This was a fantastic, atmospheric, creepy audiobook. I think this is one of those books that is perfect to listen to in audio. The narrator portraying the obsessed and haunted main character Paul was especially exceptional at building the atmosphere of the book and conveying Paul’s emotions and fears. His performance really enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

The book is narrated partly by Paul, who slowly describes a creepy childhood tragedy centering around a bad kid named Charlie he was friends with as a child. The book switches back and forth between that time in the past and Paul’s present adulthood. A detective, Amanda, narrates parts of the present section, as she investigates a related crime. I found her narration much less interesting, maybe because I had not read The Whisper Man, in which she also appears. I was much more intrigued by Paul.

The story has some supernatural elements but is primarily focused on the human terrors, which I appreciated. I loved the character of Paul, and was really compelled by his relationship with his friends in his youth. My heart broke for him. I also really liked the creepy backstory about way lucid dreaming figured into the plot, and the story of the man with the red hands who might be lurking in the woods. There was one particular really awesome twist I never saw coming.

The book was exciting, thrilling, sad and emotional - my only negative was that it took a little too long to get where it was going. The exposition was beautifully done but there was a lot of it. I also would have liked more Paul and less of the police procedure. I really loved Paul’s voice - both in the writing and the narration.

This is a 4 stars plus book for me - maybe a 4.25. I am now definitely going to read (or listen to) the Whisper Man.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Alex North for the advance audio copy of this interesting and deeply felt story! I’m really glad I chose to listen to it rather than read, because the audiobook was fantastic.

This book had a creepy vibe, was well written and sucked me in from the get go.

This was my first audio book, and the narrators were both very good. It was easy to understand their voice held my attention and I enjoyed listening to it.

This was a tough one to rate. This was my first Alex North book, though Whisper Man has been on my list for awhile. I did the audiobook, which was really well done. Both narrators did an excellent job, which did add to the storytelling and suspense of the novel.

I just don't know how I feel about the story overall. It's a mystery with potential supernatural hints, which kept me wondering what the truth of the story was. Would it seem supernatural and turn out to have a rational explanation? Or would it truly have an element of the supernatural? In that sense, it reminded me of The Secret Place by Tana French, which I really loved. And I'm obviously not going to say here what the end result was, but I do think the tension served the story well.

One big theme in the book was characters dealing with their relationships to parents. Paul and Amanda are both dealing with sorting through feelings related to parents lost to them. In Amanda's case, the late father whose footsteps she is following in, trying to hard to make him proud, even after he is gone. For Paul, the mother who, at least as the story opens, is still there, but who he essentially fled from when he went away to college, trying to escape the horrors that he lived through. I actually enjoyed and appreciated those threads, even if they weren't what the main story was about - I felt it added something to the characters, particularly Paul.

As far as the story itself - the mystery of Charlie Crabtree, the violence he was at the center of, and the potential copycat murders - I have mixed feelings. There were things I liked. There was some slow building up to the event that started it all when Paul was young. I found the lucid dreaming piece of the plot interesting (if only because I find the idea of actively engaging in lucid dreaming sort of terrifying). There were certainly surprises along the way. I think maybe I just started to lose the thread a bit by the end. To be fair, this could have been my own attention span, but it just felt like there was all this time spent slowing building up one part of the story, only for all these revelations and twists to be made in the final 25% of the book. It was a lot all at once, and as a result I think my attention wandered a bit. Some things were surprising and interesting, and other pieces of the story felt like too much for me.

Overall, I would say I enjoyed this book. It kept my attention, and I liked the characters well enough. And I still do want to go back and check out Whisper Man.

Creepy AF!! I loved this book and ended up listening to it in just two days. Paul’s story was haunting and I loved every minute of it. The time jumps to Charlie were truly disturbing and Paul’s ailing mother’s moments gave me chills. Really great read!

This book is more horror than mystery. It reminded me right off the bat of a Stephen King novel. It’s creepy in the extreme.
Twenty five years ago, Paul Adams lost three of his friends. Two of them kill the third. One of the killers goes missing and is still missing all these years later. In the present day, Detective Amanda Beck is investigating another in a line of copycat murders. And Paul is back home as his mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s, is dying from cancer.
It takes a while for the pace of the book to pick up. But once it does, it never drops off again. There were multiple twists I never saw coming. In fact, the one problem with the audiobook was my inability to easily go back and review certain sections, because North totally bamboozled me.
This audiobook has two different narrators. I found John Heffernan, who handles Paul’s sections, did a much better job than Hannah Arterton, who handles Amanda’s. But then Paul’s segments were much spookier and emotive.
My thanks to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook.

