I loves this book!! It had such a creepy atmosphere. It got very intense. And I loved the nod to the first one. I'm very excited to read what Alex North writes next.

My review is based on the audio version of the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my readers copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

Narrators: Hannah Arterton, John Heffernan were excellent 5/5 stars. I always enjoy being able to differentiate two points of view with two seperate narrators rather than one narrator playing two roles.

The audio book was easy to listen to, and made perfect material to take with me on my daily walk. However, the story itself fell a bit short for me. This is definitely the weaker of Alex North's two novels The Whisper Man, and The Shadows. Even with the two separate narrators, there are still many characters to keep straight. It's one of those books where i needed to write out a reminder list of who was who (and in which time they were in) in order to keep everyone straight. The ending is okay, but it's a bit of work to get there.

Overall 2.5 stars out of 5, rounded to 3. Still I look forward to the next installment in the series.

This is my first book By Alex North. I had a hard time getting into it. I listened to audiobook and followed along with the book. It did have some scary, bone chilling parts that i did enjoy. I plan on trying another of his book with hopes it will be better.

Excellent story, characters, plot and narration. This title is the second book by Alex North and I am a certified fan! More please!

Unfortunately I did not enjoy The Shadows as much as I did The Whisper Man. I found the story line to be confusing at times and the number of different characters did not help that either. However, I will say that the concept of lucid dreams was alluring.

4 1/2 Bone-Chilling Stars!

I enjoyed the Shadows. It had the perfect mix of creepiness, mystery, heartbreak and twisty shocks. The main character, Paul is returning to his hometown to see his mother who is in hospice. He hasn't been back since he left for college years before. A close friend of Paul's was murdered twenty five years ago and he has suppressed many of the memories of the event. Coming back home dredges everything back up.

Growing up, there were several boys who were experimenting with lucid dreaming. One of them, Charlie Crabtree, was the ringleader. He and another boy committed the murder of Paul's friend. Charlie disappeared afterward and everyone assumed he was able to transition into the "dreamworld," which was the ultimate goal. Twenty five years later, several copy cat killings have taken place. Paul feels somewhat responsible because he avoided everything after the murder.

The book rotates between past and present with Paul. Also, a portion of the story is told from Amanda's point of view. She is one of the police investigators working on the more recent murder cases. The story weaves effectively through all of these viewpoints. Each one lends something to the flow of the story. Paul has a lot to process, but so does Amanda. In addition, many of the side characters also add to the story.

There is so much to this book that really grabbed me. It gave me chills and unnerved me one minute and had me crying heartbroken tears the next. Alex North is truly talented and I look forward to more by this author.

I also would like to review the narration as I listened to the audiobook. I found the narrators to be spot on for these characters. I would recommend the audio version of this book as it lent to the entertainment value of the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the early audiobook. I voluntarily reviewed it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I had a hard time getting in to this one, and didn't finish.

Love the concept of lucid dreaming but wasn't drawn in enough to listen all the way thru.

The Shadows is a creepy psychological thriller with some elements of mystical realism.

I think I am in the minority here, but I liked The Shadows slightly more than it's prequel, The Whisper Man. The Whisper Man is a bit creepier. I think this is largely due to the fact that the plot involves abduction, and killing of the very young children. Both explore some fascinating, and deeply disturbing topics. The Shadows centers on the idea of the "lucid dreams". The idea is that if you train yourself to be aware of the fact that you are in a dream WHILE you are dreaming, you can exercise a fair amount of control over your dreams. This concept is actually a real thing, and I do recommend you to research it further if you are interested. The Whisper Man focuses on the very creepy hobbies that some people have, such as viewing or being in the presence of the victims of the serial killers – which again is slightly creepier than the whole lucid dreaming thing in my opinion.

Both books have a fair amount of the plot holes, and things that straight up don’t make any sense. However, The Shadows is a bit more realistic overall. Most of the “ghosts” and such are explained by the end of the book. The explanation does NOT really shed the light on why some people did what they did, but it is still much more satisfying than what The Whisper Man left us hanging with IMO.

I will say that if you have listened to The Whisper Man, and are expecting Christopher Eccleston to narrate The Shadows as well – don’t have your hopes too high. The Shadows is a two-narrator audiobook, which normally would be my preference (the more the better!), however, both narrators lack the expressiveness of Christopher Eccleston’s narration style. He just made The Whisper Man sound so much creepier (if it’s even possible?!). Both, The Whisper Man and The Shadows, kept me on edge, and guessing (and no, I wasn’t able to guess whodunnit correctly).

It is possible that Alex North’s books are simply not for me. I enjoy more realistic thrillers. I just think the creepiness of some of the real-world serial killers simply cannot be surpassed by the made up stuff. Therefore, staying as close as possible to the profiles of the real-world serial killers is always my preference. In my opinion it’s so much scarier. Changing things significantly such as conjuring some sort of intent (i.e. serial killer wants to kill this person because he hates him/her, and not because of some creepy sexual fantasy (as it usually is) on which the killer just must act) will always elicit an eye roll from me.

The Shadows also has an unreliable narrator, and a pretty significant (albeit not very believable) twist. So, I think whether you like The Shadows or not will likely depend on your attitude towards the unreliable narrator stories.

🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The Shadows was captivating from the first page. Paul Adams finds himself back in his childhood home to say goodbye to his mother who has entered into hospice care. While there, he is thrust back into the unsolved case from his childhood. This book was dark and twisty, which suited my mood perfectly. I honestly didn't see the ending coming, which is unusual for me. The narration in this book was also perfect, the two narrators really drew me in. I never read The Whisper Man and now feel like I need to go back.

2.5 stars
This was a good atmospheric read, however, I am left slightly disappointed. The concept of lucid dreaming fascinated me so much but it did not deliver and I was left feeling confused and underwhelmed.

The Shadows follows Paul Adams as he returns back to his hometown to see his mother. But as soon as he arrives, he finds out that there has been a copycat killer replicating the murders that his former friend, Charlie Crabtree has committed. We follow along with Paul and Detective Beck to uncover the mysteries surrounding this copycat.

The pace was slow-moving and I could not get into the story. The plot took too long for it to pick up and I did not really find myself engaged with the mystery. However, I did find the twists quite surprising and well done. I did not see some of them coming! The story was told in two timelines, Before and After. This was executed well and interwoven seamlessly.
I found Paul and Amanda to be interesting protagonists, but I was not really invested in Amanda's POV. Paul was really interesting because we got to delve deeper into his mind. He was complex and well written. The one gripe I had with the book was that there were too many characters introduced I had no idea who was who.

In terms of the narration, it was amazing! The narrators did a wonderful job of encapsulating Paul and Amanda's voices.

Overall, this was a solid book. I was expecting more with the plot and characters though.

Charlie Crabtree is a little...off. He’s kindof a loner in high school with an intense imagination and generally makes people nervous. He convinces our narrator Paul Adams and others to have lucid dreams that ultimately ends in a ritualistic killing of a fellow classmate. Charlie disappears immediately following the murder and is never seen again, although he is rumored to roam the forest to this day.

Paul is hesitant to return to hometown Gritten for the first time since the murder to visit his mother. She is suffering from dementia and in hospice. Being in this place brings up a lot from Paul’s past. He learns there have been similar copycat killings since he left. He begins to have nightmares, and...is he being followed?

I liked the slow paced build paired with the gloomy atmosphere and that it was told in past and present timelines. I was really intrigued by the lucid dreaming; it really added to the creepiness factor in addition to the mysterious new killings and Charlie’s sinister story. The big reveal was a bit of a jumble and there were a few new characters thrown into the mix late in the game which confused things for me, but overall entertaining as I just had to find out what happened.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the gifted audio copy!

