I feel like I’m the only person in the world who hasn’t yet read Alex North’s debut novel The Whisper Man (I’ll get to it eventually…), but when I saw his new book, The Shadows, was available on NetGalley I jumped at the chance to read it, knowing how well received his first book was.

The Shadows follows main character Paul Adams as he returns home to care for his ailing mother. He hasn’t been back in 25 years – not since he left for college and never looked back. There’s nothing but heartache and bad memories here, all centered on the murder of one of Paul’s friends at the hands of two of his other friends. One of those friends confessed immediately. The other was Charlie Crabtree, who was never seen again.

Paul has always assumed Charlie is dead, but in a neighboring town, Detective Amanda Beck isn’t so sure. She’s investigating a copycat killer which leads her to an online message board and a mysterious person who seems to know a whole lot about Charlie Crabtree and the original murder. Details only someone who was there 25 years ago would know.

The book alternates between Paul and Amanda’s perspectives, so we get to see the current case unfolding, as well as Paul reminiscing on the original murder. Paul is a likeable enough character but a bit daft and rather infuriating with his “woe is me” attitude. Amanda is wholly forgettable with no personality or depth. Her sections could have been left out completely and it wouldn’t have changed much.

As far as thrillers go, this one was mediocre at best. It’s one of those books where the mysterious bad guy turns out to be such an obscure character that it’s hard to care once the reveal happens. I didn’t find this book to be scary or creepy or “haunting” at all, as the publisher described. The urban legend surrounding the killings was interesting but unimaginative and rather predictable. And because the online message board aspect plays a large part in the book, there’s a lot of explanation about how message boards and technology work. I mean, a lot. As a millennial, I kept rolling my eyes at what felt like super detailed explanations for pretty standard technology. It jolted me out of the flow of the story because it was just so much.

I listened to the audiobook, which I thought was well done. Macmillan Audio is always top quality and the narrators, John Heffernan and Hannah Arterton, did a great job with what they were given to work with. Heffernan especially really kept the suspense going in a subtle, understated way that kept me listening even though I wasn’t really into the story.

Alex North does it again with this highly addictive read. It has the right mix of horror, mystery and creepiness to keep the reader glued to it.

The book starts with a horrendous, ritualistic murder made even more appalling by the fact that the victim and the murderers are children, barely in their teens. Detective Amanda Beck is called upon to make sense out of this mayhem. Meanwhile, Paul Adams comes home after a long time to take care of his aged mother. The plot alternates between Beck's investigation and Paul's story.

The book is an edge of your seat thrill ride and there never is a dull moment. The plot has enough twists and turns that are unguessable even by seasoned readers of the genre. It has the precise level of horror to keep even the non-hardcore-horror reader engaged without being off putting.

All the characters stand out in their own way. The relationship between Paul and Jenny plays out beautifully as he alternates between the present and the past. Special mention to the younger Paul Adams. He is the rational skeptic every thriller book needs. Every time Charlie tries to sway the reader by giving a supernatural spin to the seemingly mundane, Paul is right there shaking the reader out of the trance by calling out the sheer stupidity of the notion and I liked him all the more for that.

Huge thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for this audio book.
#TheShadows #NetGalley

<b> Creepy but fails to have an engaging mystery – 2.5 stars </b>

The Shadows by North definitely should get credit for successfully being creepy. I feel like a lot of thrillers are trying and failing to add horror elements to their stories. The scene at the beginning where we see how creepy Charlie can be had me hooked and I really thought I was going to be a five-star book.

The problem is that where the horror succeeds the mystery/thriller elements fail and are a much larger part of the book. I think the thriller/mystery elements where bad. I found the main detective’s perspective really hard to engage with and just wanted to get back to the past. It could have been cut a lot or Amanda could of straight-up been a character in Paul’s perspective I do think the sort of urban legend that goes around of the killing is kind of cool. I had no desire to try and figure out what had happened or who was responsible for the copycat killings and in the end the solution the mystery sucks. Yeah, you could have guessed who did it but there aren’t really enough clues for it to feel satisfying.

I hope Alex North continues to write creepy things cause he definitely has the talent for it.

The most INSANE part of this thriller? Trying to figure of what's real and what's supernatural.

If you're looking for a dark, chilling read/listen about lucid dreams, ritualistic killings and murderers on the loose, "The Shadows" is the pick for you. The story follows Paul Adams, now an adult man who still deals with the trauma that followed a certain murder when he was a teenager; both the victim and the killer named Charlie Crabtree were his friends. So while the last thing Paul wants to do is bring those events back to his memory, something strange happens when he's forced to go back to his hometown to help his mother deal with dementia. When Detective Amanda Beck (whose chapters are written from her POV) is a assigned a new case of a similar murder, she traces it back to Charlie Crabtree... and Paul.

