Ned is awkward, a little shy, and just trying to find his place in the world. He also happens to be the assistant to the nation's most feared highwayman, The Shadow... In a time when highwaymen ruled the roads, Ned is reluctantly swept up into a whirlwind of adventure. Whilst escaping the grasps of the thief-takers, Ned soon finds himself stepping into his Master's shoes and an unwanted life of crime. The pressure is building with new friends and enemies galore when Ned stumbles upon a long-infamous gem, The Bloodstone, which forces him to make an important choice. Can he ultimately escape this new threat and finally free himself from the grips of The Shadow? AGES: 9 plus AUTHOR: Philip Caveney was born in North Wales in 1951 and now lives in Edinburgh. His first novel, The Sins of Rachel Ellis was published in 1977 and he produced a series of adult thrillers over the following decades. His first novel for younger readers, Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools was released in 2007 and was published all around the world. Since then, he has concentrated on writing exclusively for younger readers. He also writes under the pseudonym Danny Weston. Danny's debut novel The Piper won the Scottish Children's Book Award in 2016 and in 2018, The Haunting of Jessop Rise was shortlisted for the Scottish Teenage Book prize and nominated for a Carnegie Medal.