Review Detail

Shadowscape - The Stevie Vegas Chronicles is a young adult fantasy story written by Maryann Weston. Stevie is a 12-year-old skateboarding enthusiast who has a pretty decent life living with his younger brother Jem and his parents, who are both veterinarians. Underneath his normal exterior, Stevie has some pretty special abilities -- he can read people's thoughts and frequently knows when things are going to happen before they do. It's something that he doesn't really understand and isn't quite comfortable with, but it's helped him protect his brother from bullies at school. Things change drastically when Stevie arrives home from skateboarding to find a sinister man with a strange black aura chatting amiably with his parents. The man's name is Mr. Barron, and he's arranged for the Vegas family to move from their coastal town to Smithson, where Stevie's parents have been offered a lucrative veterinary practice. No one else in the family seems aware of the danger Stevie senses, but his Aunt Bessie, who shares some of his gifts, seems the right person for Stevie to call for help.

Maryann Weston's Shadowscape is an exciting and fast-paced young adult paranormal fantasy story that will appeal to sports fans as well. Stevie is a disciplined and talented skateboarder who settles his differences with Mr. Barron's son with a skateboarding contest. There's also plenty of action and adventure as Stevie and Aunt Bessie move to foil the dark schemes of the Barrons. I was relieved to read that Shadowscape is just the first part of a trilogy as I really didn't want the story to end. Shadowscape is a lot of fun to read, and I highly recommend it.