Shadow Realm: A Brefniverse Supernatural Action Thriller

By Brefni O'Rourke

A hostage situation at a haunted Scottish castle poses unique challenges for a top negotiator as he tries
to rescue his family from the clutches of an evil cult.

Negotiations are underway at Donalbain Manor, an 800 year old castle in the Scottish Highlands with a long history of evil.

But who are the hostages and who are the hostage takers?

It's a question that Jack Straw must answer if he ever wants to see his family again. The NYPD's top negotiator finds his European vacation abruptly cut short when a group of thugs attempt a robbery of the infamous castle's museum. Thwarted by the security system, the desperate criminals end up taking Jack's pregnant wife and two small children captive, along with the rest of a terrified tour group.

Jack is a man of reason, used to talking down cornered criminals in the Bronx, but when he hears ominous voices chanting in Latin crackling across his walkie talkie, he knows this will be a stand off like no other. But how do you negotiate with something that is not of this world?

As talks break down with the squabbling criminals inside, and the macabre spirits of the castle begin driving them mad, Jack enlists the aid of an elite unit of Britain's Special Boat Services. Together they launch a storming of the castle's walls, only to discover they'll need to rely on weapons and tactics of a more spiritual nature if they're to defeat the true evil within, manipulating events as they unfold.

When Gordon Conrad, a local expert on the occult, comes to his aid, Jack discovers that his young son has been abducted from the other hostages and is about to be sacrificed in a rooftop ritual by the museum curator, Anton Walsh, really a centuries old sorcerer practiced in the black arts.

Jack, his family, the crooks, and the hostages, have all become pawns in an ancient game, an immortal quest for power manifesting itself within the haunted castle walls. The race is on, the ceremony is about to begin, and Jack is about to have his faith fully tested. It's a hostage rescue where not just every body, but every soul is at stake as well.

There is a Heaven, there is a hell, not all are damned, not all are saved, some are fallen angels, some are demons left behind, to spend eternity in the Shadow Realm.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GNSYK4V3
• ISBN13: 9798248658398
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 237 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"