Cover of The Long Shadow by Elias North

The Long Shadow

by Elias North

A ranger hunts a pattern that only he can see—but the hunter may become the hunted.

When a dangerous man walks free from prison, hardened ranger Caleb Strickland sees something in him that no one else does—a mirror of his own darkness. Elias Crow carries secrets that stretch across the country, and his sudden release sets off a chain of events neither man can control. As bodies begin to surface and patterns emerge, Caleb must hunt the one person who understands him, pursuing a truth that could destroy them both. Two men. One unforgivable past. A reckoning that cannot be avoided.

Mystery & Thriller · 548 pages · about 5 hours to read

From the editors

A Texas Ranger tracks a released convict's trail of empty farmhouses

In the prologue, a hostage rescue in Afghanistan ends with a trap and an empty room, and Caleb Strickland never forgives himself. Years later he is a Texas Ranger outside Amarillo, reading the land for secrets. Elias Crow has just left federal prison with a duffel and a bus ticket, and farmhouses along his route start turning up empty.

The prologue moves fast, and the chase has a clear, widening shape, from Texas through Kansas, Missouri and Ohio into Pennsylvania. Caleb's clashes with the federal task force give the middle chapters bite. A cassette tape Crow leaves behind keeps the duel personal.

For readers who like a lone lawman on a long road, and a villain who seems to know him too well.

Perfect for: Cross-country manhunt thrillers · Haunted ex-soldier heroes · Quick reads with short chapters

What’s inside

  1. Prologue: The One He Couldn’t Save
  2. THE GATE OPENS
  3. A RANGER IN THE DUST
  4. THE FIRST TRAIL
  5. ELIAS MOVES EAST
  6. CALEB’S INSTINCTS IGNITE
  7. A SURVIVOR SPEAKS
  8. THE SHADOW LENGTHENS
  9. THE FEDERAL STIRRING
  10. THE PATTERN EMERGES
  11. ELIAS’S PAST
  12. CALEB’S PAST MISSION
  13. MISSOURI STANDOFF
  14. THE MEDIA STORM
  15. A CRYPTIC MESSAGE
  16. THE OHIO BREAKTHROUGH
  17. THE FBI MISSTEP
  18. CALEB’S LONE WOLF MOVE
  19. THE APPALACHIAN CHASE
  20. ELIAS’S PHILOSOPHY
  21. CALEB’S BREAKING POINT
  22. THE HIDDEN LINK
  23. ELIAS’S OBSESSION
  24. THE RANGER RETURNS
  25. THE NEW YORK TRAP
  26. CLOSE QUARTERS
  27. ELIAS’S MISTAKE
  28. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DUEL
  29. THE MAINE REVELATION
  30. RACE TO THE COAST
  31. ELIAS ARRIVES FIRST
  32. THE FOREST HUNT
  33. THE CONFRONTATION
  34. THE FIGHT
  35. THE FALL
  36. CALEB’S CHOICE
  37. ELIAS’S LAST WORDS
  38. THE AFTERMATH
  39. THE RANGER ALONE
  40. A NEW CASE
  41. THE LONG SHADOW CONTINUES
  42. Epilogue: The Long Shadow

Read the opening

Afghanistan Nine Years Earlier The desert night felt wrong. Not dangerous. Not yet. Just wrong. Chief Petty Officer Caleb Strickland stood at the edge of a ridgeline overlooking the compound and watched the darkness through night-vision lenses. The world glowed green. Mud walls. Corrugated roofs. A pair of rusted vehicles parked inside a courtyard. A handful of armed men moving through shadows. Everything appeared ordinary. That was what bothered him. The intelligence package had arrived less than twelve hours earlier. One hostage. Female. Alive. Held inside the compound below. The operation was supposed to be simple. A fast insertion. A clean extraction. Then everyone went home. Caleb lowered the binoculars and looked across at the rest of the team gathered around the dim red glow of a tactical tablet. Senior Chief Mike Harlan crouched over the display.

The sample pages on this site continue the opening — and the full book is available in print.

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