18 Seconds

by George D. Shuman

Book Overview

A blind psychic possessing an ability to see murder victims' final moments of life, Sherry Moore is enlisted to help New Jersey police Lieutenant Kelly O'Shaughnessy, who is being targeted for her father's role in a serial killer's capture years earlier.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743277163
• ISBN13: 9780743277167
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Glad I Took A Chance

I was in the drugstore and needed a new book and this was the only thing that looked interesting. I have to say I really like George's style of writing, and I read the book within a few days. 18 Seconds is a great story, and I look forward to reading future books by this author. I am always so glad when I have finished a book and feel like it was time well spent. Sherry is a very interesting character, and the "last gift" is really brilliant. Great Job George! Thanks, Jamie

Excellent

I have read Grisham and Koontz for years.. while in an airport and without a book.. I quickly grabbed this one. It captivated me from the first chapter and held my interest throughout. I normally skim a little when reading, but not with this one. I wanted to make sure I read every word. Excellent!! A must read! I can't wait to read his next book.

Tension and Suspense, What More Could You Want in a Thriller

As a child Sherry Moore was injured in a fall and blinded. And as a result of that fall she given kind of a psychic gift. If she touches a dead person, she can see the last eighteen seconds of that person's life. One would think this could be a big help in solving homicides, but the dead person isn't always thinking about who killed him in their last eighteen seconds, oftentimes they are thinking about something that happened earlier in their life, or maybe they're thinking about a what if senerio, but sometimes they are focusing on what's happening around them. Police Lt. Kelly O'Shaughnessy of the Wildwood, Jew Jersey Police force has a serial killer after her. A killer who wants revenge for having been arrested by her father years earlier. Kelly, of course, doesn't know who the killer is or that he's got her in his sights, she just knows somebody is killing young girls and she goes to Sherry for help. This puts Sherry on the killer's list too. So there you have the set up of this thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Sherry is a great character, Kelly is too. The tension builds and even though I knew who the killer was, I couldn't stop reading. Reviewed by Sara Hackett, who just adore's her husband Jack Priest's books Ragged Man, Gecko & Night Witch.

A gritty and suspenseful crime novel from a promising new author

18 SECONDS is a gritty and suspenseful police procedural with a unique twist. Written by George Shuman, a 20-year veteran of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the novel has all the ingredients one expects from a first-rate mystery. A brutal and sadistic criminal operates one-half step ahead of the law enforcement agencies seeking to end his reign of terror. Along the way the reader meets innocent victims whose lives are destroyed by random acts of senseless violence that cannot be explained or justified. Violence comes to these victims in the same freakish and capricious manner that a lightning strike or tornado destroys lives. Readers also meet police officers searching for solutions to brutal crimes while balancing the daily problems of personal lives and battling the bureaucratic infrastructure found in all law enforcement agencies. Shuman adds a special ingredient to this mystery stew in 18 SECONDS. He introduces readers to Sherry Moore, a blind and beautiful "investigative consultant" with an extraordinary talent. Moore can touch a corpse and see the images viewed by the deceased during the final 18 seconds of life. This remarkable vision is the result of a childhood accident. It allows Moore to assist in solving the unsolvable, but along with this talent comes a burden. The visions passed by corpses to Moore are not clear-cut answers to the question of who committed the crime. Oftentimes the pictures are merely pieces of a puzzle that must be solved by Moore before a finished portrait of a murderer is available to the police. It is a difficult and demanding task that takes a heavy toll on Moore's psyche. Every quality police mystery must have a criminal whose actions strike fear in not only the fictional world of the author but in the fictional world created for the reader as well. 18 SECONDS brings the reader Earl Sykes, a serial murderer whose trail of violence is interrupted when he's imprisoned and sentenced for a vehicular homicide. Incarceration serves only to embitter Sykes further and indeed expand his web of violence to include those who he believes contributed unjustly to his lengthy prison sentence. The main protagonist of 18 SECONDS is Wildwood, New Jersey police lieutenant Kelly O'Shaughnessy. She confronts the difficult task of being a female police officer attempting to succeed in what remains primarily a male-dominated profession. But problems with some of her male co-workers are the least of her worries. Murders eerily reminiscent of unsolved crimes that happened decades before are occurring on the boardwalk of her community. It is through a connection to an unsolved murder in Pennsylvania that O'Shaughnessy meets Moore and Detective John Payne. At wit's end in her efforts to solve the boardwalk murders, O'Shaughnessy enlists the aid of Payne and Moore. Their paths converge in a night of retribution and violence that will keep readers awake, turning the pages as they rush to the finale of this fine myst

18 Seconds is not just another thriller

I'll admit I was a bit skeptical when I first picked up the book 18 Seconds. I'm not a paranormal genre fan and while the parallel story lines in the first few chapters confused me, I was hooked early on. This is not your average first novel. It could only have been written by someone who understands human behavior both good and depraved. The blind Sherry Moore who can "see" what a deceased person saw in the last 18 seconds of their life is a refreshing new character. I also felt the character of lieutanant Kelly O'Shaughnessy to be extremely believable. Mr. Shuman's ability to weave story lines that make you think you know what will happen, but then leave the reader stunned is amazing. The ending is heartstopping and very realistic. This author knows people and knows how to make fictional characters from that knowledge. Terrific first novel.