Crimson Shadow: Noir (Book 1) By: Nathan Squiers

 Published May 1, 2012 by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly
                                                      Publishing
                                                      ASIN B007YXIR24
             

Synopsis:

**This book contains mild graphic language that may not be suitable for younger readers** Ever since witnessing his mother's murder at the hands of his abusive stepfather when he was a boy, Xander Stryker has spent his life trying to end it. But every night he's denied the death he craves. Then, as his eighteenth birthday approaches, his life is plunged into chaos and he's dragged into a supernatural world of vampires and other creatures of darkness. As the mysteries of his lineage begin to unravel, Xander is given the ultimate choice: Continue with his wretched life as a human or begin a new one as the vampire he was meant to be. Unfortunately, after his rebirth, Xander finds that the supernatural world is just as unforgiving and brutal as the humans'. To make matters worse, his traumatizing and unsettled history returns and threatens to topple him once again. With new truths of his past creeping out from the darkness, Xander has the chance to use his newfound strength to finally conquer his fears... ... or allow them to finally destroy him.


My Review:

I received this book from the author to give an honest review.

WOW! Just mind-blowing Nathan Squiers took it out of the park with Crimson Shadow.

From the very beginning I was hooked. Nathan Squiers writing is out of the park, he writes dark, twisted, gruesome stories and this was no exception.  

Crimson Shadow takes you on the journey with a young man named Xander Stryker. As a boy he was abused by his stepfather and not only was he abused but so was his mother.  While going to school he was considered an outcast and bullied by others the only friend he had was Estella, and she has a secret of her own that Xander does not know about.  Every night Xander tries to end his life and to no avail he is denied.  Close to his eighteenth birthday his life has more meaning to it and he learns this. He learns who the voice in his head really and truly is, and he learns more about his abusive stepfather Kyle. 
He also learns about his father and the world his father was in.

Xander is thrown into the world of the supernatural and turns into the Crimson Shadow (which I thought was a wickedly cool name to call his self.) And starts to learn how to kick ass and hone into his powers. 

One part that I had a question was when Marcus says "Strange crib for someone who's been called a "devil." I wonder what exactly he meant by that.

There were a couple of places in the book that either got me to laughing, pissed off, or a bit sad. 

#1  pg. 270 this part made me a bit sad.
Joseph shook his head. "I've watched you Xander. I've seen the events that shapped your life. You've survived darker horrors than many I could have lived through. I always knew you were stronger than you believed you were." He smiled over at him, "why do you think I never took control to stop you during your ritual?" Xander smiled and looked away, wiping his eyes, "Guess I thought you just wanted to let me play it out on my own." 
"And I did. Every single time. Trust me, Xander. Watching my son stick a gun barrel in his mouth on a nightly basis and not doing something about it took a great deal of faith on my part."

#2 This part starts at chapter 22 which is pg. 185-191. And I was truly upset.

There is a part that Xander has a memory of and it was when his mother passed away. She died at the hands of his stepfather. The way it all went down I was furious I wanted to kill Kyle myself. I have never been so pissed at a character before until now. I truly felt so sorry for Xander but of course it made him who he was in the book.  I will leave it there so you can read it yourself.

#3. Pg  323 hahaha

"It was like a fucking magic show the way he made fuzz-nuts suddenly appear in my living room!" he shook his head and laughed, "Scared the shit out of him, too! Literally!" he growled, looking back down at Trepis, "All over my floor!"

You have to read the book to know who is Trepis. 

Crimson Shadow will have you laughing, upset at some parts, and turning the pages to see what else is going to happen next. Thank you for the adventures of Xander I can not wait to read what is going to happen next with him. I am sure he is going to be just as kick-ass in this book as he will be in others. 

My Rating: 5 wine glasses

Places to find the author:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5258872.Nathan_Squiers

http://www.nathansquiers.com/

https://twitter.com/Lit_Dark_Prince

https://www.facebook.com/Nathan.Squiers?fref=ts



Places to buy the book:


Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Shadow-Noir-Series-ebook/dp/B007YXIR24/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1350149822&sr=8-5&keywords=Crimson+Shadow

http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Shadow-Noir-Nathan-Squiers/dp/0615624030/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1350149822&sr=8-3&keywords=Crimson+Shadow

Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crimson-shadow-nathan-squiers/1110839574?ean=9780615624037