Behold the Child

This short novel first appeared in an anthology released by Cemetery Dance publications. Kealan Patrick Burke edited. The main character was to have a brief encounter with a wise old man named Johnny Divine, who lived in a town called “Brimstone Turnpike,” the title of the anthology. That character would then to be given one object that would impact the outcome of the story. The writers were free to invent everything else. In award-winning author Harry Shannon’s entry, Sam Kenzie is an LAPD cop who can’t escape his obsession with a serial killer due to demons of his own. Shannon played by the rules, but his ending is both stunning and disturbing.

“Behold the Child”, by Harry Shannon, is the perfect mix of classic Noir and the supernatural. A maverick, burned-out cop haunted by his last city case ignores advice and a “wrong” turn en route to his retirement gig in the isolated desert town of his youth. It’s dark, brooding, and reminds us that unfortunately, not everyone takes advantage of divine second chances.”
-Shroud Magazine

“This eerie collection includes five chilling tales with a common motif—a deserted highway with a ruined gas station where an old black man gives a traveler a special gift that could change his or her destiny. From Thomas F. Monteleone’s story of a reporter’s collision with the truth (“The Prime Time of Spenser Golding”) to Harry Shannon’s depiction of a detective’s journey into darkness (“Behold the Child”), these tales delve into the realm of nightmare and wish fulfillment.”
-Library Journal

“Master craftsmanship.”
-Cemetery Dance

“Shannon is a writer who is never afraid to walk into the shadows and drag the things living there kicking and screaming into the light.”
-Brian Keene

“Harry Shannon takes age-old themes and gives them a new and fearsome bite. Vividly realized, his writing is controlled, assured, and filled with the kind of spooky atmosphere that used to make you hide your head under the bedcovers on wind-wracked nights.”
– Tom Piccirilli