Ferals The Crow Talker

Ferals The Crow Talker is the first book in the trilogy of Ferals, published April 2015, and written by the mysterious Jacob Grey, and is shown by the perspective of Caw, a 13 year-old homeless boy who lives with his three crows, Glum, Screech and Milky. But it is revealed he is much more.

## Blurb

Blackstone was once a thriving metropolis. But that was before the Dark Summer—a wave of violence and crime that swept through the city eight years ago, orchestrated by the fearsome Spinning Man. Now the Spinning Man is on the move again, and a boy named Caw is about to be caught in his web of lies

Caw has never questioned his ability to communicate with crows. But as the threat of a new Dark Summer looms, Caw discovers the underground world of Blackstone’s ferals—those with the power to control animals. Caw is one of them. And to save his city, he must quickly master abilities he never knew he had . . . and prepare to defeat a darkness he never could have imagined.

## Synopsis

The book starts off with Caw, scaling the roofs of the many buildings of Blackstone, taking in the smells and acknowledging his three crows watching over him, Glum a Nest mate for five years, Screech a Nest mate for three, and Milky a white, blind crow whose been with him for the entirety of his homelessness. As he continues his roof-running, he finds himself outside an 24 hour takeout, rummaging through the bins, knowing they throw out perfectly good food, he finds a box of hot chips, biting in with no care, he is eventually cornered by a group of boys a year or two older than him, who are annoyed from him taking their 'stash'. Constantly trying to leave in one piece, Caw eventually tries to make a run for it, but to no avail, and the supposed leader of the boys starts brandishing his knife, threatening to cut off Caws fingers, but before any of them can do anything, a strange man, with a boy a few years younger than Caw, shove the boys off Caw, and are forced to leave. Unsure what to do, Caw runs from the man after he says "Talk to the pigeons" leading Glum and Screech saying that he's simply crazy. Making his way back to his nest, Caw climbs the Blackstone Park wall, watching the house opposite, he is frightened when the prison the from the house lives from siren's start going off and the flood lights flash on, and the man comes from the House on the phone, with the daughter, revealed to be named Lydia, following close after, before being told to go inside, and continues to make his way to the prison with Caw secretly following, and Caw is watching the nervous prison guards formalize the plants find a few escaped prisoners and to not shoot, for "They know what they're dealing with". Separating, Caw hears a faint noise from the alley way next to the building he's next too, which the man hears as well, and a manhole cover flies open with a bulky, tattooed man crawling out with two other people coming after him, one a tall woman, the other an old shortie, taking his gaze back to the first man, Caw realizes that the man has a tattoo on his chest, a spider, the same one he dreamed about that night, uncomfortable, Caw is about to leave but stops when the man from the house, gun in hand, shouts to the other man, Jawbone, to hand himself in, but Jawbone, running faster than Caw can think, holds up the man, now named Strickham, with one hand, and remarking that he does not like guns, for they kill to quick, and as Mr. Strickham is slowly being choked, Lydia shouts to Jawbone to stop, to which he responds by throwing Mr. Strickham into the nearby bins, and starts charging towards her, grabbing her by the hair and taunting Mr. Strickham, and in order to save both Lydia and her father, Caw tells his crows to attack Jawbone, which they do, forcing him to let go of Lydia, in order to fend of the three crows, and he helps Mr. Strickham to his feet, and when he goes for the gun, he pushes the gun before it can hit hi crows, annoying Strickham, Caw runs back to his nest losing his shoe at the gate, and continues to go back to sleep.