Tyndale recently sent me two of their newest novels to kick off my summer reading. The first of those is Valley of the Shadow by Tom Pawlik. A sequel (that still stands alone just fine) to his award-winning first novel, Vanish, Valley of the Shadow left two primary impressions on me:

1. It’s a page-turner
2. It’s kind of freaky

Here’s how the publisher describes it:

Conner Hayden is certain he survived his near-death experience for a reason. He thinks it’s to save the life—and soul—of Mitch Kent. Mitch’s body remains on life support while his spirit is trapped with the old farmer Howard Bristol in the Interworld—a strange and dangerous dimension that Conner narrowly escaped during his brush with death in Pawlik’s award-winning debut novel, Vanish.

Meanwhile, in the Interworld, Mitch receives a warning from a mysterious stranger: Howard is not who he appears to be, and Mitch must flee immediately. Pursued by Howard and a terrifying creature, Mitch soon learns the truth about what happened to him and that his only hope of survival lies at the very edge of the Interworld.

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Okay, so my first hints that it might be a little freaky should have been the words “strange and dangerous dimension,” “Interworld,” and “a terrifying creature.”

But since I hadn’t read Pawlik’s first novel, Vanish, I went into this book essentially clueless.

Let’s start with some basics. What is this “Interworld”? To quote Nathan, one of the book’s characters:

“This place is just like a doorway. When someone dies, they usually pass right through to the other side. But sometimes people get stuck in between. Trapped here. Not dead but not really alive either.”

Okay, so there you have it: one of the primary settings in Valley of the Shadow is a kind of other dimension… a bizarre, rather frightening place, somewhere between life and death.

And the plot revolves around the lives of several men who have been there. Men who were in some kind of accident (here in our world) and found themselves trapped for a time in the Interworld.

One man was resuscitated and is trying to figure out what his purpose is, wondering exactly what God wants him to do with his second chance at life.

Another man came back, but not alone. He’s accompanied by a nasty, demon-like creature who, to be blunt, is not a very good influence on him.

A third man is still in the Interworld…confused, unsure of where he is or what he should be doing, but pretty sure he doesn’t like the incredibly icky creatures that inhabit this peculiar world (where it’s best to be in a safe place when the sun goes down).

I admit that, even with the demon-like creatures and alternate dimensions, I got sucked into Valley of the Shadow pretty quickly. Short chapters, multiple tense plot-lines, and plenty of suspense kept me up late more than one night. I also found myself reminded of books by Ted Dekker, or even Frank Peretti  — other authors who like to take out normal world, turn it upside down, introduce some other-worldly weirdness, and ratchet up the suspense.

Now that I’ve read Valley of the Shadow, I’m curious to go back and read Vanish, to get some back-story on a few of the characters.

If this sounds like an interesting book to you, it’s available on Amazon.com, of course, where you can also read reviews and check out an excerpt fromt he book.