Book Review: "The Shadow Walker" by S.L. Madden

The Shadow Walker: Book one in Unseen Things trilogy review
Author: S.L. Madden
5 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Paranormal Reading Level: Young Adult

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Thomas Hurd has always felt more comfortable watching people from a distance than interacting with them up close. But his tendencies to watch others reveals to him a creature he was never meant to see, and unleashes a horror onto his small town that threatens to consume the world. Contains mild language and violence.

My Thoughts: This is Book One of the Unseen Things trilogy. I originally received this over a year ago, but I should point out that I was notified by the author that a new version was posted and downloaded the most recent version just over a week ago.

Thomas Hurd is an interesting character; I suspect he is meant to be either mildly autistic or has Asperger’s, based upon his discomfort dealing with people and his inability to figure out how to talk to Madison (or when he does, he comes up with some ridiculously bad things to say, poor guy). I really like him, though, and I liked how deeply we got into his head; yet he remains an enigma. It’s fascinating.

This book is really quite dark, and it is a self-contained story, with just hints of where else Madden might take the rest of the trilogy. The editing is much better than Bravado/Dramatique, although there are still a few errors left. The story flows smoothly, and the characters are well-created and written. I really enjoyed this book and I think most fans of darker urban fantasy will as well.

The other two books in the trilogy, The Shadow Within and World of Shadows, are planned for a near simultaneous release later this year, or early in 2013. I, for one, will be anxiously waiting on them, as I can’t wait to see where things will go from here. Highly recommended.