I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good fiction book!

Shadowmancer
G. P. Taylor
Putnam, May 2004, $16.99, 275 pp.
ISBN: 0399242562

In England, Vicar Obadiah Demurral lost his belief in his religion and God years ago, as he firmly believes that the Almighty has turned a deaf ear towards humanity. Obadiah is a "poisoned angel", a SHADOWMANCER, who communicates with the dead and has plans to rule the world. To achieve his ambition, Obadiah needs to obtain two Keruvim, an amulet that he already possesses and some other artifact of power that he seeks. Together, the twin Keruvim objects will turn Obadiah into an invincible force.

On a quest to recover the stolen relic taken from his village, African Raphah tracks the object to England where he meets two young victims of Obadiah's evil wrath, Thomas and Kate. The trio team up in an effort to stop Obadiah from accomplishing his malevolent objective even if it means going into hell for their heavenly cause.

SHADOWMANCER is an exhilarating religious allegorical fantasy that provides a deep message without preaching inside a wonderful action-packed good vs. evil war. The story line is fast-paced as Obadiah comes closer and closer to achieving his evil objective while the three youngsters are the only souls with faith in God and his way. Though some bad dudes change sides too conveniently, readers from high school age and up will appreciate this timely cautionary tale. G.P. Taylor admonishes the leaders of organized religion not to abuse power especially at the cost and loss of the congregation and pleads with the congregation to keep the faith even when the leaders abuse their positions of power and fail them.

Harriet Klausner