Yet another brilliant book from the very talented Helen Fields. Not a Callanach story but has some of the characters from the Perfect series in it. Telling the story of a man Fergus who without giving too much away is extremely creepy. A superb idea for a story and well executed. I really liked that Overbeck and Ailsa Lambert were included in it.. It is a novel which causes an unpleasant feeling of fear and unease and may keep you awake at night. I loved it

This is a different crime book in that you know who the perpetrator is, and what he’s done, why he’s doing it but it is so creepy and nail biting, I felt I was in that house with those poor people. Towards the end (03:30am) this morning I was on tenterhooks because I didn’t know what was going to happen.

Fergis is one odd bod! He kidnaps people and keeps them on his house, in a man made flat with no windows and no escape. He even forgets to feed them!

When people begin to go missing the Edinburgh police draft in a psychological profiler from the States to get into the mind of the kidnapper. I have to say I really liked Connie and the main policeman Baarda. She was likeable and thorough and she herself was flawed which helped her get inside the mind of Ferris. I had to laugh when Overbeck appeared, she is one bitch and those of us who’ve read the “Perfect “ series with DI Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner (brilliant series) will recognise her. All I can say, is God help Edinburgh police having her father n charge!

All in all it was a very enjoyable book and I really felt I was locked up too, it is a stand alone book, but then again I’m sure if Helen wanted to write more with the same characters the door is open.

Read it, you won’t be disappointed.

My thanks to the publishers and to Helen for the ARC.

I liked it, but not completely.

FBI profiler Connie Woolwine and DI Baarda from Police Scotland are investigating the disappearances of three people believed to have been taken by the shadow man. We get conflicting chapters between the police, the three captives and the killer, known as Fergus. At first I was intrigued, but it quickly became apparent this was going to be an erratic story. The POV bounced around too often. I would have preferred more from the police and less from the captives. Elspeth was interesting as I felt she reacted realistically to the situation. Twelve year old Meggy did not. No twelve year old, neglected or otherwise, reacts like that to being kidnapped. Xavier's character was pointless and the story would have served just fine without him.
Connie Woolwine's profiling was the most interesting part, there just wasn't enough of her. Also, I failed to see how she made the connections between the three different victims as killers usually target one specific type of victim ie. adult women, children, etc. With no physical evidence and barely any witnesses I wasn't convinced. I was also really annoyed with her absolute assurance that each victim was still alive right until the end. Sorry, just not convinced. The ending was also extremely far-fetched and I'm sure would have caused a whole host of further issues for the police after the fact.

I did like Dr Woolwine and DI Baarda and I can see them teaming up for a potential series. Connie had a lot of interesting quirks, such as the colour blindness and her penchant for fondling corpses. This was an entertaining, albeit far-fetched, crime novel.
Trigger warning; rape off page.

**Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for my review copy.

From the publisher (because it's a perfectly succinct summary: He collects his victims. But he doesn’t keep them safe.

Elspeth, Meggie and Xavier are locked in a flat. They don’t know where they are, and they don’t know why they’re there. They only know that the shadow man has taken them, and he won’t let them go.

Desperate to escape, the three of them must find a way out of their living hell, even if it means uncovering a very dark truth.

Because the shadow man isn’t a nightmare. He’s all too real.

And he’s watching.

I absolutely loved this clever tension-filled book. It's dense--Fields does a wonderful job building her world and giving the readers a glimpse into police work, psychology, the minds of victims and perpetrators alike. Backstories are fleshed out and satisfying and there's great chemistry amongst the cast. So the density never feels like a slog: I flew through this one, staying up late into the night to finish. Baarda and Connie are likeable heroes, and one can absolutely relate to Elspeth, Meggy, and Xavier. There's also a chilling antagonist.

