The Shadow of a Shadow by R.H. Dixon

A year ago, I read Dixon's excellent coming-of-age tale, THE CUNDY. In short, I was impressed. I thought Dixon was on the cusp of doing great things in the genre. 

Now I KNOW she has done something great. It's called The Shadow of a Shadow. 

This book is many things: Dracula tribute, character study, composition on grief and regret, ghost story and murder mystery. Normally I'd scoff at a book attempting to be all of these things. I'd be wary at the very least, because the genre is clogged with stories that try to be everything for everyone. However, Dixon deftly navigates through each facet of the story with the ease of a veteran writer. As an extra creative touch, Dixon parallels the story with Stoker's classic, Dracula. This may seem pretentious, but trust me: it is seamless. The Shadow of a Shadow also manages to feature two timelines that are equally intriguing. In my experience, novels that prominently feature multiple timelines have plots that are too slow. Usually, one timeline exists only to support another timeline's narrative. Not here. Dixon manages to inject each timeline with enough intrigue to move the reader, (and the plot) along at a brisk pace. 

R.H. Dixon's previous novel, The Cundy, received a B grade. This one is even better. Enough talking. Do you like your horror novels to be dark? And awesome? Then here you go. 

Grade: A

Review by Jason Cavallaro

Twitter: @pinheadspawn