Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Oh this cover! It is so catchy and cool and gives me the creeps a little. I totally wanted to read this just after seeing this cover. I wish the book had been as good. It started out well with a good amount of creepiness and mysteriousness. What happened in his childhood and why is his dying mother with memory loss suddenly crying out about the crime. It's a good start that draws you in and makes you want to figure it all out. However, after reading about half the book and attempting play along at solving what happened and who did it, the narrator all of the sudden makes a statement that completely changes the crime and leaves you with an unsatisfied "WHAT??". There were several parts of the story that were just too unbelievably bizarre and from left-field that it became almost ridiculous and took away the original enjoyment of solving the story. Too bizarre, too random, too unsolvable

Excellent creepy read with great characters and a plot that kept me guessing until the very end! I am a new Alex North fan.

This is my first Alex North book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was a very interesting thriller that kept me thinking till the end. When I thought I figured something out, something else would occur that would prove me wrong or introduce entirely different information.

The only reason why it was not a full 5 stars, is the transitions in chapters. Sometimes the before chapters, and the present (with the two different povs) would be a bit confusing that would take away from the reading experience.

Overall however, a thriller that I plan to recommend lots!

thought The Whisper Man by Alex North was quite a page turner, and was excited to get my hands on The Shadows. Unfortunately, this book wasn't really for me. It felt overlong (and it's not unusually long) and not very original. I was intrigued by the characters, which is why I kept reading, but the plot just didn't grab my attention, which is maybe odd, because it was creepy. Ultimately, I think it just felt as though I've read variations of the same story many times. Not really a bad book, but not what I was hoping for either.

I was really excited for this one since Whisper Man was so popular last year (and I loved it). It was a super interesting concept to include the lucid dreaming in the story, although it never really felt like it was necessary. Regardless of what weird cult-like hobby Charlie Crabtree was involved in, it would have resulted in the same thing. But I really enjoyed how creepy it was and all the spooky symbolism (red hands, dolls, etc). Unfortunately, about half way through, I completely lost interest in the story. This is unusual for me when a book is both a thriller and extremely fast paced, but nevertheless, it happened. I didn’t really care about the characters and I think that’s a major part of it — no one was well-introduced or particularly likeable, and the lack of someone to root for really shattered my investment in the plot. The solid writing and the creep-factor earn this book three stars from me, but you really could have chopped off the last 50 pages of the book and I would have neither noticed or cared.

I was so looking forward to the next novel by Alex North. I was obsessed with The Whisper Man and loved all of the creepy vibes. I was expecting the same from The Shadows, but it fell a little short for me. It was very entertaining, but I became easily confused with the changes in timelines and points of view and it didn't have the creepy scary vibes that I was so hoping for. It was fun, but just really not what I hyped it up to be. Thank you NetGalley for sending this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

It’s another win for this months @killclubreads buddy read and most importantly Alex North 🖤

Having just read The Whisper Man last month and being completely freaked out I was very much looking forward to The Shadows.

Let me just say Alex North does creepy well and does not disappoint!!! The very intriguing premise of lucid dreams & murder spiked my curiosity and held my attention with twists well played!
In short ~ READ THIS BOOK!
🚪✉️
Note to self; never get a door with a mail slot. EVER.
👤
Also, I will forever cringe at the name Charlie Crabtree.
🌳 😳
Oh and My creepy forested yard... just got way creepier !!!

Thank you @celadonbooks for gifting our club with copies.
😊🖤 So looking forward to our group zoom discussion!!

3.5 stars rather than 3. Alex North's THE SHADOWS is the ideal page-turning distraction we could all use--well, all us horror fans at least--in these trying times. With a great story and suitably grim British industrial and natural settings, this novel of an occultist murder and its many reverberating consequences is addictive and at its best deeply haunting, and keeps the flame burning for his intriguing series detective/atrocity witness Amanda Beck.

More than a few folks will be nonplussed by the novel's ultimate destination, which transforms the tale from supernatural folk horror to family tragedy. Without revealing specifics, it seems as if it's the ending "literary fiction" fans will appreciate because of its Seriousness--and, to be fair, it is also emotionally resonant by any reasonable standard. But for much of this novel, it feels like it's an heir to classics like Peter Straub's GHOST STORY (much like Stephen Graham Jones's THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS was), and then its final turn is not quite the rip-roaring horror that might have better suited its first two acts.

This was an excellent, creepy read! I loved the backstory and the remarkable twist at the end! I did not have a clue who the killer was, so was surprised by the ending. I also had not read The Whisper Man, but I will now!

It’s been 25 years since Paul left Gritten. The memories this place holds are too dark and gruesome to ever contemplate a return. But fate has decided it’s time he came back and the secrets he discovers buried in his childhood home are devastating!
The Shadows is a slow paced, creepy psychological thriller that keeps you staring wide awake at the ceiling after you finish reading it. The creepy kids, lucid dreaming and the writing all combines together to give you a truly goose bump inducing experience.
The mystery component of this book was also really well done and kept m guessing till the end.
There were a few loose ends that I wish were tied up but overall a good thriller
I would definitely recommend this for readers looking for a thriller that’s equal parts terrifying and intriguing.
Rating: 4 stars

After 25 years, Paul Adams has come home. And he remembers. He doesn't want to remember. He would much rather forget Charlie Crabtree, the lucid dreaming...and the murder. Now a copycat murder has occurred and his elderly, senile mother is convinced someone or something is in her house. And Paul is being followed.....

This book is a slow burn. The story takes a bit to rev up, but once the suspense kicks in the creepiness is just as potent as in North's earlier book, The Whisper Man. The timeline jumps between 25 years ago when Charlie Crabtree was weaving his creepy magic and the present. I don't normally care for time jumps, but for this story, it worked.

