Blurbs :
Book I: In twelfth century England, an attack by bandits in the middle of the night leaves a young boy with no memory of who he is or where he is from. Nursed back to health by the devoted monks in a Benedictine abbey, he takes the name Alexander, or Xan for short. Aided by the kindly Brother Andrew, and his best friend, Lucy, Xan commits himself to finding out who he really is. Is his family still alive? Why has God allowed so much suffering into his life? And who—or what—is the shadowy figure creeping around the abbey in the dead of night?
Book II: An ill-fated journey, a long-lost uncle, and a mysterious cathedral mark the next chapter in the life of Xan, an orphan in search of his destiny. For a year, he has lived in the care of Benedictine monks at Harwood Abbey. Now he learns that he has an uncle, said to live in the far-off city of Lincoln. Will Xan survive the trip alongside the prisoner Carlo and his cruel guards? Will he find Uncle William? And why is Xan drawn to the spirit that haunts Lincoln Cathedral—could a ghost reconnect Xan with his dead parents? With Lucy and some new friends at his side, Xan must solve the mystery of The Haunted Cathedral.
, and my
Amazon buy links:
(Book I): https://amzn.to/2XsdHwp,
(Book II) https://amzn.to/2ULNmrm,
Publisher’s webpage:
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Excerpt from Book One:
Xan cracked open the door. Brother Oscar was nowhere in sight, but snores spilled out from his nearby cell. He slid past the monk’s door and down the steps.
Outside, the mist was getting thicker. His breath rose like wispy fog in the faint moonlight. Even with his shoes on, his feet in the wet grass felt as if they’d been frozen in a block of ice.
This couldn’t possibly turn out well. If the Shadow were one of the monks, he might get in trouble, perhaps even a paddling. If the
Shadow were an intruder, he might get attacked. And if it were the angel of death—still a possibility—he might lose his life. After all, two times the Shadow had been seen, and both times someone had died.
All right, God, this may have been a bad idea. Can You help me out of this?
His heart was beating almost loud enough for him to hear it. Yet, in the library beneath that painting, Brother Andrew had told him not to fear death.
“Get your senses about you,” he said aloud, forcing himself to move through the mist.
He took cover at the corner of the hedge—the last place he’d seen the Shadow. Even though the wind was cutting like icicles, sweat clung to the inside of his tunic.
Just then, a branch cracked. A figure moved from the other end of the hedge, but it was not creeping near the trail to Lord Godfrey’s
estate. It was heading up the hill toward the abbey!
This was the closest he’d ever been to the shadowy figure but, in all this mist, he could barely make out more detail than from the window.
It was dressed in a robe of dark, woolen material, the same as the monks wore. Its cowl hung so low over its head that it was impossible to tell from this distance if there was even a face beneath the hood.
The angel of death in his nightmare had reached with bony, skeletal hands. This figure didn’t seem to have any hands at all, unless they were tucked inside its robe.
Yet an object was at its side, so it must have had a hand of some sort to grasp with. Its body was blocking the object, but it appeared to be long and narrow, round and thin—a staff or reed of some kind, like the one he had seen on Brother Leo’s bed that day he’d first met the monk.
Xan’s paralyzed legs wouldn’t move to follow it. John was right: he must be a dotie fool to do this. What if this were that bandit, Rummy? The young boys might find his dead body crumpled in a heap on the meadow in the morning. Then they’d have nightmares for all their days.
Except if he went back without discovering the truth, they’d have nightmares anyway.
The hooded figure reached the top of the grassy hill—limping slightly, as though in pain—and headed into the granges.
There was no use debating anymore. Xan couldn’t go back to the dorm now without completing his mission. A crowd of young boys
probably were pressed around the window slits, watching his every move. They were counting on him.
Bio
Antony Barone Kolenc (“Tony”) is the author of the youth historical fiction series, The Harwood Mysteries, which was awarded the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval and has won two gold medals in the 2020 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and the 2021 Illumination Book Awards. He is an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction books and articles, and a columnist for Practical Homeschooling Magazine. He’s been a guest on NPR, CatholicTV, Catholic Faith Network TV, and other radio and television programs. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps after 21 years of military service. He currently teaches law at the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law, and he speaks at writing, legal, school, and homeschool events. Tony and his family live in Jacksonville, Florida, and are the proud parents of five children and three grandchildren.
My website is www.antonykolenc.com