Shades Drawn: A Twisted and Timely Novella

by Bitty Balducci

Black Mirror meets Leave the World Behind in Shades A Twisted and Timely Novella.

Before the spring of 2026, Calvin would have considered himself a normal kid. But his life was turned upside down in an instant when he, his mom, and his Grandpa Joe were forced to go into hiding when the U.S.-Iranian War broke out. For nearly two years, the three lived in squalor and on the brink of starvation in a safe house as they waited out the fighting and tried to evade detection. The only news from the outside world came from a local news broadcast that shared updates on the status of the war. But when the inexplicable happens, Calvin is faced with a disturbing reality that shapes how he views his very existence.

88 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 16, 2026

About the author

Hey, Bitty Balducci here! And before you ask, while our last names are quite similar, I’m unfortunately not related to award-winning author, David Baldacci.

I was born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri, but have lived all over - mostly in the Western United States. I now live in Spokane, Washington and absolutely love it!

In my free time, I enjoy eating good food, being in nature, traveling anywhere and everywhere, and spoiling my Australian shepherd (Kenai) and cat (Wesley).

Thank you so much for visiting my page and I hope you enjoy my books :)

Reviews

[Jada Reads Horror]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PLEASE!! EVERYONE CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING NOVELLA 🤗

[Geoff]

This is a excellent book, you need to read it period.

[Francisco Murrell]

interesting

This an interesting read. I didn’t know where it was going but I thought something just seemed off. I wish it would have ended with a little more answers but I guess we can’t always get closure.

[Justriver22]

The twist at the end was good but I’m kinda upset that we never got to know why the mom told all the lies about the war in the first place (unless we did and I overlooked it)

[Lorra_reads]

This book grabbed me immediately because the premise felt just realistic enough to be unsettling.

The USA being at war with Iran gave the story a very current feeling, and through the perspective of a child, the world made complete sense.

As a reader, I understood why the mother made the choices she did because if I believed my family was in danger, I’d probably act the same way.

The descriptions of rationing and hunger were heartbreaking. The scenes involving food hit especially hard because the children viewed things that once felt insignificant as luxuries simply because they were hungry all the time. The SPAM scene… 💔

I also completely fell for the dystopian atmosphere. I imagined empty cities and towering buildings the whole time, so the twist genuinely surprised me.

Even though it’s a short story, it tackles heavy themes like mental health, family responsibility, fear, and distorted reality in a way that stayed with me after finishing it.

And I loved the discussion questions included at the end.

[Ashy]

I actually really enjoyed this,
I didn’t know anything about it when I started but I definitely want to dive deeper into this genre.
The twist really caught me off guard and I was excited for where it was going to go but unfortunately the ending fell a little bit flat for me but nevertheless I enjoyed it

[Mary Clare]

A thriller, it held me and then the twist wow-ed me. Read it!

[Rebekah_read_it]

With a little twist

Grabbed me immediately with a contemporary and very disturbing premise, and kept my attention. An interesting peek into a very possible reality. Quick easy read, 👌