Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the review copy of this audiobook!

THIS BOOK WAS GREAT! I loved this story so much. It gave me all feels I was looking for. I could see reading this in October and but I couldn't wait. I had to read when it released. This plot and story were done great and so easy to follow. I loved the narrator. Kept me intrigued in the story the entire time. This will be a book that will stick with me.

I highly recommend this read!

This is the first book I've read by this author but I've heard good things and I was not disappointed! Great book to kick off the spooky season, I enjoy a good thriller and can be a bit fussy with them but the plot and characters here were great.

This was Alex North’s (pseudonym, by the way – the author is anonymous!) follow-up to The Whisper Man, a novel I loved so much as to make it impossible for anything to measure up – so predictably, I liked this but didn’t love it. Not to say it’s bad! Just that it didn’t rise to that level for me. It’s about a man who returns to his hometown in his adulthood (IT vibes), where a horrible murder took place amongst his friends when he was a kid. Now copycats are happening and he kind of has to revisit what happened on that fateful day during his childhood. It involved lucid dreams as a main plot point which I have to say, just didn’t really do it for me at all. Writing this review I struggle to even really remember anything that stood out in this book. It didn’t feel as original or nearly as creepy as The Whisper Man, and it kind of just seemed like there were a lot of plot points and they didn’t come together for me as a cohesive whole. Again not bad, just not my favorite. But more importantly, I want to know who Alex North is!

I was a bit hesitant to get this book because I am not a fan or horror, but i read the whisper man which i loved so i wanted to give this a try, This story was gripping and easy to read, I didn’t read it at night so all of the creepy creepy was alright with me. I would characterize this as both a a crime novel and of horror.

This story centers around Paul Adams, who’s newly returned to his hometown of Gritten, after a 25-year. When Paul was a teenager , he and a group of friends became obsessed with a creature known as Red Hands. This obsession led the friends trying lucid dreaming , which led to the murder of one of his classmates. Paul was suspected of the murder but when one of his friends confessed , he was but released, which coincides with the disappearance of their ring leader Charlie

This story is told in flashbacks between the last and the present . As the recent murder led detectives to believe that there maybe a copy cat in their midst . Paul makes new discoveries in his childhood home that have him questioning everything he knows. He lives in a constant state of Suspense as his pass and presence collides .

After thoroughly enjoying The Whisper Man and this book, Alex North is becoming one of my favorite thriller authors. His books have the right amount of mystery, crime, and creepiness for me! I love how whenever I read his books, I’m always like “Is it a ghost? Is this going to turn paranormal??!!” You never know when you start one of his books and that’s one of my favorite things about his writing.
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Also, I love how he always flushes out his narrators just enough for you to root for them and have a small soft spot for them, no matter what mistakes they make. I definitely recommend the audiobooks too because it makes the experience even creepier

This was a great new book by this author and I enjoyed it. Of course Insee red hands in my dreams now. Just the right amount of spooky and thriller!

The Shadows is a spooky story with twist and a wondering adventure. I was so excited to get my Book of the Month so I could read this book! There are cults, dream monsters, police, flashbacks, revenge, strange woods, secrets, and more! The book also refers back to Alex North’s previous book The Whisper Man, but you don’t need to read it beforehand to understand the story. The end of this book was a little bit of a letdown, but it was pretty spooky and I’d suggest it! I read this book and listened to the audiobook and read it in a day! It had me hooked! I have so many thoughts and feelings about this book!

THank you for the ARC!
THis was a perfect listen to kick off Spooky Season!
I felt a lot of suspense and tthats exactly what I wanted.
I enjoyed the Narrator.
I did however feel that it could have been a bit longer?

I enjoyed the narrator of this and felt that the audio version successfully captured the essence of horror. Sadly this plot failed to capture my attention the way North’s Whisper Man did. He definitely gets points for atmosphere: both the setting and characters conveyed an abundance of foreboding and creepiness. The whole supernatural, entering one’s dreams was too over the top for me and did not hold my interest. I felt that there was just too much going on and it took away from my my overall enjoyment. My the time the twists came, I was already uninvested. I hoping North’s next book is more like his first.

Alex North is slowly becoming one of my new favorite authors. I was a bit later to the party on this one, but after listening to The Whisper Man on audiobook and seeing the opportunity to listen to his latest release I had to get my hands on it.

Especially when the audiobook was so well done for The Whisper Man. I loved the way the writing style felt like it was meant to be told, not just read. Almost like a scary story, where the cadence of the words and sentences builds with the suspense and tension of the story. The shadow did that as well but it added two different character views, each with their own voice. This could have gone very poorly in trying to do this since each person may have a differing reading style (i.e. longer/shorter pauses, more/less inflection in emotional scenes, slower/faster pace). But, to my surprise and delight, it worked out marvelously!

