Shadow of the Past

I received this book from the Author for my honest review.

This story was a very well thought out and intricate. The story begins with a boy who goes into the house of the neighbour to retrieve a ball. He sees a shoe lying on the ground. Realizes where he is and runs out of the yard after viewing an eye through the basement window. That night something comes into his room and he hears singing of Rosemary Clooney’s song “Come on-a my house, my house-a come on . . .” as he feels his lungs crushing his heart and a flash of silver slams into his temple. Then we fast forward to Mark. Mark is a complete and utter loser (at least in his own mind) he is an orphan and lives with his uncle who blames him for the death of his aunt. He meets up with Christine a new student. We also meet the bully who has been tormenting Mark for years. And Marks best friends Steve (a theatre geek) and Clara a friend of Mark’s aunt who took Mark under her wings to try and help him after the death of his aunt.

While this book had an intricate storyline I felt that too much time was spent on telling us how much Mark hates himself, page after page of self-loathing, what a loser he is (or thinks he is) and the book could have been a little bit shorter by taking a few of those chapters spent ditching the dirt on himself out. Mark meanwhile seems to be a very nice boy. He has a good sense of humor and seems to be very like-able. As for the Character creation as a whole, definitely two-thumbs up. Thatcher did an excellent job making these characters come to life.

I won’t go into any more of the book since I do NOT wish to give the story away. Suffice it to say it’s a pretty intense read with a bit of violence and gore thrown in for good measure. If you like suspense filled horror stories then this is a good one for you to read.