Stephen Brayton's "Night Shadows" is a fun novel that moves quickly and without many slow spots. The plot revolves around a mysterious grimoire known as the Sarmangous which provides its holder with terrible power, but at a cost. Set in Des Moines, Iowa, the book takes off when its power-mad possessor unleashes a number of ghostly, red-eyed shadow creatures who wreak gory attacks on the good citizens of the Iowa city.
Detective Harry Reznik and FBI agent Lori Campisi are charged with unraveling the mysteries behind the citizens' deaths. There are few clues and no witnesses. Both Reznik and Campisi are beset with their own problems that author Brayton does a fine job of including in the plot.
As the body count increases and the pressure to find the killers intensifies, it soon becomes apparent to Reznik that they are involved in a paranormal situation. Enlisting the help of an eccentric college professor, Reznik and Campisi set out to make a final stand against the Night Shadows. ( )

-Night Shadows. Go ahead and say it in a whisper…Night Shadows. Add some spooky music from a horror movie and you've got it. Night Shadows will make you turn the lights on as you read this. You may have to actually break it up into nights depending on your nerve.

There was more gore in here than I particularly like, which lowered the score a little. However, I did get over it though as the creepiness I sought was here. Oh wow. You know how it can be tough to find horror shows that are more spooky than gorey these days? I watch a lot of Japanese horror to get the creepy feeling I crave that I can't get from American horror anymore.

This. Was. It. Night Shadows gave chills up my spine, it was like watching a good ol' fashioned horror movie that was more about actual fright. I knew the first day I read it I would enjoy this story immensely. The main MC's, Harry Reznick and Lori Campisi make a great team. Lori's past, okay, pretty predictable, I knew who she was. I don't think the author was trying to surprise us, I think it was more about the wait for her to find herself.

Harry has some real problems in the book, but I'm not going to discuss them because of spoilers.

Although graphic, the language in here isn't so bad. The F word never appears, and most of the language is marked with abbreviations such as H. or B.S. and such. I enjoyed that fact, and when real language appeared it was warranted. This improved the book immensely to me.
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Book Title: Night Shadows
Author: Stephen L. Brayton
Publisher: Echelon Press
ASIN: B004O0VD1M
Reviewed by Michele Tater for The Couch Tater Review

In Des Moines, Iowa, there lurks a sense of pure evil in the midst of the hustle and bustle of city life. After a rash of unexplained deaths with gory and gruesome results, FBI agent Lori Campisi has been summonsed to assist with the case; a agent that works on the most weird ones. The detective she must work with is Harry Reznik, a no nonsense by the book cop. This unlikely working duo has to learn to work together and be open minded to the strange and bizarre statement from eyewitnesses to these off the wall murder scenes. Could it be a gang of skilled killers terrorizing this city or the even more unlikely explanation of shadows with red eyed devouring people as they dwell in the darkness.

This book is quite horrifying and scary in the best of ways. It reminds me of the great author Clive Baker, with the fear and carnage factor. The reader is engrossed in the battle of good versus evil with the piling of bodies in the mean time. Written with great detail that the reader can almost hear the snaps and smell the blood as the shadows do their devilish work. A sit up all night, with the lights on, of course, read till its, done tome. With its great chapter flow it leaves nowhere for the reader to leave a bookmark. It leaves the shadows of any room even more spookier than ever and a healthy fear of old scary looking books. An author to keep a sharp eye out for his next book or books for that matter. ( )