Learning that she is adopted is only one of the first of many shocks that Nikki Jefferies will encounter in the days ahead. Her dreams have taken on a strange realness that is profoundly disturbing, though that experience does pan in with her current writing project, a book on haunted houses. As she sets up in one purportedly haunted inn, the mysteries only deepen. Each answer she finds raises more questions.

She discovers she might be a powerful Shadowmage, but her aura has hints of all the magics. Moreover, a ghost wants to draw Nikki into the Shadow world, and will stop at nothing to bring her there. As her heritage unfolds, Nikki is given the duty to restore the balance between worlds. The Horsemen of the Appocolypse are coming, but is the world ready for them?

Although the viewpoint shifts are not done as well as they might have been, and the novel is perhaps too condensed (it feels as if some details are lacking) this is definitely an enjoyable read. Ghosts with their own reality - one that is hard to differentiate from true reality - is a seldom used, but always intriguing concept. Science and fantasy blending in a world is always interesting.

If the series continues, then perhaps some of the more details will be fleshed out and the fuzzy points made more clear.

Synopsis
Earth is a Balanced Land-Shadow Magic and Light Magic interweave to form a world where magic is known of, but not well. Most of the population figures that magic is some form of technological trick – a misconception the Council of Nine encourages. Earth is also the meeting place for the other Lands – the Shadow Lands and the Dawn Lands both have enclaves scattered about its surface, keeping all the Lands in Balance. Shadow Lords, Earth Lords and Dawn Lords – all work to keep the Balance steady.

Or that's the rumor. In actuality, the Shadow Lord Andreas is working to disrupt the Balance, shift it towards him so that all the Lands fall into Shadow, giving him more power than anyone ever imagined.

Yet, there are those who have come to stop him, most notably Nikki Jeffries, a young woman with a shadowed past and an uncertain future. With the rumor running that the Four Horsemen have already been summoned and unleashed on the Earth, will Nikki and her friends have time to stop Andreas, before chaos envelops them all?