While it's a slow burn, this audiobook constantly kept me at the edge while I was trying to put the pieces together. This novel is not only a great murder mystery, but also a creepy exploration of the thin line between what's real and supernatural; what's reality and a dream; even what's present and a flashback.

Fabulous listen.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After 25 years, Paul Adams has come home. And he remembers. He doesn't want to remember. He would much rather forget Charlie Crabtree, the lucid dreaming...and the murder. Now a copycat murder has occurred and his elderly, senile mother is convinced someone or something is in her house. And Paul is being followed.....

This book is a slow burn. The story takes a bit to rev up, but once the suspense kicks in the creepiness is just as potent as in North's earlier book, The Whisper Man. The timeline jumps between 25 years ago when Charlie Crabtree was weaving his creepy magic and the present. I don't normally care for time jumps, but for this story, it worked.

I mixed things up a bit for my read of this book. I started out reading the ebook version, but then jumped into the audio book. Narrated by Hannah Arterton and John Hefferman, the audio really heightens the suspense of the story. The two voice actors give a great performance! At just over 9 hours, the audio is an entertaining, suspenseful listening experience!

I'm really enjoying Alex North's storytelling. I like a more subtle, slow-build suspense instead of fast, in-your-face abrupt shock. This story sneaks up on the reader a little bit at a time, revealing just a bit....then more....then more....until the stark realization of what happened 25 years ago hits the reader right in the face.

Great book! I am definitely looking forward to the next book by this author!

**I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book from Celadon Books/Macmillan Audio. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

The storyline was creepy as the past met the present. North brought it all together and it felt plausible. Something is definitely wrong with the water in Gritten, and I for one won’t be visiting. If Paul is smart, he’ll take the next train headed north.

“Red hands, red hands, red hands everywhere.”

John Heffernan did a stellar job as the voice of Paul and offered unique voices for the secondary characters we encountered. He had to perform them both as adults and young teens. His voice was believable and enhanced the overall tale. John’s narration was perfect for me at 1.3x

Hannah Arterton was the voice of Amanda and she captured the young tenacious detective. Hannah naturally talks fast and each time her narration began I had to adjust the speed. I listened to her at 1x, something I never do.

A refreshing and bizarre tale that I couldn’t set down. Grab your earbuds and check it out.

Read my full review @ Caffeinated Reviewer on August 17th. Link provided. Review will be shared on Goodreads & Amazon. Link will be cross-promoted on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr etc.

Oh my word, I don't even know where to begin with this review.

I loved the Whisper Man! I went into that one blind, I didn't even read the synopsis, not even the first sentence. Saw the cover, saw the genre, saw the overall rating and said, "Sure, why not?" And it was a 5 star read for me. So going into thrillers totally blind has been my new thing. Not even reading a sentence. It just allows me to be completely taken by surprise from the get go, and I LOVE IT. Thrillers is a tough genre. It's basically all been done, right? So, how do you keep the thrills and the suspense, and the twists coming? Well, Alex North seems to have it figured out and done it yet again!

Since I think this is another one that's great for going into blind, I don't want to say anything about the story itself, but I will say that I was honestly thrown off and surprised. I love when there's twists I don't see coming.
This is great for anyone who likes a slow, steady building suspense thriller. The narrators, Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan, were wonderful and helped me to connect to their characters while the story was building. The alternating of past and present timelines was a brilliant way to give us mini cliffhangers. Since the story does jump between timelines and characters, it was helpful having the dual narrators.

The story, and narrators, kept me intrigued (and surprised) throughout. I don't always need an edge of your seat thriller, so I found The Shadows highly enjoyable. I pre-ordered a signed copy from the UK, which I'm still waiting for delivery (thanks Covid!), and I'm looking forward to reading it and seeing what hints where left that I missed.

The only thing that didn't work well for me was the ending. It wasn't awful, it just .... fell a little flat for me. Sure, I didn't see it coming until we neared the end, but I still wanted something...more. I loved how The Whisper Man ended, so maybe I just had my expectations a little too high.

But overall, fantastic thriller!

Huge thanks to Netgalley & Macmillan Audio/Celadon books for the ALC and the opportunity to share my thoughts.

