"If Michael Herr,
David Morrell and Robert Stone wrote a book together, this would
be it. 'The Pressure of Darkness' is a tremendous novel that works
on every level." -Ken Bruen
(author of "The Guards and The Dramatist")
Best-selling horror writer Peter Stryker is found in a locked
suite after what the police describe as a night of 'self-mutilation.'
Classical music playing softly in the background, Stryker laid
out medical instruments, filleted his own flesh, and cauterized
each wound unto death.
But would a man commit suicide by butchering his own body?
Investigator Jack Burke follows a bloody trail to the answer.
He ends up facing both a vicious drug lord out for revenge and
an evil cult that seeks to destroy the world by unleashing a deadly
new virus.
"I can't recommend The Pressure of Darkness enough to someone whom has yet to read Shannon's prose. Here, he is at the top of his game. Honest, cutting, and just plain talented as hell."
--Hellnotes
"Masterful craftsmanship. THE PRESSURE OF DARKNESS is a dark and thrilling stroll along the knife edge."
--Cemetery Dance
"Gritty, absorbing, and wonderfully written---Shannon grabs you
by the short hairs and tugs until you scream. This is easily one
of the best thrillers of the year." --J.A. Konrath
(Author of the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Series)
"A blend of horror, Eastern philosophy, Spec Ops thriller, and
virus white-knuckler, The Pressure of Darkness keeps the pages
turning as fast as your hands can move. Strap in and read fast,
or this one'll leave without you." --Gregg Hurwitz
(Author of the Tim Rackley novels)
"The Pressure of Darkness by Harry Shannon is not only a first-rate thriller, a first-rate mystery, and a first-rate action-adventure, it is, hands-down, the best horror novel Shannon has yet written. One of the things I've come to admire about Harry Shannon's work is that it's among the most muscular and unpretentious being written in any field, and Shannon heartily embraces Gary's Golden Rule of Writing Good Fiction: Forget Genre. Shannon will use any element necessary in order to tell his story the way the story demands to be told, so it's no surprise that The Pressure of Darkness blurs nearly every genre line you can name. At a hefty 440 pages, it reads like a book half that length."
--Gary A. Braunbeck
"Best Reads of 2006"
The Mick Callahan Series
Psychologist Mick Callahan, flawed hero of Harry Shannon's taut
thriller Memorial Day, wants to escape his violent past. He's
finally back in the game, with a successful radio show, a new
girlfriend and money in the bank. And then along comes Mary, the
young drug addict who saved his life in Dry Wells. Mick Callahan
is the kind of man who pays his debts, even if that means putting
everything on the line. When Mary is abducted from his home all
hell breaks loose. Callahan gathers his eccentric friends, sets
out to find her and ends up confronting a gang of vicious psychopaths
at Nevada's bizarre Burning Man Festival.
*Coming in 2008: The third installment of the Mick Callahan series,
"One of the Wicked".
"Meet Mick Callahan, a former television talk-show psychiatrist
foiled by his own ego (and a penchant for liquid refreshment).
Let's hope he's around for a long run." -- BOOKLIST
"Callahan is more than an echo of the hardboiled sleuths from
other standout detective series from Parker, Crais, MacDonald
and Thompson; he is a fresh new voice, a flawed everyman hero
who knows his own demons and his own limitations and is strong
enough to overcome.
Stands with some of the very best noir mystery fiction around."
--HORROR WORLD
"I have to admit to being thrilled with my introduction to Mick
Callahan and not only is he likeable, (as deemed by Library
Journal) but he managed to endear himself to this reader as a
very realistic hero, with a strong sense of purpose and an equal
dash of vulnerability." --CEMETERY DANCE
"Mick Callahan is a man with a past, a mean right hook, and a
radio talk show. He's pretty good at giving people advice - just
not necessarily good at taking it...the real strength of this
series is in its central characters, flawed, human, often funny,
sometimes tragic, and the relationships among them." --MYSTERY SCENE
"Mick Callahan is my kind of character -- flawed and vulnerable, tenacious and likable." --Bill Pronzini
"Recommended reading for any mystery fan," --Murder and Mayhem Book Club
The Night Trilogy
Congrats to Harry for his 2003 Tombstone award for "Night Of The
Werewolf"!
"Harry Shannon's thematic 'Night' trilogy--despite the trappings,
the body counts, and despite the deliberately ham-fisted titles--has
a literary muscle rarely seen in the horror field these days;
in fact, the last time I can remember reading novels that were
both this action-packed and this smart was in the heyday of Robert
McCammon. Shannon is a writer of incredible energy who never blinks
his eye for detail." -Gary A. Braunbeck
"Harry Shannon's 'Night of the Werewolf' is a scary-as-hell journey
through nightmare country."
-Douglas Clegg
"Shannon's writing is controlled, assured, and filled with the
kind of spooky atmosphere that used to make you hide your head
under the bedcovers on wind-wracked nights."
