Shadow City

Thoroughly enjoyable post apocalyptic future set urban fantasy with vampires, cyborgs and other creatures fighting for survival in a world gone dark. This was tremendous fun. Great characters and an edge-of-your-seat plot. Slight cliff hanger ending but I found I didn’t mind. Highly recommend.

This book was received as an ARC from Black Rose Writing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Shadow City in parts reminded me a lot of Mortal Kombat and of The Last Man on Earth which made this book so exciting to read. To hear of scavengers Jean and Louis come across a nameless man that has the fate of their world in his hands and his power feeding on all destruction in the world was definitely something different and mind blowing to read. Even though there were a few parts that were intense when it came to the nuclear ruins and the wasteland it turned to what was Los Angelos. Fantasyland turned survival of the fittest was a new and unique approach to this Novel and I know our book club will sure enjoy this.

We will consider adding this title to our Fantasy collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Part supernatural horror, part post-apocalyptic novel, Shadow City follows four people as they try to survive the various dangers and pitfalls of an unrecognizable Los Angeles. With fast pacing, this novel manages to balance world building and character development to immerse the reader in the vibrant universe. With a cliff hanger that leaves you wanting the next book in the series, Shadow City is a must read for fans of post-apocalyptic novels with a supernatural twist!

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Shadow City is an intriguing, action-filled post-apocalyptic novel. Set up as a trilogy, this is the first installment and introduction to the battle for the fate of the world. With a mix of regular people, vampires and technically enhanced survivors, the different factions that have survived the Glitch band together against the true horror threatening the world and every being in it.

The plot is well driven and keeps you reading, always wanting to know the next step on the journey. The characters are very well developed and likable, many of them hiding their own secrets and mysteries. Don't expect to have all the answers by the end - this is only the first novel! Despite being kept in the dark about quite a few of the characters, they are still spell-binding and will keep you wanting to know their fate. The society created in this novel is well-balanced and thought out. The only negative (warning: English teacher complaint) is there is some jarring errors in grammar and sentence structure that leads me to believe this was written by a non-native speaker. The errors are much more apparent in the second half of the novel as if a language editor had stopped halfway through doing their job. As this is a pre-published copy, I am hoping the errors will be corrected before publication, as this is a very strong story that deserves to have the reader fully immersed at all times. Regardless, I will definitely be looking forward to the next book and highly recommend this to any fan of post-apocalyptic fiction.

In exchange for the opportunity to read this book from Net Galley, I offer a review of Shadow City by Anna Mocikat.
This is a post - apocalyptic, fast paced and exciting thrill of a ride for a good die-hard science fiction fan. If you like mutants, humans, vampires, and other evil creatures that you can only imagine coming from a place you never want to visit, this is a story for you. There is torture, death, friendship and love.
Set in Los Angeles, the story follows four main characters, with many side characters that round this story out nicely. There is a vampire, a cyborg, a human with inhuman abilities, and a creature unknown possessing a human. They fight for the right to live in the horrible aftermath of a cataclysmic event. What kind of a creature could possibly be a threat to all of these characters with their combined skills? The only way to know who wins and who dies, is to read this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read Shadow City in exchange for an honest review.

Shadow City is a tour de force. Once I picked it up, I didn’t stop reading. It has dynamic characters who will make you laugh, and hold your breath as they face impossible situations. I can’t wait to see where this series leads.

Shadow City was given to me by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Shadow City was EPIC! I honestly did not expect to like it so much. It is filled with so much action and world building. The writing by this author made it easy to follow the storyline. It has so much, but I was able to follow throughout and it fas paced. It is definitely part of a dark, grueling science fiction series.

The story is set during a post- apocalyptic Los Angeles world, after a supposed so called Glitch. It follows different characters, each with different characteristics. Let me say this, there are VAMPIRES involved and DEMONS!!! Like what?!? My inner vampire-loving self was completely shocked and excited! There’s also a cyborg badass named Bombshell (favorite character). There are other two characters who are very important to the plot, but as what they really are is a complete mystery. I can’t wait to find out what they are! There’s a bit of romance but not enough that it takes away from the plot (which I appreciate).

