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Shadowlands
A coming-of-age story about a young boy who endures abuse by creating a world of shadows where he can escape beatings and the dead. His journey is across a unique internal landscape where there is no borderland between sanity and madness, only a compelling, sometimes horrific blending of the two into a power strong enough to summon love and extract revenge.
The novel is psychological horror without blood or drool. In the story the protagonist, Steve Goldblatt, asks that before judging evil we first live with those who made it and taste, as he did, what they put into their witches’ brew.
Through his haunting voice, Mr. Goldblatt brings the reader face to face with demons--external ones and those living deep within our soul.
The novel is psychological horror without blood or drool. In the story the protagonist, Steve Goldblatt, asks that before judging evil we first live with those who made it and taste, as he did, what they put into their witches’ brew.
Through his haunting voice, Mr. Goldblatt brings the reader face to face with demons--external ones and those living deep within our soul.
396 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2013
31 people want to read
About the author
Alan S. Kessler
10 books93 followersToday, 2/11/21, is the first time I am using this space to say a little about myself.
Shyness, a belief I would bore readers with my background or cause them to think I was using it to selfishly gain sympathy, prevented me in the past from sharing biographical information. However, because of my new novel, Ghost Dancer, I believe it is now appropriate to mention a few aspects of my childhood.
With Ghost Dancer I am a white male writing about a teenage girl, Native and African Americans, and a same sex, female relationship. So the question is, am I also “…a white liberal interloper, a cultural [gender] carpetbagger…” the criticism leveled at William Styron for writing The Confessions of Nat Turner? (William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond.)
My mother was sadistic, my father--a murderer who sentenced to the electric chair died in prison--beat me. I know about childhood abuse and marginalized people. Because of my own childhood struggles I could write about Eleanor, the teenage protagonist in Ghost Dancer, with an insight transcending gender. I care about her. Although fictional she is authentic and I am grateful I could give her a voice.
I hope readers will find Ghost Dancer worthwhile and my treatment of the subject matter respectful. I know with this story I have walked on sacred ground. I have tried to do so with an honest and open heart.
Shyness, a belief I would bore readers with my background or cause them to think I was using it to selfishly gain sympathy, prevented me in the past from sharing biographical information. However, because of my new novel, Ghost Dancer, I believe it is now appropriate to mention a few aspects of my childhood.
With Ghost Dancer I am a white male writing about a teenage girl, Native and African Americans, and a same sex, female relationship. So the question is, am I also “…a white liberal interloper, a cultural [gender] carpetbagger…” the criticism leveled at William Styron for writing The Confessions of Nat Turner? (William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond.)
My mother was sadistic, my father--a murderer who sentenced to the electric chair died in prison--beat me. I know about childhood abuse and marginalized people. Because of my own childhood struggles I could write about Eleanor, the teenage protagonist in Ghost Dancer, with an insight transcending gender. I care about her. Although fictional she is authentic and I am grateful I could give her a voice.
I hope readers will find Ghost Dancer worthwhile and my treatment of the subject matter respectful. I know with this story I have walked on sacred ground. I have tried to do so with an honest and open heart.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 10, 2013
My Impressions: This book was definitely chilling and disturbing, yet I could not put it down.
There is a lot of meat to grab onto in Shadowlands. Kessler delivers superb prose as we are put inside the mind of Steve Goldblatt at different times in his life.
We learn of the abuse Goldblatt suffered as a child by his father and detached mother. Throughout the book, Goldblatt seems to equate love with violence or negligence.
As an adult, Goldblatt seems normal but inside he is falling apart, falling into insanity, if you will.
There is a lot of depth in this book; it's well worth your time. And someday, I will read it again.
Final Thoughts: This book is full of intricate detail and strong imagery which is why, I imagine, I couldn't stop reading. This story is richly textured as we watch through Steve Goldblatt's eyes. I liked this book and am going to put Kessler's other book, Satan Carol, on my TBR list.
My Score: 5/5
Author's Other Books: Satan Carol
There is a lot of meat to grab onto in Shadowlands. Kessler delivers superb prose as we are put inside the mind of Steve Goldblatt at different times in his life.
We learn of the abuse Goldblatt suffered as a child by his father and detached mother. Throughout the book, Goldblatt seems to equate love with violence or negligence.
As an adult, Goldblatt seems normal but inside he is falling apart, falling into insanity, if you will.
There is a lot of depth in this book; it's well worth your time. And someday, I will read it again.
Final Thoughts: This book is full of intricate detail and strong imagery which is why, I imagine, I couldn't stop reading. This story is richly textured as we watch through Steve Goldblatt's eyes. I liked this book and am going to put Kessler's other book, Satan Carol, on my TBR list.
My Score: 5/5
Author's Other Books: Satan Carol
January 19, 2016
Love-starved, sociopathic Steve Goldblatt has had a terrible childhood. His mother viciously berates him, while his father beats him mercilessly for any minor transgression. Shortly after meeting bad-boy Dane, the newest addition to the neighborhood, Steve forms a fanatical devotion to this new “friend.” Shadowlands traces Steve’s life from elementary school to law school, drawing a disturbing, yet very human portrait of a lost soul. Although the pacing flags in the last third of the novel, the story as a whole is very readable, albeit with some VERY cringe-worthy moments. Recommended for fans of Kessler’s earlier novel, A Satan Carol, and other non-conventional works of horror.