I am not completely familiar with the voices who narrated but I did some research before starting on this audiobook on John Heffernan and realized who he was. He is classically trained in acting and was part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. To me this means the man knows how to communicate drama in words and can romanticize his inflection of words so you find yourself holding your breathe and leaning in to hear more.

This book was so chilling! I didn't want to put it down but at times had to put it down in the later evening. The story line was so put together and the details were everything!

I was captivated by the story and the presentation of voice actors within the audiobook. I was automatically drawn in by this business of the storytelling from its words and how its words were performed. I think I preferred listening to the story more than reading the story myself. I’ve only heard great things about this book so I had high expectations I did not know that I would like it so much especially being in audiobook format. I listened to the whole audiobook while at work keeping the volume low at times when others are around because I didn’t want to spoil it for them. I’ve been recommending it to all of my family and friends.

This book was a total five star book for me. I have read Alex Norths debut novel The Whisper man and was so so so happy to be about to have the audio for The Shadow. The mystery was so good and creepy that kept me guessing the whole time. The narraters was so good. They had such clear voices that had me hooked on to every word. Cant wait to read more of Alex Norths novels. And these narraters work a pleaser to listen to and would listen again to them any day.

More crime procedural than thriller.

Paul experienced great horror in his youth, the gruesome and bloody murder of his friend. He left Gritton Wood for university and never looked back. Now his mother is struggling with dementia and he has come back to say his goodbyes, dredging up the painful memories of the past. This is compounded when a copycat occurs in the neighbouring town of Featherbank, reopening old wounds.

I was so hyped to emerge myself back in the Whisper Man universe and whilst The Shadows provided some great twists, I felt it lacked some the creep factor that made The Whisper Man a 5 star read. It was still really well written and the imagery and prose were beautiful. I like Amanda Beck as a character and it was great to meet her again. The narrators were both excellent but I felt the recording was a little hollow and could have done with some fine tuning.

Alex North's follow up to his hit book, The Whisper Man, did not disappoint!! I was definitely creeped out while reading The Whisper Man at night before bed, so I read The Shadows entirely in the daylight hours (I'm a wimp, I know.)

I loved the past/present chapters and the switching of character perspectives in each one. This book hooked me from the beginning and I got goosebumps reading some of the scenes.

The beginning almost read like a true-crime book to me with the cult-like murders. I liked how we saw some of the same characters (ex: Detective Amanda Beck) from The Whisper Man and I can't wait to see what North has in store for us next. So happy to have read this, another stunning thriller from Celadon Books!

Similar to The Whisper Man, The Shadows was another total slow burn!

I loved the back and forth between the “before” and the “now” of the story, though the first half or so of the book was almost too slow.

I did feel like Red Hands was pretty similar to Slenderman but it was unique enough that I didn’t mind the similarities too much.

I didn’t expect the twist that Jenny was the one who was murdered twenty-five years ago. Once that was revealed, you realize that it is never said prior that James was actually murdered.

The physical description of Red Hands was eerie and I liked how both James and Charlie’s father, and then Dean Price, both matched the description and all tied back together.

This book wasn’t nearly as creepy as The Whisper Man but I still enjoyed it and found it unexpectedly emotional.

3.5 stars

DNF @ 47%

I picked up this audiobook because it was under "listen now" for the new audiobook feature. I'm not the biggest thriller fan (I'm pretty picky about the type that I read), but this one sounded interesting and I've heard good things about the author so I gave it a shot. I don't think it's really for me, though, because I was pretty bored with the amount that I listened to. And I'm not very impressed by the quality of the audiobook, but that may be because of the app and not the actual book.

Rating this 3 stars because I have to rate it to give feedback, but also because I'd be willing to try reading it in a physical format. I'm just not super interested in picking it back up anytime soon at the moment.

This book was creepy. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook as the narrator kept me engaged the entire time. Just when I thought that I might have the book figured out, another curve was thrown my way. This is my first book by this author but it won't be my last!

I read this book but also listened to the audible. I was not a fan of the audible version - i much preferred reading the story.

This is officially a DNF for me. I think it’s because it's an audiobook. I have restarted it twice and I like it while I’m in it, but once I walk away or take a break I can barely remember what happened. The switching narrators and timelines didn’t help anything. I liked the story line so i think that tells me to pick this up in print or digital and leave the audiobook for someone else.