Shadowman (The Bethesda Wars Book 1)

Shadowman is story #1 in "The Bethesda Wars"

There is a secret Compound in Bethesda, Maryland. Agents from the Compound scour the world looking for children with special talents. Talents that can be fostered, and shaped...and used.

They knew Subject Kelly was different the moment he was born. He did not cry in the delivery room, but when his unfocusing eyes drifted toward a nurse she gasped, and her nose started to gush blood.

Kelly, his brother Atticus and their mother had to go deeper into hiding. Their mother knew what was at stake: she had been born on the Compound, a 'potential', and when she had not blossomed into a Talent they had let her go. Now the Scouts are right on their heels, looking to take her children.

We see the story through the eyes of Subject Atticus, an autistic Talent who has a compulsive need to grade things. He watches with a detached eye as his brother is shaped and trained to be a figure that strikes terror throughout the Compound. But when his brother starts to become unstable, it is Atticus who must help save his brother, or watch him be destroyed.

Shadowman is the first story in the Bethesda Wars, and characters who will have a great impact on the series are prevalent throughout the story. In addition to Subjects Kelly and Atticus there is the malevolent Damian Alan Kay, who recognizes Kelly's abilities and wants to use them for his own nefarious ends. There is Subject Roberta, who recognizes the evil of the Compound and wants to stop it. And there is Father Black, the ominous leader of the Compound, who terrifies everyone...except Atticus.

Shadowman is a graphic thriller, but at the same time it is touching and moving. The characters may do extraordinary things but in many ways they are ordinary people, trying to find their way.

Shadowman is the first story in The Bethesda Wars, and introduces the readers to a terrifying and thrilling world, one hidden just beneath the surface of our own.