I say it every time I read a book like this, but I’m not really a fan of thrillers. Why do I keep reading them, you ask? Well I keep hoping to find that really great one, I guess, and I do enjoy the ride - the whodunnit, the big twist. But once it’s over, my feeling is often mehhh??? I did like North’s The Whisper Man so I had high hopes for The Shadows.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this one. The story jumps around a lot (maybe harder to follow on audio) with a lot of pieces to the puzzle and in the end, I didn’t like the resolution. It seemed to come out of nowhere. There were a few good twists and the audio was pretty creepy (I listened often on walks in the neighborhood and just about lost it one night when a kid on a bike came up behind me - maybe one shouldn’t listen to thrillers while walking alone!!). I think thriller fans may enjoy this but if you’re looking for the next great one, I don’t think this is it.

This book. Going into it. I had I expectations because I loved the whisper man. I'm not sure what happened with this one. The story line was all over the place. I love the narrators, they did a amazing job, they told it beautifully. It's just the story didn't jump out at me. Nothing like the first one. Keep on writing don't give up. I want to thank #netgalley and #macmillanaudio for the arc audiobook. It was a 3.5 for me.

This was a pretty good thriller. It's spooky, one or two moments where legit scary, and the plot twists are solid. I loved how the reader is balancing the line between reality and the other-worldly. Is something paranormal or demonic going on in this small town? You want to keep reading to find out! It's more of a slow burn in terms of action and plot. I kept waiting for the build up to explode in a huge plot point, but it kind of just slowly unfolds. Which is fine! It just wasn't quite what I was expecting. I did enjoy the plot twists. I felt the ending was a bit anti-climactic.

*I received free access to an audiobook from Macmillan Audio & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I received an ARC of this audiobook from NetGalley/Celadon Books in return for my honest review.

I found this book to be the perfect spooky thriller to listen to on these rainy Summer days. Gave me feelings reminiscent of listening to a Stephen King novel.
It kept me guessing and I loved the way the audiobook had two different narrators to help you keep the stories & timeline clear while listening.
This was my first book by this author and I’ve since put his first book on hold with my library.

(This review refers specifically to the audiobook version of “The Shadows.”)

I read and very much enjoyed Alex North’s debut “The Whisper Man” last summer, and I’m happy to say that this summer’s follow up, “The Shadows,” didn’t disappoint. DI Amanda Beck is back and investigating another killing in Featherbank, England—this time of a teenage boy brutally murdered by two classmates who were found nearby, covered in blood, each clutching their “dream diary” and a knife. The perpetrators are clear but as Amanda tries to determine a motive, she comes across another almost identical case 25 years earlier in a town called Gritten—and this time, only one of the boys who committed the crime was caught. The other—the ringleader, Charlie—simply disappeared. Could he be back? It’s a question that also haunts Paul Adams, Charlie’s estranged classmate at the time of the murders. He’s back in Gritten to visit his dying mother, but someone seems intent on making sure the past which Paul is so desperate to forget doesn’t remain buried....

“The Shadows,” like “The Whisper Man” before it, is menacingly atmospheric, and the audiobook version captures that tone right from the start with the creepy opening piano theme. Having created this disturbing atmosphere, North steadily builds the suspense by alternating cliffhanger narratives from Amanda’s investigation with Paul’s present and past remembrances until the story reaches is gripping conclusion. This technique was particularly effective in the audiobook version, with John Heffernan and Hannah Arterton alternating readings—Heffernan was particularly effective in conveying Paul’s unease and growing sense of fear. There’s lots of material here on the practice of “lucid dreaming,” which gives the book North’s signature supernatural tinge, but although I had been wary that “The Shadows” would veer too much into horror, North manages to strike the perfect balance between these supernatural overtones and the more concrete nuts and bolts of a police investigation. A third act twist might come off as manipulative to some readers (and I am usually one of those readers) but it didn’t bother me and seemed in keeping with the book’s tone. In short, “The Shadows” audiobook is a great thriller to listen to on your summer road trip—guaranteed to make the time fly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in return for my honest review.

When I discover a new-to-me author, I worry I might not like subsequent books. Alex North's The Shadows is every bit as thrilling and mournful as The Whisper Man. The narrators did an excellent job with the audiobook. I look forward to more from North.

#thrillerthursday 😱

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Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook copy of The Shadows by Alex North. If you are a fan of gradual build suspense thrillers then this one is definitely for you. The alternating of then and now storylines will keep you guessing as to what or whom is really out in those woods, hiding in the shadows.

