Thank you so much @CeladonBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC & ALC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 07 July 2020)

SYNOPSIS | Paul was hoping that he would never have to return to the town he grew up in as 25 years ago two of his friends were the instigators in a brutal murder and while one of them was sentenced, one of them was never seen again. When he hears that his mother is senile & is taking a turn for the worst, he decides it is time to return, however his mother is claiming that there is something inside the house.

WHAT I LIKED:
- similar atmospheric, creepy & eerie vibe as The Whisper Man
- alternating timeline
- there was a couple of excellent mini twists
- the whole "is it paranormal is it not" vibe

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- I wasn't invested in the police procedural aspect of the story
- I wanted more creepy lucid dreaming
- slow pacing

This was such a good book! I was a little nervous I was going to be really scared reading it. I am a huge scaredy-cat, but it honestly wasn’t that bad. The writing style makes the book feel super creepy, and I loved it. I also enjoyed the multiple POVs in this book. I did feel the ending was a little rushed though. Overall, I would recommend this book if you’re a fan of thrillers!

Thoughts: North’s evocative writing turns this coming of age story into quite the haunting tale. The Shadows tells the tale of a group of boys who begin using lucid dreaming as a temporary way out of their every day lives, but when one of the boys thinks he’s uncovered the secret to making this dream world something much more permanent, things turn very dark. The story uses my favorite dual narrative, alternating between past and present and shooting forward in time by thirty-five years where one of the boys has moved back to the small town only to find that the things he thought he escaped still linger. As the story progresses, things feel a bit frayed with new characters showing up much too fashionably late and a twist at the end that may impress some but felt ill-fitting with where the story was going.

Verdict: Tagged as horror, I feel this definitely fits more in the realm of “psychological thriller”. I skipped out on North’s debut and while this wasn’t perfect I very much loved his writing style and will definitely be picking up The Whisper Man.

Sadly my audio did not work. It kept jumping around. I assume a bug with the new app. I was able to read a physical copy and enjoyed the book. Although, it was not the horror I was hoping it would be.

The Shadows by Alex North was...fine. I read The Whisper Man last fall and wasn’t a huge fan, so I think I’ve determined Alex North just isn’t for me. And that’s okay! It was interesting enough to keep me reading, but I think I’ve gone into both of his books wanting to be scared and properly thrilled, and they’ve both ended up being more procedural than thriller. Expectations, man! They ruin everything! Anyway, it was an interesting story about small-town legends and mysterious murders - but the part of the story I was most interested in was the main character’s relationship with his mother. Like I said, it was fine. But not a favorite.

I tried listening to the audiobook using the Netgalley app but it wasn't working right for me so I won't be able to properly review this book right now. I will be getting a copy from my local library so I can read and review on Good Reads!

I so wanted to love this, but I found the story to be bland. Unfortunately, even the narrators couldn't save this one, and having the text spoken aloud emphasised how poorly written and constructed it was, there was also a strange dependency on swearing to drive forward conversations.

I listened to this book on audio in October and it was the absolute perfect listen for crisp fall, spooky weather. The audio narrators also did a fantastic job with this one.

As for the story, this was my second Alex North book and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than The Whisper Man. I loved the atmospheric vibes this book had as large chunks are told from "the woods." This book also had me reminiscent of The Raven Cycle series due to the heavy presence of the dreaming cycle.

I would highly suggest listening to the audio version of this book!

Big thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to a copy of this book!

The narrators of this audiobook are who kept me reading this book. John Heffernan's accent really helped to keep me immersed in the little British town where the story takes place.

Unfortunately for me, this story was just not suspenseful or thrilling. The unreliable narrator allowed for an unexpected twist later in the book, which was interesting, but not shocking.

Also, there were a lot of characters introduced in the two different time periods, and also presented in a "story within a story" and I did find myself struggling a bit to keep them all straight, which probably would have been easier for me in book form.

It lacked any real creepiness or suspense factor for me, there was never a feeling that I wanted to rush through the pages to find out what happens next. But it kept me entertained while doing chores and cooking.

The narrators through the audio version are excellent!!! Adds a bonus to the storytelling in a way that the book didn’t. Would listen to these narrators read anything!

Another very good read by Alex North. He did it again after “ Whisper Man” which I loved the connections throughout to that book. This book changed timelines which can be confusing but I didn’t have issues following and helped add to the eeriness and details needed. Enjoyed listening to this book and will definitely check out anything writer by Alex North

This one kept me up at night.

Paul has worked to move beyond a tragic and disturbing event from his past, but 20 years later the past seems to be repeating itself. Is it a copycat--or is it all happening again?

This was a solid audiobook, but I didn't find the story especially unique or memorable.

Unfortunately, I was just not able to even finish listening to his one. Which is a shame, because I thought that the Whisper Man was good scary fun. I think I ended up DNFing this book close to the 30% mark. I just could not get myself to keep hitting play! I am giving it two stars just because I enjoyed the Whisper Man and I know that North has the capabilities of good story-telling. This one just wasn't it.

Note: I scored the free audiobook on Netgalley, but their app isn’t compatible with any of my devices so I went ahead and scored an audio download from the awesome Austin Library! Thanks, Libby!

This was a fantastic audio experience! The author’s British accent really helped me picture the blue-collar English village and its surrounding haunted woods. I listened to this to scare myself silly on my evening runs around the neighborhood. Maybe not the safest activity, but a girl’s gotta get creative during this time of quarantine, right?

There is something very, very spooky about a group of misfit kids playing around with the dreamworld via witchcraft in order to manifest a red-handed monster with their subconscious minds. Think Slender Man meets Nightmare on Elm Street meets Flatliners! Like I said, it’s freaky stuff!

The book skips from 25 years ago to present day and follows a man named Paul who was a part of the “dream-incubating” group of kiddos until they took things to a whole new level and he had to bail. Good call, buddy. One of the kids gets killed and Paul finds himself walking the earth a haunted, depressed shell of a man. When he returns home to take care of his ailing mom, bad things start happening again in the woods and red hand prints stain his front door! Like I said, this book is creeeeeepy!

While reading it, I kept steeling myself for an anticlimactic ending since the buildup was so dang good. I promise not to spoil anything for you, but I will say that the ending wasn’t a total letdown, but it wasn’t how I wanted things to pan out. It left me feeling more melancholy than scared, really.

Aside from that minor gripe, this book is well worth a read for those of use who love to feel those little hairs stand on end! The writing is top notch, and I will most certainly read his first book “The Whisper Man.”

Pleasant nightmares–and happy Halloween, y’all!

When Paul Adams gets the call from hospice, he knows he must return to the village where he grew up. His mother had fallen and it turns out, was about to die from the cancer she had hidden from him. Paul had not been home for twenty-five years, ever since he went off to university. That's a long time but Paul had a good reason for avoiding his home. It had been the scene of a horrific event that threatened to affect his entire life.

Paul had one good friend in school, Jeremy. Jeremy was the kind of boy who is often bullied, shy, slight, unsure of himself and Paul tried to protect him when he could. Then the two boys were drawn into the orbit of two other outsiders, Billy Roberts and Charlie Crabtree. At first Paul is pleased to have more friends but soon Charlie makes him uneasy. Charlie is obsessed with the idea of lucid dreaming and believes the four of them can dream events that will then come true in reality. Paul is uncomfortable with the idea and with the way Charlie becomes more and more controlling. When he starts to talk about using the dreams to touch base with a man with bloody hands, Paul leaves the group and is glad to get away.

But Charlie is not done. Soon afterward, he and Billy commit a shocking murder. Billy is caught right afterwards but Charlie is not. In fact, despite all the searching, he is never found and disappears forever. Yet maybe not quite. Over the years, Charlie becomes a legend in certain Internet chatrooms and a cult grows up around him. Several times over the intervening years, murders that are exact copies of Charlie's occur.

Paul has spent his life trying to forget that time. But now that he is back, the thoughts and memories come back with him. Suddenly, he is being stalked and threatened at night in his mother's house. A police detective, Amanda, who is investigating the most recent murder seems to believe that Paul is the key to finding out what happened all those years ago and why it has reverberated down through the years. As the body count rises, Paul is forced to face his childhood memories and his part in what occurred.

This is the second novel of the writer Alex North and I thought it was an even stronger effort that the first, The Whisper Man. There is a large twist that occurs that I didn't see coming at all. Paul is a stunted individual who has not been able to move past his childhood memories yet now perhaps he has a chance to put everything behind him if he can find the courage to face his past. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

I started listening to this one but lost it and I updated the Netgalley app. So I only got to listen to, I think, 6 chapters
I remember liking the narration.
I was able to obtain the actual book and read the whole story and did a review on that.

I did not know until mid-way through this book that it was within the same world as the Whisper Man, but it was a great surprise. I'm interested in seeing what is next for Alex North.

I could not get into this book. It captured me in the beginning, and it dwindled fast! It didn’t keep my interest at all. The characters were bland and unexciting. I really wanted to devour this book with 5 stars but it didn’t do it for me

Twenty-five years ago, Charlie Crabtree murdered his friends. Crabtree inspired copycat murders years later. Paul Adams was one of his friends, who left after the murder. Now, Paul’s mother is sick and he’s had to return to his hometown. Another copycat murder has just occurred, and it has distressed his ill mother. Everyone suspects there may be a connection between this recent murder and Crabtree because he was never seen again after killing his friend twenty-five years ago. The police have to look into this possible connection.

This audiobook switched between two narrators, Detective Amanda Beck and Paul Adams. Paul’s narrative switched between the present and his experience with Crabtree as a teenager twenty-five years ago. Since the current murder and the past one were so similar, I kept getting the two situations mixed up. It was difficult to differentiate between the two murders while listening, but it probably would have made more sense if I was reading it.

I didn’t really understand the ending. Everything happened quite quickly. There were a bunch of quick explanations, including introducing some characters who played an important part in the solution, but weren’t in most of the book. The whole story talked about the murder from twenty-give years ago, yet they were trying to solve the current one. This ending wasn’t as clear and concise as I expect for a thriller.

This thriller audiobook didn’t work for me.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't had much luck with thrillers recently, but I really enjoyed this one. it was creepy and engrossing and I actually didn't guess who the killer was right away which is always a bonus for me. The narrator was great and easy to understand, and I liked that the voice switched as different characters were introduced. I enjoyed the layers of history that were created throughout the story and the consistent atmosphere. I'll definitely pick up another book by Alex North!