Great read/listen. I read Alex North’s last book The Whisper Man last year and I enjoyed it. There are sonic similarities between this and The Whisper Man. Part of the story takes place in the same town and The “Whisper Man” is even referenced in this story. If you’re familiar with The Whisper man then you’re going to like this one as well. There are nice twists and turns and surprises that make this enjoyable. This story follows the same recipe as the Whisper Man, as well as other suspense/mystery/thrillers. There’s nothing wrong with following a recipe you get a very good book when you follow a recipe. Just like chocolate chip cookies, you follow the recipe and you get a good treat. I thought that this one was less cringe worthy than The Whisper Man. All in all the book was enjoyable and kept me hooked until the end.

I know many people loved reading this book, but the story itself was not interesting to me. I found myself so bored for long stretches of my listening. The only reason I continued to the end was because of how great the narrators were. The narrator for a horror genre audiobook can either make or break the story. Hannah and Arterton and John Heffernan do an amazing job of creating a creepy atmosphere with this story. I am not easily scared by books, but I found myself looking over my shoulder multiple times during this audiobook. If you're on the fence about picking this one up or are unsure about the horror genre in general, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook.

Audio 4/5 Stars
Book 2.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the free audiobook to listen to in exchange for an honest review!

I loved Alex North's first book and was incredibly excited for this one when I heard about it and it did not disappoint! It was creepy and interesting, and so fun to listen to.

I honestly loved both of the narrators' voices and thought they did a wonderful job overall. My only complaint about the audio itself is it would randomly cut out the audio after a chapter but keep playing. I would have to get out of the book and then go back into it to be able to hear the audio again. It happened a few times, but other than that I thought the audiobook was amazing. The flow of the audiobook was pretty good overall, but I did think there were places it could have been a little bit more of a cleaner and smoother transition of chapters or narrators, but otherwise it was very easy to listen to and get lost in the story.

If you are a fan of creepy thrillers (especially fans of Stephen King) then this one is for you!

***Book Review***

I wanted to love this so much, I just didn't!

This story bounces around a lot between past and present and through a couple different perspectives. I don't always mind that way of storytelling, but with this book in particular, I fount it to be very confusing with all of the information that was being passed around.

I did enjoy the parts where the kids were training themselves to lucid dream and learn to control who was involved and what they did. It was a neat concept which reminded me a lot of the show The OA, which I loved. This book however, I do not think got the concept across in the most grasping way and I found myself lost quite a bit which took me out of the story.

Unfortunately I can not tell you how the ending is because I decided that I'd had enough of not understanding what was going on and I simply no longer cared to find out. If the story had been written a bit differently, I think if could have been really good. I really enjoyed North's last book The Whisper Man, and maybe I went in with too many expectations that just fell short.

***Audiobook Review***

Though I did not enjoy the book itself, that is no reflection on the narrators. I thought that both Hannah and John did a wonderful job.

John's narration for Paul was wonderful, telling his side of the story, both in past and present. John's pacing and intonations brought the story to life and I felt his voice fit the character well. The only qualm I have with the narration here was that it was hard to distinguis between the past and the present. There was nothing in the narration itself which differentiated the two time periods.

Hannah's narration of Detective Amanda Beck fit the part well. Her vocal inflections and pacing were on par for the story and I found her parts to be the most enjoyable.

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

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this book. I loved majority of The Whisper Man aside from a few parts and figured this was still one worth the read.

I absolutely love North's writing style and how easily he weaves the horror/creepy aspect into his writing. This book was absolutely no different and while the topic has quite gone over well, I believe this concept was intriguing and also terrifying!

My only pit fall was that the transition between chapters felt a bit choppy and I found myself back tracking to make sure I hadn't missed something. Otherwise this book is a solid four stars for me and I can definitely see myself reading this one again!

Thank you for so much for my ALC!

Ugh. I know this is going to be a vastly unpopular opinion but I didn’t enjoy this at all. I didn’t find it to be creepy. I was kind of bored, to be honest. One of the twists, I completely saw coming while the other seemed pretty lazy. The narrators were great, but this story just didn’t hit the mark for me. I don’t know what it was about it, but I just wanted the book to be over. The lucid dreaming concept was cool but it was definitely a cheap way to make your narrators unreliable. Having the POV jump all around while mixing with lucid dreaming and real memories was just confusing and not in a smart way, just an annoying way. This book was not the one for me. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this one.

This was a 3.5 star for me.

What I absolutely loved about this book was the dream theories. Everything about the lucid dreaming was so creepy and wonderful. I wish there was more about the dreaming in this. Charlie was terribly frightening. While he is obviously a villainous-type character, he was probably my favorite part of the story. How absolutely eerie he was.

The rest of this story was interesting, but slightly on the boring side. The one thing that really kept me engaged was the narration. While I have never heard either of these narrators in any other book, their voices were key to my enjoyment of the story. I usually listen at 3x speed and I didn't even have to in this book because their flow was even and fast enough.

I wish there was more to the story in Paul's past. It seemed to me that when we finally got to what truly happened when they were kids, it didn't live up to what I had anticipated.

I received a copy of the novel from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After reading The Whisper Man in earlier this year, I wanted to give Alex North another shot. I wanted to determine if it was Alex North's writing style, or just that particular story that I didn't fully appreciate. In listening to the audiobook of this story, I have now determined that Alex North is not the thriller/mystery author for me.

The Shadows is about the small town of Grifton in the UK. Paul Adams has returned to the town to visit his mother in hospice as she is dying with dementia. Meanwhile, Detective Amanda is investigating the murder of a young boy that resembled a brutal murder that occurred 25 years previously. Slowly the people connected to the old murder start to drop dead and Amanda's investigation turns to what happen to Charlie, the ringleader of the original group. The story switches between Amanda and Paul's points of view as they both unravel the truth about what happened all those year ago.


The audiobook itself was quite good. The narrators were good. Personally I found Hannah Arterton to be a more engaging narrator than John Heffernan. Which is sad, as Hannah's parts are substantially smaller than Pauls. However, the pacing was good, and I didn't have to speed up the book too much.

The story itself is very similar to Alex North's novel The Whisper Man, published last year. There are two points of view: the detective and a normal adult male who is related the to central mystery in some way. There are some supernatural elements as well. In this case, Paul is coming to terms with his childhood friendship with the possibly insane Charlie, and the legend of the Red Man. The whole child dream cult and the Redman drew a lot of parallels to the Slenderman creepypasta. at least to me. Again, there isn't a whole lot of mystery, though I did not figure out the main murderer of the story. Prehaps because I wasn't very engaged in the story and we spent so little time with that mystery.

Honestly, I zoned out for a lot of this book and didn't engage with the story. The writing, especially the dream/flashback sequences, did not grab me, or keep me interested. Once I got to the climax of the story, I had no clue what was going on or why I should care. Its a perfectly ok as a mystery/thriller. I didn't really see how the supernatural elements added to the story. I enjoy the detective's story, but so little time was spent on it.

For those just getting into thrillers or those who like stories based loosely on real world events, this may be the book for you. If you're like me a lean more toward detective style mysteries/thrillers this is probably not the book for you.

This is my first audio book through netgalley and I loved it! I devoured The Whisper Man last year and knew I needed to read this one. The shadows is narrated so well in both POVs. It’s also just as creepy with the atmosphere and setting. Wonderful experience!

3.5/5 stars, but rounding up:

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for a complimentary audiobook review copy! All opinions expressed are my own.

Everyone knows a kid like Charlie Crabtree. The weird outsider who always seems to know a little too much; The dark imagination and cool charisma that draws in strays who are eager for attention. The kind of kid that you know will just be… trouble . When Charlie and his friend ritualistically murder a fellow classmate, no one is surprised. Less so when Charlie mysteriously goes missing. 25 years later, the stain of that horrific event linger on the town of Gritton Wood and on Paul Adams, our central protagonist. Now Paul is back in Gritton Wood to care after his elderly mother and it appears Charlie (or at least the memory of Charlie) is back too.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this story – other than the synopsis and that Alex North’s debut The Whisper Man was a best seller. Traditionally, I don’t love crime drama thriller novels (even though, that’s almost exclusively what I read). Typically they’re predictable and just poorly written. The Shadows is neither of those things. I had no idea what was going on until the end of the story, which I genuinely appreciated. I don’t like when I can clearly guess what’s happening in a narrative and this kept me on my toes.

