Andrew's fifteen. He's been sent to stay with his grandmother for the summer while his parents finish their divorce, but the summer's over and he's still in Wisconsin. And his best and only friend is a monster named Shadow. Shadow lives under a park gazebo, has a body made of spare parts, and likes to play chess. Andrew doesn't tell anyone about Shadow. Nobody listens to him anyway. Andrew's uncle Paul comes to town. Paul knows about Shadow. Paul knows a lot of things, and he's interested in teaching. But before that can happen, a confrontation with Shadow leaves Paul in a coma, a flood of invisible monsters on the loose, and scary people from all over the world converging on their town. If Andrew's going to survive, he'll have to learn about the hidden world that he's stumbled into. But learning might be the biggest threat of all. Because there are worse things out there than a teenager with a little magic and a chip on his shoulder, and Andrew's heading right for them.