I'd absolutely recommend this to any thriller fan. I'm so happy to have discovered Helen Fields here and I'll be sure to seek out her other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

As a huge fan of Helen Fields’ books, I was delighted to be asked to read an advanced copy of The Shadow Man. And it did not disappoint. Right from the start, it had me hooked and I needed to see how it would end. A man, a woman and a teenage girl are kidnapped and put in a windowless room. But who kidnapped them and why? As the story unfolds, you will want and need to know what will become of them all. Definitely one of my favourite books of the year.

I rarely give out five stars but this was an easy decision. I love this author's books and one of the few authors whose books I will automatically purchase without reading the synopsis.

This one was unbelievable. Kept my heart racing throughout the entire book. Particularly the end. Oh holy cow that ending. I'm going to need therapy. Deep, long therapy.

Best mystery/thriller this year. Sublime. And I absolutely fell in love with the characters. Please make this a series. Please. But give me time to save up for therapy.

This book was filled with tension from the beginning.
As usual there was some major twists which for me as a reader i had no idea they were going in that direction
I shall be recommending this author to friends who love the same genre as me

You could cut the tension in this book with a knife.

I loved having the viewpoint of the psychologist, rather than just the typical storyline with police. It gave this one a completely different feel.

The Shadow Man is an anxious and scary race against the clock... that'll leave you double-checking your locks and squinting into dark corners.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this title.

I am a big fan of Helen's books and I couldn't wait to read this book, If you like tense, creepy, scary books, then this is the one for you, I loved how when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Helen never disappoints and always has you guessing. My skin crawled reading this book, it was very eerie but made me want to read on. Three victims are taken and locked up but they have no idea why. What they discover in there will break your heart, The shadow man is a dangerous man who has got issues himself, what will happen when his victims try to escape, him being weak himself, will they make it? It all wraps up into a outstanding ending. I cannot wait to read Helen's next book.

Thoroughly enjoyed the previous books by Helen Fields and, as anticipated, this did not disappoint.
A dark tale with so many twists and turns I was gripped from the outset.
Hopefully the start of a new series featuring Dr Connie Woolbine.
4.5 stars

THE SHADOW MAN
BY HELEN FIELDS

Helen Fields has crafted a standalone thriller called "The Shadow Man," which is bone chillingly creepy. I really loved this chiller about a mentally ill man who has Cotard's Disease which is a fancy diagnosis for feeling like you are dying and your body is decomposing. This scary man is experiencing psychotic delusional episodes which happen in cycles allowing him to function enough to murder and abduct innocent unsuspecting targeting individuals of all ages and escape getting caught. In the very beginning pages you know who this psychopathic criminally insane person is. He changes his name frequently. His real name is Harris Povey but he is currently going by the name of Fergus Ariss whose psychopathy may be the result of his mother committing suicide shortly after she gave birth to Harris murdering his twin brother before she does herself in. He was raised by his grandmother in a farmhouse that is conveniently in the rural countryside so that his abducted victims screaming for help can't be heard by neighbors. Soundproofing in the most natural environment that has allowed him to go undetected for so long.

Connie Woolwine is an American forensic psychologist that has been consulted from superintendent Overbeck from Edinburgh, Scotland. Connie is teamed up with Detective Inspector Baarda to profile and catch this demented serial killer and abductor. Fergus is very scary and I was scared by his actions and I really cared about his victims. He has taken Elspeth who in his crazy thoughts thinks she is his wife by having her dressed like a bride and he forces her to exchange his supplied wedding bands. Elspeth goes along with his delusions because she thinks it will keep her alive maybe long enough for her to get rescued if she is lucky. He next abducts a twelve year old girl named Meggy whose stepmother is always late picking her up from school. He stalks and studies his victims. The last of his abductions is a young man named Xavier whom is a paraplegic who is wheel chaired bound.

The three are trying to escape while Connie and DI Baarda race to find the identity of this pattern of abductions that they deduce are linked. I really loved this dynamic duo as I witnessed how well they worked together while investigating these crimes. I would love to see a sequel or a series with these two interesting characters. I have never read Helen Field's before but I really hope she writes a continuation with Connie and DI Baarda. This was a very pleasant discovery for me. I highly recommend this creepy, chilling thriller to fans of this genre.

