A good and interesting read!

I would recommend this to everyone who loves a good story with captivating characters! Definitely a good read!

I ended up not finishing this book. I couldn’t get myself to enjoy it. I tried four or fives times and just couldn’t get into the characters or the plot line.

Dr. Connie Woolwine, a profiler, and DI Baarda are tracking down a kidnapper and his victims. It is a fast pacing thriller and I enjoyed it.
Thank you NetGalley for this copy.

Firstly a big thank you to Avon for my copy to review on netgalley . Im a huge fan of Helens books , i was very excited to read her first stand alone.

This is devilishly creepy and terrifying. She writes crime perfectly. You are engrossed straight away and hooked till the last page.

Fantastic charactars especially connie the forensic psychologist who i wouldnt mind meeting again. Shes a brilliant strong woman who has her own way of cracking a case. Through her mind we get to see the mind of the shadow man.

This is chilling and captivating.

Highly recommend if you want a read that is haunting and gets under your skin.

Published 4th February 2021

A well developed story with so many twist and turns.
This story had some great characters and one hell of a creepy baddie. The detail put in to make the villain as creepy and scary as possible was amazing. (Side note trigger warning, if you have a teeth phobia ,as I do, the graphic details about teeth falling out will be horrible) I really enjoyed the details of this book and the plot. The author did a great job with this story. My only critique is that it was a little long and drawn out and there were areas I found myself skimming to get back to the good stuff. But overall it was a good story.

Thoroughly enjoyed this latest book from Helen Fields. Having read all of the Luc Callanach books I was intrigued by the latest two offerings. I loved These Lost and Broken Things and was excited to have a chance to read The Shadow Man. Connie Woolwine is a true force of nature and an excellent new central protagonist. I hope we get to see more of her. I absolutely loved this book.

I really enjoyed it!! 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.

There is so much to this story; it's a great read and would highly recommend.

Wow, another brilliant read from Helen Fields. Introducing no nonsense, straight talking Forensic Psychologist Connie Woodwine this stand alone thriller is beyond creepy. The mind of a debased serial killer is laid bare as hope for his captives fades. I really hope this will be the start of a new series.

DARK, CREEPY and INTRIGUING! What more can you ask from a true crime/thriller book?
Just grab the book with both hands and start reading.

Are you ready to get inside the mind of a killer?

I was really excited to read this book but sadly I just couldn't get in to it at all and unfortunately didn't make it to the end.

I can highly recommend this book and although I read it as a stand alone I do hope it's the start of a new series. It's set in Edinburgh and is a mix of Crime/Psychological Thriller with a bit of horror mixed in. (Well I found it quite horrific in places.) The writing is brilliant as you would expect and I was blown away by some of the descriptions.. It held my attention from the first page to the last.

I really enjoyed this book all the way through. It had a really good plot, great main characters and really keeps you hooked on the plot. I would highly recommend this book.

Helen Fields never disappoints and with this book she’s delivered again. A departure from the Perfect series but still set in Edinburgh and with a couple of the same characters. It’s one of the freakiest villains I’ve ever read. And definitely do not read the first chapter while in bed!

Spine-chilling, nightmarish and another 5 star read by Helen Fields!

‘The Shadow Man’ is in town abducting women, children and men. He has many names and many faces, but one thing is for sure; whoever has seen him says he looks like death.

What are his reasons for these abductions?
Is he a monster? Is he mad? Is he bad? Is he a psychopathic serial killer? Or something much much worse?
Dare to enter the mind of a deranged killer? Be my guest!

Thanks to the author, Avon Books and the NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

This is a different kind of thriller/horror book.
An American profiler and psychologist is called in to help aid when a high profile abduction of Elspeth occurs after a murder of a similiar woman. Along with Detective Baarda she and he follow the abductions of a 12 year old child and of a parapalegic man. Trying to figure out the end game is all they can try to do and the twist and the turns of the case is absolutely horrifying. Fergus abducts them all to try to create the family he never had, not long after his introduction the reader can realize that he is not only physically but also mentally sick. He is so sick and twisted it's not even funny.
This book follows the investigation and also gives an insight into Fergus's mind, and what an adventure that was. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers as this is one that you are hooked from the beginning to see what other crazy thoughts are going to occur.
I really enjoyed the different perspectives and I loved Connie. She looked at the world in a different view and because of that different perspective she was able to understand Fergus and what he was actually capable of. This type of book is like someone's worst nightmare because Fergus literally the boogeyman he comes and takes his victims and then he tries to basically make them play house with him all the while the victims are terrified. Such a good book! I definitely recommend it!

Excellent.
A thoroughly enjoyable thriller with just the right amount of twistedness and gore this time but tension by the bucketful.
I loved Helen's last one but I felt this was even better.
Interesting side to Connie the profiler who has her own problems to deal with. Her back story is fascinating and fabulously portrayed.
Read this in one weekend and really struggled to put it down.
Many thanks.

Just finished readin The Shadow Man by Helen Fields. When multiple people begin disappearing in Scotland Connie, a psychologist, is called in to help investigate and deliver a profile on the potential abductor. While I was curious to see how this book would end and if Elspeth, Meggy, and Xavier would make it out alive, it was very wordy and took me quite a while to get through. I feel like a lot of the beginning could have been cut out so the story flowed a little faster. Overall it mostly kept my attention and the last 10% was definitely the best. Thanks @avon_books and @netgalley for the advance copy!

Another brilliant read from Helen Fields. Gripping from the first page this is a gritty and disturbing story of ‘the shadow man’ and his many, victims spanning decades. Suspense and drama had me willing Elspeth, Maggie and Xavier on so that they can get back to their families as undamaged as an ordeal like this can leave them. Highly recommended. With thanks to netgalley for an arc in return for my honest feedback.

Thank you for the advance copy. This book is very much an edge of your seat book and I'm certain it will be hugely popular amongst our library readers. It's a dark exciting thriller and although the writing is very good and descriptive, it doesn't stop the book being a real page turner. I will be recommending this book for our library book club.

”Life has a way of making things complicated”.

This is my first Helen Fields book, so I didn’t know what to expect from this book. She is popular with her series and this is her first standalone book.

The story is intriguing to me to know more depth towards the truth. From the beginning, it had me hooked and kept my attention. As the story unfolds, we came to know about two main characters, Connie and Fergus.

Connie, the American forensic psychologist, is excellent in her work. She is the most compelling character in this book who can’t see colors and profile the kidnapper. Fergus, the kidnapper, is scary. He is an interesting character even though he’s a bad guy here. He is diagnosed with a mental illness called Cotard syndrome and leads to no fear in doing anything as he thinks he’s invisible and dying even though he is not. Fergus chose each person for a reason. They are playing their role to Fergus.

The story has been told in a nice storyline; only I feel a little confused with the point of view. I think it is better to have two points of view only, from Fergus and Connie. A few last chapters made me speed my reading because I want to know the ending. I am satisfied with the end! Plot twist also in here!

This is a standalone novel but I'm hoping there's a sequel because I like to read more about Connie and DI Baarda.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.