Very dark and intriguing. I have never paid as much attention to my dreams as I have while reading this book. Reminiscent of classic urban legends and Stephen King, with a dash of M. Night Shamalan.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book felt like more of a horror book than a thriller/mystery. With multiple references to Stephen King books in addition to the paranormal feel and gore of this book, It didn't read like a murder mystery to me as much as a scary and creepy story. This is a story about several copycat murders, but the original murderer was never found.

This is my second book by the author, Alex North. It felt similar to his other book ,The Whisper Man , with the return of Detective Amanda Beck, similar settings, the creepy King feel and of course copycat serial murders. I plan on keeping my eye on this author in the future. Yet, I never want to move to a small town ... too much crime, lol.

I enjoyed this book, having grown up reading Stephen King myself. But I felt a bit cheated when it came to the mystery parts. It seems like the author tried a bit too hard to throw the reader off "who done it" a bit too much.
The audiobook was well read by Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan and I will definitely listen to their books in the future.

The narration was excellent. I felt the story, though was a little lacking. It wasn't "thrilling" enough to keep me perched on the edge of my seat or to stay up way past my bedtime listening. I was expecting some goosebumps from a book with a creepy cover called The Shadows. Honestly, it was just okay. Three stars for excellent writing, decent atmosphere, and premise, but I didn't feel invested in any of the characters. Except maybe, Paul. His was an unfortunate story.
Thank you, #NetGalley for a free audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

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 haven't yet read Alex North's first book, The Whisper Man, but I found the description of The Shadows intriguing so took advantage of the opportunity to listen to a copy provided by Netgalley. I'm so glad I did - full of mystery and atmosphere, this was indeed an intriguing listen. North does an excellent job of setting the tone and sense of place, and both narrators did a fine job of voicing the characters and narrating the action. There are interesting, unexpected twists along the way, including the kind that make you back it up a bit to see if you just heard what you thought you did. All in all a most satisfying listen - one that's put The Whisper Man on my TBR list.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

This was my first audio book in quite some time. I loved the alternating between the two readers Easy listening for sure!
Alex North is a great storyteller... wonderful all around.

I was looking forward to this after The Whisper Man, which I enjoyed but felt it didn't live up to the hype. Some parts of the story actually gave me the chills. It's definitely not fast paced, and some parts seem to drag, but there was enough intrigue and questions to keep me glued to the story. The lucid dreaming was very intriguing and an interesting concept. I had some difficulty with the timeline - determining past/present and reality/dreaming.

The narrators, Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan were good, I liked that there were two narrators depending on the POV. The narration didn't stand out as amazing, but it also wasn't annoying.

In this story we follow through the memories of a boy to a grown man and a detective through a grisly cultish type murder from 25 years ago to a copycat now. The effects of what this murder had on these people, town and the mystery had on people currently through conspiracy theories on the internet. 

I would honestly never sleep again if I had friends like these! And move as far away from those woods as possible! Or maybe I'm the type to run upstairs from the killer, who knows?!  

I got full body chills a few times while listening to this book. I thought I knew who the victim was in the first chapter but didn't really know until near the end of the book.  It ripped my heart up and I'm pretty devastated. 

Monsters and nightmares are they real or are they planted into our subconscious to influence us. I am fairly certain that the scary killer in this story is exactly what mine would have done if that happened in our family (cryptic but it would be a spoiler otherwise). Grief can do horrible things and can rationalize anything in the moment.

I was so eager to read The Shadows - after all, I finished The Whisper Man in less than 24 hours...and then did the same thing this one, Alex North's newest book. Thank you to @netgalley and @celadonbooks for the gifting me with an ARC, even though I had preordered this highly-anticipated novel!

This felt a bit slower to me than The Whisper Man - I wasn't running to pick it up because I just needed to know what happened! However, I still enjoyed the story, the concept of lucid dreaming and how that was woven into the murder mystery, and the multitude of characters we got to meet and figure out.

I am definitely still an Alex North fan - and a fan of whoever is designing his book covers, because they are beyond gorgeous!

