Author: Adam Slater
Published: September 13th, 2011 by EgmontUSA
Pages: 208
Buy: Amazon/ Book Depo/ Powell's
Series: The Shadowing #1
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4.75/5
Synopsis: Once every century, the barrier between the human world and the demon realm begins to break down. Creatures gather, anxiously waiting to cross the divide, to bring death and destruction from their world to ours. This time is called The Shadowing.
Callum Scott has always known that there is a supernatural world out there—he’s seen ghosts for as long as he can remember. Lately, he’s had visions of children being brutally murdered by a terrifying creature. Then the visions start coming true, and Callum realizes that he’s being hunted, too.
Driven by a dark destiny, he must stand against the demons that threaten our world.
And The Shadowing is almost here. . . . (Goodreads)
Review: I have to admit that I went into this one with low expectations. Teen who can see ghosts- it's been done to death. However, I knew from the first page that The Shadowing was bringing something new to the table. For starters: Callum is a very different king of character, a modern take on the classic Good Guy/Hero. He is a fairly serious boy who lives in a tiny cottage with his grandmother and tends to avoid relationships, ever since he was ostracized as a child for seeing ghosts. He doesn't try to help the ghosts cross over and they don't stare at him longingly. These ghosts seem to be completely unaware of his existence. We get glimpses of these ghosts throughout the story, but they aren't the main feature. Something is hunting children across the UK, killing them and devouring their eyes. Callum begins to have terrifying visions and senses something dark coming his way. The way these monsters are described is wonderfully creepy. I was genuinely scared (silly me, reading a story like this at night) by the thing stalking Callum and the descriptions of the killings and the ghosts around town were equally gruesome and scary. This was, overall, a very scary book. There isn't a lot of comedic relief or a romance blossoming to take your mind off of it, either. I loved this book! It was impossible to put down, short enough to read in one day, and full of action. The covers (especially the older one) are a bit cheesy and the Title:Subtitle format is a bit 90s, but don't be put off by that. This is a great story, with plenty of potential to be a great series. I can't wait to read the second book!
P.S. This is the second amazing book I've read by Egmont USA lately (Ashes was so good!), definitely going to see what else they have going on.
