"The Shadows" is probably right for some people. I am not one of them.

I'm not a Stephen King person, but I imagine someone who enjoyed his work would like this. It's just not for me.

The book oscillates between the present and 25 years ago. Someone is murdered, another missing and the main clue is red handprints left around the body. Paul, one of our narrators is arrested. Twenty-five years later, Detective Amanda is investigating a murder similar a copycat murder.

There are a lot of haunting images from this book that will stay with me for a while. It was undeniably creepy, but it was also kind of boring for a book hyped as a "thriller." I was underwhelmed.

The narrators were acceptable. Nothing exciting, but nothing overly annoying.

Grateful to have received a copy of this to review on audio through Netgalley's new audiobook program. Considering I was too scared to read Alex North's previous title, The Whisper Man, after dark or if I was home along, I was concerned that I was too much of a scaredy cat to read The Shadows.

I loved the dual narrators, and I felt like the two perspectives really helped bring this title to life.

"You shouldn't be here." That is the first thing that Paul Adams' mother says to him when he comes to see her after twenty-five years. Twenty-five years ago, he had left home, he had left the Shadows (the woods near his home) and all the things that happened in them behind him, hoping never to return. But now he is back and the past seems to be repeating itself. One of Paul's close friends was murdered all those years ago. One of the murderers was caught and the other disappeared. Now, Paul discovers that copycat murders have been happening over the years and as much as he wants to put the past behind him he can't. The Shadows is a great summer read. I love that the woods in the story were called the Shadows. Woods can be dark and mysterious and chilling just like this book.

I thought that both of the narraters of the book did an excellent job and added to the story.

If you love creepy stories pick this up. Is there anything better than trying to scare the beejusus out of yourself by listening to a scary book? And what is that by listening it ramps up the scare by one thousand percent? And don't forget that Alex North is the king of creepy. Oh let's not forget the narrator who did an amazing job of narrating the book. Happy listening!

Partner: Netgalley and Celadon Books
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Summer brings out my love for creepy mysteries and this summer in particular it seems I can't get enough of them. When I came across the audiobook of the Shadows on Netgalley I couldn't resist downloading it and I'm glad I did.
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The story unfolds between current day and 25 years ago with the focus on a murder that eerily mimics one from the past. The connection between the two and those involved with them are the heart of story - and definitely had me guessing throughout as to what really happened. I so appreciated the several twists near the end as I had not anticipated them. I was kind of hoping there wouldn't be a rational explanation for all that occurred but did like how it all tied together .
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As for the narrators, I felt they did a great job of telling the story and enhancing my listening experience. If your looking for your next audiobook and enjoy mysteries with a creepy edge I recommend checking The Shadows out.

I just finished listening to The Shadows by Alex North and it was so good! I had no idea what to expect going into this one and I was completely immersed from the beginning. It has so many twists and turns and wasn’t too creepy for me. I enjoyed the narrators and felt they gave a great performance. I would definitely recommend this one on audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to listen to this book.

I absolutely loved the first 2/3 of this audiobook. I loved the concept of finding this mysterious creepy man through lucid dreaming. I thought this was going to go in the way of Slenderman, and I was so into it. Unfortunately, the twists and reveals were a let down for me. I was really hoping for a great supernatural thriller, but the explanations for everything left me feeling underwhelmed. The audiobook (which I listened to on the Netgalley app) also had playback issues. The audio was distorted for a lot of the book, which made it hard to understand and follow at times.

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.

Alex North’s new novel does not disappoint. This one, although similar to his last book, is haunting and keeps you guessing. Listening to the audiobook, you hear two narrators for Paul and the detective. Both characters are engaging & make you feel as though you are in the book & experiencing the events in live time. This storyline has elements that are hard to deal with (death of child, dementia, etc) but this one did not disturb me as much has The Whisper Man. I enjoy not knowing where the story is going & being led down a path of twists and turns until the truth is revealed.

If you have liked "The Silent Patient", you will love this book! The audio narration was fantastic and I loved that it was two different narrators that spoke it.
The story line is easy to follow with unexpected twists and turns and and ending I would've never guessed. I felt drawn into the story and it kept my attention all along. The concept of Lucid dreaming is completely new to me, so it was really interesting and eerie for me to read about this and how it turned into murder. I liked the aspect that it has two different time lines - 25 years ago around the time the murder happened, and today. Charlie Crabtree, who committed the murder 25 years ago is such a dark personality, that was so well written that I felt shivers up and down my spine when I read about him. The character development is fantastic and it makes me want to read the Whisper Man asap.