It is honestly a thrilling story and I’m giving it 5 stars! I could not put it down and even I after finished it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Los Angeles is an apocalyptic wasteland. The few survivors of a horrific catastrophe live under the constant threat of radiation, mutated creatures, and worse... lurking in the shadows. In the ruins of the deserted city, the scavengers Jean and Louis come across a nameless stranger and bring him to the only safe zone, once known as Hollywood. What’s left of society is divided among different factions; mistrust, brute force, and anarchy rule every day’s life. If the struggle for survival wasn’t bad enough, the nuclear disaster has shifted realities as we knew them and brought something into our world which threatens to exterminate the human race. Something so dark, that every living being is horrified of it. Something that feeds on suffering and violence. But humans aren’t alone in this existential fight. Unexpected allies emerge from the shadows and in the final stand, the nameless stranger will decide humanities fate.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley. I was excited to read a creepy paranormal apocalyptic around Halloween. Plus, the concept of this book sounded genuine unique and fun. I was really looking forward to jumping in.

The setting of this book did not disappoint. Having visited Los Angeles earlier this year, I enjoyed recognizing scenes from places I’d seen. The apocalyptic twist on the city worked out well and I enjoyed exploring the world and how it got to its current point. It feels like the author put a lot of time and thought into developing her world and fleshing out the details, which I appreciated.

The characters in this book were interesting. There was an exceptionally large cast for a book of this length, but each character is unique and engaging. Each character had a well fleshed out back story and was dealing with their own obstacles,. The point of view switched often between characters, each character had multiple scenes from their own perspective, which was a unique thing to see in a Young Adult novel. But it also made it very difficult to feel completely connected to any character. By the end of the book, I wasn’t quite sure who the main character was.

I struggled with the plot in this novel. The book was fairly short, so it was quick paced and had interesting twists. However, for a book as short as this, there was too much going on in the story. New plot lines were regularly added in, making an already complicated story more complex. I did appreciate how everything came together at the end, but didn’t feel like I was able to full explore each character and their development because of how quickly the story went.

Shadow City is a quick read, that you can probably get through on long weekend vacation or on the plane there and back. The world is well developed and engaging. The characters were complex but since the perspective shifted so much, I wasn’t able to connect to any specific character. The plot was quick paced but had too much going on for a book of this length.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read Shadow City in exchange for an honest review.

This story happens in apocalyptic world and after the Glitch. No one knows what caused it and world is so much different than it used to be. Some are still thinking about the world before the Glitch but most of them is trying to live in this new reality as best as they can. This was interesting world and I really liked to read it.

There were some key characters that we followed. First we met siblings Jean and Louise doing their job outside of the Zone. When they were going home they met a man who didn't remember his name or anything else. They named him Colton and they took him home with them. I'm really curious about Colton and his background. Begin of the book we meet also Eric, Bombshell and Vincent. I really liked Eric and Bombshell a lot but I'm wondering about Vincent. Can't wait for next book.

Shadow City is a future, ruined and decayed Los Angeles, cut off from the rest of the world by a global catastrophe referred to as the Glitch. The radiation from this produces mutants from a shadowy Beyond; however this is more a dark fantasy tale than SF, as the Glitch seems to have disrupted the equilibrium between dimensions too, as there is a region within the old city where Lovecraftian Dark Ones also emerge, to seek World Domination.
It is up to an imperilled community, of a small group of mismatched heroes, who must do battle against a little-understood foe. Cyborg Bombshell and her ex-cop vampire ally Eric join forces with a human who may not may not be something more. Then there is Vincent who may now be something more, but who now dallies with a rogue vampire who may be threat to the whole community.
The writer professes to be planning a trilogy, so the future and destiny of many of her characters is by no means resolved at the end of this novel.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, with an interesting take on vampires, who are not portrayed as the bad guys here, although the human community does not unilaterally accept them. This novel should come as a treat for those who enjoy the kind of fantasy tales that is reminiscent of gaming app worlds of alternative post- apocalyptic worlds.

