993 ratings | 258 reviews | avg rating:3.91

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Christopher Swann’s Followers (328)

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to-read (202)
currently-reading (3)
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Stephanie

808 books | 69 friends

Will Mitchell

1,504 books | 171 friends

Teresa

5,846 books | 273 friends

EDS

986 books | 124 friends

Dawne Mccurry

2,271 books | 100 friends

Sarah

1,287 books | 79 friends

Dan

1,340 books | 240 friends

Literary Redhead

3,871 books | 5,807 friends

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Christopher Swann

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://christopherswann.com

Twitter

swannyauthor

Genre

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Member Since

May 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/christopherswann

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Christopher Swann is an award-winning, bestselling novelist and high school English teacher. He earned his Ph.D. in creative writing from Georgia State University. He has been a Townsend Prize finalist, longlisted for the Southern Book Prize, and a Georgia Author of the Year winner. He lives with his wife and two sons in Atlanta, where he is the English department chair at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School.

He is the author of five novels:
Shadow of the Lions (2017)
Never Turn Back (2020)
A Fire in the Night (2021)
Never Go Home (2022)
Never Back Down (2023)

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Christopher Swann’s books

Average rating: 3.78 · 4,961 ratings · 814 reviews · 13 distinct works • Similar authors

	Shadow of the Lions 3.61 avg rating — 2,184 ratings — published 2017	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Fire in the Night 4.03 avg rating — 1,266 ratings — published 2021 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Never Turn Back (Faulkner Family, #1) 3.81 avg rating — 1,066 ratings — published 2020 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Never Go Home (Faulkner Family #2) 3.82 avg rating — 327 ratings — published 2022 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Never Back Down (Faulkner Family #3) 3.90 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 2023 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The History of Oilfield Diving: An Industrial Adventure 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Marguerite Explorer 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Never Back Down: Library Edition by Christopher Swann (Goodreads Author), Joshilyn Jackson (Goodreads Author) (narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Never Back Down: Faulkner Family Thriller, Book 3 by Christopher Swann (Goodreads Author), Joshilyn Jackson (Goodreads Author) (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The global FX industry: Coping with consolidation 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Christopher Swann's Blog: Christopher Swann

October Travels

Here's where I am heading this month with Shadow of the Lions. Come on out and say hi.

Tuesday, Oct. 10 - Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans

Wednesday, Oct. 11 - Page and Palette in Fairhope, AL

Thursday, Oct. 12 - Bayside Academy in Fairhope, AL

Friday, Oct. 13 - Southern Festival of Books in Nashville

Tuesday, Oct 24 - Indian River Literary Society in Vero Beach, FL

More details at: christo Read more of this blog post »

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Published on October 10, 2017 05:19 • Tags: christopher-swann, october, shadow-of-the-lions

Series by Christopher Swann

Faulkner Family (3 books)
by

Christopher Swann (Goodreads Author)

3.82 avg rating — 1,506 ratings

Christopher is Currently Reading

Christopher Swann is currently reading

Sheepdogs

by Elliot Ackerman (Goodreads Author)

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Sep 07, 2025 08:25PM

Christopher Swann is currently reading

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Green Town, #2)

by Ray Bradbury

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Jul 21, 2025 08:22PM

Christopher Swann is currently reading

Juliet: The Life and Afterlives of Shakespeare's First Tragic Heroine

by Sophie Duncan (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jul 21, 2025 08:21PM

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Christopher’s Recent Updates

Christopher Swann started reading Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 07, 2025 08:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann rated a book really liked it Black House (The Talisman, #2) by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Maybe 4.25. Takes a while to get going, but once it does, as usual, you are in for a ride.
Sep 07, 2025 10:36AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Black House by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Black House by Stephen King <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann finished reading Burying the Newspaper Man by Curtis Ippolito (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 06, 2025 08:27PM · like
Christopher Swann entered a giveaway See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 20, 2025 08:32AM · like · see giveaway · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of See How They Fall by Rachel Paris. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — See How They Fall by Rachel Paris <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann wants to read Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 18, 2025 07:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Culpability by Bruce Holsinger. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Culpability by Bruce Holsinger <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann started reading Black House (The Talisman, #2) by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 17, 2025 08:00PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Black House by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Black House by Stephen King <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann finished reading King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 17, 2025 12:49PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann started reading King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Christopher Swann rated a book really liked it Red Square (Arkady Renko, #3) by Martin Cruz Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 09, 2025 01:18PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Swann finished reading Under the Eagle (Eagles of the Empire, #1) by Simon Scarrow	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 02, 2025 12:59PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Christopher Swann (?)

“Love can be a hell of a draw, the emotional holy grail. But love also exposes our flaws, can even draw out the worst in us. People want to perform heroic deeds, commit flagrantly dramatic acts for love. What they don't realize is that the daily grind is what is required. Instead of a single extraordinary act--slaying the dragon, throwing yourself in front of a bus--it is the repetition of small gestures over a course of years that makes love work.”
― Christopher Swann, Shadow of the Lions

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Reading with Style: FA 2017 Completed Tasks	1001	113	Nov 30, 2017 09:00PM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	2639	785	Nov 30, 2017 09:01PM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	4046	367	Nov 30, 2018 09:27PM
2025 Reading Chal...: Susan C's 100 book challenge for 2018	96	156	Jan 01, 2019 03:52PM
Busy as a Bee Books: Book News: 10/06/20	4	6	Oct 07, 2020 07:31PM
Aussie Readers: October 2020 Challenge - A Breath of Fresh Air!	160	150	Nov 03, 2020 04:25PM
NetGalley Readers: Just Requested and Recently Approved	10684	1893	Dec 23, 2020 02:01PM
The Mystery, Crim...: * Currently Reading? Just Finished? 2020	2984	942	Dec 31, 2020 09:26AM

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Christopher’s Quotes

“No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”
― George Lucas, The Star Wars Trilogy

1085 likes

“Pirates could happen to anyone.”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

176 likes

“First, I'm going to give you all the Copperfield crap, and I'm not going to apologize for any of it, not one paragraph, so if you're not interested in how I came to see the future, or how I came to understand that the biggest truth in my life was a lie, or, for that matter, how I parlayed my distaste for hot dogs into an '84 RX-7 and a new self-concept, do us both a favor, and just stop now.”
― Jonathan Evison, All About Lulu

tags: evison, lulu, opening-lines

4 likes

“He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it.”
― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, The Whale

55 likes

“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

10609 likes

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Christopher’s Year In Books

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Christopher Swann

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Christopher Swann's Blog: Christopher Swann

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Christopher Swann’s Followers (328)

Christopher Swann

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See a Problem?

Preview — Black House by Stephen King

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