Paul Adams hasn't been back to his childhood village in twenty-five years. He left everything, including the horrible crime committed by his classmate Charlie Crabtree, behind. It's his mother's failing health that has brought him reluctantly back home. There is no joyful homecoming for Paul. His mother is distraught, something horrible is in his childhood home, someone is following him, and he has caught the attention of Detective Amanda Beck. Detective Beck is investigating a crime that is eerily similar to one that happened twenty-five years ago. Is it a strange coincidence that Paul is suddenly back in town? Is Charlie Crabtree back? What <em>did</em> happen to Charlie?</p>

This new offering from the author of The Whisper Man, is a haunting psychological thriller with strong Stand By Me vibes. The story alternates between the past and Paul's recollection of the crime and the present as Paul struggles to reconcile his memories with what is happening in this new case. The tension builds slowly as the the strange truth behind both cases is slowly and deliberately revealed. The skillful narration of Hannah Arterton (Safe, The Five on Netflix) and John Heffernan (Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Collateral) bring the story to life and draw the listener in.

The Shadows is a great pick for readers and listeners who enjoyed The Chalk Man and other titles by C.J. Tudor and the Family Upstairs and other titles by Lisa Jewell.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for an advance reader/listener copy for review.</p>

The Shadows⭐️
I really enjoyed the audiobook narrators. They gave the story an eary vibe but the stiry itself was difficult to follow.
We are following so many different characters and trying to get their backstory but North keeps jumping around that I couldnt follow the story at all.

Thank you to Netfelly via McMillion Audio for sending me a copy of The Shadows by Alex north. Is already available for your reading pleasure.

“ The Shadows” was an engrossing thriller that pulls the reader on with a twist that I did not foresee.
Paul Adams boarded a train to college and has not returned to his hometown of Gritten in 25 years after a horrible murder that has become the stuff of legends and scary tales. He has returned because his mother is dying. As he tries to reconstruct his mothers life, the past is opened.
Detective Amanda Beck is investigating these murder of a little boy by two teenage boys that seems linked to the case from 25 years ago.
Both of these very different people are trying to answer the same questions. What happened to Charlie Crabtree all those years ago? What do the murders happening now have to do with events from all those years ago? Is it possible that Charlie is still alive and been hiding all this time?
This was a very quick enjoyable story and I listened to the audiobook but I am still experimenting with that format and when I noticed I had missed some details I would skim the book and get myself back in track.
This is a must read for fans of thrillers, mysteries or just good story telling.
Thank you to #netgalley and the publishers for the audiobook.

The Shadows by Alex North is completely intense and an atmospheric follow up to his debut novel ,The Whisper Man. Bringing back the characters Featherbank and Detective Amanda Beck. The main character leaves his small home town after something terrible happens only to return 20+ years later.

A psychological thriller involving lucid dreams and ending in murder ... sign me up!! Alex tethers on the edge of natural vs supernatural and the narrators did an epic job scaring me to pieces. This audiobook was really good with such spooky vibes. The narrators has a way to suck you in on this Incredibly atmospheric read.

Although, this was slower than I liked, it still was intense and worth the read. I did find the ending a tad maybe rushed and mostly disappointing. But I’m still looking forward to what the author has next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan riveting Audio for this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I definitely recommend this one. Can’t wait to see what Alex North has for us next.

This was an ok read. It had some decent creepiness to it but it's basically a "ripped from the headlines" type of story. If you've heard anything about the slenderman murders, you've basically read this book. I would recommend this if you're looking for a spooky thriller that keeps you guessing if it's actually paranormal or not. There is a little bit of lucid dreaming tied to the main story and I wish that would have been explored a little more, Still a decent thriller.

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an audio review copy of this novel. All the following opinions are my own!

While I wasn't the biggest fan of Alex North's debut novel, I found myself really liking the way they'd written it. The prose was lush, and the atmosphere intense and captivating. These things take a higher priority to plot in my personal reading experience, so I was really excited to see what they had to offer with this second novel!

Having read it now, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that The Shadows absolutely delivers on the atmosphere part. I'm not someone to scare easily, but I had to shut the audiobook off at night, because I found myself getting scared. The story itself, however, is another thing.

This novel begins in the same town as the last one - Featherbanks. And it follows one of the two police officers who played a major role in Whisper Man - Detective Amanda Beck. Here, she investigates what appears to be a ritualistic killing of a young boy at the hands of his friends, and finds herself pulled into an uncannily similar killing that took place in a small village a quarter of a decade past.

The other main character that we follow is a man called Paul Adams who is someone who is on the periphery of both these mysteries- close enough that he is affected, but not too close to be involved.

Speaking of the mysteries, I liked the way they were written and the way that the author insinuated the connection between the two. One of the plot twists made me gasp, but the main resolution was kinda..meh. While the final reveal itself was slightly disappointing, I did enjoy the buildup a lot. I would have loved it if the reveal had brought together more elements, but while it was not my favourite, I didn't think it was the worst possible outcome either so yay for that. Also, I just loved the atmosphere so much that I'm willing to overlook everything else.

Another important part of the story is lucid dreaming and these kids' obsession with it. I really liked how the author incorporated that element into the story, and I enjoyed the hint of horror that it lent to this otherwise fairly straightforward murder mystery. Creepy, psychopathic kids are the scariest motherfuckers on this planet, and creepy, psychopathic kids who think they can make dreams happen in real life are 100x worse. So that is definitely a big enticing point for this novel. Even though things might not actually turn supernatural, the implication of it coupled with the atmospheric writing makes this book unputdownable!

