Shadow Man

by L. Andrew Cooper

The Middle Reaches, an epic of horror and dark fantasy, begins with Cycle Shadow Man. When five friends reunite to seek the truth about the otherworldly place where their high school friend, Sheldon, disappeared more than a decade earlier, they journey into a dark realm of sex, violence, and creatures hungry to keep them forever.

"A tale of dark dreams & sharp teeth, L. Andrew Cooper pens a story here that unravels slowly and sweetly, leaving scars imprinted on the reader's brain." – Jeremy Megargee, author of Soulmates, Crown of Carrion, and Old Hollow

“L. Andrew Cooper has a knack for writing viscerally, but not just grotesque nor physical viscera on display. Every time I read his work it crawls into my psyche. And that's where the visceral stuff happens. He makes me feel things that are unfeelable and believe things that are unbelievable and experience things that are unexperienceable. It's that knack for making nightmares feel like dreams without ever losing their edge. I say knack instead of craft or talent because by God if it was something I could learn how to do I'd be doing it already. I think it crawls out of his heart and his brain somewhere and just spills onto the paper.” – Sean Taylor, author of Show Me a Hero and A Crowd in Babylon

Genres: Horror

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2025

About the author

L. Andrew Cooper specializes in the provocative, scary, and strange. His current project, The Middle Reaches, is a serialized epic of weird horror and dark fantasy on Amazon Kindle Vella. His latest release, Records of the Hightower Massacre, an LGBTQ+ horror novella co-authored with Maeva Wunn, imagines a near-future dystopia where anti-queer hate runs a program to "correct" deviants. Stains of Atrocity, his newest collection of stories, goes to uncomfortable psychological and visceral extremes. His latest novel, Crazy Time, combines literary horror and dark fantasy in a contemporary quest to undo what may be a divine curse. Other published works include novels Burning the Middle Ground and Descending Lines; short story collections Leaping at Thorns and Peritoneum; poetry collection The Great Sonnet Plot of Anton Tick; non-fiction Gothic Realities and Dario Argento; co-edited fiction anthologies Imagination Reimagined and Reel Dark; and the co-edited textbook Monsters. He has also written more than 30 award-winning screenplays. After studying literature and film at Harvard and Princeton, he used his Ph.D. to teach about favorite topics from coast to coast in the United States. He now focuses on writing and lives with his husband in North Hollywood, California. Find him at www.landrewcooper.com.

Reviews

[Jonas Maes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished Reading:
Shadow Man by L. Andrew Cooper
__________

⭐⭐⭐⭐,5/5
Pages: 229
Format: e-book
Genre: Fantasy horror, Dark Fantasy
1st book of the Middle Reaches series
TWs: Death, Rape, Sex, Violence, and Profanity
__________

First and foremost, thank you BookSirens for gifting me a copy of this book!

As of this moment, it is 3am and I just finished this book, because I could not put it down after I reached 50%... Will I regret it tomorrow? 100%. Do I regret finishing it tonight? Not for a second!

Y'all know my 2 favourite genres to read are horror and fantasy. What I might like even more, is a perfect cocktail of both genres in 1 book and this one delivered!

We follow a group of people that get together again after a reunion of their school. They used to be vast friends, but after the disappearance of one of them, the group disbanded and each went their separate ways and lived their own lives.

At the reunion, one of them invited the others to catch up again and when they all got together, they soon landed on the subject they all tried to avoid, but could no longer... What exactly happened to Sheldon, their friend that disappeared? And why were they all having dreams of the same place, which made them feel weirdly erotic, but at the same time had them writhing in pain?

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was weird, captivating and it keeps you guessing until the very end. I cannot wait to dive into the rest of the series!

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many years ago, Nick lost his best friend, Sheldon, to The Middle Reaches, and his friends all splintered apart. Now, after their high school reunion, the group comes together for one last trip into The Middle Reaches to get some answers about what happened to Sheldon. But it's not as easy as it sounds, and something in The Middle Reaches yearns....

What a fascinating setting for a book! The Middle Reaches is a very Doctor Who-esque place out of time with its surroundings. It takes a bit of thinking to completely wrap your head around, but it's so interesting that each person enters this in-between world and gets pulled entirely out of their timeline. All of the creatures were really unique also and made this book even more fun to read!

A certain scene with Celia was one of the best bits of body horror I've read! I was physically cringing while reading it, and I can just imagine the faces I was making throughout the whole thing! I also really got attached to Sheldon despite him not necessarily being a central character. He sounded like a really cool character, and I loved getting glimpses into who he was and how central he was to the main characters.

Now, I don't know that the format worked as well for me. This story started as a Kindle Vella serial and is broken down into episodes. While a unique format, for sure, it led to some repetition of lines a character had said or a re-telling of the last thing that had happened at the end of the prior "episode." This works when you're watching a show with a week or so between episodes, but I don't really need the reminder when I just read that scene or those lines. The constantly shifting POV changes also caught me off guard a bit and made it harder to relate to each character.

