A quirky new young-adult horror fantasy novel from the author of James Rhyder and the Cave of Dreams.

Sixteen-year-old Chase Addams just had the worst birthday of his entire life. He was terrorized at school by a death god, spent the evening in a haunted house, and even faced off with an urban legend in the flesh. If this wasn’t enough to ruin the average person’s day, it ended with his best friend and girlfriend, Asra Saitou, being dragged off into the abyss by a mysterious arm wreathed in flames. Chase soon discovers this kidnapping is part of a hidden war between the land of the living and the lands of the dead. What’s even worse for the self-described uncoordinated, sarcastic, smartass is everyone thinks he’s something called a guardian—one of the heroic spirits who are summoned to not only fight in the war, but keep the conflict from spilling out into the different realms of existence. Now, Chase must come to terms with what it means to be a hero, avoid the terrors prowling in the lands of the dead, maneuver the politics of an interplanar war, and, of course, try to find Asra. All of this before a lurking darkness consumes both worlds.

However, in this cosmic conflict nothing is quite what it seems.