The Shadows had an intriguing story that kept me listening and was wonderfully read by both narrators (I received an audiobook ARC from NetGalley, thank you NetGalley!). The story had several twists that I did not predict but were set up well and tied things together cleanly in the end. Paul was such a likable and relatable narrator, and I appreciated the bouncing between past and present timelines. Overall I was pleased with The Shadows and am looking forward to trying other Alex North books.

The Shadows is a psychological thriller about a murder that happened 25 years ago and a copycat murder that is happening now. 25 years ago, a group of friends discovered lucid dreaming and that ultimately lead to a murder.

This was my first audiobook so I'm not sure if my hesitation towards this book was because it was a new format for me that might take some getting used to or if the story was a little disjointed for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I really enjoyed the narrators. One narrator told Pauls' story and a woman narrator told Amanda's, the detective investigating the current time copycat murder. I enjoyed Paul's story and his dealings with his mom and the story that unfolded for the murder 25 years ago. The book also touched on lucid dreaming, which I found very interesting and also sort of freaky. It was a unique book that made a murder investigation more interesting. The current murder story line, I didn't follow as closely, and as a result, was a little confused about what happened. It could have just been the audiobook format that didn't work for me though.

Although the story was a little slow, I enjoyed the pace. However, I do feel like this is one book I'd like to read to see if I could follow along a little better to the second plot line (current copy cat murder).

I really liked this book overall, as a steady consumer of mystery and thrillers this book scratched that itch nicely. The characters were well developed, and you grow to like and hate them as the book processes. The middle did feel a bit sloggish and the author had a tendency to repeat words and phrases (lucid dreams) a bit much, but this is something that I may have noticed because of the Audiobook.

Since I did review the Audiobook, here are my feelings on the narration. First problem I have is the two narrators. I'm not the biggest fan of having multiple narrators on a single project as there are many talented voice actors that are readily available who can do both males and female voices. Another thing is on higher quality headphones (BOSE is what I use for a baseline) you can hear that the male actor needed more processing on his voice. His 'S' and 'implososives' were distracting they came across so harshly. Something I didn't notice with the female voice actress.

Overall it's a fun read if you're looking for a good book to read. The audiobook isn't perfect but most of my concerns are nitpicky in nature and likely won't concern a majority of listeners. This is an unabridged book so you do get the entire book as the author intended.

A creepy thriller that will keep you on the edge of the seat until you have no choice but to keep your attention on it until you reach the end.
Paul Adams is back to the town he grew up in; Gritton after 25 years; and even this long is too short a time for him to be back in the town where he lost his friend to a gruesome murder by two teenage boys that shook the very foundations of this town.

Now, Paul is back; because his mother is slowly but surely losing her battle with death; and while he has been sporadically in touch with his mother; he hasn’t met her in as many years; and though he is leery of going back; he still does – though even he doesn’t realise how this homecoming will change even his perception of his own life.
Told in dual PoVs – Paul Adams and Detective Amanda, who has caught a recent case; that seems to have an eerie similarity to the Gritton murders of 25 years ago – and the “Before” and “Now” timelines – Alex North creates creepy, twisted plotline that will play with the readers’ psyche with perfect ease.

There were so many twists throughout the book that I never saw coming; but it was the climax that, at the time let me down a little bit – For a twisted, creepy and absolutely warped plotline; the climax felt a lot more predictable than I would have expected.

Still, even with a far more traditional climax; Alex North delivers a thriller that will keep you on the edge and guessing right till the end – Definitely recommended for all the thriller fans out there!

What is this about?
Paul has gone home to be at his mother’s side during her last days — and it’s the first time he’s returned in 25 years. At the same time, a copycat seems to be re-creating the murder that has plagued Paul his whole life. And, someone is delivering things to his house he thought had been lost when Charlie Crabtree committed murder.

What else is this about?
It’s a little bit of a horror story, a little of a psychological horror story and a lot of a quiet suspenseful mystery.


Alex North is a fan of the horror small towns can hold, because just like his debut, The Shadows is about the horrors that Paul faced in his small town, and returned to find still there 25 years later.

