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Shadow Dance
From New York Times and USA Today bestseller Michael Prescott, author of COLD AROUND THE HEART and BLOOD IN THE WATER, comes SHADOW DANCE, a chilling tale of nightmarish suspense.
Little Timothy Cutter has a secret. He knows the truth behind his parents' inexplicable deaths. He knows about the runa: ageless, bodiless, a shadow thing that invades a human host and steals its victim's soul with a kiss ...
Robert Thorn, too, has a secret. Twelve years ago he unleashed the runa on the world. Ever since, he has been stalking it across two continents, following a trail of corpses that cast no shadows. He has sworn to stop the runa ... and Timothy is the key.
Only one thing stands in Thorn's way—Dr. Rachel Weiss, the therapist assigned to help the traumatized boy.
In the concrete canyons and shadowed hilltops of Los Angeles, Timothy, Rachel, and Thorn find themselves locked in a deadly dance, as mankind's oldest enemy inexorably closes in ...
Out of print for two decades, SHADOW DANCE is now available, newly revised, in this special e-book edition.
Little Timothy Cutter has a secret. He knows the truth behind his parents' inexplicable deaths. He knows about the runa: ageless, bodiless, a shadow thing that invades a human host and steals its victim's soul with a kiss ...
Robert Thorn, too, has a secret. Twelve years ago he unleashed the runa on the world. Ever since, he has been stalking it across two continents, following a trail of corpses that cast no shadows. He has sworn to stop the runa ... and Timothy is the key.
Only one thing stands in Thorn's way—Dr. Rachel Weiss, the therapist assigned to help the traumatized boy.
In the concrete canyons and shadowed hilltops of Los Angeles, Timothy, Rachel, and Thorn find themselves locked in a deadly dance, as mankind's oldest enemy inexorably closes in ...
Out of print for two decades, SHADOW DANCE is now available, newly revised, in this special e-book edition.
- GenresHorror
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1991
4 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Michael Prescott
49 books167 followersA pseudonym used by Douglas Borton, aka Brian Harper.
Douglas Borton grew up in New Jersey and attended Wesleyan University, then moved to Los Angeles and pursued a career as a screenwriter. After working with several independent producers, he eventually switched to writing novels, a much less stressful occupation. He has published 25 thrillers, starting with horror novels in the 1980s and continuing with suspense and crime novels in the '90s and beyond. His latest book is Bad to the Bone (2015), a sequel to Blood in the Water (2014). After twenty years in traditional publishing, he went the indie route in 2011 and has become one of America's bestselling ebook writers.
Douglas Borton grew up in New Jersey and attended Wesleyan University, then moved to Los Angeles and pursued a career as a screenwriter. After working with several independent producers, he eventually switched to writing novels, a much less stressful occupation. He has published 25 thrillers, starting with horror novels in the 1980s and continuing with suspense and crime novels in the '90s and beyond. His latest book is Bad to the Bone (2015), a sequel to Blood in the Water (2014). After twenty years in traditional publishing, he went the indie route in 2011 and has become one of America's bestselling ebook writers.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 26, 2023
Wow, this might be the ultimate fear of the dark horror novel ever. Timothy Cutter is afraid of the dark. A mysterious shadow is lurking under his bed threatening him with the kiss of death. He can ward off the monster but what about his parents? When Robert Thornton, a mysterious stranger appears who talks about the runa, a mysterious shadow entity from the rain forest things get complicated. Can a psychologist like Dr Rachel Weiss help? Can the main characters get rid of the evil once and for all. Is there something like a happy ending? Great evil in one of the best horror novels of the decade. Liked the drawing of the characters and the intriguing back story here. You could make a great TV show with that material. This is top horror from the 1980s. Highly recommended!
June 27, 2023
Well paced and fun story by Borton, which is the pen name of Michael Prescott when he wrote horror novels instead of his usual thrillers. I was a bit torn on this one between a 3 and 4 stars, but settled with 3 in the end, primarily because it just required a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Our lead, little Timothy Cutter, starts the novel being scared of things in the dark, even though his parents have told him over and over that monsters do not exist. Yet, one night, he knows there is something in his dark room coming for him; just a little kiss! Somehow he starts uttering words in a strange language and the shadow monster leaves him, but the next morning both his parents are dead.
