Local Author Dylan Roche Releases Third Novel, “Shadowclaw”

“Shadowclaw, Shadowclaw, come and play!” Those were the words Ethan and his friends chanted as children during a slumber party seance to summon a legendary ghoul. It was the night his best friend, Robby, ended up murdered. Years later, Ethan is an anxious and superstitious teenager doing his best to forget the past and convince himself that Shadowclaw was only a story. But when he finds himself transported back in time to that fateful night, he realizes he actually has a chance to change the past and save Robby from a horrific death. It also means he will have to face a supernatural entity he’s always told himself was just a legend that couldn’t hurt him: Shadowclaw.

Author Dylan Roche, an Arnold resident and Severna Park High School graduate, released his third book in August. “Shadowclaw,” a young-adult horror novel, is different from young-adult fantasies “The Purple Bird” and “The Tide and the Stars.”

“Writing horror was an interesting change after writing fantasy,” Roche said. “I loved telling a compact scary story with a small cast of characters in one setting over the course of a few hours, which was so different from telling a broad, sweeping epic adventure. Plus, fear is a fun emotion to try and get out of a reader.”

Roche will appear for a book signing at Wyrd Bookstore in Edgewater on October 10 from 1:00pm-3:00pm, and with Park Books at the FrightReads Book Festival at the Howard County Fairgrounds on October 25.

“Shadowclaw” is available wherever books are sold. To learn more about Roche and his novels, go to www.dylanrochewriter.com.