Flight of Shadows is the fast-paced sequel to Broken Angel: A Novel. So fast-paced, in fact, that the whole book only covers a few days. In Flight of Shadows, we learn more about the history that has brought society to this point. The Water Wars, the return to a near-feudal caste system, and why thousands of people are living in soovie parks - large communities of disabled SUVs that are now good for nothing except keeping the rain off.

Caitlyn has escaped to the Outside and safety and made contact with Billy and Theo, but when threatened, they all quickly flee to another city and live in poverty while trying to stay "under the radar". They soon learn that that's not possible.

When Caitlyn is forced to defend herself from a brutal attacker, she sets in motion a chain of events that leaves all of them running for their lives again. She is befriended by Razor, a young man who is a master of disguise and can be found hacking a computer system one moment and braving the horrifying subterrainian community the next.

One of the things that makes a good thriller for me is never being sure who is one which side. Who can the good guys trust? Flight of Shadows is definitely a good thriller. And it's not just Caitlyn who has to watch her back. Most of the main characters in the book are betrayed at some point. Not a good way to live, but it makes for a great story.

I suppose you could read Flight of Shadows as a stand-alone book. The author does give a lot of background. I would recommend reading Broken Angel first, though.

I received this book free from the publisher as part of the Blogging for Books program.

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This is the first book I read from this author. I found it to be brilliant. A masterpiece in the genre of science-fiction. The author describes his characters with such passion and so rich in details that makes us feel suffering together with our heroes. His description of the environment is superb. The plot happens in a future after what he called the Water Wars. After a lot of effort, a genetic experiment produced some embryos, and one of the scientists thought that they have crossed some moral boundaries and destroy all data on the project, and all but three embryos. One of those developed to be his daughter, Caitlyn. She has some power and they have to flee to a place named Appalachia, where some religious extremists live in a closed community. The story develops and the action begins when the government starts to search for the girl, so they can resume the project, as she is the missing link of the original research and her blood contain information that could change the destiny of the human race. She goes outside of Appalachia and on her life as fugitive, she is helped by the most unusual character, Razor, and two friends that came with her, Billy and Theo. The scary part on this story is that it is composed by realistic situations that we see nowadays (in minor scale) and we can see it happening in the future exactly as it is so well described by the author.
I recommend this book not only for young-adults but also for any lover of science-fiction. And I place this book among the best three I read this year.

This book was written by Sigmund Brouwer and it was published in 2010 by Water Brooke Press and they were kind enough to provide me a copy for reviewing through their Blogging for Books Program. Thanks, Mr. Sigmund Brouwer, for such a delicious fiction!
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Caitlyn Brown is not a typical young woman. She thought that she was deformed but has learned that she has been genetically modified. This modification allows her to extend and retract wings. Although she has made it "outside" she knows that she won't be safe as long as the government is still hunting her. Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer continues Caitlyn's quest for truth and help.

Flight of Shadows begins with Caitlyn working the night shift at a hotel in what was formerly known as Washington, D.C. This is now a walled city-state and only the "Industrials" (workers with minimal human and society rights usually sporting facial barcodes) and the "Influentials" (extremely wealthy) are found inside. What should have been a routine room cleaning becomes an attempt at subjugation and possible rape and results in proof of Caitlyn's physical modification.

Unfortunately Caitlyn is on her own in the city and she is still being hunted by Casper Pierce (a National Intelligence or NI agent) and Mason Lee (a bounty hunter from Appalachia). Caitlyn knows that they don't necessarily want her alive, they just want to harvest her eggs and possibly some blood. Her genetic modification is much more than just having wings, but only a few people are aware of how different she is compared to other "experiments."

Theo and Billy are outside the city walls, working in a smelting factory and living in a soovie park. Apparently since cars are only owned and used by the "influentials,” the "illegals" (workers or refugees without rights) are residing in cannibalized SUVs, vans and minivans in soovie park ghettos. There's no electricity in most "soovies" and running water is hard to find. If that wasn't bad enough, the sick are always at the mercy of "death doctors" that euthanize the ill and dying while hoards surround the occupied soovie to scavenge the dead's property.

Although Caitlyn suffers greatly, she is fortunate to come across people always willing to help her. In Broken Angel she had Billy and Theo, and now she has Razer, a wealthy street-smart kid that helps her hide and escape detection by the NI. Flight of Shadows reveals more about Billy and Theo and spends a little more time discussing their trials while waiting to reconnect with Caitlyn. Mason Lee is still a bad guy on the hunt for Caitlyn, Billy and Theo. He also hopes to get revenge against Pierce for breaking his arm, forcing him to run and the suffering he incurred as a result of his run from Appalachia.