Borton then takes us to a drifter down in Mexico, one Robert Thorn, who has been travelling in Latin America for 12 years or so. When he finds a story about Timmy's parents, and another where 5 homeless also died in LA, he is on the move. What is the connection here?
You can tell Borton writes thrillers as the pacing here is exceptional, and yes, lots of thrills along the way! Are there really monsters in the dark? This seems to be the case! What made me knock this down to a three star? I will check out more of Borton's work as this was fun, just not exceptional.
Borton then takes us to a drifter down in Mexico, one Robert Thorn, who has been travelling in Latin America for 12 years or so. When he finds a story about Timmy's parents, and another where 5 homeless also died in LA, he is on the move. What is the connection here?
You can tell Borton writes thrillers as the pacing here is exceptional, and yes, lots of thrills along the way! Are there really monsters in the dark? This seems to be the case! What made me knock this down to a three star? I will check out more of Borton's work as this was fun, just not exceptional.
September 24, 2019
Will make you afraid of the dark again!
Michael Prescott is mostly known for his crime thrillers, but this is one of his earlier works when he was publishing horror under the moniker Douglas Borton (which I think is his real name). But you can see the thriller writer in bloom here, as it feels more like a thriller than a horror. In this case, instead of a serial killer or human psychopath, the villain is an ancient spirit called the runa that steals your souls. If you are a Harry Potter fan, the image of the Dementors may come to mind, a malevolent flying darkness that sucks your life essence through a kiss.
The e-book edition was trimmed by the author by about 75 pages, leaving a very taught and fast-paced ride full of action that keeps you hooked until the end. I read this in just two sittings, and finished feeling satisfied, if not entirely scared. As I said, it feels more like a thriller, though there are some genuinely chilling moments that really capture your childhood fear of what may be hiding in the dark, or under your bed. The opening lines are some of the best in any piece of horror fiction, and may prompt you to leave the lights on for several nights to come.
This book can't be recommended for beautiful prose, as it is straight and to the point. Nor is it one to likely leave you thinking about it for months because of its inner complex themes and messages. It is pure entertainment, and knows its purpose well.
The characters are all rather well fleshed out and believable. Even the child character is likeable, which is unusual in such pulp dramas which either make the kid too mature-sounding for their age or make them flat out annoying. The plot itself does a good job in allowing the reader to suspend disbelief, with only one scene pulling me out of my immersion because it got too sloppy to be believed. It won't be a spoiler to say that this scene involved the heroine walking away from a viscous attack in someone's home and going promptly to bed, without the police getting called, as though she had a bad day at the office rather than escaping a brutal murder attempt.
But overall, "Shadow Dance" proved to be worth the read, even if it did nothing particularly groundbreaking to make it unforgettable. But if you read this book, you will likely be reminded of it from time to time, when the lights are out, and you lay wondering and hoping that it's just your dog making that clacking in the darkness.
Michael Prescott is mostly known for his crime thrillers, but this is one of his earlier works when he was publishing horror under the moniker Douglas Borton (which I think is his real name). But you can see the thriller writer in bloom here, as it feels more like a thriller than a horror. In this case, instead of a serial killer or human psychopath, the villain is an ancient spirit called the runa that steals your souls. If you are a Harry Potter fan, the image of the Dementors may come to mind, a malevolent flying darkness that sucks your life essence through a kiss.
The e-book edition was trimmed by the author by about 75 pages, leaving a very taught and fast-paced ride full of action that keeps you hooked until the end. I read this in just two sittings, and finished feeling satisfied, if not entirely scared. As I said, it feels more like a thriller, though there are some genuinely chilling moments that really capture your childhood fear of what may be hiding in the dark, or under your bed. The opening lines are some of the best in any piece of horror fiction, and may prompt you to leave the lights on for several nights to come.
This book can't be recommended for beautiful prose, as it is straight and to the point. Nor is it one to likely leave you thinking about it for months because of its inner complex themes and messages. It is pure entertainment, and knows its purpose well.
The characters are all rather well fleshed out and believable. Even the child character is likeable, which is unusual in such pulp dramas which either make the kid too mature-sounding for their age or make them flat out annoying. The plot itself does a good job in allowing the reader to suspend disbelief, with only one scene pulling me out of my immersion because it got too sloppy to be believed. It won't be a spoiler to say that this scene involved the heroine walking away from a viscous attack in someone's home and going promptly to bed, without the police getting called, as though she had a bad day at the office rather than escaping a brutal murder attempt.
But overall, "Shadow Dance" proved to be worth the read, even if it did nothing particularly groundbreaking to make it unforgettable. But if you read this book, you will likely be reminded of it from time to time, when the lights are out, and you lay wondering and hoping that it's just your dog making that clacking in the darkness.
April 2, 2017
A mostly good novel from Douglas Borton. The concept is fantastic, it cuts right to the core of what scares us as human beings, to the very base human fear of the dark. The plot rips and roars and reads like it would have made a perfect late 80s, early 90s horror movie. The conclusion is good, but the conversations between the villain and its victims got a little tiresome. I don't want to give anything away, but its some pretty not great dialog. There is also a fairly ridiculous section where a character goes into a therapist's office and tells his entire backstory in a very unrealistic, literate voice. That said, it is a good read and recommended to horror fans.
November 5, 2012
3.5 stars:
This was my second book by Douglas Borton, after Kane. This was very different, but I really liked it. Kind of a slow beginning, but the idea's pretty cool. There's this demonic-type creature that steals your shadow, killing you in the process. So it's kind of got a Darkness Falls feel to it, but much better. It's a short book, so it's unfortunate that it takes nearly 100 pgs to get really good, but once it does this book's great. There's a portion that takes place in the Amazon rainforest, and that's got a great, creepy, almost dreamy quality to it. Part of the problem with the beginning is that one of the main characters is a kid (this is a big part of why the beginning's slow for me) -- I almost always find kids in stories/movies/TV to be annoying. In real life they're wonderful, but the way adults write the parts for children usually leaves me irritated. My only other complaint is that I think he overused something a bit (but it wasn't too bad). But I'm not gonna point it out - if you read the story, it'll be worse if I draw your attention to it. Overall, very enjoyable.
Mr. Borton only wrote about 6 horror novels. Since around '95 he's been writing mystery/thrillers under a pseudonym. I've only found his books online, but they're dirt cheap.
This was my second book by Douglas Borton, after Kane. This was very different, but I really liked it. Kind of a slow beginning, but the idea's pretty cool. There's this demonic-type creature that steals your shadow, killing you in the process. So it's kind of got a Darkness Falls feel to it, but much better. It's a short book, so it's unfortunate that it takes nearly 100 pgs to get really good, but once it does this book's great. There's a portion that takes place in the Amazon rainforest, and that's got a great, creepy, almost dreamy quality to it. Part of the problem with the beginning is that one of the main characters is a kid (this is a big part of why the beginning's slow for me) -- I almost always find kids in stories/movies/TV to be annoying. In real life they're wonderful, but the way adults write the parts for children usually leaves me irritated. My only other complaint is that I think he overused something a bit (but it wasn't too bad). But I'm not gonna point it out - if you read the story, it'll be worse if I draw your attention to it. Overall, very enjoyable.
Mr. Borton only wrote about 6 horror novels. Since around '95 he's been writing mystery/thrillers under a pseudonym. I've only found his books online, but they're dirt cheap.
November 29, 2014
Looking for an adventurous, thrill ride by a great author? Do choose Shadow Dance by Michael Prescott (writing as Douglas Borton). Very difficult to put down. The characters are believable, which is very important to me. Highly recommend this book and all of Michael Prescott's books.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews