I could not put this book down! The story was original and I really loved the creepy "world-building" and the history of the crime as presented to the readers.

Throughout the book, my heart broke for Paul. Having to come back to the place where he experienced being accused of this murder to care for his ailing mother is unimaginable but to then go through a copycat situation again is truly terrible.

This was an excellent thriller! I have never read any other books by this author but I look forward to checking out his other works.

This is the first time I’ve listened to an audiobook and it was a great choice. It is narrated by a male and female both with British accents, which is perfect as that is where the story takes place. Alex has another great novel in The Shadows. The story jumps from now to then to give you some of the back context. It keeps you guessing the whole time and keeps you listening. He also makes a reference to The Whisperman, which was his earlier work. A warning though, the male character dies like to use the “f**k” word a lot when he was a child which might turn some people off. I felt with the British narrators it made the story come alive more. I give it 5/5
#theshadows #netgalley #audiobook #indigoemployee

Oh I LOVED the narration but I don't know how to talk about the story without spoilers! Reviewing thrillers is always so hard. But if you like discovering secrets and examining the dark horrors of past trauma, this book has that in spades.

I am a huge fan of audiobooks and this was released for download at the perfect time as I had just received the hard cover from my Book of the Month subscription. This was well-narrated with clear speakers. It was a little hard to follow as the chapters did not line up with the audio tracks.
Thank you to Netgalley for this audiobook!

"You might of removed yourself from the game, but the game hasn't finished with you yet...."

I am probably the only person on planet earth that hasn't, as yet, read "The Whisper Man". This statement will be changing ASAP. I must read Alex North's first book of this series, and I must read it NOW!

Featuring one of my most favourite plot devices,a duel timeline, "The Shadows" flows like a river through the countryside of mystery,murder,thriller and spookiness. The atmosphere maintained the whole way through the book is BREATHTAKING! The book has caused me to lose out on sleep as I could not stop listening until I knew what was happening,and even as I got towards the end a twist was thrown in that I really did not see coming. If you put together a group of teenagers from both timelines, who live in a village, all of whom are susceptible to peer pressure, parents who are withholding secrets, diaries, dolls, lucid dreaming and a large wooded area called "The Shadows" what could possibly go wrong?
Luckily enough Detective Amanda Beck (who also appears in "The Whisper Man") is drawn into the mystery in Gritten Wood village and, along with our protagonist Paul Adams they slowly draw out little titbits which help,and sometimes hinder, them in finding their way to the conclusion of this brilliantly tense book.
As for the audio version of the book I really can't fault it. With duel narrators to match the duel timeline there is no confusing between whether Amanda Beck or Paul Adams is the one narrating that particular chapter, and also with using directions at the beginning of each chapter,such as "now" and "before" it is very easy for the listener to easily differentiate between timelines, so the narration flows flawlessly. Both narrators are easy on the listeners ears and use different voices for different characters making it a nice,easy book to listen to.
If you love some spookiness and a good mystery which is all ironed out in the end then I cannot recommend this book enough.
Now, I am off to read "The Whispering Man"!

A wonderfully creepy story that grabbed me from the first sentence - The Shadows is not only a brilliant follow up to the Whisper Man, it far surpasses it. For lovers of Stephen King, this book shows exactly how talented Alex North is.

I was completely hooked throughout this book, the characters are sympathetic and multifaceted, with the duel time line and the two narrators flowing together well. It is easy to follow what is going on throughout, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this book.

The suspense is throughout the book, and is handled really well. I was on the edge of my seat a number of times. The twists are also a highlight, with one causing me to have to stop the book in order to process it and its ramifications (even though I should have worked it out, Alex North did incredibly well with this one). I also found that I was not disappointed with the reveal (which is something that I commented on for the Whisper Man) with the who and the why not only being believable but a good resolution (even though I didn't solve it, I did not feel cheated).

I am really grateful that I got access to this book, it has been a while since a thriller has been able to move me in the way that this one did. Would definitely recommend

The Shadows is an amazing listen that really helps expand the story especially with the different actors playing the two main roles. It is very rare that I hear an audio book done that way and I loved it. It truly added to the characters and let me dive even deeper into this amazing story. If you love a good mystery you should really pick this one up because I couldn't stop listening to it after I started. I honestly wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was not really a fan of this story. I loved the first book, Whisper Man, and was excited to see that the detective was back with a new case. The timelines and vast cast of characters got lost and often I found myself confused, especially when throwing in details about lucid dreams. I am not giving up on Alex North, I think he has very creative ideas and storytelling styles, this one just wasn't for me.

𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲...⠀

The Shadows is a story about dreams influencing reality and how the past affects the future. If you liked The Whisper Man, you'll like this one as well. Did I LOVE it as much? No. But I knew The Whisper Man, one of my favorite books from last year, would be hard to top. However, North creates the same creepy, atmospheric vibe in this book and I couldn't put it down. I'm definitely looking forward to what North will write next!

Audiobook review. Paul left his hometown after high school and did not return for 25 years due to a brutal murder committed by friends he used to hang out with. The boys were convinced they could control their dreams and could live in the dreamworld after offering a sacrifice. After the murder one of those boys disappeared and hasn’t been found since. Paul now returns because his mother is dying but there has been a copycat murder that seems to have been encouraged by someone in online forums.
Very interesting story told from past and present views. There are two narrators, a male and a female that read the chapters with the corresponding view point. Characters are well developed and there are a few twists and turns that you might figure out if you are trying. Honestly, I was engrossed in the story and I wasn’t looking to figure anything out. It was quick and fun and made you want to know what was going on. It was a good mystery.