I really enjoyed Alex North’s second novel. The Shadows focuses on a group of young friends who experience a tragic event during their youth. After 25 years, one of them returns home because of his ill mother but is confronted with the tragic event as well as a slew of copycat crimes!
This book had suspense and moments that made my jaw drop.
The audiobook version was well done as well. Keeping my interest and making me want to listen.

As this was my first audio book I initially had some difficulty concentrating until I got used to it. This is a story of friends going back decades and the cunning and manipulating nature of one of them. The narrative gives a atmospheric quality to it, and the story unfolds slowly with twists. The back and forth chapters are well written with red herrings. Though I thoroughly enjoyed it, the overall feel was quite similar to Whisper Man. The male narrator was very good.

Thanks to NetGalley for this audio ARC.

Twenty-five years ago, Charlie Crabtree committed a gruesome murder - a murder so shocking that mention of it can only be found in the dark corners of the Web. After the murder, Charlie conveniently vanishes without a trace. His friend at the time, Paul Adams has successfully put his life back together and moved on. Then it happens – a copycat is on the loose. Is it Charlie or totally new monster? Creepiness factor = 8/10.

Fantastic read! Young Charlie Crabtree committed a murder so heinous that 25 years later it still inspires fear.... and copycats. Paul Adams remembers the case too. He was friends with Charlie and his victim.. Now with his mother having health issues, Paul is forced to return to a place he would rather forget. The supernatural elements of the story were creepy and it was definitely a page turner. The novel has varying timelines that can be difficult to follow but still a great read. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this audiobook. The narration was great and really contributed to the experience of the story.

The Shadows by Alex North is multi-layered thriller with a fantastically creepy plot. It’s a dark and haunting thriller that made me stop in certain areas just to think about it. I also enjoyed the flashbacks to decades earlier which enhanced the mysteries with these boys and their lucid dreaming exercises. There are some nice twists and turns and I highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this book, no doubt. The audiobook was extremely eerie and creepy ah! The story was really good - it had all the elements of mystery and thrill and suspense and the dollop of horror was so well done. The before and now narration truly added a whole new viewpoint to the story.

Oh god, the twists were so good. While I marveled at them, I don't think I liked the ultimate ending. That was a bit weird and somehow felt underwhelming. I liked how the author kept us readers in check, making us believe that Charlie would be alive. That he was back again. But the actual reason was a bit of a let down, I think.

The story played with the theme of lucid dreaming in a huge stance. I think it was amazingly portrayed, all the creepiness that resulted and all the how's and why's. I liked the complexities of the characters, and how the author showed us a bit of the past too and kept the connections so real. It was amazingly done, no doubt. And I enjoyed the story throughout - the whole aura was mysterious and creepy and atmospheric!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the audiobook! All views expressed are mine.

This book had a distinctly Joe Hill vibe where the main question is whether or not there's an other-worldly aspect. (If you want a full book report, read other reviews.) The structure of this thriller is pretty standard but I'm not sure the resolution fully makes sense with the motivations for the characters. There's a scene where a character is literally about to light evidence on fire and asks himself what his mother would want him to do, then remembers she's dead and he has to make up his own mind. Which had been the theme the entire time. Still, an enjoyable listen.

Audibook:
--Hannah Arterton as a no-nonsense policewoman who looks for facts but trusts her instincts made perfect sense because I've seen her play that role twice already in Harlan Coban shows on tv.
--The sound is a bit echo-y at any speed over 1x. I'm not sure if it's an issue with the actual audio file or the netgalley app because it's still brand new

This was my first audiobook ever and I really enjoyed listening to North’s thriller in this format. I had previously read North’s Whisper Man last fall and thought it was good but a tad slow for my liking. Unfortunately, that’s how I felt about this one. If you’re a fan of slow burn thrillers than this one would be good for you. My other gripe was that I’m not a fan of pseudo-paranormal plots and both Whisper Man and The Shadows followed this type of story. I lost full enjoyment because of that type of plot.

I did like this one for the fact that I’m a huge fan of the Slenderman murder and the surrounding phenomena with that folklore character. The main murders in The Shadows reminded me so much of that real life crime.

4 stars

What an interesting/creepy thriller! Hands down one of the creepiest books I have read. Alex North has been moved to “ I will read anything by this author” list. But if you want to make the book creepier, try the audiobook!

Alex North has a way of grasping my attention right from the start. I did read the synopsis for this one and immediately I was hooked. The concept is a similar one, kids go into the woods and only a few of them come out. But Alex North does it best! This is probably the only one that actually got me with the twists and turns.