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Synopsis: You knew a teenager like Charlie Crabtree. A dark imagination, a sinister smile - always on the outside of the group. Some part of you suspected he might be capable of doing something awful. Twenty-five years ago, Crabtree did just that, committing a murder so shocking that it’s attracted that strange kind of infamy that only exists on the darkest corners of the internet - and inspired more than one copycat. Paul Adams remembers the case all too well: Crabtree - and his victim - were Paul’s friends. Paul has slowly put his life back together. But now his mother, old and suffering from dementia, has taken a turn for the worse. Though every inch of him resists, it is time to come home. It’s not long before things start to go wrong. Paul learns that Detective Amanda Beck is investigating another copycat that has struck in the nearby town of Featherbank. His mother is distressed, insistent that there’s something in the house. And someone is following him. Which reminds him of the most unsettling thing about that awful day 25 years ago.It wasn’t just the murder. It was the fact that afterward, Charlie Crabtree was never seen again….

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Narrated by Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan, this story is narrated in a way that helps build quiet suspense and really brings out the extra creepy factor during key points in the storyline. Having two separate narrators also made it easier to follow which point in time was being covered in the story, as it does jump back and forth. This book isn’t edge of your seat suspenseful but is definitely incredibly intriguing the whole way through. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the first book I’ve read by Alex North and I loved it! I listened this book on audio and it really worked for me. There are two timelines, intricate relationships, lucid dreams, and I found myself HOOKED. I was so intrigued by each POV, I found this book really hard to put down. The atmosphere was fantastic, definitely creepy, and I love spooky forests. I’m excited to read more from this author! I’d definitely recommend giving this audiobook a try!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am so happy NetGalley now has audiobooks! The Shadows was a great first audiobook to listen to as it was fast paced and the dual narrators really helped keep the characters straight. One of my only complaints with the book was that it was confusing at times with the amount of characters along with the different timelines. The twists kept coming and kept the book exciting. If you liked North’s The Whisper Man, you’ll enjoy The Shadows.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I liked this one! Did I like it more than THE WHISPER MAN? Yes! Did it blow me away? Not so much.⁣
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I liked the eerie atmosphere and I enjoyed the characters. There were definitely some suspenseful parts but it didn't creep me out like I was hoping it would.⁣
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Though the first half of the book didn't exactly drag, I did enjoy the last half of the book more. I did not see the twist coming so that was a plus.⁣
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Overall it was definitely an enjoyable book that kept me turning the pages, I just wish it would have been a little more scary. Alex North does a great job at keeping the reader engaged and giving them the heebee jeebees!⁣

I listened to the audiobook after I had already finished reading the book. I thought the audio was well done. I liked that there were two narrators, one for each perspective. The narration added to the creepiness of the story. I would recommend reading and or listening to this book!

Title The Shadows
Author: Alex North
Rating: 4 stars
Audiobook

Charlie Crabtree committed a murder so shocking it attracted insane amounts of attention and was published all over the internet.
25 years later Paul Adams remembers the case clearly, both Charlie and the Victim were his friends. Now as he is for Ed to return home to see after his mother who has dementia, he becomes entangled in a series of murders performed by more than one copy-cat.

This story was not what I’d usually pick up, #bookstagrammademedoit . It was definitely not up my alley but it was intriguing. I was very confused at first but when I figured out what was going on it was really good.

The audiobook has 2 narrators as the story is told from two perspective. The narrator for Paul has a soothing voice and would occasionally put me to sleep. It’s not a bad thing I think it really suits the character. The narrator for Amanda shows sentiments and force i definitely see it as belonging to a detective. The story /audiobook has flows pretty naturally however (and this was completely on me) I was very confused because I hadn’t noticed on the time changes (before/now).

Overall I like it a lot. It was a little creepy at times but the premise behind the story was really interesting.

I got the audiobook from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. these opinions are my own and should not influence your opinions of the book. #netgalley #netgalleyreview #netgalleyaudiobooks #audiobookreview #theshadows #alexnorth #murdermystery #thriller #suspense #horrorfiction

Honestly, I was expecting a little more for the hype of this book. I didn't really enjoy the characters, the story line or the conclusion of the book. I felt the narration on the audio was slightly dull as well. So unfortunately, this book wasn't for me...but hopefully it hits the spot for you!

Thank you, NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Alex North for the advance copy of the audiobook for this Book of the Month pick! I had trouble getting in to the print version for some reason, so when I saw it as an option for audiobook, I hastily requested it. And, I'm so glad that I did! I loved the readers that were chosen to dictate the story. This was a very interesting read. It was not predictable for me, and though there were moments where the plot got a little gory, overall, it was a fairly easy read. There was one point in the middle of the plot where my jaw dropped, and I was sent spinning. The unexpected nature of the surprise caught me off guard and changed the remainder of the book for me.

I think my favorite aspect of this one was how in some ways it was a coming of age... for an adult... kind of like a delayed maturing that explores the deep recesses of the parent-child relationship.

A good read to keep you turning pages!