Shadowman tells the story of a young man corrupted by sexual abuse and a subsequent career in music, comedy and film that amounted to an unconscious recording and processing of that early trauma. Daukes' path - playing in bands, writing and performing radio and TV comedy and refusing to be defined by the events of his youth - makes for a compelling and sometimes even hilarious story of an unconventional life.
Shadowman becomes more complex and outrageous with every chapter: the malign presence in the family of the Catholic sect Opus Dei: the abuser becoming part of the family through marriage: the terrible revelations as further victims come to light. But all the time Johnny Daukes walks a fine line between heartbreak and humour.
With frequent reference to Daukes' lyrics, sketches and scripts, all produced with no awareness of their true significance, Shadowman is a work of personal archaeology that takes the reader on an extraordinary and almost unbelievable voyage to - finally - a place of peace and redemption.
