How Deep Lies The Shadow [Paperback]

Marcus DeHart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2008

With the autumnal equinox comes a shift in power. Creatures long banished to the abyss emerge in strength battling for control. When Sean Glynn stumbles headlong into the conflict, he nearly pays with his life. Headstrong and independent, Sean is reluctant to pledge his allegiance to any but himself. Who can he trust? The gang leader who keeps popping out of the shadows when least expected? His estranged sister turned born again believer? The biker whose prestidigitation goes beyond mere sleight of hand? Their stories are unbelievable, but someone is telling the truth. Sean becomes entangled with others who have been caught up in the turmoil. Kirsten is haunted by a phantom lover. Tim watches his daughter transform into a nightmarish creature that only he can see. This reluctant trio faces an impossible task that can sway the balance between light and dark. If they can make it through the ordeal alive, they will discover how deep lies the shadow.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marcus DeHart is a professional writer and designer and the sole owner of Caret Marketing and Content Development. Marcus is a graduate of Western Washington University where he earned his BA in English. Marcus currently lives in Olympia, Washington, with his wife and two daughters. Learn more about Marcus at http://www.marcusdehart.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (March 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434890724
• ISBN-13: 978-1434890726
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,405,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I spent my childhood checking for monsters under the bed, hiding from bullies, and watching the sky for alien invaders. Facing my fears has been a lifelong pursuit. Some I've banished, others I've befriended, and more wait around the corner for me. Fear's greatest enemy is hope, and its greatest ally is isolation. By sharing these fears in my stories I find hope in the connections I make with my audience. That frightened child still lives inside me, but he's not alone.
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I started writing before I could read. Or rather, I started dictating to my older sister who humored me as I told her a story that sounded oddly like the Wizard of Oz, which I had watched for the first time the day before. I remember the Wizard of Oz as an annual event when it would play on TV and the whole family would gather and watch together. Seems silly today with on-demand movies, DVDs, and Netflix.

I've always been drawn to the fantastic in stories, whether fantasies such as The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, or The Sword of Shannara (my fantasy foundation as I call them) or science fiction by such masters as Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke (my ABCs of SciFi). Growing up, I would oscillate between the two genres, which seemed polar opposites to me. I played around with crossing the two into a single story, but I always felt I was compromising one or the other in the process. It just didn't feel right.

Then I started discovering the works of authors like Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, and Tim Powers. Each of these authors had a unique way of telling fantastic stories that broke away from the Lord of the Rings wannabes. For starts, many of their stories take place in the real world. Charles brings the old world of faerie into a small town along with some Native American mythology in a way that mystified and intrigued me. Neil masterfully weaves stories of fantasy in modern (and sometimes not so modern) setting with a fresh retelling of familiar stories with a kind of down-home feel. Tim blew my mind when I first read Expiration Date--his was more of a ghost story, but it was unlike any ghost story I had ever read before. He created a subculture of ghost addicts and told tales the intermingled history with fiction; at times I am struck by my ignorance of what is real and what is not.

So I set out to create characters in a familiar setting (Seattle) where they encounter people, creatures, and beings that challenge their perception of reality--and hopefully yours as well. How Deep Lies the Shadow pulls together mythologies from multiple cultures to tell a story of corruption, redemption, and our most basic needs of friendship and family.

As of the writing of this bio, I am nearing the completion of the first draft of the sequel, What Mystery Sounds the Echo. Since I have a day job, I have been writing WMSTE on my iPhone during my train commute home from Seattle to Tacoma (and eventually Olympia). No, I'm not using the phones keyboard; I have a bluetooth keyboard that simplifies the process. You can follow my progress on Twitter.

I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to start a topic below. Ask questions, give feedback, share your thoughts and ambitions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing! Stupendous! Neal Stephenson meets James Barrie, April 17, 2008

By 

Clinton Jeffery "cyber czar" (Moscow, ID USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Deep Lies The Shadow (Paperback)

This book is a remarkable interweaving of classic and hypermodern. It is a supernatural mystery thriller. It has elements of fable and fantasy, complex multi-dimensional characters with psychological and spiritual problems that the reader really comes to know and care about, and a variety of amazing non-human and ex-human players that play significant roles in the story: angels, demons, genies, and a few mysteries. The world of Peter Pan is explained as a centuries-old struggle of evil spirits seeking to gain access to the physical world by swapping places with children who then become lost boys, boys who have been replaced, half in our world and half in another. The damaged, sinning, yet redeemable humans who finally discover and resist this evil are an amazing group. The narrative pace is mostly fast and switches perspective frequently among chararacters. The climactic final battle is amazing. Good triumphs, but not without cost and tears. I hope to read more of this author in the future.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable mix of sci-fi and thriller, April 17, 2008

By 

Cow Poke McGhee "Get a long little doggie..." (Topeka, KS) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How Deep Lies The Shadow (Paperback)

A well written and complex book that takes you on a dream-like journey through other worldly plots and terrific characters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining., October 6, 2008

By 

Brian S. "Wink Wink" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Deep Lies The Shadow (Paperback)

I enjoyed Mr. DeHart's book very much. He twists his tale around popular fantasy subjects, new spec-fic and Seattle WA. He builds a tense novel with a little bit borrowed and a little bit new; I really appreciate how he was able to take a classic children's tale and make it older and darker. His Lost Boys live in a world that slowly creeps into the one we know - opening up clash between those that live in the light and those that have been banished to the shadows. Overall this was a fun and engaging read.