much the same thing.
February 15, 2018
An odd choice that I only picked up because I like books where the writer makes a writer the main character. In this case, Matthias Glass, who is not exactly an author-stand-in (as far as I can tell), but Swann is clearly drawing on his PhD in Creative Writing and his boarding school background to create characters he knows. Matthias graduated from the elite Blackburne School, a middle class kid who earned a scholarship to go to school with a bunch of (mostly) rich classmates, became a writer, wrote one best-selling novel, then his marriage to a beautiful NYC model fell apart, he stopped writing, and so by only slightly contrived circumstances, he winds up back at Blackburne, this time as an English teacher.
On the surface, this might look like it's going to be some deeply Literary Novel, or maybe a modern version of A Separate Peace, especially with the backstory about Matthias's friend Fritz who ran away and disappeared the night he found out Matthias had violated the school's honor code. Fritz was never found, assumed dead, and that has haunted Matthias ever since.
Matthias's conflicts with fellow staff members while he quietly pursues the cold case of his friend's disappearance, and then an apparent suicide at the school, which uncovers drugs and gets Matthias framed, seem like the expected trajectory of the book. The guessing game the author plays with the reader about whether Fritz will turn out not to have died after all was resolved in a manner that didn't really surprise me - but some of the other plot twists, in which the story veered in a couple of unexpected directions, did and made this a bit more of a traditional mystery.
It's a very literate mystery novel, and sometimes it wasn't clear whether the author was going for a wistful, tragic tale of bildungsroman or a modern tale of family secrets and mysterious twists. There is plenty of both and Shadow of the Lions is very well written. The characters are all distinct and the dialog actually sounded like real people talking. The people mostly behaved like real people. So, I liked it - this not really a very exciting book, but it's a nicely crafted novel.
On the surface, this might look like it's going to be some deeply Literary Novel, or maybe a modern version of A Separate Peace, especially with the backstory about Matthias's friend Fritz who ran away and disappeared the night he found out Matthias had violated the school's honor code. Fritz was never found, assumed dead, and that has haunted Matthias ever since.
Matthias's conflicts with fellow staff members while he quietly pursues the cold case of his friend's disappearance, and then an apparent suicide at the school, which uncovers drugs and gets Matthias framed, seem like the expected trajectory of the book. The guessing game the author plays with the reader about whether Fritz will turn out not to have died after all was resolved in a manner that didn't really surprise me - but some of the other plot twists, in which the story veered in a couple of unexpected directions, did and made this a bit more of a traditional mystery.
It's a very literate mystery novel, and sometimes it wasn't clear whether the author was going for a wistful, tragic tale of bildungsroman or a modern tale of family secrets and mysterious twists. There is plenty of both and Shadow of the Lions is very well written. The characters are all distinct and the dialog actually sounded like real people talking. The people mostly behaved like real people. So, I liked it - this not really a very exciting book, but it's a nicely crafted novel.
October 2, 2019
"We weren't brothers; we were beyond that. He was perhaps the one person whose counsel and opinion I held higher than my own."~Shadow of Lions by Christopher Swann
They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.
Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job, Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.
As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to find any trail to find Fritz.
"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"
Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.
They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.
Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job, Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.
As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to find any trail to find Fritz.
"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"
Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.
August 28, 2017
Secrets, intrigue and deception abound in this astute literary thriller debut. This book starts off as a very slow simmer, so much so that I worried that it might be too slow paced for my taste. Multiple characters are introduced and extensive plot development is provided during the first half of this book. But mid-way through, the slow simmer of the story boils over and consumes everything in its path and I was RACING through the pages to find out what would happen next. Matthias has returned to the hallowed grounds of his boyhood boarding school, nursing his wounds of personal failure and a stalled career. He has taken a teaching position at the prestigious Blackburne School for Boys and is looking forward to a fresh start. But Matthias has an uncomfortable history here; his best friend disappeared ten years ago after they had an argument; running into the woods and never coming back out. Fritz’s body has never been found and Matthias has been haunted by regret ever since. He begins to investigate the events of that night and soon finds himself in the midst of very questionable campus and town politics. When another student is found dead in the woods, Matthias becomes determined to get answers, no matter what the cost.
The writing is intelligent and the literary references found throughout are certainly a nod to the author's own experience as an English teacher. The atmospheric setting of the hallowed school halls that harbor secrets old and new, coupled with the dark Virginia woods provides the perfect backdrop for murder and deception. There are plot twists and red herrings a plenty and absolutely nothing is what it seems. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I will say I was disappointed with a particular reveal at the end.... couple that with the extremely slow first half made this a 3.5 star read for me.