This book had me hooked from the start. I love a mystery with a supernatural twist. As I listened I had a strong feeling of dread. This book is seriously creepy! Alex North has written a superb character led mystery with some great twists. I loved the character of Paul, who just seemed like a nice, normal, everyday bloke. It was great to see Detective Amanda Beck from The Whisper Man making another appearance. Charlie Crabtree made a great villain; a sort of charismatic teen cult leader.

I really loved this though not quite as much as The Whisper Man, but I can't wait to see what Alex North comes up with next.

The excellent narration by John Hefferman and Hannah Arterton made the characters come to life.

This is actually a difficult review to write because I just got totally lost in this book and not in a good way. Multiple timelines with a large cast of characters, and some characters were in both timelines, left me confused. Add to that the fact that some characters have lucid dreams and one of the main characters is an unreliable narrator means we're not exactly sure what is really happening and what isn't. I thought there were three timelines but apparently there is only two which is just evidence of my complete confusion with this story.
The premise of the plot and the possible supernatural twist were great but unfortunately I just didn't get the full effect of those due to the overriding feeling of not having a clue what was going on.
I listened to The Shadows as an audiobook and I'm not sure that was the best option for this book. The audio was great and I thought the narrators sounded like they fit the portrayal of their characters. In some audiobooks one narrator will be the voice for all characters and sometimes it just doesn't quite sound right when they are narrating other gender characters so I particularly liked the fact that there was a male and a female narrator for the respective characters. But the issue with listening to the audio for The Shadows is that because the plot is so complex and the characters hard to keep track of it wasn't easy to try and go back to re-read or review certain parts of the plot. It is definitely a book that would be best read as an actual book whilst making notes to help you figure out what is happening.
Overall this just wasn't the book for me but those who like complex who dunnit type books might enjoy it.

I enjoyed the flow and narration of this book. I'm not completely finished, but I haven't had any trouble following along with the book itself. The app, on the other hand, kept skipping ahead when using it in my car, so I ended up having to listen to it strictly with earphones in other places. Still! The audiobook itself is very well done.

This is the chilling story of a man who has to live with his past.

Paul is haunted by Charlie, a boy from his childhood who left a lingering presence on his life. When they were children, Charlie convinced a group of them to reach each other in dreams and pursue justice in their town. But many times that justice looked more like murder.
Paul is an adult, and his mother is dying so he must return to his childhood home and be faced with the reality that he left behind there.
Amanda is a detective, there has been a new child murdered in the town, and it seems to be all pointing to Charlie doing it, 30 years after he has disappeared.

The story was quick to pull me in. Alex North has a way with words that leave you not scared, but unnerved. You find yourself needed to keep going to understand more, because what is happening cannot be right. The writing was wonderful and just drew me through the story in the way you want any great thriller to. The story was Stephen King-esk, not surprising as his works are mentioned throughout the story.

The characters were also fantastic. They felt so real, and yet you hope to never meet them in real life. Not only do we get to know Paul in a personal way, but his childhood friends also are such a good contrast to each other, making it so believable what they would do for, and to, each other.

I loved the how everything was revolving around dreams, and really allowed the sense that anything could actually be happening, while not falling into the old trap of nothing matters this is all a dream. This matter in this book, and the consequences found their way to the right people.

I think that the only problem I had with this book was the ending. Sometimes with thrillers, the journey of the book is better than the climax, and this one fell into that trap. I cannot talk about any of the specific details as they would be major spoilers, but as the story started to come together it lost some of its wonder and creepiness. I would have liked a different ending to the story, it felt too clean and wrapped up leaving none of the blame on anyone of importance to the story, but I glad that this paranormal thriller found a way to connect everything in reality.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an AUDIOBOOK in exchange for an honest review. I did listen all in one sitting, as I could not seem to stop enjoying this book!

Sometimes I have a lot of trouble focusing on an audiobook. That was not the case with this audiobook. The Shadows is a great story, and the audiobook had great narrators that did a great job of structuring their pace and tone. The story itself is a spooky, atmospheric mystery that kept me listening. The characters are interesting and believable. I would read the book version to have another go at the story.

Another great book by Alex North!! Enjoyed all the mystery, twists & turns -- didn't disappoint. Highly recommend for anyone who's a fan or loves mystery/thrillers.

After loving The Whisper Man, I couldn’t wait to start The Shadows, but ultimately I felt pretty let down. Originally, I planned to read this in an afternoon, but it didn’t grab me in the same that the Whisper Man did. The story jumped around quite a bit from narrative to narrative and I found it a bit difficult to keep track of who was who, however that could be a symptom of reading this over several days. Although it did not go in the direction I predicted, the ending was a bit of a letdown.

This is my first Alex North book so I didn’t have expectations and the premise was intriguing. I enjoy the book although the parallel storylines introduced many characters which took me a bit to get used to and figure out exact;y what was going on. I did like that there was a coming of age/coming home aspect as well as unpacking the past, but I did need to pay attention given the constant jumping back and forth. If you want to read an easy thriller, this might not be for you despite being a “quick read”. I will say overall this book has some nice twists and turns but it never really gave me that “shocked” feeling that some thrillers do.
I did have a tiny issue with the audio. When I put the female narrator on 1.5/1.75 there was a slight echo at times.
Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just ok for me. I did like his other book so I had high hopes for this one. It follows two timelines so I was confused with all the characters. I have the physical book and also the audiobook. I listened to the audio twice and still felt the same way.

This was my first audio book on Netgalley and it was great. It was a little scratchy and took a couple chapter to get used to it but overall it was a good experience.
The Shadows was a good thriller that really did keep you guessing throughout the book. I will have to read the first book by North since there is a character overlap. I would recommend this thriller if you like creepy!