Thank you to Avon Books and Netgalley for this advanced copy of Helen Fields new standalone The Shadow Man. Wow, absolutely amazing!!! From the first page to the last, this story grabs you and doesn’t let you go.An absolute page turner of a book and spine tingling brilliant!!Set against the back drop of Edinburgh, the characters and the city literally come alive on the page. You feel every emotion the characters go through. This is 5 stars all the way!!

Full review online in mid February..

THE SHADOW MAN is a standalone novel by Helen Fields, best known for her "DI Callanach" police procedural series. This is also an investigative series, with Dr Connie Woolwine, a profiler from the US and DI Baarda heading up the investigation. As the two work together to track down kidnapper and victims, they learn to trust each other’s ways of working. It’s clear that the author has set up the narrative to allow a bond to develop between these characters but there’s little in the dialogue that persuades the reader that this could really happen. There is also an implausibly Americanised dialogue of the Scottish characters throughout, and some truly gratuitous descriptive detail. Some things are far more powerful by being left to the reader’s imagination and this reader progressed from feeling engaged and interested to a little repelled. Still, it was well written and interesting, if a little different from what we've come to expect from Fields.

This book has a potentially good storyline. A serial killer operates in Edinburgh and for a not terribly clear reason, a detective from London , Brodie Baarda and a psychologist , Connie, from the USA are tracking him down. The killer is deeply traumatised and suffers from Cotard’s syndrome. If the reader does not know what that is, an extended explanation is part of the book. At one point three people are trapped in the home of the killer who is under the illusion that they are his family. The attempt to track them down is well conceived but the book has extended psychology lessons and too much description, for example of the attempts by the three prisoners to escape. That takes too much unrewarding reading. The best drawn character is the girl captive, Meggy. All the characters have some form of dysfunctional personal lives or backgrounds.

The Shadow Man by Helen Fields is a terrifying novel that will keep you intensely focused on what will happen and who the “shadow man” really is. I have read most of Field’s DI Callanach series and love her writing style and her ability to ensure that the characters seem accurate as well as the fluidity of her writing. That said this is a stand-alone novel and I have found that she does seem to take great care in ensuring the reader understands the background as well as keeping you in suspense wondering what would happen next. The three main Characters are Maggie, Elspeth, and Xavier. All three have different backgrounds and now they have thrust into a situation where they must fight to free themselves. They awaken to find that they are trapped together and there is one person that is holding them captive, the shadow man. Enter a US profiler and the detective who is heading the case and you the reader will find yourself wondering if there is any way out for them. I promise you that this one will be very hard to put down. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. While I felt that her writing was different in this book vs the series, it did not disappoint at all.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

An original story line, good to see an author come up with something new. A rather grisly story, going back over a number of years. Pretty scary if this particular illness does exist. All comes to light in the gritting fínale. This story has everything.

Is it that I am just so invested in the DI Callanach series that I have found Helen Fields’ recent standalone novels less than compelling? In ‘The Shadow Man’ we are still in Edinburgh where the focus is on a number of abductions. In a relatively short time a society housewife, a neglected schoolgirl and a wheelchair-using young man are kidnapped and spirited away by someone resembling a cartoon character, so strange is his appearance.
Onto the scene come Dr Connie Woolwine, a profiler from the US and DI Baarda who’s heading up the investigation. As the two work together to track down kidnapper and victims, they learn to trust each other’s ways of working. It’s clear that the author has set up the narrative to allow a bond to develop between these characters but there’s little in the dialogue that persuades the reader that this could really be feasible. (Such a contrast to the Luc Callanach/Ava Turner creation!)
Sadly, that’s not the only gripe I have with this novel. They range from the irritating factual mistakes –Eton College has an entrance age of 13, not 11 (easy to check) - and implausibly Americanised dialogue of the Scottish characters through to some truly gratuitous descriptive detail. Some things are far more powerful by being left to the reader’s imagination and this reader progressed from feeling engaged and interested to repelled and, frankly, a bit grimy, courtesy of some choice passages!
Might ‘The Shadow Man’ be a re-worked early novel, written before the six book Callanagh series? It certainly reads this way. As well as the problems cited above, there is a good deal of repetitive description which does nothing to develop characters nor move the narrative forward. Please no more of this, Helen Fields. You have a winning series to continue!
My thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

A VERY dark read! Complex, intriguing characters, compelling plot one and good dynamics between partners make this a stand out read of the year so far. I hope there's another to follow

This is a standalone thriller by author Helen Fields whose DI Callanach series I really enjoy. This is a great read that I instantly got into, excellent characters and an interesting plot. This book kept me reading deep into the night wanting to know how it was going to finish.

The Shadow man abducts people and keeps them locked up in an house, there are no ransom notes but he just wants them to stay in his home. There are signs in the house that they are in danger and must escape to survive. There is so much more to this story but wary of giving to much away so will only add this is a great read and would highly recommend.


I would like to thank both Netgalley and Avon Books UK for suppling a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.