I also struggled a little bit with the humour. It felt like it was trying to be too funny in places, and the jokes didn't always land with me like they should have. Parts were a little too self-aware (too fourth-wall breaky?); I came out of the story a little bit in those parts.

All that being said, the atmosphere and the buld in Shadow Man were gorgeous! I was flying through the book once the action picked up just to see what was going to happen, only to have a rather sad twist that left me gaping at the book in the end. I can't wait to read the next one!

[Val Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadow Man, by L. Andrew Cooper, is one of the most provocative pieces of storytelling I’ve read in a while. He doesn’t write nice but prefers dragging the reader into his nightmarish fantasy world of the Middle Levels and making them share its horrors and foulness.

While I was tempted to make comparisons with other writers, I decided that it would be unfair as Andrew Cooper creates a nasty world of his own imagining.

I’d recommend Shadow Man to any reader who enjoys walking on the dark side where the unexpected is inevitable.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Mya Squillace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the book but it wasn't what I expected. I felt like parts of it dragged on and I also didn't understand where it was leading to but it wasn't bad just didn't make me want to read more of the series.

It's a horror book about friends who lose a long term friend in childhood to a mysterious world and go looking for him. It has horror and gore but for me there were just parts of it that dragged on to long and it could have had more of a plot to it. I don't know very hard to explain what I mean.

[Robert Foland · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Shadow Man" by L. Andrew Cooper is a deliciously dark literary journey. A journey down a (literal) river of mystery. Each step brings a group of friends closer to danger and nearer a moment of revelation as well. Gripping, at times frightening, and thought provoking throughout.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story revolves around a fantasy world—a world that shouldn’t exist, but does. Nick goes to his high school reunion to meet up with his group of friends from 12 years ago: Ambrose, Ceila, Pedro, and Leslie. As teens, they all hung out with another friend, Sheldon, who mysteriously disappeared and was presumed dead. But lately, they’ve all been having dreams—about that time, about the place called the Middle Reaches.

They had once thought it was just Sheldon’s overactive imagination. But when they visit the area behind Sheldon’s old house and follow the creek they once explored as teens, the memories come rushing back. The Middle Reaches wasn’t imaginary. It was real. And the rules there are different.

As they venture deeper into the Middle Reaches, they encounter disturbing horrors: dog-like creatures that prevent them from leaving, vines that move on their own, snakes that devour, a haunting Shadow Man, and fish with fins sharp enough to cut skin. One by one, they begin to perish—until only two remain. They follow the creek to its end, hoping to discover what the Middle Reaches wants... and who—or what—the Watcher is.

I really enjoyed this story. It was fast-paced, starting as a dream Nick had and quickly transitioning to his reunion and return to this eerie, supernatural world. I especially liked how the narrative shifted between characters, allowing us to see what each one was experiencing as their memories resurfaced and they faced the dangers of the Middle Reaches. The world itself was imaginative, and the rules of this place were intricately laid out. Very creative.

I understand this is part of a series, and I’m looking forward to reading more and seeing how other characters experience the Middle Reaches.

I received this Kindle book as part of a Goodreads giveaway—thank you!

[Dionne Muller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Middle Reaches Cycle One: Shadow Man by L. Andrew Cooper is a novel that employs an unconventional, fragmented writing style that some readers may find off-putting or difficult to follow.

Cooper's prose is staccato, abruptly shifting perspectives and timelines in a way that feels jarring and disorienting. Sentences are often clipped short, leaving thoughts hanging. The non-linear narrative jumps around without warning, requiring the reader to piece together the chronology and connect the dots themselves.

Cooper eschews a traditional, flowing story structure in favour of one that is purposefully discordant and unsettling, mirroring the dark psychological horror themes the work explores.

For those craving a smooth, easy-to-digest reading experience, the Shadow Man's choppy, start-stop cadence and frenetic pacing may prove frustrating or impenetrable. However, readers who appreciate experimental prose and challenging convention may find Cooper's unique style refreshingly bold and evocative of the book's grim, shadow-drenched atmosphere.

In the end, The Middle Reaches Cycle One: Shadow Man is a novel likely to sharply divide opinion - a love-it-or-hate-it work that demands much from the reader but offers a singularly unforgettable experience to those willing to grapple with its unorthodox approach.

[Jessica Goeken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo creepy! I loved the world of the Middle Reaches. The atmosphere, the creatures, the foreboding, it was very well done. I did find the ending somewhat unsatisfying after all of that buildup because I don’t feel like enough answers were given. Hopefully in subsequent books some of these things will become more clear. I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 because although I loved the story, I felt like the first several chapters were one giant info dump, and that the characters were narrating for the sake of the reader rather than having a conversation. It wasn’t enough to make me lose interest in the story but I wish that information had been given differently. Still, overall I loved the story and found it hard to put down.

I received a free advance copy of this book and this is my honest, voluntary review.

[Lyndsey Gollogly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had stranger things vibes just a bit more adult. Safe to say I never want another fly near me ever again I’m traumatised 🤣! It was a decent read and I did enjoy it. I like that cosmic horror feel it had towards the end.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.