Title: Praesidium: Shadows in the Wind – Book One
Author: McKinley Aspen
Publisher: Muse Literary
ISBN: 978-1958714003
Pages: 314
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed By: Dan MacIntosh

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Superhero movies are all the rage in Hollywood these days, along with all those Marvel and DC Comics inspired films. There are sequels and spin-offs and reboots every few months now. Author McKinley Aspen’s book, which is labeled book one, is titled Praesidium: Shadows in the Wind, and – while not a book about people that wear funny suits and capes – is nevertheless a story where seemingly everyday people discover special superpowers; and with these unique skills and talents, they fight crime. It’s a fun story, where the reader gets to watch these characters grow into their new, more advanced selves.

Our tale is told through the eyes of Katherine, who is not only an evolving superhero, but one with family ties to some of her enemies as well. It all begins at a job fair where this college graduate gets offered a really promising and rewarding role. It’s not until she actually starts doing this job, though, that she and four other new employees are transformed into a crime fighting team.

This exciting opportunity is filled with dangerous but exhilarating adventures. While going after these bad guys and girls, our four heroes discover special skills and talents they heretofore didn’t know they had. In the midst of all these huge life changes, Katherine is working through her romantic relationship with Scott. She eventually learns how he is more knowledgeable about her new calling than she ever could have realized.

The best part of this story is all the action. Although Aspen does get inside Katherine’s head and explores her feelings and reactions to the fast-paced changes in her life, she never lets such inner workings bog down the story. Much like one of those Mission Impossible movies, these fantastic four rarely have time to breathe between assignments. Thus, if you like action, action, action! in your stories, this is a book you’ll likely enjoy. With that said, though, if you’re somewhat adverse to the whole supernatural superhero genre, you may not fully appreciate what Aspen has done here. Perhaps you don’t enjoy suspending disbelief as much as this story will require you to do. Thus, readers ought to beware of what they do like and don’t like in their novels before picking this one up.

Even if you aren’t a Marvel universe fan, however, it’s difficult to fault how Aspen infuses her story with a clear sense of right and wrong. These characters are willing to do whatever it takes to bring down bad people and stop them from harming their fellow humans. We live in a world where moral values have sometimes become just a tad too subjective. Not so in the world Aspen has created. Her characters are a little like the crime fighters of old Hollywood; the ones willing to travel to the ends of the earth, just to end an injustice.

As this is book one, we can expect these characters to grow and bond with each other even more, as new stories are created around their endeavors. With this first book, Aspen has set the table, so to speak, for the future. One can likely expect more adventures, with more and more action. It wouldn’t be surprising if this series gets made into a film. It certainly feels like Aspen had this goal in the back of her mind. When reading this work, it’s easy to picture what’s happening on a big screen.