Aaron Lugner is a chameleon. A skillful con-artist hidden in plain sight, he creates camouflage by wearing his attractiveness like a cloak and blends within the visions those around him desire–for him and for themselves. Hidden with the mask of the perfect partner, he preys upon women’s vulnerabilities.
When his various identities get him in trouble abroad, Aaron returns to the U.S. and meets Myriam, a smart, mysterious Amerasian, one of the “dust of life” orphaned by the Vietnam War as a child. Desiring to change and convinced he is has found the love of his life, Aaron vows never to leave her. But can he still remember who he once was? Away from Myriam, his lies begin to take on lives of their own. With her, his split selves threaten to collide.
Character-based and dialogue-driven, In the Chameleon’s Shadow offers a exploration of our culture’s affinity for self-deception and our uncertain relationship with identity.
“Mark Hummel is an accomplished novelist who portrays the breadth of human experience with intelligence and grace. His deeply affecting prose immerses readers in the lives of the lovelorn, the seeking, and the lost. His remarkable fictional worlds, diffuse with mystery, address the larger questions of life with beauty and sensitivity.” —Marcelle Heath, author of Is That All There Is?