Publication Date: February 4, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Helen Fields and Avon Books UK Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheShadowMan #HelenFields #AvonBooksUKPublishing #NetGalley

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Helen Fields for a copy of this outstanding book in return for an honest review.


"The paint had run, as if the windows themselves were crying at the sickness of the world they hid."

Sickness doesn't even cut it! The horrors throughout this book are so awful its so good!
Fergus is a very ill and very messed up individual and having a lot of the book in his perspective was bloody fantastic!

"Fergus Ariss waited to see if this time, at last, he would stay dead."

Connie and Baarda are an amazing couple of characters, I really really hope to see more of these two.

Fantastic story! 5* highly recommend

This is the best book I have read for quite a long time. It kept me hooked throughout. The characters are great and you really start to feel and care for what’s happening. it really is a great dark read especially at this time of year and I look forward to reading other books Helen has to offer .

A five star read!! A brilliant new character in Dr Woolwine and also a very creepy villain. I like the way a character from the brilliant DI Callanach series is in the book also. Would love to see this as a new series. #NetGalley#TheShadowMan

This is a standalone novel from Helen – whose Perfect detective series I LOVE – and golly, it is clever. A man, woman and child are locked in a flat, put there by someone who wants them for themselves – and shows no sign of letting them go. This shadow man is a ghostly figure but all too real for his prisoners. It’s up to detectives and a specially flown in aid to work out the shadow man’s motives and background, and ultimately, what he plans to do with the unlikely trio. It is quick, it is clever and it is shocking in some areas – literally hand over mouth shocking – but the depth of research and quality of writing is exceptional. Please Helen, write all the books.

When I read the book blurb, I thought we would be looking into the perspectives of the captives. But this book features less of that.

The only thing I liked about the book are the psychology bits and the climax. Rest of the plot is jagged because of the POV shift. The author didn't handle them well.

But still a pretty good book and a really good lead character.

Wow, this book is dark! Seriously creepy and disturbing throughout. The characters are all fabulous and play their role to perfection. I really hope this is the first of a series for Connie as she is brilliant.

A great story keeping you gripped from start to finish and leaving you wanting to know what happens next...

Dr Connie Woolwine is called in to a case in Edinburgh to work with detective Brodie Baarda in the disappearance of a well known local woman, Elspeth.

Elspeth is being held hostage and is soon joined by two others who are all looking to escape the evilest of nightmares, the Shadowman. He is always watching and waiting for them to make the wrong move.

Helen is one of my favourite authors and the ‘Perfect’ series is by far one of the best. So when Avon kindly sent me a copy in exchange for a review it certainly made my day and I devoured it over a few days. Beware the first chapter is not the best to read when you’re in bed alone!

Did I just discover a new author ? ✔️✔️
Have I ordered the Perfect Series (all of them ) between reading this book. ✔️✔️

Dr. Connie is my hero. I love her. Write more about her please. She is so kickass🦸🏼‍♀️and cool 👩🏼‍💻I really feel like we would be BFFs. I need to see where this goes with Baarda.

So she is a super smart , super quick ,forensic psychologist who profiles serial killers and does all sorts of other neat stuff. I could write a paragraph on just that. Baarda seems to be a badass cop, and together they try to find Fergus who believes he’s dying , and before he does he needs to create the perfect family. But things don’t work out every time for him so he’s killed a few along the way. Elspeth, Meggy and Xavier are the perfect family to him.

You meet all sorts of cool characters (whom I hope to meet in her other books that I have on the way📬).

I love these types of books. This book is not for someone who can’t take gory details. But I love them.

DEF A 5 STAR READ. Get this book when it’s available , it was amazing.
Thank you NETGALLEY AND HELEN FIELDS!