The writing is intelligent and the literary references found throughout are certainly a nod to the author's own experience as an English teacher. The atmospheric setting of the hallowed school halls that harbor secrets old and new, coupled with the dark Virginia woods provides the perfect backdrop for murder and deception. There are plot twists and red herrings a plenty and absolutely nothing is what it seems. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I will say I was disappointed with a particular reveal at the end.... couple that with the extremely slow first half made this a 3.5 star read for me.
December 21, 2017
What in god's name is going on with this book?! Christopher Swann's writing is effortless and engaging, but MAN ALIVE is the plot a mess. There were so many absurd plot elements that I had trouble taking the serious moments, well, seriously. In this one book there was: 1) a violation of a school's honor code, 2) drug dealing, 3) child molestation, 4) police corruption, 5) fatherly corruption, 6) an accidental shooting, 7) a missing teenager, 8) a wounded veteran whose sneakiness results in the death of the drug dealer, 9) a pregnancy out of wedlock that results in single fatherdom, and 10) a wife dying of cancer. And that's probably not all. Shadow of the Lions was certainly not predictable (because I would've never anticipated quite so many horrible things in one book), but this lack of predictability was laughable, not enjoyable.
* This book did get me to listen to an audiobook because I was so eager to see what ridiculous thing Christopher Swan could dream up next. I would avoid the audio version if I were you - it made the silly things seem even sillier; at least in print, they had a smidgen of gravitas.
* This book did get me to listen to an audiobook because I was so eager to see what ridiculous thing Christopher Swan could dream up next. I would avoid the audio version if I were you - it made the silly things seem even sillier; at least in print, they had a smidgen of gravitas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2017
Yes it's a novel set largely in a boys' boarding school but it's also an interesting mystery and meditation on adolescents. Swann has made an impressive debut. His writing is clear, there are wonderful literary references (found myself looking a few things up to reminisce), and the characters are believable. Both Mathias and Fritz are realistic young men which is important in this type of novel, which sometimes goes wonky. THere's humor and pathos but never is it twee or overdone. Mathias is so impacted by Fritz' disappearance that you'll be eagerly reading to the end. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a worthy companion to other boarding school novels; it also appropriate for all ages.
August 6, 2017
What a riveting, eloquently written novel! A pitch perfect literary thriller that I could not put down. Swann brilliantly weaves a tangled web of secrets and unrealized expectations, slowly revealing clues behind a prep school student's mysterious disappearance to the roommate who never stopped searching for him. Truly, this book is a must read!
August 6, 2017
While not perfect (so few are) this is a STRONG debut novel. Swann's world held my attention from the first page to the last.
I can't wait to get my hands on Swann's next book, which is a funny thing to say a few days before the official pub date of this novel.
I can't wait to get my hands on Swann's next book, which is a funny thing to say a few days before the official pub date of this novel.
September 14, 2017
A Welcome New Novel
Finally a well written book by an articulate educated author. The subject matter was a bit different than the usual run of the mill suspense genre.
Finally a well written book by an articulate educated author. The subject matter was a bit different than the usual run of the mill suspense genre.
March 30, 2018
Although the mystery in this book kept me interested, I couldn’t get behind the characters. They just weren’t relatable to me.. I know! How could privileged rich kids at a prestigious boarding school and their rich and powerful families be something that I could NOT relate to?!
The author’s voice and word choices seemed somewhat snooty much of the time, and all I could picture while reading was someone writing these with a sweater tied around his neck and a tennis racquet propped against his huge solid oak desk while his purebred show dogs, Fritzy and Marshall pranced around his 10,000 square foot mansion. I know. Unfair.
Matthias is a good example of why is was hard to feel bad for the characters. He lost his friend. Sad. But, he wrote a novel that did very well, dated a super model and they snorted and drank all of his money away… hard to feel bad for him there. Then, in his lowest time (still driving around in a Red Porche Boxster, so he must REALLY been in dire straits!), he’s offered a teaching position back at this rich boarding school out of nowhere! *phew! I was worried he may have to sell his sports car and get a NORMAL CAR!* If only that was the way things worked in all of our lives!!
On top of all this, he has a loving family to help him through his torment (who he ignores because his super model girlfriend would rather “have their own traditions”) and friends who try to help him along the way (who he hasn’t given the time of day to in at least 10 years) So, again…. hard to relate and empathise with Matthias and his “woe is me” attitude.
The mystery itself though, was very interesting. Why would the F.B.I start to investigate Fritz’ disappearance and then suddenly pull out? How high up does this thing go, and who can be trusted?? It’s worth a read for that, for sure!
The author’s voice and word choices seemed somewhat snooty much of the time, and all I could picture while reading was someone writing these with a sweater tied around his neck and a tennis racquet propped against his huge solid oak desk while his purebred show dogs, Fritzy and Marshall pranced around his 10,000 square foot mansion. I know. Unfair.
