Review of Shadow on the Wall
by Pavarti Tyler

One man, witness to a terrible crime, paralyzed to help, and tormented by his inability to save a soul…leads to saving a new soul that sparks a revolution across a city of corruption and greed. Is he the new prophet come to save their very souls and help them rise up again? Or is he too far beyond his own redemption to deliver his people from the dark as The Sandstorm?

One word: Turkey. A place  where Tyler creates her controversial novel, Shadow on the Wall. A place built of sand, wretched souls, heroic acts, true evil, heartache, and hope. Tyler weaves her characters with deft craft. We adore them. We hate them. We pity them.

Two words. Recai Osman. And I want more of him. Tormented soul to supernatural hero? We follow Recai’s transformation from a billionaire nomad seeking more from life to the one man who can save his people from evil. But will he have the courage to answer the call to savior? Tyler gives us a unique twist on the Muslim stereotype by giving us a super hero rather than the typical “terrorist”.

Shadow on the Wall is not for the faint of heart at times. It has an intensely personal and disturbing rape scene early on. In reading I thought, oh no, Tyler’s not going to go there! She did. I came to discover later that the witness of this terrible crime (Recai) is eventually led to saving another woman that may save a nation. Was the rape needed? Absolutely. And kudos to Tyler for taking a risk.

One word. One woman. Dayar. She creates her own blazing path, believing herself destined to lead in a world of men…yet at what price? And if she is defeated – what does that say about their world filled with violent extremes…of behavior, laws, and weather?

In Shadow on the Wall Tyler’s paints a vivid, gritty world swirling with danger, deception, lust, and greed where no woman is safe…and no man either with the lawless RTK in charge. Can one man save them all and transform a place gone mad? Does he have the courage and strength to answer a higher call or will his own self-doubt and self-loathing swallow him like the desert sand forever?

A couple of notes to ponder. Shadow on the Wall could have been much longer (it abruptly was cut too short as far as I was concerned) and just “ended” with many questions unanswered. This may be Tyler’s calling card I’m beginning to see from reading her other work.

There were some wonderful secondary characters in this book, Hasad, who is Recai’s father figure, and Mayam, a nurse who is a softer-savior figure. Both of these characters purpose was also left swirling in the sand…making we wonder if they will appear in Book 2. And Dayar, who is left painfully alone and powerless…will she rise again to create her own destiny in Recai’s new world?

Yet, even with so many questions raised that go unanswered I’m driven to keep thinking about these characters. I want more of them…especially “my” Recai, like a thirst in their desert storm that can never be quenched.

Tyler is a risk-taker, unafraid to tackle hard issues face on: corruption, depravity, religion, and the monsters hidden beneath a human guise. As I said, my only desire was for the book to be longer. I hope the doors left open will draw me into the next book in The Sandstorm Chronicles.