Shadow Crimes

'A riveting thriller that parallels many of the real-life challenges experienced in the modeling world.’

—Carré Otis-Supermodel, Activist, and Author of Beauty Disrupted: A Memoir

This promising first novel takes readers onto the catwalk while skillfully maintaining suspense. — Kirkus Reviews

'I could see this as a Lifetime Movie, and it would be a good one!' —Patricia Uttaro, Library Director

'Captivating! I thought I had it all figured out but not even close! A well written book that will have you hooked!'—C Mash Read

Shadow Crimes is a riveting psychological thriller about a sexual predator’s addiction to rape in the modeling world—and the murders that follow.

Reader and listener discretion is advised: Shadow Crimes, a fictional story by EJMoran, contains descriptions of sexual abuse, violence, and death.

The year is 1978 and New York City has become a place of moral decay and self-indulgence. Crime is rampant and a recently discovered fashion model signed by modeling agent, Natasha Burns, has been murdered. Before long Natasha discovers her replacement, beautiful eighteen-year-old Anna McKenna. Anna, who lost her parents as a young child and is doing everything she can to care for her disabled baby brother, knows it’s an opportunity she can’t refuse.

Anna quickly realizes that the fashion industry attracts sleazy characters who prey on the innocence and naïveté of newcomers, but she thinks she can handle herself. Her uncle Mickey, a police detective, isn’t so sure. He knows that one of Burns’s models was found raped and murdered only three months ago, and when a second model meets the same fate after a night out at Studio 54, he becomes convinced that a sexual predator stalks Burns’s modeling agency.

Who preys on the women of Natasha Burns’s agency? Is it the seedy movie producer who accosts Anna at Bloomingdale’s, a drug-addicted photographer, or the handsome male model she travels with on assignment to Italy? In an industry where women are seen as objects to be used and discarded, anyone could be responsible.

Knowing the killer could be anywhere, even lurking in Italy, Mickey is on the next plane out, with no time to waste. If he doesn’t catch the killer, Anna’s modeling career will end in violence and tragedy.

Born and educated in the United States, E. J. Moran began a career as an international fashion model at the age of eighteen when she was scouted by a top modeling agency based in Milan, Italy.

Moran’s move to Italy set in motion the rest of her career. She signed with top agents and modeled for famous fashion designers and photographers. Her work took her from Milan to Tokyo, New York, and Paris.

After marrying and starting a family, she retired and continued life as an expatriate in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore, and Italy, where she divided her free time between teaching English and volunteering for multiple international organizations.

Recently, she put pen to paper to make fictional use of the plethora of experiences she gained during her globetrotting life. Moran and her husband currently divide their time between Europe and the United States.

To be notified of new books and author events by E. J. Moran, sign up at www.ejmoranauthor.com.