Warrior in the Shadows

by Marcus Wynne

Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs meets Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior in this thriller that races at breakneck pace--from the critically acclaimed author who gave Stephen Coonts "a nightmare for a week." Alfie Woodard always completes a mission. The skills he learned in the Australian Special Air Service have carried over to his new life as an Aboriginal spiritual leader and contract killer for drug lord Jay Burrell. Alfie knows how to stalk and kill a victim, then disappear without a trace. But it's the ritualistic murders and the devouring of his victims during the Aboriginal ceremony that send a clear message to Burrell's enemies. Charley Payne was losing it. He had spent his life as a door kicker for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the world's hot spots. When his friend, Police Detective Sergeant Bobby Lee Martaine realized that Charley was becoming a danger to himself and his missions, Bobby Lee offered him a job. Trading in his guns for a camera, Charley finds his new life as a forensic photographer in the Twin Cities uneventful and peaceful―just what he needed, until Charley is called in to photograph a gruesome murder scene. There are no fingerprints and only one clue, a bizarre Aboriginal painting. Most in the police department begin to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. Bobby Lee is closing in on Alfie, but Alfie learned in the SAS that a mission is not complete if you've left a trail behind. When Bobby Lee and his family turn up dead, Charley returns to the way of the gun. But he will be fighting a war on the spiritual leader's turf in the Australian outback. A fight to the death that took place in the Aboriginal dream world five centuries before.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 14, 2002

About the author

Marcus Wynne is a charter member of The Been There, Done That Club. He's got all the T-shirts and knows all the secret handshakes. He enjoys poetry, ballet, knife fighting, and serial monogamy with fierce feminists. He is the author of multiple best-selling thrillers and urban fantasies. When he's not busy telling lies for money as a fictioneer, he runs a research and development company for the Department of Defense. He's honored to provide training and consultation to the finest warriors in the world.

www.marcuswynne.com
www.accentusludus.com

Reviews

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a few years since I read a Marcus Wynne thriller. I think my first was . I picked up several Wynne thrillers for free a week or so ago and jumped on this one. And my next Wynne thriller will feature the main characters from this book and No Other Option:

I enjoyed the characters, and the setting. From Minnesota to deep in the outback of Australia. sort of like a crazed Crocodile Dundee meets Jason Borne. If you are a fan of David Morrell, then give Marcus Wynne a shot.

[William Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Wynne was the real deal.

There was not one error in the technical aspects of the book...quite uncommon in the action/adventure genre, which seems dominated by writers with a little knowledge and a penchant for trying to sound like experts. It brings to mind the tee shirt that I used to have: "Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do."

Well, Marcus WAS the real deal, and the real world of action is diminished by his passing. I recommend any and all of his writing. He did essentially all of the things he wrote about, then spent another career teaching what he had learned to others. His many students are lucky to have known and learned from him.

[Vegas · Rating 5 out of 5]

More well thought out action writing.

Some of the action writer’s narratives read like a shopping list for a trip to Joe Tacticool’s Action Man Shoppe. This author expresses the character’s voice of quality tools and the bond that develops with long use.

[Frank Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Technically accurate action spiced with Australian Aboriginal Black Magic — a real page turner.

[Benjamin Cheah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warrior in the Shadows is a powerful thriller that combines magic and violence, culture and history. This is not a clear-cut thriller. While grounded in real-world authenticity, it also combines aspects of spirituality and shamanism to create a rich cast of characters and settings.

A killer is stalking the streets of Minneapolis, his signature a ritual mutilation of his victims in accordance with Australian Aboriginal beliefs. Charley Payne, former CIA operator and now police photographer, sees in the slayings the handiwork of a man as capable as he. Teaming up with Kativa Pavel, an expert in Australian Aboriginal mythology, Payne finds himself on a collision course with a hitman, and in a struggle between the forces of good and evil.

Marcus Wynne is a former operator and did his research. Realism drips from every page, from the little things like taping up a weapon to complex and intense action sequences.

The one knock against this book is the characters. I sense Wynne is trying for complex, flawed characters and mostly he succeeds. However, though Payne is billed as the protagonist, he doesn't make any major contributions to the plot until almost two-thirds of the way through. It's an odd story when the antagonist appears more often than the protagonist, but this isn't a traditional action novel either, and this may not appeal to anyone. Further, in one particular action scene, the antagonist actually disappears somehow, and this is never fully explained - nor how he recovers from an injury.

Warrior from the Shadows is a tightly-written thriller and I strongly recommend it to people with an interest in realistic action, authentic characters, mythology and non-traditional-yet-authentic portrayals of Aboriginal beliefs and magic.

[Adam Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a book worth the read however not on par with the earlier product of Wynne, No Other Option. The first half of the book is very exciting but the pace slows in the second half only to have a very rushed " final show down ". In fairness my one major complaint of No Other Option was the weakness in the final showdown as well. All in all a good thriller from a good author but realistically a 3.5 out of 5 star book.

[Mike Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy books like this one and I was not disappointed. I have read other books by Marcus Wynne and have alway been taken away into the story only to reach the end and not want to start another book because it might not be as good.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed Charley Payne 7 his nemesis was quite original!

[Lance Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hooked from the first sentence.