The Disquiet of Life Under Surveillance
In an unidentified, vaguely Eastern European city, the town’s sectors are controlled by different political factions. Nadia, the daughter of former political activists in one of those factions, lives a quiet life with her widowed mother. Her father was killed years earlier in a bomb attack during the nation’s civil war, an act which left her mother physically and emotionally injured.
The one bright spot in Nadia’s mundane existence is her acting class. She prides herself in being able to disappear into the roles she plays.
One day, following a rehearsal, she is approached by the director of security of the local faction. He has a job for her. There is a woman working in a cafe in another sector who has frequent interactions with that faction’s head of counterintelligence. Nadia is to go undercover to impersonate her in order to collect information. She knows this isn’t a request; she has no choice but to comply.
As Nadia becomes more immersed in this clandestine role, the story slowly takes an unexpected surreal turn.
Thus begins The Shadower, a graphic novel by siblings Peter and Maria Hoey.
The book’s sharp, isometric illustrations and moody coloring effectively portray the isolation of this world. The story’s deliberate pace slowly builds tension as Nadia assumes the other woman’s identity to record conversations of the faction’s leaders.
A mood of perpetual disquiet hangs over Nadia’s life, as it does all who live under the eye of a surveillance state.
The Shadower is available March 24, 2026 from Top Shelf Productions.
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