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Nina Blazon
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| Kill Your Shadow |
| Schattenauge |
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Content: |
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March 2010, a major city. Zoe, 16, wants nothing more than to forget. She doesn't want to have to think about the breakup with her boyfriend, and the wretched betrayal of her best friend. And she wants to block out the fact that something is happening inside her that she can't figure out. Restless, she spends her nights club hopping and dancing herself into a trance. Then, finally, she finds respite from that restlessness, and her helplessness.
One night, in one of the clubs, she draws the attention of two guys who are somehow odd. Both identify her as a "runner", the lowest rank in the hierarchy of the Panthera, prey to be hunted.
The two young men are Gil, an Algerian who is also known as "French", and Irves, an Asian albino of tantalizing beauty. Unbeknownst to Zoe, she, they, and a handful of other people in the city are Panthera, beings who can change form and in certain situations are overpowered and controlled by their mysterious, animalistic big-cat instincts.
This transformation (the switch) remains invisible for normal mortals. In certain circumstances, however, their cat-like traits take control. From one moment to the next, Panthera perceive the world like big cats. Their senses become sharper and their physical strength increases many times over; their agility, speed, and also their predatory qualities emerge unbridled. Governed by their "shadow" which can only be perceived by those called Seers among them, the Panthera switch into another mode of being. After the fact, they usually have no memory of the consequences.
Ever since Gil has encountered the lovely Zoe, he feels irresistibly drawn to her and goes to enormous lengths to be near her. He wants to warn her and explain to her about her second nature (the shadow), but also to protect her from the hunters.
For the city is divided into four areas, or territories, that the Panthera defend with all their might. Their coexistence in the urban jungle is governed by a taboo: murder among their ranks is forbidden. When several Panthera are found dead in short succession, however, it is quickly apparent that the killer must be one of their own.
Told in alternating sections from the perspectives of Zoe and Gil, the murderer's identity remains a puzzle until the very end of the story. Perhaps Zoe isn't as innocent as she seems? After all, after a blackout she found herself in an unfamiliar place, barefoot, and with blood under her fingernails. . .
Could cool Irves be the assassin? Irves, who is so likeable at first, but seems to lead a double life? Or perhaps the mysterious Gil is the better suspect - Gil, who is positively revolted by his feline characteristics. Gil is aware of the inevitable wildness and negligence of the Panthera, ruled by their instincts, who often end up living in the streets and feeding themselves from garbage and dead pigeons.
But another outcome is possible. When solidarity among them develops - unusual for the Panthera - and they finally learn not only to fully accept their big-cat instincts, but especially to control them, only then are they able to escape the predictable outcome of misery and a life on the streets and to expose the murdere.
The killers, one learns later, were hyenas, a kind of mutation of the Panthera. They had found a way to lead an existence parallel to their shadow, in other words, to devote themselves to a completely normal everyday life as humans. The hyena pack that had begun to infiltrate the city - in the form of normal business people - is driven out of town by Zoe, Gil, Irves, and other Pantheras.
Nina Blazon has written an exceptionally enthralling murder mystery with paranormal elements - inspired by the classic black-and-white horror film Cat People. |
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The Author: |
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Nina Blazon was born in Koper in 1969 and grew up in Neu-Ulm, in southern Germany. She studied Slavic and German language studies and taught at the universities of Tübingen and Saarbrücken. She first began to write during an internship in journalism. Today, Nina Blazon is a freelance journalist, author and writer working for the Stuttgarter Zeitung, among others. |
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Rights Sold: |
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French world rights |
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