An EXCERPT

NEWS and NOTES continued

Review | Ishan Taylor, New York Times

"A creepily subversive medical thriller."

Review | New York Magazine

"A surprisingly smart clone thriller."

Review | KulturNews Magazine (Germany)

"Kevin Guilfoile frames his successful debut novel with ethical questions about the boundaries of cloning research, but the scientific aspects never get in the way of the exciting action."

News when it happens, or shortly thereafter

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Review | TV5 Monde (France)

"In this original first thriller which mixes science, religious fanaticism and virtual reality, Guilfoile offers a reflection on human nature, destiny and personal freedom, carried by elegant writing and perfectly drawn characters."

Review | Jon Kranz, WHRV-FM

"Surprising and disturbing look into the not-too-distant future. Assume the world has legalized human cloning and this book offers a peek into the societal impact wrapped in a murder-mystery. As often as I felt repulsed by some of the characters and belief-systems of the novel, I couldn't put it down."

Review | Jerome Lavadou, ActuSF (France)

"Un bon thriller. The intrigue becomes progressively more and more complex along with the characters....The last 150 pages are particularly captivating."

Review | Linda Broszeit, Buecherinsel (Germany)

"A completely new combination of subjects for a crime novel....It is hardly possible to write an evaluation of this novel, because all adjectives have already been used endlessly for other, less unusual detective stories."

Review | Patricia Puerta, ARPA (Argentina)

"Just when suspense novels seem to be falling into disgrace, an obvious product of the flood of books referring to dark religious conspiracies or historical people, the (publisher) Athenian brings us a story with a current theme that has all the necessary elements for fans of the thriller genre. Readers nostalgic for this type of literature will find (Cast of Shadows) the ideal book to satisfy their expectations."

Review | Nikola Poitzman, Media Mania Magazine (Germany)

"Exciting, visionary, and extremely disturbing."

CoS Book Notes

The music site Largehearted Boy asked me to make a playlist for Cast of Shadows, basically a soundtrack for the book. It contains fifteen terrific songs, many by Chicago bands and artists. Be sure to browse through the terrific Book Notes archives to see what other writers are listening to.

Review | Los Libros Del Mes (Argentina)

"An original and spectacularly disturbing novel, that is developed as delicately as the work of a jeweler and anticipates moral, social and Metaphysical dilemmas that science eventually will have to confront."

Review | Stigbjorn Bergensten, Nerikes Allehanda (Sweden)

"A fascinating book...Seldom have I read a thriller with such a surprising ending."

Best of 2005, Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune lists CoS among its Best Books of 2005.

Best of 2005, Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star lists CoS as one of the best books of the year.

Best First Novel of 2005

Cast of Shadows was selected as The Best First Novel of 2005 in the Love Is Murder Readers' Choice Poll.

Best of 2005, Boulder Daily Camera

The Daily Camera of Boulder, Colorado lists CoS among the notable mysteries of the year. [reg req]

Review | Scott Abrahams, Melbourne Progress Leader

"Slick, well-paced and carefully crafted, this fictional look at the consequences of cloning will have you sitting bolt-upright in bed for hours on end. Don't be fooled into trying to pick the ending--Guilfoile is too clever for that--instead, enjoy the craftsmanship that has gone into planning and writing this interesting medical thriller."

Review | Marc Lourdes, The Star (Malaysia)

"Oh, what a tangled web Kevin Guilfoile weaves! The first time author, with his tale of life, death and everything in between cobbles together a disturbing portrait of creation and destruction...While the subject matter might lead someone to think that the book is primarily a science fiction mystery, those who actually read it would find that it is, more than anything else, a cautionary tale for our generation."

Review | Pino Cottogni, Fantascienza Magazine (Italy)

"An impeccably woven novel that will fascinate the reader from the first page only to give him a truly unexpected surprise at the end as he discovers that... No, I will leave the pleasure of that discovery to the reader."

Il Creatore Delle Ombre, et al

The foreign editions of Cast of Shadows are starting to roll out and it appears as if CoS will have not just a different cover, but a different title in every country: The Shadowmaker, The Face of the Murderer, Wicker, Clone. With more on the way soon.

Review | Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune

"Guilfoile hits the jackpot...A spellbinding first novel."

Review | Peter Millar, The Times of London

"Guilfoile has created a taut, fast-moving cautionary tale for the 21st century set in a world of which we are now, if you’ll pardon the expression, already in the embryonic stages...Michael Crichton today would have little grounds to complain of the comparison."

Review | Ron Bierman, Rambles

(Cast of Shadows) has all the right ingredients--good writing, characters who are believably human and a plot that would work as a movie. Guilfoile's first published novel won't be his last." Plus, this new interview with Ron Bierman.

Review | Sara Stewart, New York Post

"Truly haunting--a cautionary tale about scientific hubris, vengefulness and extremism in all its forms."

Review | Mark Schone, New York Times

"An always surprising medical thriller, complete with elegant prose and well-developed characters...All of Guilfoile's characters, whether clones, online 'avatars' or killers, inhabit the real world. Their motives are small and familiar, and they can't see past the ends of their own noses. When the book's secret is revealed, it's not about the violence in computer games, or about nature versus nurture, or the overreach of science, or the Pandora's box of cloning. It's about human failure, the power of conviction and the random disorder of daily life. Ultimately, Guilfoile's finely rendered re-creation of the real world is what elevates Cast of Shadows."

Review | Jeff Johnson, Charleston Post and Courier

"A gripping and original book that delivers thrills on an epic level."

Review | Sue Corbett, People Magazine

"Riveting." (3.5/4 stars)

Review | Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times

"There's as much fascinating science in Cast of Shadows as there is in a Michael Crichton thriller, but Guilfoile's characters are much more rounded and believable. Here's a young writer to keep an eye on."

Review | Jim Brock, Baryon Magazine

"Cast of Shadows is truly imaginative–-much more than a clone-suspense-thriller. This is a novel of substance, a true page-turner of great enlightenment as well as entertainment value. It can make a terrific movie and it should establish Kevin Guilfoile as a major talent to watch, and read."

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Unless otherwise indicated, all posts here are by Kevin Guifoile with occasional contributions by Jim Coudal (JC) of Coudal Partners, who created this site. A listing of Kevin's scheduled appearances and readings can be found here.

Fertility expert Dr. Davis Moore, distraught over the rape and murder of his only daughter, undertakes a monstrous experiment in Cast of Shadows. Using evidence found at the crime scene, Moore decides to clone the killer and follow the child's progress in the hopes that one day he will gain clues to the killer's identity.

CAST of

CAST of

CAST of

SHADOWS

SHADOWS

SHADOWS

The detective was polite each morning when
he called, and Davis feigned patience each morning when the detective, after small talk, confessed to having no leads. Well, not zero leads, exactly: A profile had been made of the attacker. The police believed he was white and fair-skinned. They had some general idea about his size, based on the placement of the bruises and the force exerted on her arm, breaking it in two, but that ruled out only the unusually short and the freakishly tall.

Continue this excerpt from Cast of Shadows

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