Wraith of Sheltermount is a hard hitting, multi-layered, fantasy thriller. It is Die Hard in a castle. It is guerrilla warfare in a walled city. It is a study on how one makes the choice between sacrifice and survival.

Draven Highfall, Heir to Allomar, a land within the joined states of Vidinar, is a pampered, overindulged, self-centered noble who has no idea his house and his name were the first casualty in a civil war. He has ignored his duty as Heir, preferring a life of fancy to one of service. When partisan invaders take his fortress in a bloody attack, he has to make a choice: run or fight? His sentry force is destroyed, his family killed or captive, he is left alone to decide the fate of his name and his house.

Coinciding with the struggle in Allomar, war has thrown the city of Knotting Gulf into chaos. An insurgency fights the takeover of Vidinar, fighting within the confines of the walled city. Thena Attonberry, a Marshal of Allomar, along with others, fight hard and fast but they do so under an ever tightening and unyielding net of deadly partisan swords.

Wraith of Sheltermount is a fast-paced ride that stands the fantasy genre on its head. It is also a study in the psychology of fear, and the balance of one’s self against the greater good.

John Stamp