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Shadow of the Lions
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
13 posts | 12 read | 62 to read
In the middle of his senior year at the Blackburne School in Virginia, Matthias Glasss roommate and best friend Fritz Davenport runs off into the woods after the two boys have an argument--and vanishes without a trace. Ever since, Matthias has felt responsible, thinking that their fight, about a betrayal of the schools honor code, led to Fritzs disappearance. A decade later, after an early triumph with his first novel, followed by too much partying and too little work, Matthias realizes he has stalled out and become a failure as a writer, a boyfriend, a man. So when he is offered a job at Blackburne as an English teacher, he sees it as a chance to put his life back together. But once on campus, Matthias gets swiftly drawn into the past and is driven to find out what happened to Fritz. Along the way he must reckon with Fritzs complicated and powerful Washington, D.C., family and the shocking death of a student--and begin to understand his own place in the privileged world of Blackburne. In the spirit of film noir, Shadow of the Lions takes plenty of dark, surprising twists--its a thriller, but also a moving debut that is as much about the mystery as it is about the redemption of a broken friendship and a lost soul.
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Julz422
Shadow of the Lions | Chris Swann
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Mehso-so

This one took a while for me to get into and then once I did, it didn‘t exactly take me where I wanted to go, but I suppose that I still enjoyed the read

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Julz422
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Ouch said the Richmonder 🙃

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Julz422
Shadow of the Lions | Chris Swann
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New library read!

1 like1 stack add
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Laughterhp
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Bailedbailed

So boring!!! I just couldn‘t read anymore! Didn‘t even make it 60 pages...

Life‘s too short and I have too many other books I want to read!

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tricours
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Panpan

It‘s almost impressive how uninteresting this book managed to be. It tries to be so many things, and when it went all action movie towards the end I lost any respect I could have had for it. Furthermore, not only has this book got a judgmental tone (for a while there it felt like a Don‘t do drugs kids! ad), it also has a ridiculously stupid MC.

Foxyfictionista I've never heard of this book, but that's a great review! 🤣 6y
42 likes1 comment
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tricours
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Audiobook cooking (a rarity since I don‘t cook) (borscht). This book is such a bore. Those daily deals fool you quite often.

LauraBeth Your mise en place is on point though 😀 6y
Tamra Oh, too bad! But I do like your pic! 6y
43 likes2 comments
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Ashley_Morgan
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Mehso-so

Meh. This book had a promising first half, and a disappointing ending. The writing was nice and the characters were fleshed out nicely but story resolution didn't do it for me.

Whodunit85 Same - the whole second half just didn't fit with the first for me at all. It felt like a completely different (and less interesting) book. 6y
3 likes1 comment
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Kimberlone
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Mehso-so

I haven't been much for writing reviews lately because my reading has been so sporadic and rather unimpressive. I did finish this tonight while my boyfriend played GTA.

I was hoping for a campus novel mystery in the vein of The Secret History and If We Were Villains, but it ended up more as a generic thriller with too many elements thrown in (corporate espionage, national security, drug trafficking, etc). Not bad, but not what I expected.

Kimberlone ^^ this is also a plug to find me on Goodreads if so inclined. Same username! 7y
10 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MrBook
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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#TBRtemptation post 7! It's been almost 10 years since Matthias graduated from the elite Blackburne School, returning as an English instructor after a novelist's career. He delves into the mystery of his former roommate's disappearance after a senior-year argument. A local retired cop helps figure out what happened to his former friend, Fritz, and how Fritz's family may have played a role. A noir-ish literary thriller. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

WhatDeeReads This sounds good! 7y
Kimberlone Got this on Overdrive! Excited to start reading 😄 7y
60 likes12 stack adds2 comments
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FountainBookstore
Shadow of the Lions | Chris Swann
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Pickpick

For lovers of early Pat Conroy. A twisty mystery about the disappearance of a student from a boys boarding school in Virginia, this is a great read with a lot of literary merit as well. Well-done debut!

25 likes6 stack adds
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TheBookkeepersApprentice
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Reading outside when a surprise violin recital starts up!

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TheBookkeepersApprentice
Shadow of the Lions: A Novel | Christopher Swann
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Liberty
Shadow of the Lions | Chris Swann
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This sounds wonderful. 📚

rachelm That cover. (Dies) 7y
Bookladylinda Love this cover!!!! 7y
annkuch13 Woah this does sound excellent! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. And that cover! 😍 7y
120 likes26 stack adds3 comments