Now, as usual, I won’t go into details so I don’t spoil the book for you guys. But I will say, the book was a fantastic read. The characters mainly Paul and Amanda were so interesting! Their POVs were fantastic. But I loved Paul’s chapters the most, especially the ones in the past. Those were the creep bits & really made the book!

If you love addicting can’t put down reads, then The Shadows is the book for you. It is fast-paced and spooky, the perfect book to get you ready for the spooky season.

Audiobook 8/10 thanks Netgalley/Macmillan Audio!

​My Thoughts 💭
I don't know what happened to Alex North in between writing The Whisper Man and The Shadows, but this just ain't it, sis.

■ Plot:
The plot follows two people in two different timelines: A teacher named Paul (Then & Now) and Detective Amanda (Now). In the now, a copy cat murder has been committed and Amanda is trying to solve the case by diving deeper into the initial murder that happened decades ago. This is where Paul comes in. Back then, Paul and his old friend James met creepy-ass Charlie Crabtree and his equally as pleasant friend Bill Roberts during their teens. Charlie convinces Billy and James that through lucid dreaming a mysterious figure named "Red Hands" can communicate with them. Of course, our pal Paul thinks it's bull shit and separates from the group and goes about his teenage days, all the while thinking that he needs to do something about Charlie before he does anything horrible. He is too late in intervening, however, and Charlie ends up causing the murder of a child on a playground, painting the grounds in bloody hand prints. Paul, wanting to get out of the spotlight after the crime, moves out of the town and vows never to return. That is until his mother, Daphne, falls down the stairs of her home and ends up in hospice, quite conveniently right before the copy cat murder occurs...

The plot in a nutshell was 80% filler and 20% thriller/mystery/ the stuff I came for. Only a small portion of the book is spent learning about Charlie and his manipulations. The rest of it is spent following Paul's teenage life and all its angst. As you can guess it's pretty freaking boring. He writes a bit, starts having a crush, reads some books, but it's only when things turn back to the present that anything truly interesting happens.

The detective sleuthing with Amanda was equally as boring and forgettable. That's what I'm so disappointed by. The Whisper Man followed intriguing characters, family dynamics, and had a level of mystery throughout. The Shadows just goes from point A to point B with not much nuance. It's the same bland tone throughout and I don't even think it's the narrators' fault.

■ Writing:
As I've stated before the tone of this book is very stale. It's written in a very basic way. For example: "This person did this. And this person that. And then this. That. That. And this." I thoroughly enjoyed North's writing in The Whisper Man so I don't know what happened here.

■ Characters:​
- Paul: The most boring protagonist.
Paul is the most basic ass protagonist I have ever read about in a thriller. He was the sum of all the basic ass boys written in Lifetime movies.

- Amanda: Detective... who?
I legit would forget Amanda even existed. Hell, I forgot this book even existed when I put it down for a whole week. Amanda doesn't do anything miraculous while investing the copy cat murder in the present time. She just as basic as Paul except she had a badge.

- Charlie Crabtree: Still a mystery
Even after finishing this book, I still can't tell you a thing about this boy other than he's creepy and manipulative. We don't learn anything about his parents, how he got this way, why he's actually doing this- nothing. So disappointing.

Everyone else in the book was background noise, so I won't even bother with explaining them.

Audiobook Notes 🎧
The narrators did fine. I didn't find their narration lacking or to be amazing or anything. I think if I heard them reading another book I could witness more of their talent shine through.

Recommendation 👎
I ultimately found this very forgettable so I won't be recommending it.

★★☆☆☆

👉 Checkout this review and more over at my socials:

Instagram 📷
https://www.instagram.com/the_novelty_notebook/
Goodreads 📚
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3209682573
Website 🌐
https://thenoveltynotebook.weebly.com/book-blog/the-shadows-by-alex-north

I really don’t know what to say about this one. I’d heard good things and was looking forward to getting stuck in as I have The Whisper Man on reserve aswel. I just found it disappointing but not sure if that’s completely the storyline or the fact I had serious problems within the new Netgalley app with it just stopping and starting when it chose and jumping forward at times. I may have missed crucial parts or information within the story due to this so could be why I feel I’m missing something. It definitely ruined the experience for me as I couldn’t listen when I wanted and obviously the flow of the plot was all over the place. With that said I’d be interested to see what others thought and don’t wish for my review to put others off as my experience could be purely down the media I used. Maybe if you have this lined up on Netgalley hold off till the app is glitch free...

