The Shadow Player, Kross Ellis

The past never dies. It only evolves.

At the age of five, Henry Burl witnessed his mother commit murder right before his very eyes. Fast-forward ten years later, Henry is still traumatized by the fragmented memory of that one horrifying day in the haunted wetlands of Sinclair Leprieur, Louisiana. In order to cope with the past events, Henry finds an escape in music where he is drawn to one particular musician who not only projects a similar sentiment as Henry when he pours his heart out into every song but also embodies the tormented spirit of a true artist exploring the darkest corners of ones self. The enigmatic, provocative, flamboyant, and often controversial musician is Mr. Vortex, the lead singer of the original band, Mr. Vortex and the Flying Pigs.

Henrys dreams of being a musician, like his idol, Mr. Vortex, soon trend toward reality when he discovers a rare Jagger saxophone with the initials, H.M., behind the window of a local pawnshop. The saxophone happens to be eerily close to the one that Mr. Vortex plays; however, what Henry doesnt know-at least not until he plays the saxophone for the first time-is that the instrument has unexplainable powers.

After another event, which forces Henrys mother to yet again take the law into her own hands, Henry has no other choice than to confront his dark past, as well as the origins of the mysterious saxophone, which Henry will soon learn are much closer to home than he had ever imagined.