The Chronicles of Xan is a series of historical novels written by Antony Barone. It currently consists of Shadow in the Dark, with a sequel, The Haunted Cathedral, due out Winter 2007. Shadow in the Dark Plot summary Xan is a boy who lived in his village, Hardonbury, in 12th Century England. One morning while he was in a forest nearby, his village is attacked by bandits. He rushes back to his home, only to trip on a root, resulting in the boy being gravely injured. He is taken to Harwood Abbey, where he is nursed back to health by the Benedictine monks. In addition to the physical damage he sustained from his accident, he has lost his memory. But what he fears most of all is what he has thought he has seen lurking around the abbey: the Grim Reaper. In hopes of finding Xan's parents and jogging his memory, a kindly monk, Brother Andrew, brings Xan back to his village, only to find that it was burnt down in the attack and that all the villagers had fled to Clovis, the closest village. In Clovis they meet a farmer who worked with Xan's parents, who tells them that Xan's real name (for Xan is only what they called him at the abbey) is Stephen, and that his parents are dead. The night he returns to the abbey, the other boys show him the "Grim Reaper" outside. Xan, ready to disprove the boys, follows the cloaked figure to the room of a harsh and rough monk, Brother Leo. Later that night the same bandits that attacked Xan's village attack the abbey. However, no one was killed, not even Brother Leo from the Grim Reaper. Xan finds a coin that a bandit dropped on the floor, with the coat of arms of Lord Kensington, the owner of Clovis. He also "accidentally" overhears some conversations in which Brother Leo is trying to persuade the monks to sell the abbey to Lord Kensington so they can have guards from bandit attacks. A couple of nights after the conversations, the Abbot of the abbey was almost killed in an assassination attempt. Coincidentally, the Abbot was also the one who was most against Brother Leo's plan. Xan pieces together the puzzle and concludes that Brother Leo tried to kill the abbot to get the abbey to be sold to Lord Kensington. After he confesses