It's also extremely creepy. The descriptions of the crime scenes and of the dream journals were truly horrifying and made me feel uneasy in a way that I can’t explain. There is an overarching sinisterness threaded throughout the story that refuses to break hold. As you’re reading, you feel as if someone is looming over you (which is just amplified by the narration). The use of dual timelines, specifically with the lucid dreaming thread throughout the “past” was well executed and gave unexpected breadth in a relatively short book.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this story and can easily see myself picking up more of North’s work. Some of the few flaws I had were:

1. I think there were entirely too many characters. Between the characters, the side story, and the lucid dreams, I had a little bit of trouble distinguishing between characters.

2. I think the “twist” was almost *too* out there. I didn’t expect it or see it coming at all (which I guess is the point), but it felt a little one sided and not entirely fleshed out.
3. I left with WAY more questions than I started with.

4. I wanted more of a resolution with Charlie. I don’t accept the ending I was given and frankly, just didn’t make sense.

5. I didn’t love the narrators, especially the one for Amanda. Maybe it was just a glitch with the new NetGalley Audiobook system, but the narration was almost robotic and a little difficult to understand, especially if I had it up to my normal listening speed of 2x. I put it down to 1.75 for most of it but in sections, I had to drop it as low as 1.25 because there was too much of a background hum.

Overall, very enjoyable and creepy and would recommend to anyone who’s interested in a quick, campfire-esque story.

Alex North once again weaves a story so haunting and creepy that I think I will be haunted by it for months to come. A definite recommendation for readers who enjoy Stephen King..

A murder was committed and it seems there were copy cats from what happened 25 years ago. The notion of using lucid dreams where they share the same dream, conjure a shadowy figure and kill as an act of sacrifice and becomes an incentive enough for them to disappear in the real world and be powerful in the dream world. The fact that the villain, Charlie Crabtree, disappeared when the murder took place 25 years ago was all the talk in the deep dark web.

Reading a thriller versus listening to it might have a different effect but as I listened to this audiobook from Netgalley, I actually enjoyed it. The author was able to establish the setting well and built up the suspense pretty good. It has a complex plot with creepy vibes to go along with it. The ending might seem obvious at first but it was something I did not guess at all!

Though I can say the build up of characters was slow, some forgettable and did not leave a lasting impact on me. There are lots of twist and turns that sometimes I cannot fully follow who did what and what timeline the story was on as it alternates on the past and present but I loved it as it always keep you guessing and wondering.

Would highly recommend the book if you’re into thriller/mystery genre. I haven’t read the author’s debut novel, The Whisper Man, but would want to get my hands on it.

Did you read The Whisper Man last year? I really enjoyed it, so I was excited when I received a #gifted ARC from @celadonbooks for this book. I finally read it this week, actually I listened to the audiobook from @netgalley and it was so well done. The narrator enhanced the scariness of the story and kept me hooked from start to finish!
The Shadows features four teenage boys. Charlie is kind of the leader of the pack and he’s one of those kids who is up to no good. He has murdered, disappeared, and twenty five years later, a copycat had been inspired by Charlie.
It may not be fair to compare this to The Whisper Man, but it’s hard not to, and it wasn’t as good. I still enjoyed it. It got a bit mired down in the second half with more characters than I wanted to keep track of, but it was good. Dark and disturbing, but good.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

North delivers a fantastic thriller once again. I was slightly nervous going into this that I wouldn’t love it as much as The Whisper Man, but I was not disappointed. This thriller combines real-life crime with supernatural elements perfectly. The use of lucid dreaming in this novel was really interesting. There are alternating time lines but I found them easy to follow. North’s narrative is engaging and keept me interested until the end. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for an audiobook arc of this book!

3.5

Unsettling and nightmarish with clever twists

25 years ago two boys commit murder. One goes to jail, the other, Charlie, disappears never to be found. Paul, a former friend of the two boys, leaves town after the murder, vowing never to return.
25 years have gone by and Paul has returned to be near his sick mother. But Paul is not the only arrival in town. Another murder has been committed by two other young boys.

Is this a copycat? Is this murder somehow connected to the one committed years ago? Where is Charlie? And who or what exactly is Red Hands?

I really enjoyed listening to the audio version of this book narrated by Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan.

Thanks to the author, Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with this audiobook.

Can you change reality in your lucid dreams?

Had the book focused more on this premise, I think it could have rivaled some of my favorite Stephen King novels. Unfortunately, the story wavered, focusing instead on a myriad of forgettable characters in an attempt to speak more about relationships than horror, and it didn’t quite stick the landing.

I really enjoyed this story and the audiobook listening experience. The narrators were great and they really helped immerse me into the story. I listened to this audiobook at 2x speed which is normal for me and it flowed very well. The story is quite good and it does have a great creepy atmosphere. I liked how the story unfolded, even though there were a couple little things that I saw coming, I still enjoyed the outcome and would recommend this one for the creep factor and mystery. The issues with the audiobook I had were probably due to the app being brand new. It would randomly stop playing after certain chapters and I had to close the app and then open it again to get it to continue. Also, the sound is very tinny and echo-y compared to other audiobook apps I have used. I'm hoping these issues will be taken care of as the app is more widely used and improved.

The Shadows is part mystery/part spooky thriller. In his youth, Paul Adams friends a group of boys that engage in lucid dreaming. Led by the ring leader, Charlie Crabtree, all of the boys record their dreams every night and eventually combine and have shared dreams. This act leads to a horrible murder that scars Paul for the rest of his life. Paul eventually leaves his hometown and the memories behind, but is forced to come back to see his ailing mother. He is confronted by the murder once again when someone begins copy catting the murder from Paul's youth. A detective is on the case looking for the killer, but the only problem is Charlie went missing after the first murder and has never been found again...

I enjoyed this book in its audio form. They book went back and forth between Paul and the detective pov and I enjoyed the multiple narrators used. I was disappointed in the lack of spook in the book. I LOVED The Whisper Man, and The Shadows didn't carry the same punch in the horror department. I enjoyed the book though and was invested in the storyline.

Thank you to Macmillian audio and NetGalley for granting me access to a free audiobook of The Shadows in return for my honest and unbiased review.

The Shadows by Alex North, was a really fascinating book. It is a good genre-bending story that has one foot in supernatural/horror and the other foot in straight up crime thriller. The main characters are Paul, an adult man who had some personal stake in a brutal crime committed by teen peers of his when we was a teenager, and Amanda, a cop who is investigating a murder that appears to be linked to the long-ago murders Paul was related to.

Charlie Crabtree was a creepy kid who claimed some involvement with a ghostly man known as Red Hands. According to Charlie, Red Hands can only be talked to in dreams and he can help kids seek revenge on people via this deamtime collusion. Some kids believe Charlie and become almost devotees. Paul's best friend, James, was one of them. Paul tagged along for a while, never believing in the supernatural aspect of Charlie's tale. Then eventually he abandons Charlie's group altogether and begins a new friendship, trying to put James behind him.

When a brutal crime takes the life of one of the teens in the book, the whole town was scandalized. This is a small, rural town, where crimes and deaths take on thier own mythos. Stories are passed along and become more and more tall-tale, adding supernatural aspects that may not have any basis in fact....or do they?

As an adult, Paul comes back to the town where the trauma of his life took place since his mother is dying. There he confronts his personal ghosts as well as meets Amanda who he helps with her research on the copycat crimes.

How the mystery unfolds was captivating. I loved learning the backstory on Red Hands as well as what was happening between the teens. All in all, I am very pleased with my second novel by this author. I loved The Whisper Man last year, and this one pretty much just as much. Alex North is now on my must-read list!

The atmosphere of this booked immediately sucked me in, and Alex North's balance between the supernatural and the realities of our world were just perfectly mysterious enough to keep me hooked throughout. With each chapter seeming to end on a terrifying cliffhanger, only to jump to a different timeline and leave me waiting for the reveal, I JUST COULDN'T PUT THIS DOWN, despite how absolutely spine-chilling it felt. I wish wish wish we'd gotten to see more of the truly menacing Charlie Crabtree in the story, but despite that this was a seriously solid thriller that'll give you the creeps.