The book happens in two timelines — one that tells us what happened 25 years ago in Paul’s home town, and what is happening in the present, when Paul has returned because his mother his dying.

North is a exceptionally skilled at creating an atmosphere laden with the promise of horrors to come — every page (or rather, every minute because I listed to this on the new Netgalley app and audiobooks) is filled with it, and I consistently felt like something was about to happen — and it usually did. North’s skill also extends to creating some wonderful, creepy characterisation and Paul is filled with regret but fear as well being back in his home town.

Slowly, things begin to happen that make him wonder what is going on and if Charlie is actually back.

However, while I thoroughly enjoyed the timeline in the past, it’s the present that was a bit uneven with the addition of Amanda, a detective assigned to investigate the murders happening in the present. This is where it feels like North was writing two books with two different main characters, and Amanda is the one that didn’t fit. Her place in the story slowed down Paul’s part, and I honestly just wanted to get through her parts quickly. The investigation in the present really wasn’t very interesting either, and the most interesting thing was the link to Paul.

There is a tenuous link to the themes of Paul’s story in her relationship with her father, but to be honest, it really wasn’t interesting to me. I thought the focus on her beyond her capacity as a cop slowed things down considerably in the book.

Overall though, North has created an atmospheric thriller, that will mess with your head and Paul’s for that matter.

I think he’s tapped into how to the quiet horror that people are capable of, and takes readers on an engrossing mind-bending journey through it.

I just finished listening to The Shadows by Alex North and I gotta say, I was a little freaked out at listening to some of this story and that was thanks to the narrators. The way John Heffernan narrated his parts as Paul, I felt like I was sitting around a campfire being told scary ghost stories of the past. The way his voice changed from teen to adult and telling you of the past was perfect for the story. I'm not quite sure if reading the physical book would've had the same effect.

This is a story told from 2 POVs and from the past (25 years prior) and the present. It was effective in the fact that Paul had returned to his home for his mother, but it was his past that kept the story moving. It was his past that kept him from returning. The past was the more creepy parts for me. 4 teens trying to infiltrate each others' dreams while being lucid. But when something horrific happens it is something that is drawing similar parallels to what is happening in his hometown now. So we must visit the past to understand and figure out the present. That's where the detective and second POV, Amanda comes in. She is searching for answers and the truth and needs Paul in order to do that.

I enjoyed The Shadows for the thriller aspects. The narrators did a tremendous job with the characters and I think they made the book for me. While the storytelling was above average, the ending wasn't everything I wanted. Still was somewhat satisfying but was hoping for more. After listening to this book, I would definitely read more by Alex North if he can bring the creep factor and originality.

Omg! Can we go on any more of a wild ride? This was crazy, in a great way! I loved the twists. It had me guessing until the very end!! I'll definitely be reading The Whisper Man!!

This was a decent book, but a little more creepy than I prefer! I didn’t love jumping between two narrators, but the storyline was decent.

A creepy and thrilling read! While the beginning can be a bit jarring with the two timelines, the rest of the book was easy to follow.
There were twists and turns that caught me off guard, but the ending wasn't the greatest for me.
This was still a very good read that I would recommend to anyone that loves a good mystery thriller.

I received this book as a digital/audio ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is my first Alex North novel and I'll most likely be reading more. An engaging thriller set in a small english town that is still haunted by a horrible murder some 20+ years in the past. When the narrator, Pat, returns to his hometown to see his dying mother, strange things start happening and the past comes roaring back in ways no one expected. This story kept me guessing until the end.

I was thoroughly creeped out by North's first book, The Whisper Man, so I was looking forward to reading The Shadows. While certain scenes were creepy, especially those featuring Charlie, I didn't find this book to be particularly thrilling or scary at all. I listened to this on audio, and I thought having two narrators helped keep the past and present events clear in my mind and both narrators were very good. I just found the story to be a bit disappointing and the ending was boring. However, based on the strength of The Whisper Man, I will most likely continue to read any other books North writes.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of the audiobook of this work in exchange for an honest review.