Overall, I enjoyed it. I don't know if I'd reread it, but it was super fun for a one time read! I'd 100% recommend the audiobook, too! The narrators did a fantastic job and were very much responsible in scaring me!

The Shadows is Alex North's second novel, a follow-up to his wildly successful debut The Whisper Man. Like Whisper Man, this book centers on an eerie decades-old killing and features DI Amanda Beck. The original murder has become an urban legend of sorts and now a copycat has emerged. According to the legend, “Redhand Man” is a ghostly figure who lives in the forest and can make people disappear. It was his powers that led two teenage boys to brutally stab a classmate. One of the boys turned up in town hours after the murder, covered in blood and wielding a knife. The other - Charlie Crabtree - was never seen again.

Eventually, an entire internet culture springs up around the legend. Amateur detectives spend years combing through every detail of the case in hopes they will finally solve it. Teens and crime enthusiasts relive the killing on various web forums—including someone who goes by CC666 and claims to have been there. CC666's posts aren't just observations either: they goad others into continuing Charlie's work. Could the person behind the mysterious handle be Charlie Crabtree? Is it possible that he really did escape 25 years earlier?

Aside from DI Beck, there is another person who wants to find out the truth. Paul Adams was a suspect in the original crime and now he's returned to town because his mother is dying. Chapters alternate between Paul's retelling of past events, his present-day narrative, and Amanda's account of her current investigation. There are many twists, including one big one, which took me by surprise. The atmosphere throughout is wickedly creepy and the flashbacks to Paul's teen years reminded me of the character dynamics in a Stephen King novel. I kept expecting something supernatural to happen but this isn't really that kind of tale.

One of the characters tells Paul “a ghost story is more sad than anything else.” I don't often feel that, but I did when I finished The Shadows. In part, this is because I'd recently read about the real-life story that inspired Alex North to write the book. I won't say more, but if you finish the book and look up the actual case, you'll find the details are as heartbreaking as they are haunting. North brings the sense of loss that accompanies such acts of fantastical violence into focus.

Two final thoughts: the audio was excellent throughout. I'm still having a few glitches with the app but the narrators were wonderful, especially John Heffernan. And last but not least, who the heck is Alex North? My google sleuthing efforts to uncover his true identity came to nothing.

Much thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked The Shadows even more than The Whisper Man! Between the strange lucid dreaming elements, the psychopathic outlook of Charlie Crabtree, and the description of the fantastical monster "Red Hands," it is sometimes hard to discern which events are based in reality and which occur in Paul's memories, or in the dream world. There were also several very unexpected twists for me throughout the story which really elevated this book for me. There are two voice actors for the audiobook, one for Paul, the main character, and Amanda, the cop investigating a recent copycat crime of a murder that took place 25 years ago. Both voice actors were excellent and I liked the switch back between them, which further served to orient me within the story. Listening to the audiobook was also an appropriately creepy experience so, listen to it at night at your own risk!

I received this as an ARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

After reading The Whisper Man earlier this year, I knew that I just had to read The Shadows. Alex North has a way of just slowly drawing you in. He definitely knows how to build up the suspense.

We go through multiple POV and between past and present. The speed was perfect for this kind of setting.

“It’s bad people who do bad things,” she said. “If they didn’t do them in one place, they’d just do them somewhere else instead.”

“You have to do something about Charlie.”
~ Alex North, The Shadows
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Twenty-five years ago, Charlie Crabtree murdered Paul Adams’ friend and then ... disappeared. Now that Paul has returned to his hometown to see his dying mother, he is forced to confront the horrors he thought he had left behind. The disappearance of Charlie has created many copycat murders in the following years and just as Paul returns, he learns there has been another in a neighbouring town. Combined with his mother’s insistence that there is something in the house and Paul feeling as though he is being followed, he begins to wonder…what became of Charlie?
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After reading the author’s debut novel “The Whisper Man”, I immediately placed “The Shadows” on my TBR. The author sure knows how to set the atmosphere for his novels! The creepy, suspense, horror feel was there. The book kept me engaged even though the first two parts were slower paced than part 3 and I was invested in trying to figure out what was happening. The story alternated between the present and the past connecting the two timelines. When I thought I had it figured out, there was one reveal towards the end that left my mouth hanging open. The ending itself I found to move quickly and was a little anticlimactic considering the buildup that preceded. Despite that, this was still a great read although “The Whisper Man”, in my opinion, was better. One character comes over from “The Whisper Man” but reading the debut novel is not a necessity to read this one.

I experienced this book in two ways – the kindle edition and the audio book. The audiobook has two narrators - Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan. The narration was clear and easily understood. Each chapter was easily discernible and there was adequate pacing to allow the reader to know when a new scene in the same chapter began. Although the narrators attempted to make the voices of each of the characters distinct, it was not always successful, and in my opinion the voices did not fit all the characters. The narration did not immerse me, as the reader, into the story. I preferred and recommend reading the novel. I was able to immerse myself in the story and let myself be carried away.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook and provide an honest review.