The One You Feed

The One You Feed is the first book in the Shadow Tales series by James Drummond. It’s the story of Toby Hoffman, a teenage boy who is haunted by the recent death of his mother in a car accident where he was driving. Understandably, he is having trouble moving past this trauma, but his depression lightens a little when he meets his new neighbor, Rachel, who is a member of the nearby Umatilla tribe. Toby is intrigued by her, despite having grown up hearing frightening stories about the tribe. When his friend, Nate, wakes up covered in blood in the surrounding woods, Toby discovers that some stories are born out of truth.

Mr. Drummond has done an excellent job of telling an exciting story of supernatural proportions. The book is not a long one, which made me feel a lot less guilty about not being able to put it down. He really gets you with those short chapters that leave you wanting to know what happens next. You think to yourself, “I’ll just read one more,” and the next thing you know, you finished the whole book. I love stories of the supernatural and the battles we have to overcome in ourselves first in order to beat them. This book is a great example of that genre. Even though I haven’t been through a trauma like Toby has, it was still easy to identify with him and Rachel as well. I felt that Mr. Drummond did a wonderful job of making you see from everyone’s point of view and where they were coming from. Sometimes monsters aren’t just monsters, and there is a reason for their behavior.

When I asked to review this book, I had no idea that it was the first in a series. Now that I’ve read it, I’m really looking forward to seeing where the author will take Toby next or what otherworldly creatures he will be battling in the following books.