So I just finished reading The Shadow by James Patterson. This would be the first book I read by him. It has a great beginning, a real cliffhanger but slows down quite a bit after that as it introduces new characters and a futuristic world. Maddy, one of the main protagonists in the story, narrates her thoughts and becomes the first person narrator throughout the book. The book shares narration between omniscient and first person. This is a rare thing in fiction and I’ve done it myself in my, yet to be published 4th Hour where I have two of the main protagonists fighting for narration, I blame The Breakfast Club for inspiring me to do that. Mostly, The Shadow falls onto the third person for most of the story.
I blame The Breakfast Club for inspiring me to do that. The book slows down quite a bit after the strong prologue and you really have to hang with it as it switches to a new time era with new characters. I think this is where the book could’ve used some cutting or action. Patterson builds on the setting details and Maddy's thoughts as she does mundane things, at least it's not written in an interesting way after a cliffhanger prologue that was set up.
It picks up again when Maddy finds Lamont Cranston in a cryogenic facility. That part is pretty good. Finally we get the sense of where the story's going. He’s been in cryogenic sleep and they get him to wake up out of his slumber now that they have the technology. When he slowly starts to wake up it’s done really well.
He patches things together about where and when he is and acclimates to his surroundings. Once he gets his bearings, they find that his girlfriend Margo Lane is also frozen and they go to release her. That was a big revelation in the book.
Also they find that The Shadow’s old nemesis Khan is still alive and living in Lamont’s mansion, which I thought was a fun twist.
Lamont explains the myths and truths of his powers. What’s real and what was exaggerated. They go into his invisibility powers a little bit and how they work.
What’s important here is that the author doesn’t take all of the fun out of the character by trying to make The Shadow too realistic but he does ground him in some ways. Lamont also has developed a new fireball power which I thought was surprising, weird but was a neat evolution.
The ending when it arrives is good but goes a bit too quick. It’s very visual like you’d see in movie. Good twist ending in the conclusion. The story could’ve ending a few different ways at least which is good because it’s unpredictable that way.
Overall it’s a good book and I’m glad I read it, I enjoyed reading the short, short, chapters one at a time so I never felt I had to re-read much to get me caught up again. Wish it was a little shorter near the beginning and middle but it’s great to read a new Shadow adventure that has a neat twist on the genre by merging a little bit of low sci-fi with it. If you're a fan of The Shadow you'll like it and if you don't know anything about The Shadow you'll like it too I would think. Patterson knows the voice and spirit of the character which is great. I recommend this as a fun piece of fiction that will hopefully inspire the reader to seek out old Shadow radio shows which are a lot of fun to listen to. I’ll give it an 8 out of 10.
