TITLE
SHADOW SELF
Author's name: Tom Zimmerman
Author contact email: zimmt@me.com
Author's phone number 616 309-3369
Author's physical address 27768 N. 110th Place, Scottsdale, AZ 85262

Set against the turbulence of 1960s Chicago, Shadow Self follows Tom Murray, a restless teen grinding long shifts at Romeo’s Pizza to cover tuition. Drawn to risk since childhood, his daredevil impulses pull him into the orbit of Junior Anarino, a charismatic mobster running an off-the-books cigarette racket. As Tom juggles work, school, and fleeting romance, he’s lured deeper into Junior’s world of easy money and danger, where the line between ambition and self-destruction blurs.

When a federal raid shatters Junior’s operation, Tom is left exposed — a pawn in a game he never controlled. Arrested on felony charges, he realizes too late that he was the expendable outsider. But the deeper reckoning comes when he confronts his own shadow — the reckless force behind both his daring and his downfall. In a haunting final twist, Tom discovers he is trapped in a never-ending purgatory, reliving cycles of temptation and ruin until he faces the darkness within.

Awards