This is a disturbing, thought-provoking picture of one man's life.

It can be a bit confusing when it switches from the past to the present - or from one portion of the past to another, but the confusion only lasts for a paragraph or so. It is a gripping story, which might seem thoroughly unpleasant at first, but which will pull you in and not let you go, despite the nastiness of some parts. Kevin narrates his own story, most of which is told in extended flashbacks. Kevin experiences and must work through all of these things. Bowes also deals with deeper and grittier issues, including prostitution, addiction and AIDS. In Kevin's case, he doesn't truly grow up until he reaches middle age. There is, of course, Irish Aunt Tay and her rhymes that ward off danger.Īside from the magical themes, Minions of the Moon is a novel about growing up, a process which should not stop just because a person reaches adulthood. Another character is haunted by a ghost which is tied to a disappearing book of children's rhymes. Aside from Kevin's Shadow, there are appearances here by angels, devils and strangers from another dimension, who want both Kevin and his Shadow for their own twisted purposes. Like all good urban fantasy, Minions of the Moon deals with magic living just below the surface of everyday life. But the Shadow returns, forcing Kevin to deal with all that his life had been and was becoming.

Only when Kevin is able to lift himself above addiction, with the help of an elderly man who intimately understood such things, is he finally able to banish his Shadow for a time. For years, Kevin and his Shadow live lives that most people would find reprehensible. He is already addicted to drugs and alcohol. Only his Aunt Tay, who teaches him rhymes to say to keep away trouble, seems to understand.īy the time he is a teenager, Kevin has already discovered that he could make pocket money by peddling himself. They don't want him to grow up as troubled - and troublesome - as his mother. When Kevin's family realize that he has his own Shadow, they try to deal with it in a number of unsuccessful ways. His Irish family referred to the Shadows as 'Faileas' - when they referred to them at all. Kevin's Shadow appears to be the product of a family curse his alcoholic mother also had a Shadow, and Kevin learned early to fear her appearance. I'm fifty-four and I've been stalked by my own Shadow for as long as I can remember.' So says Kevin Grierson at the beginning of Richard Bowes' Minions of the Moon. Rambles.NET: Richard Bowes, Minions of the Moon Richard Bowes,

Minions of the Moon by Richard Bowes