I enjoyed The Whisper Man but I wanted to love it. . I wanted to read The Shadow because this was supposed to be a second chance.
I really enjoyed the narrator and I would listen to other books he reads.
I felt completely disconnected from both of the main characters. I’m a huge fan of reading from the perspective of detectives but in this situation, she brought nothing to the table. I also like the different timelines but I found myself a bit confused at times.

My problem is the marketing or the overhype. Just like The Whisper Man, The Shadow was supposed to give me a creepy or spooky or supernatural feeling but it turned to be a basic mystery/thriller.

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon for the audiobook.

I enjoyed the author’s previous book so I had high expectations with this one and I am happy that I did enjoy it but as much as the previous one. It is more of a slow burner and is definitely creepy if that is what you are looking for. The narrators were really good and I seem to enjoy British accent a lot. The multiple timelines felt slightly confusing possibly as I was listening to an audiobook but they should be more straightforward if you were reading it. The plotline is basically about a murder investigation where the case is eerily similar to something that happened a long ago.

Such a creepy and interesting plot! Definitely recommend it!

Out of The Whisper Man and The Shadows, I probably liked The Shadows more. This book wasn’t for me. It was kind of creepy, but really slow.

A lot of background information and not a lot of dialogue.

You have to get to the last 20% of the book in order for it to get going and the ending was not worth the first 80% of the book.

The twist also didn’t really make any sense to me

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I recently read North's other story The Whisper Man and absolutely loved it. When I heard he was releasing another book I had to read it! The last book by him was similar to a ghost story and while this one strayed more toward supernatural I was happy to know there was still a ghostly element with it.

I did sometimes get a little confused with the time periods and the cases (past case present case) but eventually I kind of got the hang of it lol.

Overall a solid little mystery. I'll definitely still be keeping an eye out for more works by North 👌

A pull quote from Alex Michaelides, a fellow thriller writer, says, “If you liked THE WHISPER MAN, you’ll love this.” Well, what if you thought THE WHISPER MAN was just okay? In my experience, you’ll find Alex North’s follow up is just okay too.

THE SHADOWS has all the makings of a creeptastic literary experience. The cover, the atmosphere, the mysterious character named Charlie Crabtree, the chilling refrain of “red hands, red hands, red hands everywhere.” But for some reason, North’s stories just don’t grab me.

On the plus side, the audiobook version is very well narrated. John Heffernan (who you might recognize from oodles of British TV productions) is excellent, and I look forward to listening to other books he reads in the future.

THE SHADOWS is now widely available in all reading formats. Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Celadon books for the advanced listeners copy!

I did not like the back and forth between present and past. It wouldn’t have been so hard if the past and present was from the same person giving the POV.

As for the narrators the guy was so mellow toned and the woman just sounded plain pissed the whole time they read the book.

The Shadows just didn’t do it for me.

I enjoyed this book much more so than the author’s debut but I’m not sure why. Maybe The Whisper Man was too hyped up, or maybe I like his books on audio more (I read The Whisper Man), or maybe The Shadows is just a better book. The narrators did a good job of portraying Paul and Allison (who doesn’t love a British accent?). Amanda is a detective (and I did not even realize until reading other reviews that she is the same detective in The Whisper Man) investigating the murder of a young boy by two of his classmates, which seems to be a copycat killing of a murder that happened 25 years ago and involved three of Paul’s friends. Paul has now returned to his hometown because his mother is dying, and is haunted by the past and present. At first I was really annoyed at the twist, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense and enhanced the story. I was a bit confused by a few things in the book, although I may have just missed some details because I can get distracted while listening to audiobooks.

This audiobook got me hooked from the first sentence. The story is about Charlie Crabtree, a teenager who practiced lucid dreaming and believed he would be able to live in the dream world forever if he sacrificed another person to achieve this. The fact that he actually vanished after committing this atrocious act inspires others to copy him.

We follow Paul, who was once friends with this boy, and the murder that happened 25 years ago in his hometown traumatized him so badly that he moved out and lost touch with his own mother soon after that. The novel starts with him going back to his hometown after he finds out his senile mother is not long for this world. This forces him to relive everything that has happened in his childhood, all the events that led up to the murder.

The story is told from the perspective of Paul - now and in the past, and of Amanda Beck, a detective investigating the murder cases that copy what Charlie Crabtree did. I loved how it was at the same time creepy but not only about the supernatural aspects of these murders, but also very character-driven. Definitely recommend it to fans of Stephen King's books.

This was my first Alex North book.
I enjoyed his style and plot was pretty darn interesting too!
The two person narration worked well.
I look forward to checking out The Whisper Man.

The audio for this book just wasn't what I usually look for in an audiobook. I found the narrator to be annoying and the prologue to be confusing with the audio. I really wish I had a ebook or physically copy to understand what was being said for most of the first part. Overall it gave off creepy vibes of that's something you are looking for

This book was absolutely chilling. We all have that feeling that the past will come back to haunt us, but in this story it actually does. Paul and his friend James were loners, the type to be bullied, so when Charlie Crabtree takes up for them, things start to change. But is being Charlie's friend worth it? He's dark and morbid and fascinated with mystical arts. Paul wants to get away from him, but even after 25 years, he is still in Charlie's shadow. And now that Charlie is still causing chaos in the future, what should Paul do to handle it? This book will keep you glued in your seat until it's over. DEFINITELY recommend.

I did enjoy it way more than The Whisper Man. The shadows has a dual timeline and multiple narrative with an added lucid dream aspect that captured my attention right away. I found this one to be addictive, bizarre with a bit of creepyness tied in. I loved the twists, vivid descriptions, imagination and plot of this novel, I will look forward to reading whatever North comes up with next.

Paul has returned to his hometown after a 25 year absence to tend to his dementia ritten mother. Paul's hometown brings horrendous memories of a brutally murdered teen that his friends were involved in. One friend was caught but the other vanished. Now Paul is dealing with his past as he tends to his mother and going through his old belongings. While a decetive is trying to solve a current murder with eerie similarities to the murder 25 years ago. Could these murders be connected? A copycat murderer perhaps or could the teen that vanished have been lurking in the shadows for 25 years and back with a vengeance.

The Shadows is the second book by Alex north, and it didn’t disappoint. It was just as thrilling and suspenseful as his first book The Whisper Man. This book features a dual storyline and narrators. Paul has returned to his hometown, after decades away to be with his mother who is in her final days. He hasn’t been back because events that transpired in his teen years. The events build-up the story plots of Paul’s childhood friends and the idea of lucid dreaming.

The second storyline occurs present-day. It is about a detective trying to get to the bottom of some other teen killings and whether they are connected to the earlier murder in Paul’s time. Paul’s return to the town causes strange things to happen.

There is a lot going on in this book. It took some effort to keep all the characters apart and follow some of the timelines. There were some spooky moments throughout the book, but I was not on the edge of my seat. I still enjoyed the book overall. I wouldn’t say found it disappointing, but this book had big shoe to fill and came up short.

Thank you to NetGalley for an audio copy of this one to read in return for an honest review.

I wanted to see if this book would be any better in audio format.

I found the narration to be well done and actually it was easier to keep track of the characters because they all had different voices. So in this way I found the audiobook probably a little bit superior than the Kindle version but not enough to add any stars to my original review which can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I will look forward to more from this author as I loved The Whisper Man. This one just didn't work as well for me.

I can recommend the audiobook format, it is very well done.

I received this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley.

This was my first Alex North novel, and from what I’ve heard of his novels, I couldn’t wait to see how it went. The story was okay I guess, but I think I’m going to read the book instead of listen to the audiobook, see if maybe that was what turned me off. I did like that there was a male and female narrator on the audiobook, it helped to separate the then/now aspects.

After last year's The Whisper Man did not work for me, I was not going to read North’s newest. But then I read the description, and I decided to give it a chance and this was the wrong decision for me. The Shadows had everything I would be interested in, but it didn’t work out for me. When we found out what happened to Charlie… Ok …. Whatever.. No big deal for me.

The one thing I did actually like was the reference to The Whisper Man in The Shadows, these books are in the same universe! And the covers both just belong together.

I think some of what might not have worked for me was the back and forth nature along with all the lucid dreaming stuff. These boys think they were having the same dream/can make things happen in their dreams.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but all books/authors are not for everyone and sadly, after both of Alex North’s book failed to deliver for me I have decided he is an author I need to just stay away from.

Many thanks to the publisher Celadon Books for granting an audiobook copy to listen to and review via Netgalley.

This was a dark, gritty audiobook that I absolutely devoured in two listens. I had to keep listening to see how it would end. I need to read the authors previous book, because I enjoyed this one so much.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook to review via Netgalley.

It creeped me out but was great overall! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a darker story.

I liked The Shadows much more than I liked The Whisper Man - probably a controversial opinion. The Shadows is intriguing, the content is creepy, and the mystery makes you want to keep reading until you find out what really happened all those years ago. The book focuses on Paul Adams, a man from a small, industrial town in England called Gritton, and a grisly murder that happened when he was a teenager. Back then, his friends were interested - more, obsessed - with the idea of lucid dreaming. Their ringleader, Charlie Crabtree, believed that they could live in a lucid dream forever, but that would require a sacrifice. Paul had long backed out of this plan, but the other three boys went ahead and killed someone in a horrifying manner, then went to the woods and took sleeping pills. Two of the boys were found, but Charlie disappeared without a trace.

Decades later, a copycat murder occurs, with more young boys obsessed with lucid dreaming and wanting to disappear forever like Charlie. Paul is much older now, and he comes back to Gritton to see to his dying mother in palliative care. As soon as he comes back, the memories do too: bloodred handprints on front doors, the creepy voodoo dolls needed for lucid dreaming, the childhood sweetheart who he had never forgotten. Along with the detective who's investigating the copycat, Paul tries to unearth what really happened to Charlie Crabtree, and patch the wounds that still haunt him from years earlier.

I listened to the audiobook of the Shadows, and I found it quite good. I admit I may have gotten bored of the story reading it in paperback, but the creepy, suspenseful narration and shifting perspective between Paul and Amanda (the detective) keep you interested and entertained. I was fascinated by the story up until the ending, where you find out who was murdered and what happened to Charlie. I have to say for all of the fantastic buildup, the supernatural mysteries, and even a great early twist, the eventual conclusion was a bit disappointing. Overall, I'd recommend this but not expect a 10/10 landing at the end. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

When I read the synopsis of this book and saw the cover I was hooked instantly. I had heard so many good things about this book and honestly, the audio version made this story 100 times better.

It took awhile for the story to get going for me and I was fully invested until the last half of the story. The people in Gritten and the town itself is disturbed and I was totally here for it. I loved the suspense and how eerie things felt throughout the novel. I also enjoyed the multiple narratives and felt like this gave the book more depth.

Overall, this was an enjoyable listen.