Reviews "Intelligent and exciting!"   ~ The Writer's Edge   "Fast-paced, engaging, and suspenseful, Shadow in the Dark brought Xan and the monks of Harwood Abbey to life.  At the same time, Barone skillfully brings to the reader lessons in living the Christian life without it being artificial to the story.  I look forward to further stories about Xan and life at Harwood Abbey."   ~ Mary Catharine Perry, Amata Means Beloved   "A brisk-moving and suspenseful tale, Shadow in the Dark majestically presents the power of truth and mercy slowly but surely overpowering a world driven by death and mayhem.  Exquisitely balanced, the story has both the simplicity to appeal to a young reader and the richness to touch an adult audience.  Barone has penned a masterpiece."  ~ Dan Flaherty, The Scholar   "Shadow in the Dark is an entertaining and engrossing adventure story well-suited for young readers (and their elders, too); it deserves many readers--and many sequels."   ~ Joseph Esper, After the Darkness   "Shadow in the Dark has a wholesomeness that makes it stand out like a mountain among the suggestive emotionally confused sludge that has become the accepted fare to dish up for our youth.  This could be the future standard for sound adolescent literature!"  ~ Leo Madigan, The Weka-Feather Cloak   "With Shadow in the Dark, Barone has produced a real page turner that is both instructive and edifying.  Great wisdom and virtue is promoted through a compelling story... very effective!"   ~ Martin Kennedy, A Philadelphia Catholic in King James' Court

Book Review   SHADOW IN THE DARK Antony Barone Chronicles of Xan: Book One Reviewer: Colleen Drippe   I thoroughly enjoyed reading SHADOW IN THE DARK, a well-done mediaeval mystery story.  The book is laced with plenty of action and a bit of downright spookiness.  But it is more than that.  This is the first book in a new series - the adventures of Xan, an orphan who lost and regained his memory, told the truth, and became – well, read on and find out. In this well-researched tale, author Barone introduces us to the monks of Harwood Abbey who take in the young survivor of a bandit attack on his village.  We meet the boys who live at the abbey, some of the monks, the local Lord and his steward.  We take a brief glance at the convent and the girls living there, and spend some time in the wild woodlands where you can meet anything from robbers to wild boars.   And the Grim Reaper.  Or so say some of the boys...  The complicated but wonderfully satisfying plot leads us through the darkness and out into first, the apparent solution, and finally the real solution of the mystery. But then we go beyond the work of the young detective and into the realm of grace.  There is a lot more to solving crime than catching criminals, and young Xan – whose adventures are far from over - must learn this.   Author and homeschooler, Antony Barone, has been involved in his share of crimes and mysteries as a prosecutor and defense attorney for the Air Force.  No doubt he does further work in this field training and raising his five children.  I think we may safely look forward to the next adventure of Xan in Book II of the series, entitled "The Haunted Cathedral" and due out at the end of the year.   About the Reviewer   Ms. Drippe is Editor of Hereditas literary magazine, and an author in her own right, with numerous published children’s books and science fiction novels.  The book review above is published in the Fall 2007 issue of Hereditas, available at http://www.hereditasmagazine.com/.