This book felt more like a nonfiction true crime book/podcast/documentary than an actual thriller. Even though I don’t really read/listen/watch them, I just didn’t get the feeling that this was meant to be a book? Maybe I would’ve liked it more had it been a podcast or a fictional documentary.

Also, as much as I don’t really want to say this – Paul Adams was not an interesting character. It was like waiting paint dry, if I may be so bold as to say.

I felt like this book kept hinting at something supernatural, like the murders or the murderer were something supernatural, but looking at some spoiler reviews tell me that’s not the case. And it just, I don’t know, feels like North tried to push that ‘is it supernatural, is it not?’ angle in a way to keep people reading? If a book is supernatural or includes a supernatural plot/characters – I want to know. I don’t want to ‘keep reading for the suspense’.

A solid suspense all the way through, The Shadows is an even better story than North’s first big hit The Whisper Man.

I have a particular love of stories where an old case is suddenly dragged up from the depths of cold cases into a new light, and The Shadows delivers on that concept better than most as the murder of Paul’s schoolage friend suddenly becomes relevant again when a copycat emerges. The twists were surprising with enough build-up to leave you with a sense that you should have known, which is the hallmark of great suspense to me.

I did not enjoy this book, it just did not hold my attention unfortunately. I revisited it a few times and it never stuck, and remains a DNF for me.

Wow. Absolutely loved this. I miss good eerie horror and this delivers. Definitely recommend to others!

Story rating: 3.5/5 stars
Audiobook rating: 4/5 stars

This was a good thriller that hinted at possible supernatural occurrences throughout this creepy mystery. I really enjoyed the female and male narrators that did a great job alternating between Paul during the past, Paul during the present and Detective Amanda Beckett investigating the present murders. I spent much of the story wondering what was really going on especially with the lucid dreaming and mysterious happenings. Overall, this was a good thriller with creepy bits and great narration that kept me listening.

My first ever Netgalley audiobook and I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the narration to the marvellous writing. I loved spending time with this book and in this format. I'll definitely check out more audiobooks in the future.

I feel like Alex North is quickly becoming an autobuy for me and I’m not at all sad about that fact. I can’t even begin to review this because my brain hasn’t fully caught up yet. But I can say this…

This book never took the path I expected. It was this knives edge between thriller and fantasy, like these clearly unreal things have to have a paranormal explanation right? And it never feels stupid or forced in any way. But you spend the whole time thinking could this be happening, truly?! I never was right in a single guess or assumption I made about who done it. And was shocked by each reveal. I can’t recommend this book or this author enough.

I became a fan of Alex North after The Whisper Man, but this book just cemented the deal. There is just something about the writing and storytelling that I find fascinating and want more of. Just as in the first book, I listened to The Shadows on audio and could not picture doing it any other way. The story is very atmospheric and audio just adds to the drama and creepiness of it all. I was so drawn into the story that I literally couldn't stop listening. Just like in The Whisper Man, The Shadows dabbles in that grey area of what is real versus the supernatural. You're constantly crossing over from side to side in what you believe to be true, even when your brain tells you otherwise. Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio book and the opportunity to provide an honest review. (

I really wanted to love this book, but I was left disappointed.

I ended up listening to the audiobook version of this book, and I do admit the production was pretty good! The narration mixed with the suspenseful music they included really made this book feel creepy.

However, the plot of the story felt underwhelming. Maybe it’s because I was not interested in the lucid dreaming aspect of this book. I’m also not a huge supernatural, paranormal fan so that could also be why I didn’t enjoy this plotline.

Also, maybe it’s due to the audiobook version, but I found myself confused by the dual timeline and the many characters.

I was also disappointed at the ending; it was very rushed and I still had questions left to be answered.
I do really want to read The Whisper Man, so I’m definitely willing to read other books from this author. This one just wasn’t for me.

Well the audio on this was terrible. Glitchy and garbled. I ended up borrowing an audio from Libby. The story itself is awesome! I liked this one way better than The Whisper Man!

Paul lived in Gritten as a teen. Typical high school kids hanging out and one day one of his friends, a very close friend was murdered! Hounded by the police, but his mother was convincing and the police had nothing on him, so they had to let him go. But who did it? Two were eventually suspected, Billy confessed, Charlie disappeared!

25 years later, Paul has to go back to the nightmare place and tend to his mother with dementia and fell down the stairs and is in hospice care. Not exactly fond of staying back at that house, but he's there, so might as well. However while there, copycat crimes of the past start right back up and of course fingers are pointing to him. The lucid dreams, the diaries, all of it are being repeated.

The ending wrapped up a bit fast though.

I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity for reading this and giving my honest review.

This book follows Paul Adams, who moved and started. new life away from his small town where one of his friends was brutally murdered by Charlie Crabtree, another friend of Paul. The only thing is that Charlie was never seen again after that day. Twenty-five years later, Paul's mother is senile and there is a copycat murdered on the loose.

The story is told from the perspective of older Paul and younger Paul and also a detective investigating another murder. This book was pretty creepy but I did find myself losing interest in the dreams sequence part and found myself reading the book just to complete it. Although I understand that there is a copycat case, I think the detective's chapters were unnecessary and made it a little bit confusing to piece together all of the facts of the older case.

This book was sent to me for free for review from MacMillan Audio via Netgalley. This review is my honest opinion of the book. #TheShadows #Netgalley

Two stars - this was just ok

I was expecting an honest to goodness horror novel with truly chilling descriptions and I was severely disappointed. The premise was so promising, but in the end I did not like how the mystery played out. My jaw dropped at a certain moment post rugby practice in the beginning, but that had nothing to do with any murders.

The audiobook from Netgalley never worked, so I ended up listening on Libby.

Mini-review time:

- not a fan of the detective's perspective
- was expecting the story to be more eerie
- loved the glimpses into the past and I wish the entire story had taken place in that time frame; it would have been creepier if the story had been told from a child's perspective
- ending was ok.

I've heard The Whisper Man was better, so I'll check that out next.

I really enjoyed listening to this book while also reading a hard copy. After reading a different Alex North book, I was hopeful for this title. The narrator does a great job reading the book, but the overall book wasn't my favorite. Newer trends in thrillers where people go back to where they were raised to deal with past traumas isn't a storyline that I love. I did like the characters in the novel. There were elements and writing style that made me feel as though I was there in the woods. While this wasn't my favorite by North, I am sure it won't be the last.

Thanks NetGalley for a free audio copy. All thoughts are my own.

Unfortunately I have decided to not finish this book at 25%. The audiobook was a bit hard to follow. I may try this in print at some point but the audiobook just did not work for me.

I really loved North's last book The Whisper Man so I will continue to try his writing.

I got this audiobook through NetGalley last year. Now that’s it’s the spooky season, I was finally ready to listen.

This is about Paul Adams. We are following him as a 40 year old man and a man about 25 years in the past… we see him go to a new school and he and his best friend James get involved with two other boys who believe in lucid dreaming.

When a tragedy happens, Paul’s life changes. He leaves town for college and doesn’t come back until he learns his mother is dying. That’s when the copycat murders start.

It was quite spooky at times and a twist really got me. Overall, I just liked it okay. It was like a 2.5.

Found this to be a very eerie and unique story. North does a fantastic job of creating suspense and making you second guess who you can trust. The ending was unpredictable which makes it an instant five star read for me.

I love Alex North’s writing style so much and this eerie novel is no different. There’s always an unpredictable twist, leaving me guessing until the very end! Way to go, 5 stars!!

Enjoyable thriller for fans of Alex North. This is my second by this author and I thought this was great. Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read/review.