The Second Burning: A Football Weekend Thriller (Paperback or Softback)

A Notre Dame football weekend turns deadly.

As thousands of fans descend on South Bend for one of the biggest games of the season, a body is discovered on the campus of Notre Dame—posed with chilling symbolism tied to the school’s past.

For Trace Curran, Notre Dame graduate and criminal behavior specialist, what begins as a shocking murder quickly becomes something darker: a killer with a message, a plan, and intimate knowledge of one of America’s most iconic universities.

With game day approaching and national attention fixed on the Golden Dome, Trace and campus police chief Link Christian must navigate old rivalries, buried secrets, and a fanatic willing to turn tradition into terror.

Every clue leads deeper into Notre Dame history.
Every hour brings another threat.
And by kickoff, it may be too late.

The Second Burning is a fast-paced thriller blending murder, history, football weekend tension, and insider campus detail.

Perfect for fans of David Baldacci, Harlan Coben, and smart suspense rooted in real places.

From Notre Dame alumnus Tom Schreck comes a thriller where pride, tradition, and danger collide under the Golden Dome.

Tom Schreck is the author of the Duffy Dombrowski mystery series, which has hit #1 on Amazon in Hard-Boiled Mysteries, Sports Fiction, and Boxing. His work blends crime, boxing, humor, and redemption-often featuring characters who throw a decent right hand but are still trying to figure out life.A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Tom once served as head of the Notre Dame Karate Club and lived in Alumni Hall, which means he still considers Dillon Hall a rival dorm and reserves the right to boo them on principle. His time at Notre Dame continues to inspire the setting and spirit of many of his stories.Outside of writing, Tom has had a long career in human services and teaching and is also a professional boxing judge, which explains why many of his characters spend time around gyms, rings, and people who solve problems the old-fashioned way.He lives in Albany, New York, with his wife Sue, a rotating cast of dogs and cats, and an ever-growing collection of boxing books, guitars, and Notre Dame memorabilia.If you see him around South Bend on a football weekend, there's a good chance he's either researching a mystery...or arguing with someone from Dillon Hall.