This one was a page turner. So much going on and the story was fast paced. There were many characters and they had their own side story going on at the same time. Jean and Louis - sister/brother, Colton - unknown, Eric - vampire, Bombshell - cyborg, and Vincent - well you have to read the book to see what he is. I was really surprised by how quickly the read went and disappointed when it did end. Need more by this author.

Shadow City reads as the perfect combination of a dystopian future, cyberpunk and fantasy creatures. The plot is strong, as are the characters. I was reading this book, looking forward to learning more about both the characters and the new state the world was in all the time.

It's not a bad book at all and there were amazing aspects to it. It definitely gets better as the book goes on, but there are just some things that didn't work for me. I feel the characters were all introduced way too quickly. It took me a couple of chapters to get the hang of who was who, what side who was on etc. As someone with a qualification in writing, I was taught to try not to use the word 'suddenly' but there were many chapters in which this word was used an awful lot. Also, the last battle I felt ended way too easily. Both sides of the battle were so strong and within what felt like moments, there was a simple act and the whole thing was over. So those aspects are what didn't work for me, BUT there are definitely some very relatable characters in the story and to be honest, those characters are what kept me going through the story once I got the hang of who was who. I'm very, very drawn to Eurydice.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for a copy of the ARC for my honest review.

The novel was very interesting I just think it was not for me. The charters was introduced way to fast and I had trouble following who was who. The author Anna did write a believable world. If your into Syfy you will probably enjoy the book.

dow City is the kind of book I know will stick with me for a while. Everything about it was really unique and well thought. I really do love post-apocalyptic novels so this one was easy to get into. But what you don't know is that it is no ordinary book about the end of the world.
Shadow City takes place in what used to be Hollywood. The few survivors created the Zone, which is like a closed camp to protect its citizens. The Zone is made up of humans and vampires, they created an alliance to co-exist, humans give their blood to the blood bank, and in exchange vampires keep the humans safe. Outside of the Zone, it is really dangerous because you can find rogue vampires, violent gangs made of humans that did not want to join the Zone and something really dark nobody wants to talk about.
I won't go into more details to keep this spoiler-free but I really enjoyed the mix between post-apocalyptic and fantasy here. I loved how the author explained how vampires have always existed and how they started to co-exist with humans, everything was well thought and pretty clever! I love the different relationships in this book (friendship, romance...) I think every single one of them was well constructed and enjoyable.
If I had to complain about something, I might say that I was not always a huge fan of the writing style. For example when one character kept repeating "what a shithole" like a million times, it started to annoy me. But this is really a minor detail. Also, the romance was a bit of an insta-love and it was too fast in my opinion.
In brief, if you love vampires and people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world with great friendships that will give you faith in humanity, this book is for you. And I am really looking forward to reading what's next because this book left me with so many questions and hypothesis that I want to verify!

I was provided an eARC from Netgalley, and boy, was I glad I asked for this one.

This is NA. I don't trust NA since the content can be over the top, but also romance, and I don't like romance. This book was perfectly balanced. Brutal beyond words with hints of romance of all kinds. <b>This book is for fans of Fallout, Underworld, and Terminator.</b> Brutal dystopian world with raiders and few supplies, cyborgs, vampires, and demons. What else could you ask for.

That's an odd mix, I won't deny, but Mocikat makes it fit together seemlessly. The worldbuilding is gradual in terms of explaining The Glitch, and it's never fully explained, which I kinda like. Colton knows nothing about what was going on, and he was the perfect person to have pages of info-dumping for, but at most it was a paragraph or two here or there of info given to him. It never felt overwhelming or boring as it was quick, bite-sized chunks that slowly formed a cohesive backstory for this Earth.