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to read this ARC and review that was published on the 7th of July...

I slammed this audiobook in 2 days and it was very "listen-able"/bingable.

TLDR Tropes:

- Revisiting your small town as an adult after childhood trauma
- "Stand By Me" - like child adventures
- Past and present POV
- Multi POV
- Mindfuckery
- Plot twists
- Vague supernatural aesthetic

When Paul was a kid, his occult loving friends killed someone close to him. One of the boys went missing and was never seen again...
Years later, after trying to put it all behind him, Paul ends up visiting his hometown after his mother takes a fall and ends up in the hospital.

At the same time, a police officer is tracking down copycat cases, and ends up with her destiny entwined with Paul's as she attempts to uncover a mystery of her own. What really happened when Paul was a kid, and what happened to the boy who went missing after murdering Paul's friend?

The Shadows has a lot of great ideas and actually execute all of these very well. I was particularly pleased at how easily tricked I was by Paul's POV in particular, and the many, many red herrings scattered through the book. Some of the mystery was predictable, and other aspects I wouldn't have expected. I found the ultimate conclusion of the book satisfying, but maybe a little boring considering the subject matter- but even still, I had a lot of fun on the journey.

I was a little disappointed how little the two POV characters interacted, but Paul's POV in particular is a rich story that is both past and present based. His narrative reminds me a lot of Stephan King's IT, focusing a lot on his complicated teenage friendships and romances, and how that has affected him present day.

I am not sure I would call this my favorite thriller, but I really did enjoy listening to it and plan on reading Alex North's other work moving forward! This is a fun fast paced mystery thriller with a lot of subtle personality and great writing!
18 likes

The audiobook of this one is so good. It definitely made this book more spooky and gave it that creepy atmosphere. I don’t think I’d have felt all of that if I read this book instead of listening to it.

The idea was really good and to make a book based on the idea of lucid dreams is freakin scary. That being said, I wasn’t such a huge fan of this book. The flow didn’t go well with me. It kinda felt all over the place. The real disappointment was the ending tho. It was so anticlimactic and so rushed. I was waiting for something twisted that would make me gasp and I ended up not caring at all? I couldn’t help but feel that there were about five other directions this book could’ve taken and it chose the most average one.

I think I would still give this author another try tho. I already have the whisper man and I’m hoping that one is better. This wasn’t a bad book at all, it’s just not what I hoped it would be.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for providing this audiobook.

Paul Adams has returned to Gritten after decades away. A close friend had been murdered 25 years ago and then one of the murderers, Charlie, had disappeared. Now, Paul is home again to see his mother due to her failing health and becomes immersed in trying to learn what really happened. And is it happening again?

This was my first Alex North read (in audiobook form) and I really enjoyed it. The story unfolds across two timelines and two characters: Paul and Amanda Beck, a police detective investigating a crime. The voice actors were both excellent, but especially the person who voiced Paul Adams (and who is the key narrator of the story). His narration easily creates a creepy atmosphere, generating a lot of tension and creepiness as he recounts what happened 25 years ago and what he has experienced since returning home to Gritten.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but (with a bit of extra attention) I found it relatively easy to keep track of everyone and the different timelines.

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and the author for an opportunity to listen to an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The audio book version I highly recommend with 4.5*
First I want to say that I think that the title should have remained the same for both book versions, as in the book club that I belong to it has caused some confusion.
I was excited to listen to this as I loved his previous book the Whisperman. This is more supernatural based than the previous book and you need to be open to the concept. I enjoyed the supernatural elements.
I prefer both the title and the book cover for the US market, as there is a reference to skeletal fingers in the book.
I read the book first,(which I rated at 3.5* )and now listened to the audio book.
There are 2 narrators who have British accents. As the shadows is for the US market and with a generic place name I thought that the location might have been swopped to the US with US narrators. So that was a pleasant surprise. One as Paul the other the detective Amanda. The narrators excellent, especially the voice of Paul. They give the book feeling and emotion that I didn’t get from reading the book, so that I was able to engage better with the characters, especially Paul.
I found that with the re read I was able to fully appreciate the clever twists, you really do have to concentrate to appreciate all the intricately woven threads and nuances. Reading it twice really opened my eyes.
In one part it is really creepy too. The tension really got to me.
It is emotive and so sad that myth and intrigue can encourage others down the same destructive path with the copycat killings.
The book also depicts a mother’s unconditional love, which is beautifully portrayed.
The tension builds up really well to the end. I thought the finale was lovely and fitting.
The audio book for me scores higher than the book.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to listen to this audio book.