Black Dawn

by Simon Rose

In a dark parallel world, following attacks by its most determined opponents, the Ministry has been forced to change its plans. Yet the ruthless Director-General is prepared to sacrifice anyone to achieve an entirely new beginning, no matter what the cost. In a deadly race against time, as events spiral out of control, Ben and Charlie must risk their lives in a desperate attempt to save two worlds from destruction.The Shadowzone Series of science fiction and fantasy novels involves the discovery of a grim dystopian version of Earth ruled by a totalitarian dictatorship, the threat of a deadly virus, and a race against time to save the lives of millions. What they're saying about the Shadowzone Series."Shadowzone is the first book in a series and I guarantee you will be racing towards the second. An excellent read!""Packed with non-stop action and cliff hangers, Rose does an excellent job at leaving the reader wanting more.""Into the Web is the second book in the Shadowzone series. Like the first it is action packed and will leave the reader wanting more.""Black Dawn is the third book in the ShadowZone series and it lives up to the previous two. Once again Simon Rose carries interesting characters through an action packed story. Readers will love this instalment as much as the two earlier books."

196 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2017

About the author

I am the author of The Alchemist's Portrait, The Sorcerer's Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic's Tomb, The Doomsday Mask, The Time Camera, The Sphere of Septimus, Flashback, Future Imperfect, the Flashback series, the Shadowzone series, The Stone of the Seer series, and An Untimely Death. I'm also the author of eight guides for writers, including The Time Traveler's Guide, The Children's Writer's Guide, The Working Writer's Guide, and The Social Media Writer's Guide, more than a hundred non-fiction books, and many articles on a wide range of topics. I offer a number of services for writers, including editing, coaching, mentoring, consulting, and writing workshops, as well as copywriting services for the business community. I also offer a wide variety of presentations, workshops and author in residence programs for schools and libraries, am an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and offer a variety of online workshops for both children and adults.

www.simon-rose.com

Reviews

[Lauren Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the government found another world, a parallel Earth, would you support them in exploring all they could about it without question? We would probably have TONS of questions!! A question that would seem likely would be, do I have another one of me on the other side? What if it was inhabitable? No water, no food? What if it was a better world than the one that we live in today? All of these concepts are really interesting to think about right?! Rose's final installment within the Shadowzone Series will end the journey for Ben and Charlie. 

So now that the Greens and Subrads are working together, does that mean that they can trust one another? Maybe, possibly, most likely...since they are working toward a common goal. But, there is still doubt. As the Ministry begins moving out toward the airport with their European guests, so too does Ben and Michael. They make a beeline for the last known safe house in the city where he remembers the Greens holed up in. When they get there, thankfully, Levi and Nathaniel find them and help them get underground. With Michael barely hanging on, the gunshot to his stomach has taken a lot of blood, Ben hangs onto the hope that he can be saved by Marta--the healer in the Subrads group. As they make plans to find and rescue Charlie, they aren't the only ones doing so. An unlikely ally rescues Charlie from her dad and leaks to the Greens and Subrads what the Director-General's endgame for the Ministry will be. And...it is not pretty! In fact, it is downright crazy. And it very well may cause the end of their world. Yeah, it wasn't a wonderful world to live in, but life is still better than death...even if no one knows how much of that is left. What can they do to stop him? 

Rose has an interesting story with some original and creative concepts about a parallel Earth. With the world ending as they know it, everyone is in full panic and Rose conveys this sense of urgency fairly well. With Black Dawn, we are coming to the end of the three-part adventure. The pace has picked up in pace a bit, making it a very quick read. This installment does have some spelling errors, but this should not hinder enjoyment of the novel. If you are a reader of science fiction, action and adventure, and young adult dystopian fiction, you may thoroughly enjoy this light read. This installment continues right where the previous one ended; therefore, it is recommended for readers to begin with Shadowzone and Into the Web before jumping into this one.

A copy of this book was provided to Turning Another Page by the author and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a four-star rating to Black Dawn by Simon Rose.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading a trilogy about a dystopia brought about by a plague and climate destruction in 2020 is too real, too real man! I didn't really like how the villain was "here are all the evil things I am going to do" and just states it plainly without caring who hears him. We get it, you're the bad guy, don't hit us over the head with it. Wow. There were also a few things that were brought up that I thought would either be bigger or at least create some tension and issues for our band of heroes but after building a whole bunch of tension it didn't do anything. The idea about the Chosen One had promise but it also didn't seem to do much in the end, especially on the hero side. Which is too bad because I was into that.

All the violence and death would make this a more mature read for sure. It will fit nicely into our school library. A 12 or 13-year-old will find this book thrilling.

[Sylvia McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in the “ShadowZone” series written by one of my favourite young adult authors. After finishing book one and two, I could not wait to start this one, I was not disappointed. This time Ben and Charlie risked their lives to save both worlds from destruction. This was another exciting story with good character structure and as usual well written. The story closed with a great ending. Although I was hoping for perhaps another book to this terrific series.