Charlie Crabtree was a loner who attracted other loners. He became the ringleader of this small group of teenage boys. This group repeatedly did edgy and dark things, slowly pushing things to the brink until one day a teenager is ritualistically murdered and Charlie Crabtree is never seen again.
Twenty-five years ago Paul Adams left town only too happily; having the shadow of his friend's murder over his head since the age of sixteen. He is reluctantly brought back to town once his mom starts showing signs of advanced dementia and he is told to return home to say goodbye. Paul's visit home brings up horrible memories and it doesn't help that his mother thinks there is something in the house, and DI Amanda Beck (hey, she was in The Whisper Man!) is searching for clues about Charlie Crabtree, since a copycat killer was caught in Featherbank.
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I liked THE SHADOWS more than Alex North's first book THE WHISPER MAN. Like WHISPER MAN, THE SHADOWS has a fast paced plot, and intriguing storyline, and I liked it more because it had some twists that I really didn't see coming. What I didn't like about the book was the lake of urgency in the "now" timeline, an unnecessary backstory, and some of the plot twists. I know, it's both what made me like and dislike this book. I I felt that some of these twists were put in because there were so many loose ends, the author didn't really know how to wrap things up. It was a bit of a cop out that left me disappointed. That being said, I really like Alex North's writing and I feel like he is so so close to hitting a home run of a book for me. Hopefully, that will be his next book.
3 out 5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author. It was slow and I had a hard time getting into it. The pace was slow but I was intrigued.

I think I’m in the minority here, but I wasn’t all that impressed with The Shadows. I had to borrow a physical copy from my friend because the audiobook wasn’t holding my attention, I found myself tuning it out and would have to go back and rewind way too often. I don’t know if maybe I was expecting something different or maybe there was too much hype? I was expecting more of a horror story and this was definitely not that. It was a thriller I guess but I really didn’t find it all that thrilling. There was no sense of urgency. The characters were fine, not super memorable. There was one twist, not even the main one, that I won’t spoil that did catch me by surprise. Basically that side twist and the intro were the only parts of the book that got me excited. The rest I thought was just ok. 2.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, author, and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so good! I really enjoyed the story line. This plot and story were so easy to follow and definitely had some creepy vibes. The narrator was excellent and helped keep the story engaging! I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I"m beginning to believe that Alex North can do no wrong as this was another out of the park home run for me!!
I love how his books are just enough creepy to keep you hooked but no too creepy to turn you off.

While The Shadows is not a follow up to the Whisper Man, I think they are part of the same universe as there were little hat tips to Whisper Man. Thank you so much to NetGalley for the audibook!

The Shadows is a story about a man named Paul returning to his hometown as an adult due to the resurfacing of copy cat murders from his childhood taking place. He has to figure out if the murders are tied together and what's going on. I did like hearing about Paul and his group of friends as they were children. The backstory was intriguing but the detective Amanda's POV was uninteresting to me. Lucid dreaming is a main plot which sounded SO intriguing but the way it was presented didn’t really work for me, unfortunately. I wanted to be scared or creeped out but I didn’t get either of those feelings. I thought the pacing was a bit too slow for me. This was not a bad book as there was a lot of potential but it failed to hold my attention. The narrators did an excellent job and it was a quick listen.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan Audio for the audiobook!

Alex North’s The Shadows creates a murder mystery with two timelines and lucid dreams that is not quite as scary as I thought it would be. The story follows a 25-year-old murder that looks similar to a recent murder in the same small town. He set a creepy and dark scene, and makes you second-guess each character you meet. Speaking of characters, there are a lot of them. I struggled at times to keep everyone straight. The wrap-up had a nice twist, but it also seemed to flounder a bit. I was a bit skeptical of the ending, wondering why one character was even introduced and explained so late in the book. If you’re expecting The Whisper Man, you won’t get it in this thriller. Still, a solid effort and interesting mystery.

I truly liked this book a lot. It was incredibly creepy and off, I was never too sure what to expect. There were multiple times that I would have to stop the book in the middle of the night because it freaked me out! Which is a sign of an incredible thriller/horror book. The narrator did a great job and I truly felt as though I was in the town where everything was happening. I would highly recommend this audiobook to someone who is look for a great thriller/horror to read during the fall season.

I was nervous about this one as it's often difficult to follow a novel as successful as The Whisperman, but The Shadows does not disappoint. The story is obviously inspired by The Slenderman and the famous case involving teenagers stabbing their friend from a few years ago. Even though the initial concept may have been snatched out of the headlines, I did not see the twist coming. Strong narrator and a perfect story for audio fall walks.