The caste-like society is more prevalent in Flight of Shadows, and the disparity between the have and have-nots is highly visible. Although the city-states don't govern as tightly as the religious leadership in Appalachia, the rules regarding the various castes are just as rigid and unjust. And like most societies, past and present, those with money are allowed to abuse the system at will. This dystopian future is shocking and abhorrent but regrettably one is able to see the seeds of this future being sown by present actions. Caitlyn does escape in the end and is joyfully united with her father, Billy and Theo. The program that created her is destroyed but will its destruction be permanent or is the government just biding its time before they begin again? Although Flight of Shadows is filled with abject poverty and grave injustices, it ends with hope and a sense of purpose. ( )

Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer

I like to read a variety of books—mystery, suspense, children’s, fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, young adult, mainstream and Christian. I chose this book because the description said Christian, young adult, speculative fiction. This is the only Sigmund Brouwer book I have read, but I did not like his style of writing in this novel. He takes whole paragraphs for description and background instead of interweaving and sprinkling it in naturally. Perhaps the sentence structure and group titles (Outsiders, Influentials, Enforcers, etc.) work for this age group, but it didn’t work for me. While the action picked up about half-way through the book, really the only reason I made myself finish reading was hoping the story would get better and give a proper and thorough review.

Maybe if I had read Broken Angel (the prequel to Flight of Shadows) the story would have been easier to follow. As it was, I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters, their actions, and storylines. Caitlyn is the main character and the result of an experiment with genetic DNA codes. She tries to blend in and hide her deformity, trying to decide if it is a blessing or a curse. Jordan and Charmaine are the scientists who originally worked on the Genesis project, the one that performed the DNA experiments. Jordan tried to rescue Caitlyn from being a science experiment, but the two ended up separated and left Caitlyn on her own. Theo and Billy rescued Caitlyn from drowning in one of her attempts to escape a bounty hunter named Mason. Theo and Billy seem to be the only ones who accept Caitlyn unconditionally.

Now on the Outside, Caitlyn is running from Everett—someone who lives in a hotel where she cleaned rooms, from Mason the bounty hunter, Pierce Carson from the NI agency, the military, and Charmaine who wants to continue the DNA research and experiments now that she knows Caitlyn survived. Then there is Razor who seems to help Caitlyn, but you’re never really sure whose side he is on.

I read the story from beginning to end, but was never drawn in. There seemed to be three to four different viewpoints going on, but I don’t think the characters had enough of a distinct voice to be able to follow the transitions smoothly. When the same scene is written from different viewpoints, Brouwer spent too much time retelling descriptions and dialogue. There were some suggestive scenes that I did not expect and did not appreciate finding in what was supposed to be a Christian young adult book. In fact, the author describes everything Mason the bounty hunter did in such a disturbing and gruesome manner that I would not recommend this book to young adults and I would caution adults and Christians both. I do not plan on reading anything else by Sigmund Brouwer.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher to give an honest review. ( )

FLIGHT OF SHADOWS is the sequel to Brower’s futuristic thriller BROKEN ANGEL. In this Sci-Fi series, scientists have learned to splice human genetic material together with other life forms to create new hybrids. Most of the experiments have failed, except for one – a girl named Caitlyn Brown. In this second novel, Caitlyn has just escaped from the oppression of a closed culture known as ‘Appalachia’ , where she and her scientist father had retreated for her safety. She soon discovers, however, that life ‘Outside’ is every bit as dangerous. Here, the upper class known as the ‘Influentials’ are all powerful, while anarchy reigns everywhere else. Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of the hybrid ‘freak’ – for Caitlyn is not like other people. She has wings and can fly, as well as other genetic properties that make her very valuable – dead or alive. As she is pursued by the government, the scientific community, money hungry criminals, and a psychopathic predator out for revenge, she comes across an unlikely ally in the person of a street kid named Razor. ‘Fast, sharp and dangerous’ – that’s his motto. Will Razor be able to protect her and ultimately help her find her true freedom?
This novel is a must read for the Sci-fi lover. Thematically, it reminded me of the motion picture ‘Splice’, as well as Frank Peretti’s iconic novel Monster. When scientists take creation into their own hands, bad things can happen. There are some gruesome scenes in the book, although well written and certainly not graphic – just enough detail to let you know that the bad guys (in this case, a rogue bounty hunter named Mason) are really BAD. I loved this book. It’s a futuristic thriller that, in the end, presents a message of hope for the future of mankind. ( )