Book Review: Touched by Shadows by Vaughn A. Jackson
Title: Touched by Shadows
Author: Vaughn A. Jackson
Release date: December 10th, 2021
When this one was announced, this book had me intrigued.
Over the course of maybe 12-20 months or so, there was a rush on kids with supernatural abilities. Most likely encouraged or activated by Stranger Things, we saw a number of shows, movies and books release that had this phenomenal as the central plot point.
I, personally, enjoyed some and found others to be a miss. But overall, it wasn’t a subgenre that I specifically sought out.
Jackson’s release ‘Touched by Shadows’ was one that I did seek out, and with the height of the subgenre seemingly past by, I was excited to see what different take Vaughn would offer.
What I liked: The story follows Oumou, a young African American child, who escapes the lab she’s being held captive in. While fleeing, she runs into a young girl, Amanda, and the two instantly become friends. Oumou is taken in by Amanda’s parents, as they try and figure out where she came from, but the stark reality of where they live rears its ugly head.
Jackson also brings in a fantastic antagonist, a demon looking to take possession of a body that won’t burn up, and is seeking Oumou for that purpose. This added a second layer of tension throughout. We have the racist-town angle that grew in scope and volume, as the young Oumou tries to understand the ‘why’ of these strangers hating her and wanting to kill her, as well as the growing dread that this ‘thing’ is growing closer and will soon strike.
The characters work really well together and when we get to the finale, we see each of them raise up and sacrifice to get to the ultimate end goal of survival.
What I didn’t like: There were a few moments that I found questionable, but the most prominent one involved the police dog and the reporter. Minor, minor spoiler, but as the reporter flees an event, the police dog tracks him. The dog latches onto his arm. The man continues to walk with the dog (and by now I think we’ve all seen videos at least of how rough and violent a police dog takes people down) and then goes into a cellar and suddenly him and the dog becomes best friends. It came off as completely unrealistic,
Why you should buy this: The story is crisp and the pacing frantic. It was a fast read and had some great characters that you want to root for and see them succeed. The villain was fantastic and it would be great to see Jackson return to this world and continue telling Oumou’s story.
4/5
Journalstone direct link;
https://journalstone.com/bookstore/touched-by-shadows/
Amazon link;
