The Dark Words — Peter Lancett

In The Dark Words, the Dark Man must once again pit his powers against the evil forces of the Shadow Masters. A document has been found: it has magical powers. In the forest, the Dark Man meets a boy. Can he help find the document?

Dark Man is a fiction series for older children and young adults who have a reading age of approximately 7 to 8. Each book features the character Dark Man, a shadowy, brooding loner who shuns society, living in the shadows. Recruited to play a part in a secret, cataclysmic struggle between good and evil, his continued mission is to seek out an artifact, a Golden Cup, which can channel limitless power and energy. Opposed to him, and also seeking to find this cup of power, is a sinister and corrupt organization, The Shadow Masters.

The book has a strong plot to engage the reader, however reluctant, and features dark evocative illustrations. The simple, carefully written text (around 1,000 words) focuses on the most common words, providing access for even the poorest readers. The series will reach an untapped market of older children and adults with low literacy levels.