Eye of the Burning Man: A Mick Callahan Novel

by Harry Shannon

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594143811
• ISBN13: 9781594143816
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Five Star (ME)
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Burning Man Delivers

Psychologist Mick Callaghan has a knack for getting into trouble. A recovering alcoholic, womanizer and fighter (as a child his stepfather forced him to fight for money), he's now on the straight and narrow after barely escaping his last scrape with his life (the events of Shannon's previous novel, Memorial Day). In fact, things are finally looking up; he's got a pretty young girlfriend and a new hit radio talk show. But when Callaghan and his date are mysteriously assaulted in the parking lot by a huge tattooed man wearing a black mask, and his housekeeper's adopted son is kidnapped, it seems that trouble has once again found him. Things quickly get worse: an old friend, drug addict and prostitute named Mary calls him with a plea for help, and he can't resist going after her. The problem is, Mary has fallen in with a very bad group of people, and Callaghan quickly finds himself swept up into a dangerous plot. Nothing is as it seems, and he must call in every favor and use every ounce of his strength and cunning to stay alive. Assault, prostitution and child pornography are par for the course as Shannon's taught thriller moves with lightning speed to a thrilling conclusion. Put simply, Eye of the Burning Man stands with some of the very best noir mystery fiction around. This is an astonishingly good book. Shannon deserves a much wider audience, and one can only hope he will land a mass-market deal so that many more readers can become acquainted with Mick Callaghan. Highly recommended.

Black Rock City Goes Gritty

In Eye of the Burning Man, Harry Shannon's continuation of the Mick Callahan mystery series, we get all the elements that genre lovers could ask for. An ever-more-sympathetic hero who happens to be an ace in combat and mind games, multiple love interests, a fairly labyrinthine plot, drugs, the occasional bit of very gruesome action, intellectual pimps, sassy hookers, sad junkies, porno subplots, etc. Shannon has gone all out to make this a fun ride. Past the exciting genre conventions he's also written a funny and touching novel that treats its character relationships seriously and serves up an underlying meditation on love. Love found, love lost, love violated. It makes for a rewarding (and very fast-paced) read. You'll crack this book and read straight through to the cataclysmic and satisfying end. As a "Burner" and regular yearly citizen of Black Rock City, I was initially concerned about the portrayal of the Burn in the novel, but by the time Mick arrived at the Playa I was so involved in the mystery and the world Shannon had created that this version of the festival worked fine for me. In fact, I really enjoyed the guns and chaos and thuggery mixed in with familiar sights and beautiful madness of the Playa. Made me anxious to get back out to the desert. Eye of the Burning Man is a thrilling episode from Mick Callahan's files, and leaves me excited for the next go `round.

Mick Callahan - A believable hero, a rare treat

Harry Shannon continues to chronicle the struggles of one of the most believable heroes in modern noir fiction: Mick Callahan. We believe him because he's flawed like the rest of us; we admire him because he works hard to make things better for the less-fortunate in society, unlike most of us. Set against the backdrop of the famous Burning Man Festival, this 100 mile-an-hour thriller treats us to an exciting look into Mick's complicated life and his honorable quest to be a knight in a graceless age. I can't wait for the next installment! By the way, those reviewers who thought that Shannon showed disrespect for the festival obviously did not read the disclaimer on the author's Acknowledgements page: "No one should construe Mick's feelings about the festival as reflecting my disapproval."

Sooooooooooo Good

Harry Shannon does it to me one more time! I read all Harry Shannon books, they are amazine. Night of the Beest, Night of the Iguana, Night of the I don't even remember, but those are some crazy nights let me tell you. Now Harry Shannon is writing about a drunk old radio shirnk who used to be a super soldier--hes sort of like Rambo and Frazier had a son together. (I don't know about anybody else but I see him him my mind lookinng like Harry Shannon.) The other caracters in this book are even more crazy and unbeleivable and then all end up at this terrible hippy party in the desert that I guess is real where everbyody does bad things but Mick Calahan knows whats what. You should read this if you love books and fear the moral decline of our nations desert regions. I cant wait for Harry Shannon to kick more ass in the next one. Opps, I mean Mick Calahan.

Shannon in Top Form

Harry Shannon has created a compelling, original anti-hero in the character of Mick Callahan. Callahan picks up right where he left off in the debut novel "Memorial Day," that is to say full of ideas and ready to rock and roll with the bad guys. He's cleaned up his act now, with a girl, some money, and a re-discovered sense of honor---but his anger is still far too close to the surface. This is a faster read than the first book (Memorial Day), which may be a mixed blessing!