October 25, 2013
If something is your every day from an early age, does it become normal? If abuse is a regular part of life, does it become affection? Certainly in the case of Steve Goldblatt, cruelty is love. There’s brilliance on the part of Kessler to make the story first person because had we had that omniscient view, the story would have just been too difficult to read. Reading the story from Steve’s point of view just softens the impact and cruelty of the story line. True tragedy comes in the realization that Steve is not anti-social and the cycle of “love” will continue.
Kessler’s writing style is very strong. He’s telling a story on which the main character reflects. Despite it’s 396 page length, “Shadowlands” is a fairly quick read thanks to the fluid nature of the writing. We go through key moments in Steve’s life and his impressions of his adults and contemporaries. He calls his twin sisters “things” through to their adulthood. There’s no distinction between the girls in Steve’s mind. No connection. They are his mother’s Greek Chorus. Most of Kessler’s characters are well fleshed out and all are a product of their environments. Tom, a key friend, dreams of great things and saving his mother from her poverty but when time unfolds life is a struggle and his wife is the second coming of his mother. Likely to suffer the same fate.
“Shadowlands” is a thought provoking work of speculative fiction. If psychological horror is what you like to read, you might like this novel. I gave this novel 4 stars because though its not what I might choose to read on my own it is a good example of the genre and quite well written.
Kessler’s writing style is very strong. He’s telling a story on which the main character reflects. Despite it’s 396 page length, “Shadowlands” is a fairly quick read thanks to the fluid nature of the writing. We go through key moments in Steve’s life and his impressions of his adults and contemporaries. He calls his twin sisters “things” through to their adulthood. There’s no distinction between the girls in Steve’s mind. No connection. They are his mother’s Greek Chorus. Most of Kessler’s characters are well fleshed out and all are a product of their environments. Tom, a key friend, dreams of great things and saving his mother from her poverty but when time unfolds life is a struggle and his wife is the second coming of his mother. Likely to suffer the same fate.
“Shadowlands” is a thought provoking work of speculative fiction. If psychological horror is what you like to read, you might like this novel. I gave this novel 4 stars because though its not what I might choose to read on my own it is a good example of the genre and quite well written.
May 1, 2014
Shadowlands by Alan S. Kessler is a psychological horror that left me thinking about life as I see it and reflecting on the thoughts of the main character Steve Goldblatt. Shadowlands is written in the first person, softening the impact of the cruelness within whilst creating a novel that plays with your mind in a thrilling yet disturbing way.
Although Kessler has the ability to use strong imagery I found the first few chapters of Shadowlands a little slow and difficult to follow. I will admit that once I got use to the writing style of Kessler I was reading with intrigue from page to page. For myself part of the slow beginning was due to having to take my mind and place it within that of Steve Goldblatt, absorbing the way his psych works. In Goldblatt Kessler has developed a character that harvests a lot of hurt, carrying a wounded and battered soul. Shadowlands is psychological horror at it’s best. It is difficult to find any normality within the pages. Just when you think you have the mind of Goldblatt figured out along comes a twist that has your own mind whirling.
After reading Shadowlands I was left with thoughts that I found hard to clear in my mind. I found myself doing a little internet searching to see if others had sat in the place I was. It seems the views of Shadowlands are varied but one thing all agree with is that it is a psychological thriller that will leave you as my mind was left - whirling, twisting and wondering. I felt at unease yet wanted to start from the beginning all over again. All agreed that fans of Edgar Allen Poe would thoroughly enjoy the writings of Kessler.
Indie Books R Us ( http://indiebooksrus.wordpress.com ) writes: “ This is truly Kessler’s style–you’re never ever quite comfortable with what you’re reading, and sometimes you’re not entirely sure why.”
I have to say I totally agree with them but just had to keep reading until I was sure I was deeply in the mind of Goldblatt, yet I feel I never was.
In closing Indie Books R Us state “ ...if you’re not okay with not knowing 100% of what’s going on, you may want to pass.”
I am unsure how I feel about this statement. I feel that if I had passed on Shadowlands I would never have had the opportunity of that of being introduced to the literary world of Alan S. Kessler. I will agree that Shadowlands is not a book for everyone but if the genre of psychological horror is one of interest then Kessler is not to be passed by. On Kessler’s site there is a quote from Village Book Review “ ...Creepy, surreal, unconventional and strange, definitely an original read.”
Original is a word that can be used to describe Shadowlands by Alan S. Kessler but I would more tend to refer to this literary piece as a work of mind blowing psychological suspense that has you turning pages and wondering why and how.
Find out more about Shadowlands and other works by Alan S. Kessler at www.askessler.com.
Copies of Shadowlands can be purchased from Barnes & Noble, Vook Store, Amazon and Apple.
