McFadyen, Cody 1968-

PERSONAL: Born 1968, in TX; married; children: one daughter.

ADDRESSES: Home—Moorpark, CA. E-mail—cody@codymcfadyen.com.

CAREER: Author. Has worked in numerous fields, including in drug counseling, construction, fund raising, landscaping, Web site design, and in management; raised venture capital and ran Digital Snow, Inc. (a video game development company).

WRITINGS

Shadow Man (thriller novel), Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Face of Death (thriller novel), Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2007.

ADAPTATIONS: Shadow Man was adapted as an audio recording by Random House Audio, 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:“I have written, on and off, since I was 9 years old. I always had the idea of wanting to be a writer, but I was distracted by life, it’s ups and downs and whirligigs,” commented Cody McFadyen on his home page. After many years trying various occupations, ranging from drug counseling and fund raising to Web site design, McFadyen finally pursued his old dream by publishing the thriller novel Shadow Man. Having been a fan of the genre for many years, “first-time novelist McFadyen writes like an old pro,” reported David Pitt in a Booklist review of the author’s debut. A number of other critics were impressed as well by the novel. McFadyen begins with a premise about an Internet stalker who believes he is related to Jack the Ripper; his purpose is to seek out women who are performing sexual acts on pornography Web sites and kill them. One of the victims was a friend of FBI agent Smoky Barrett. Barrett did not know her friend was involved in the dark world of virtual porn, but the case brings her back into action after suffering tragic personal losses. In an earlier case, Barrett’s husband and daughter were murdered by a man she eventually killed herself, but the aftermath resulted in depression and thoughts of suicide. McFadyen mixes his protagonist’s personal life and a heady plot of violence successfully, according to a number of reviewers. A Publishers Weekly contributor, for instance, called Barrett a “memorable protagonist” and praised the author’s writing as “crisp and smart.” “Brisk and fascinating” was how a Kirkus Reviews writer characterized the debut novel.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2006, David Pitt, review of Shadow Man, p. 22.

Hollywood Reporter, June 12, 2006, Jerry Bartell, “Women, Take Your Mark: ‘Shadow,’ ‘Fear,’ ‘Dead,’” p. 14.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2006, review of Shadow Man, p. 318.

Library Journal, May 1, 2006, Susan O. Moritz, review of Shadow Man, p. 80.

Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2006, review of Shadow Man, p. 163.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, review of Shadow Man.

ONLINE

Cody McFadyen Home Page, http://www.codymcfadyen.com (November 30, 2006).

Shots, http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/ (November 30, 2006), “Cody McFadyen Talks to Shots Ezine about Writing His Debut Thriller, Shadow Man.”