Customer Reviews

The Dark Mystery of the Shadow Beasts

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Remember when your parents made you turn out the light but you were so caught up in a story you took it under the covers with a flashlight? This is a non-stop adventure of a colorful (literally) band of teenagers and children trying to survive on a hostile planet while being pursued by Antibodies (monstrous humanoids with transparent skin), who destroyed their home Communities and put them on the road as Outcasts. Gregory Janicke knows how to build suspense and maintain it through harrowing episodes, but also knows how to relieve it with humor when it becomes too intense. It's about a diverse, interesting mix of characters working to overcome their differences, even of language, and to care for each other at the risk of their own safety. There's Jax, brave but vulnerable, whose large eyes give him the exceptional vision to lead his friends past dangers in the dark; Marina, the fierce female warrior with her quarterstaff; the beautiful, silent Lynai'seth, who cares for the children and calms souls with her mystical presence, and Dav'yn, brash and foolhardy as he tries to impress everyone with his courage. Most of the humor comes from the rivalry between Jax and Dav'yn, as these two will argue even while trying to escape the fearsome Shadow Beasts. It's a fun, exciting, scary adventure. I hear the next book in the Shadow Beasts series will be out in the near future. The young readers in your life will love it. And you might as well give them a flashlight.

The Dark Mystery of the Shadow Beasts is Janicke's first book in his Shadow Beasts series. It starts off on the Planet Dulunae, and the story revolves around a group of teenagers who are "Outcasts" by name and geographically - they have no homes. They all have to band together to reach HayVen, in spite of the fact that they all look different, speak different languages, and have their own prejudices and agendas. Not so very different from real life... This book is excellent in teaching us that we need to live together, and embrace each other's differences in a fantastically adventurous way. Plus there's even some romance in here - heart-stopping, adrenalin-pumping stuff. 2 thumbs up!