Matthias is a good example of why is was hard to feel bad for the characters. He lost his friend. Sad. But, he wrote a novel that did very well, dated a super model and they snorted and drank all of his money away… hard to feel bad for him there. Then, in his lowest time (still driving around in a Red Porche Boxster, so he must REALLY been in dire straits!), he’s offered a teaching position back at this rich boarding school out of nowhere! *phew! I was worried he may have to sell his sports car and get a NORMAL CAR!* If only that was the way things worked in all of our lives!!
On top of all this, he has a loving family to help him through his torment (who he ignores because his super model girlfriend would rather “have their own traditions”) and friends who try to help him along the way (who he hasn’t given the time of day to in at least 10 years) So, again…. hard to relate and empathise with Matthias and his “woe is me” attitude.
The mystery itself though, was very interesting. Why would the F.B.I start to investigate Fritz’ disappearance and then suddenly pull out? How high up does this thing go, and who can be trusted?? It’s worth a read for that, for sure!
August 31, 2017
I'm a sucker for books set at boarding schools and if there is a mysterious death or disappearance all the better. This one didn't disappoint. When the wealthy Fritz vanishes his best friend Matthais can't let it go. Ten years later as Matthais takes a job teaching at the same school he starts delving into the mystery once again. The story is full of twists and surprises and a fair bit of action. Matthias gets himself into some pretty sketchy, dangerous situations and thankfully he doesn't respond like Bond or Bourne but rather like an actual high school teacher put into bad situations and trying desperately to get out of them alive. It was a quite exciting book in many parts, combined with the quieter character development and scenes in class and the dorms. Although I did not attend a boarding school it felt very authentic to me, or at least with my vision of what a boarding school would be like. In the end the resolution to the mystery was satisfying and shocking.
While reading I checked in on Goodreads to see what other books the author had written and I was stunned to find that this is a debut novel! The writing is so darn good that it does not seem like a first novel at all. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Christopher Swann writes next because this one is a two thumbs up winner!
I listened to the audio version and the narration was really, really good. I think the story lends itself well to audio and I truly could not stop listening. I highly recommend this version.
While reading I checked in on Goodreads to see what other books the author had written and I was stunned to find that this is a debut novel! The writing is so darn good that it does not seem like a first novel at all. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Christopher Swann writes next because this one is a two thumbs up winner!
I listened to the audio version and the narration was really, really good. I think the story lends itself well to audio and I truly could not stop listening. I highly recommend this version.
September 7, 2018
4 1/2*****A moving, nostalgic read. Christopher Swann has captured life at a boys' prep school in Virginia: the friendships, the quarrels, and the pranks. It is the story of a close friendship between two of the students, Matthias and Fritz, the mysterious disappearance of Fritz during his last school year, and its effect on Matthias' life 10 years later. At that time, following a short marriage and career as an author in NYC, Matthias is back at his prep school as a teacher. 'Coming of age' saga #2.
I loved this book. It took me back to my own high school and college days and the civil rights killing of one of my best friends. The hi-jinks we were involved in, the good times we shared, the meaning of friendship....all came back to me. Perhaps Christopher Swann, the author and teacher at a prep school was reliving (or maybe just sharing) youthful years and the part they play on an individual in later life.
I loved this book. It took me back to my own high school and college days and the civil rights killing of one of my best friends. The hi-jinks we were involved in, the good times we shared, the meaning of friendship....all came back to me. Perhaps Christopher Swann, the author and teacher at a prep school was reliving (or maybe just sharing) youthful years and the part they play on an individual in later life.
January 31, 2019
This is a well written, mystery/thriller, that kept my attention from the first chapter to the last. The twists and turns in this book kept coming, and just when you think you've figured something out, you're sent for another loop. I highly recommend this one!
August 23, 2017
First two thirds are quite good reading but at the end it bogged down a bit. Some lgbtq.
February 23, 2018
great book very interesting story but it is very sad
August 24, 2018
16 AUG 2018 - I won! I won! How exciting. Book arrived today - thank you, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and GRAmazon(TM) - (I thought up this name ages ago). I will begin tonight. WooHoo!
24 AUG 2018 - a good debut. I was mistakenly drawn in by the book blurb - this is not my genre. That said, I did not really care for this book. When I put the book down, I had to force myself to pick it back up again. Others have enjoyed the book and you may refer to their reviews. As for me, 3 stars is what I give.
24 AUG 2018 - a good debut. I was mistakenly drawn in by the book blurb - this is not my genre. That said, I did not really care for this book. When I put the book down, I had to force myself to pick it back up again. Others have enjoyed the book and you may refer to their reviews. As for me, 3 stars is what I give.
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