I'm really enjoying Alex North's storytelling. I like a more subtle, slow-build suspense instead of fast, in-your-face abrupt shock. This story sneaks up on the reader a little bit at a time, revealing just a bit....then more....then more....until the stark realization of what happened 25 years ago hits the reader right in the face.

Great book! I am definitely looking forward to the next book by this author!

**I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book from Celadon Books. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I read and very much enjoyed Alex North’s debut, “The Whisper Man,” last summer, and I’m happy to say that this summer’s follow up, “The Shadows,” didn’t disappoint. DI Amanda Beck is back and investigating another killing in Featherbank, England—this time of a teenage boy brutally murdered by two classmates who were found nearby, covered in blood, each clutching their “dream diary” and a knife. The perpetrators are clear but as Amanda tries to determine a motive, she comes across another almost identical case 25 years earlier in a town called Gritten, but this time, only one of the boys who committed the crime was caught. The other—the ringleader, Charlie—simply disappeared. Could he be back? It’s a question that also haunts Paul Adams, Charlie’s estranged classmate at the time of the murders. He’s back in Gritten to visit his dying mother, but someone seems intent on making sure the past which Paul is so desperate to forget doesn’t remain buried....

“The Shadows,” like “The Whisper Man” before it, is menacingly atmospheric; the appropriately named town of Gritten is bleak and decaying, and the woods behind it, whose nickname gives the book its title, are eerie and forbidding. Having created this disturbing atmosphere, North steadily builds the suspense by alternating cliffhanger narratives from Amanda’s investigation with Paul’s present and past remembrances until the story reaches is gripping conclusion. There’s lots of material here on the practice of “lucid dreaming,” which gives the book North’s signature supernatural tinge, but although I had been wary that “The Shadows” would veer too much into horror, North manages to strike the perfect balance between these supernatural overtones and the more concrete nuts and bolts of a police investigation. A third act twist might come off as manipulative to some readers (and I am usually one of those readers) but it didn’t bother me and seemed in keeping with the book’s tone. In short, “The Shadows” is a great thriller to throw into your beach bag this summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

Truly enjoyable with an intelligent and surprising plot, The Shadows lands Alex North in the dreamworld of authors recommendable to all mystery readers.

North leads readers down the unworn fact-path of lucid dreaming, realistically weaving in and out of the forests of belief, manipulation and madness. North’s integration of fact into his fiction is splendidly done, resulting in quality entertainment, and his storytelling genuinely startles.

I tried NetGalley’s new audiobook app for this title, & the narrators were fantastic; the app itself was very functional and easy to operate.

I recommend The Shadows in either format, audio or print, with “purchase both” as the preferred option (a suggestion I reserve for only the most enjoyable and well-written mysteries).

Thank you, Alex North, for a terrific tale customers will love. Thank you, NetGalley, for the multi-format preview.

Alex North has done it again with this spine tingling novel that bends that rules of genre. North takes you on journey, heightening your senses, drawing you deep into the plot, holding your adrenaline captive, with every twist and turn in, what I deem, The Alex North Experience and just when you think, youre “out of the woods” a plot twist hits leaving you rocked to your core!! Invigorating, heart pounding, brilliantly crafted creepiness, this novel will take you on a journey you will never forget!

The Shadows is the first book that I’ve read by Alex North. This is a good creepy read for those of you who don’t mind being kept up all night by a well told tale. You’ve got copycat murders for a crime from 25 years ago plus an intriguing concept of dream worlds. There’s plenty to occupy your imagination with this book. Read and enjoy!

North does it again! This book was amazing. Atmospheric to the core. It was a perfect mix of supernatural to scare you out of your wits and believable so that the skeptics don't doubt the story, The writing is really good and doesn't let you put the book down. It was so scary that I had to stop reading it in the middle cos it was after dark and I was jumping at my normal apartment noises. An amazing book, better than The Whisper Man if I say so myself.

Okay, let me start this review by saying this is the first real psychological thriller I’ve read in such a long time. I really loved the concept and inclusion of lucid dreaming, and the writing was fabulous. But, overall, this book was underwhelming. I was left with one too many questions and there were too many things that just didn’t make sense to me. Also the ending felt too rushed. I haven’t read The Whisper Man yet and I fully intend on reading it despite not falling in love with this one, but I’m super bummed that this one just didn’t do it for me.

This creepy, atmospheric thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat with the lights on throughout. Paul arrives in town to take care of his dying mom just as a copycat murder from his childhood takes place, throwing him back in time to what happened then. Twists and turns enough to keep you off balance.

Alex North's novels are filled with filled with small town tragedies. I was melancholy for a long while after I finished - his stories aren't the read them then immediately forget them type. They stay with you.

When his mother falls ill, Paul Adams returns to his hometown for the first time in twenty five years. Twenty five years ago, a terrible crime was committed and all Paul wants to do is forget. But after he arrives, a copycat crime is committed nearby raising up all the demons and questions of his past.

I have to be honest; this book was a struggle for me. I wanted to like it in the same way that I liked North's previous novel, The Whisper Man. But I had a difficult time connecting to this story. There were some creepy moments and moments of tension and suspense. Yet I felt like the story just didn't flow well. I didn't fully understand how the lucid dreaming was supposed to work, and it all just felt a little weird and even nonsensical at times.

The story shifts between the perspectives of Paul and the detective on the latest murder case, Amanda. From Paul's perspective, it also shifts between his time in high school and the current time 25 years later. I thought the past parts were the most interesting parts of the story. But as a whole, I really struggled to connect and stay interested in this story.

So this one was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I still think there is a lot of potential and it may work better with a different reader. I'm still eager to read what Alex North writes next, and perhaps his next book will better connect with me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for sending me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.