The characters aren't the most complex, but they were fleshed out well and evolved through the story. Colton was especially interesting to watch, as was Vincent. Eurydice was more than a cliche villain, and the vampire lore was super cool.

I'm assuming this is to be a series, and I'm eagerly anticipating a sequel.

Well written and well paced, engaging characters in a dystopian world .. yes, conventional motifs of this horror genre of mutants vs humans with really new idea of effective new 'breed's, AI/ cyborg character who is really cool, kick ass .. and they prevail . Energetic and light, really enjoyable in this world.

This story is billed as a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel, but it certainly isn't by the numbers. In short order, elements of science fiction and horror are blended in, which create an interesting mix. At first I was skeptical about how all this was going to work, but somehow it did, and I really enjoyed the novel. I did wish for a bit more backstory, but I'm sure that will be revealed in a subsequent novel. There was some awkward sentence structure and phrasing throughout, which might be due to English being a second language, but some additional proofreading would fix that, and overall I found the writing style to be engaging and easy to follow. Some colorful characters as well in this story. It was a page-turner, and I can't say that about too many of the books I've read. I would definitely read the sequel.

Los Angeles is a city that now has humans, mutants, vampires and the dark ones living in its postapocalyptic ruins. The destruction has been caused by “the rift.” Jean and Louis are going through houses looking for canned foods and whatever they can use. There is no electricity. They come upon a naked male human who is about to be attack by a mutant. Jean saves him by shooting the mutant with an arrow. Jean and Louis question him about his nakedness and name. He doesn’t know or remember. It is the beginning of an important friendship. They name him Colton and take him to there home where their father waits. Colton will join the Human Force formed to protect and fight mutants, gangs and the dark ones. The small group of humans have made a deal with the vampires so that they will also help the humans — fighting or medical. The humans must donate blood for the vampires. There is a blood bank which the vampires will use for their food. There is also a vampire who is a doctor who will treat humans. The Human force have in their group a man named Vincent who supposedly died. However a mysterious being enter Vincent’s body and brings it back to life. He must get use to living in a human body. As he is doing this he meets a rogue vampire named Eurydice. They have sex. Eurydice leaves. Vincent travels to get back to the group of humans. Eric, a vampire and Bombshell, a cyborg are glad to see Vincent back. Eric follows the director’s orders for the city. The human force does more than just fight, they also will help with making repairs and settling disputes. The dark ones have plans to conquer the humans. They have Eurydice spy for them. Will the dark ones win?

There are many plots in this novel going on throughout the novel that made the story fascinating for me. I thought about the story when I wasn’t reading it wondering what was going to happen next. It is an exciting action adventure horror and science fiction novel. It ends on a cliff hanger. This is the first novel of a trilogy.

Post-apocalyptic world, with dark ones, vampires, mutants (the ugly kind not the X-Men kind) , mysterious men, killing and lust. Um, what more can you really ask for. You get SEVERAL different characters through out the book ...in one chapter. While I got it I wished the chapters were maybe a little more spaced out, But you get to follow all of them through our world after what they call the glitch that was destroyed pretty much everything, but the vampires, some humans, and brought the dark ones upon us. which obviously means we're gonna see some impending Doom from someone. BUT WHO WILL IT BE?!! I absolutely LOVE bombshell. Why the name? Because she's a bombshell duh;) you can tell she's from before the glitch and I just love her attitude. Along with Eurydice. She's a bad little vampire with just so much ......charm. we'll go with charm.

The first in a trilogy and I will definitely keep my eye out for the following books. A very well described post-apocalyptic world with interesting characters and background lore. The story was fast-paced, nice action and also good character development. Definitely one to pick up if you like this genre!

Shadow City was given to me by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

From the back cover
Los Angeles is an apocalyptic wasteland.