Although Kessler has the ability to use strong imagery I found the first few chapters of Shadowlands a little slow and difficult to follow. I will admit that once I got use to the writing style of Kessler I was reading with intrigue from page to page. For myself part of the slow beginning was due to having to take my mind and place it within that of Steve Goldblatt, absorbing the way his psych works. In Goldblatt Kessler has developed a character that harvests a lot of hurt, carrying a wounded and battered soul. Shadowlands is psychological horror at it’s best. It is difficult to find any normality within the pages. Just when you think you have the mind of Goldblatt figured out along comes a twist that has your own mind whirling.
After reading Shadowlands I was left with thoughts that I found hard to clear in my mind. I found myself doing a little internet searching to see if others had sat in the place I was. It seems the views of Shadowlands are varied but one thing all agree with is that it is a psychological thriller that will leave you as my mind was left - whirling, twisting and wondering. I felt at unease yet wanted to start from the beginning all over again. All agreed that fans of Edgar Allen Poe would thoroughly enjoy the writings of Kessler.
Indie Books R Us ( http://indiebooksrus.wordpress.com ) writes: “ This is truly Kessler’s style–you’re never ever quite comfortable with what you’re reading, and sometimes you’re not entirely sure why.”
I have to say I totally agree with them but just had to keep reading until I was sure I was deeply in the mind of Goldblatt, yet I feel I never was.
In closing Indie Books R Us state “ ...if you’re not okay with not knowing 100% of what’s going on, you may want to pass.”
I am unsure how I feel about this statement. I feel that if I had passed on Shadowlands I would never have had the opportunity of that of being introduced to the literary world of Alan S. Kessler. I will agree that Shadowlands is not a book for everyone but if the genre of psychological horror is one of interest then Kessler is not to be passed by. On Kessler’s site there is a quote from Village Book Review “ ...Creepy, surreal, unconventional and strange, definitely an original read.”
Original is a word that can be used to describe Shadowlands by Alan S. Kessler but I would more tend to refer to this literary piece as a work of mind blowing psychological suspense that has you turning pages and wondering why and how.
Find out more about Shadowlands and other works by Alan S. Kessler at www.askessler.com.
Copies of Shadowlands can be purchased from Barnes & Noble, Vook Store, Amazon and Apple.
October 9, 2013
Kessler's Shadowlands was a mixed bag for me.
Coming in, I had high hopes, eagerly awaiting the horrors living inside the mind of Steve Goldblatt, but the experience was marred with a few roadblocks.
Block #1: Steve Goldblatt is not a likeable character., He suffered abuse(mental and physical) as a child, but still he's a terrible person that does horrid things. It's hard to get behind such character(at least for me).
Block #2: The writing in places is frantic and hard to keep up with. In one moment a character is blasting away with crisp dialogue and then switches to another character. and before long I got lost.
It's not all bad though. The story is rich with unsettling moments, rich dialog, and layered characters. I put the book down on several occasions, simply because I found myself getting lost and having to reread passages to understand what was happening.
Ultimately, I was drawn back to the horrible mind of the main character; wanting to see what awaited him.
I'll most likely come back to this at a later date and see if my opinion changes.
Coming in, I had high hopes, eagerly awaiting the horrors living inside the mind of Steve Goldblatt, but the experience was marred with a few roadblocks.
Block #1: Steve Goldblatt is not a likeable character., He suffered abuse(mental and physical) as a child, but still he's a terrible person that does horrid things. It's hard to get behind such character(at least for me).
Block #2: The writing in places is frantic and hard to keep up with. In one moment a character is blasting away with crisp dialogue and then switches to another character. and before long I got lost.
It's not all bad though. The story is rich with unsettling moments, rich dialog, and layered characters. I put the book down on several occasions, simply because I found myself getting lost and having to reread passages to understand what was happening.
Ultimately, I was drawn back to the horrible mind of the main character; wanting to see what awaited him.
I'll most likely come back to this at a later date and see if my opinion changes.
August 13, 2016
It took me a lot longer to get into Shadowlands than it does a typical book. I’m not sure exactly what was keeping me from diving in and just going for it. If I had to make a guess, I would say that it was the writing style. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something I felt like I could immerse myself in. This is merely a personal thing and shouldn’t hold much weight on whether or not Shadowlands is a book worth reading.
While I wouldn’t personally choose Shadowlands to read, I do think people that enjoy the genre will like the book. For me, however, it was somewhat hard to stay focused. I felt like the writing was a bit disjointed. I would like to say that I think this probably translates well in the genre, but considering I don’t read a lot of psychological horror, I don’t feel I am a fair judge.
* This book was received from the author in exchange for an honest review. *
While I wouldn’t personally choose Shadowlands to read, I do think people that enjoy the genre will like the book. For me, however, it was somewhat hard to stay focused. I felt like the writing was a bit disjointed. I would like to say that I think this probably translates well in the genre, but considering I don’t read a lot of psychological horror, I don’t feel I am a fair judge.
* This book was received from the author in exchange for an honest review. *
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July 27, 2016The protagonist's fantasy world leads to sociopathic behavior, his perspective is distorted, at times psychotic, but what's creepy and disturbing about the novel is no matter how distorted his thinking and aberrant his behavior, you can't help but see the truth in Steve's version of the sick and sick-making American suburbs.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews