I really liked this book! I thought it was something I could listen to in one sitting (highly recommend the audio book!) and it was scary.

I loved this book! I read/heard it as an audiobook. It had both a female and male narrator and I think they did a great job! The story itself is amazing! It's got an urban legend in it, deals with lucid dreaming, there's a sinister feel to everything and basically is full of creepy moments! Honestly, my favorite part of any book! The shocking twist with Jenny definitely left me reeling at the end. Detective Amanda Beck was a force to be reckoned with. She was a favorite! Paul.....was a very realistic character as far as having to deal with heavy emotions go. Things like guilt and regret weighed heavily on his shoulders and while it was a bit tough to read, I think it added depth to the story. I do want to read this as a physical book too!

4 stars

Alex North is a new author for me and I was surprisingly impressed!

This audio was really good, the narrator did a great job. Unfortunately I had to restart it, and I don’t think it had anything to do with the book or narrator. I think I just wasn’t in the roughy state of mind. This books makes you think and my brain was constantly processing the information as the story progressed. Needless to say the second time I started the audio I finished it in 2 days!

I don’t want to give anything away, but there were a few surprises throughout The Shadows that made me say, wow, I didn’t see that coming. Which I loved! Overall I would highly recommend this book or audio. And I can’t wait to pick up another book by Mr. North.

I started this book in 2020 and read 51%. I have finally decided not to continue reading it. I did not care for the plot nor did I understand it. I realized that the more I read this book the more confused I became. I really wanted to love this book but I think the author is just not for me.

I was one of many who absolutely ADORED The Whisper Man - I felt it was fast paced, compelling and absolutely unputdownable and Alex North has knocked it out of the park again. The shadows is full of tension and absolutely compulsive. Loved every minute.

Hiiiiii, it’s me. One of the only people who didn’t like The Whisper man. 👋

I have good news and I have bad news.

Good news is that I liked The Shadows better than The Whisper Man! The plot was fantastic and when I describe this book to other people, it sounds like a very intriguing story when recall the synopsis!!

Bad news is that I didn’t love The Shadows. I felt like it was super boring, poorly executed, confusing at times, filled with plot holes, and it has made me think that I am just not a fan of Alex North’s writing style.

It should be noted that The Shadows is told through two perspectives during two different time periods (Detective Amanda Beck - “now” - Amanda was originally in The Whisper Man by the way; and Paul Adams - “then”).

The story is about a man named Paul who has an ailing mother. Because of this, he travels back to his hometown where 25 years ago a murder of one his childhood friends took place. You learn that when Paul was younger, he and three other friends (James, Charlie, and Billy) started participated in something called Lucid Dreaming (being awake while dreaming). In these Lucida dreams, there is a mysterious man name Red Hands who if you bring him a sacrifice, he will let you stay in the dreamland forever. When one of his friends was murdered (or shall I say sacrificed), Paul moves away, Creepy Charlie goes missing, and Billy is charged for the murder of their friend (notice I didn’t say what happened to James).

Meanwhile, in the same town, during present day, Detective Beck answers a call in which a young boy Michael Price is murdered in a copy-cat way of how the murder occurred 25 years ago.

Throughout the book, Paul takes us back to the past to help us understand his friends and also why his mother (in present day) seems to know the dangers of Red Hands and why she keeps sending Paul cryptic messages about seeing the mysterious man.

As Beck and Paul uncover who really killed his young friend, there are several twists along the way that make the story more clear and just as effed up as you think when it comes to Alex North’s love for shock-value. I’m talking suicide, taking hostages, illegitimate fathers, twist and turns in terms of who actually died/dies, etc. **TW: If suicide and adolescent (and dog) murder is a trigger for you, then this book is not for you.**

What I didn’t necessary like about the book was that the timelines were so confusing and there were many characters to keep track of. I also didn’t like the sudden switches to lucid dreams vs. reality. I think that the author was taking magical realism liberties and trying to make them horror, when in fact, it just didn’t help execute the genius behind his plot.

Overall, I would give it a 3 ⭐️ for plot and story creation. But I’m sticking with a 2 ⭐️ because it was an 8-9 hour audiobook and I wanted it to be over and done after 2 hours. I’ll probably skip the next Alex North book. It’s okay that he’s just not for me. A lot of people love him and his stories.

Thanks Netgalley for letting me download this audiobook for free and thanks to Celadon/Macmillan Publishers for an early release copy to follow along with in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

A spooky novel that will have you hooked as you listen/read along. I highly recommend this one if you haven't read it yet.

After reading, and loving, The Whisper Man, I was thrilled to see this book come up as an audiobook offer on NetGalley. The premise, a middle-aged man returning to his childhood home, with reminders of murder and unanswered questions still lingering on the edges. He starts to feel that someone is following him. Strange noises, his mother’s dying statements, and then a copycat murder happens. How could I not be intrigued?

Narrators Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan bring this story to life, and add the perfect level of creepiness and reality to the tale. The early sections of the book are initially a bit slow, but the suspense and eeriness increase, and I was fully invested. However, the ending let me down, with a loss of tension, and felt scattered and a bit unfinished. Overall, an interesting perspective on peer pressure influences among teens, and the possibilities for lucid dreaming was intriguing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and MacMillan Audio for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one managed to catch me off guard and surprise me, which I feel like thrillers rarely do. It definitely has a creepy vibe and is better to read during the day. While reading, I wondered if the second POV from the detective was absolutely necessary. In the end I don't think it was and I would've appreciated just Paul's POV more. I also appreciated the nod to the Whisper Man.

Narration: Dual narration for dual POVs, heavy accents

Thanks to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for my copy to review.

I enjoyed The Whisper Man so much, I was so excited to listen to The Shadows by Alex North.
The plot had me intrigued but getting to the end I started to lose interest. Not the creepy vibes or thriller I was expecting. But overall an okay read.

WHAT an audiobook. Highly recommend if anyone wants to be truly spooked. Admittedly I could only listen to it in broad daylight when I was outside. I was sucked right into the story and really enjoyed it.

Sign me up for all thing Alex North. His first book had me thoroughly creeped and this one did not let me down. Detective Beck was a great protagonist and now I really want to dive into my old dream journals!

Loved this will definitely be buying this to listen to repeatedly ! Alex North just has a way to make stories bone chilling!

After reading the amazing debut The Whisper Man, I knew I had to read Alex North’s next book. North does a spectacular job at creating a spooky atmosphere. This book was no different. With differing timelines of uncovering the past to answer questions in the present, North weaves an intricate story of secrets and betrayals. This book explores the dark deeds of humans and illustrates that age is just a number. The narration was fantastic, with two narrators to give depth to the story. This book was fast paced and enjoyable. Perfect for fans of suspense thrillers with a creepy edge.

While I ended up not listening to the audiobook,
I did attempt to read the physical copy of this book and found it too slow for my taste. Many thanks to the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this title.

In all honesty, I DNF'ed this one. I felt the pacing was slow and couldn't get into it enough to keep me reading. It's a two-star read for me, but giving it three to be nice... and since I can't comment on it as a whole. It may have picked up.

*** I received an ARC of this audiobook from MacMillan Audio in exchange for an honest review ***
Actual rating is 3.5 stars

To start off I must say that I love Alex North and The Whisper Man was one of my top reads last year so I was super excited to read this book. However, while I enjoyed this book I found it to be a bit confusing and would have to rewind the audio some to catch what I missed. I feel like this is one of those audiobooks that you really can't be doing much else while you listen to it or you are going to miss something and become confused. I enjoyed the dark elements of this book because I feel often times writers need to go there to make the horror more believable and will not so I appreciate that Alex North is not afraid to go where he needs to to make his books great. I enjoyed the fact that the story jumps between past and present because it gives the reader a better insight into Paul and what happened 25 years prior to his return home. I really enjoyed the characters in this book and felt that Paul and Amanda were both very fleshed out characters. If you are a thriller and horror fan I do suggest you pick this book up. I will be giving it another go when I can full invest my time into solely listening to the book.

This book will definitely keep you creeped out & guessing until the end! There were some points where maybe there was too much going on in both timelines but I overlooked that because I just wanted to know what was actually happening & what was going to happen. Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan for the advanced audiobook!

The Shadows was creepy and made me wonder if Charlie Crabtree was onto something with lucid dreaming. This led me down a research path that scared me into thinking I may somehow end up in the same dream as Charlie! Once again, Alex North delivers a novel that is just next to normal. While all the unexplained are eventually explained, it is a fun ride to get there.