In the ruins of the former metropolis, what is left of humanity has to take a stand against creatures from another dimension entering our world through a rift created by the global disaster which destroyed our world as we knew it. These so-called Dark Ones feed on suffering and violence and aim for nothing less but the extermination of the human race.

A team of unusual defenders lines up to protect the only left habitable zone set up in former Hollywood: ex-cop Eric, female cyborg Bombshell, Colton, a young man without memory but unique powers, and finally Vincent, any entity from another world, who has inhabited the body of a fallen soldier.

And then there’s the mysterious Eurydice, a traitor working for the enemy. On his first day in our world, Vincent stumbles across her and sets a dramatic chain of events in motion which will change the fate of humanity.

Fast-paced, action-driven, and cinematic – the eternal fight good versus evil told in a way as never before.
There is no light, and there is no dark, only shadows


My review of Shadow City
Shadow City is a gripping story set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, several decades after the Glitch. No one truly knows what the Glitch was, but due to a cataclysm that released toxic radiation, the world was damaged beyond repair. The dystopian world Anna created gives off a mixture of Mad Max and Resident Evil vibes.

“We don’t know exactly. We can only speculate. It came out of the blue, surprised us in our sleep. Probably a nuclear disaster that started a chain reaction... but as I said, it’s unclear. All government and communications structures were gone, there was no one to tell us what had happened, and there was no help. We were left on our own.”

After the Glitch, “endless thick clouds” hid the sun from the world and life went on in the shadow. That allowed vampires to come out once daylight was no longer a deterrent. Hard to believe but they’re the good guys in this story; most of them anyway. The few humans who survived the Glitch made a pact with the vampires. They live together in a protected area they call The Zone and have a blood bank set up where every healthy person above 12 years old has to donate blood for vampires.

In exchange, the vampires protect the Zone from monsters: radioactive mutants, gangs of raiders, and Dark Ones - mysterious beings that feed on human pain and agony and got here through a crack in the earth at LA s City Hall.

We experience the story from multiple POVs. Eric, the brooding vampire leader, Bombshell the cyborg (that Eric affectionately calls Bombie or tin can), Colton who has no memory of his past or his name (he was named Colton after the street he was found on) and Vincent who is possessed by another being and falls for a rogue vampire. That’s quite a team!

You’re thrown into the action from the get-go when a couple of teenagers fight mutants to save a stranger. Little by little, we get to meet the other characters and see them in action.
What I loved most in this book, aside from the action and quirky characters, was the relationship between the vampire and the cyborg and their constant banter:

“That’ s Bombshell,” Eric lifted his glass towards her. “We couldn’t manage without her.” “I know,” she said with a grin. “But it’s always a pleasure to hear it from your lips, vamp.”


When they’re under attack and need reinforcements, we learn that vampires can contact one another telepathically.

“He’ s calling for reinforcements,” Bombshell explained. “Don’ t look at me like that. I have no clue how this hocus-pocus works, but all vamps seem to be mentally connected somehow. One of the reasons we have so many of them in the HF. They’re like undead walkie-talkies.”

I loved Shadow City and I can’t wait for the sequel! I think Anna Mocikat did a great job creating a gripping dystopian world, well-developed characters, relatable villains and an action-packed plot.
Another thing that got my attention were all the music references throughout the story. The fact that I have them on my playlist made me appreciate Anna even more (Metallica, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails are the first that come to mind). Reading Shadow City was like watching an action movie with an awesome soundtrack. It was a good story with unexpected twists and a few emotional moments. You know it’s a good book when even after you finished the story you still think about it.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

A great apocalyptic book that anyone would enjoy reading, I could not put the book down, I haven't read a good apocalyptic book like this in years, I would highly recommend the read.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange of an honest review.


This was a well written sci-fi cyborg, post-apocalyptic story.

I enjoyed this book was a good sci-fi thriller lots going on easy to get into. I look forward to the next book.
I received this book from netgallery in exchange for a honest review.