The Shadow Man Review!
The Shadow Man is an excellent book for any fan of thrillers, crime, suspense, and even horror. As a mental health nurse, I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and premise of this book! This book takes us into the mind of a psychopath to see exactly how the criminal mind works. It is so interesting to read and a great learning experience. Helen Fields does an excellent job of telling this story! I would highly recommend it!

Without a shadow of a doubt (I know, apologies) a really dark, compelling thriller. I was hooked from the outset. Loved the characters and would love to meet them again. Cannot recommend it enough. Brilliant.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I love the Helen Fields' books so I was excited this was a stand-alone and it didn't disappoint! This one involves 3 captives, a wife, a 12-year-old, and a wheelchair-bound young man who are kept captive by their kidnapper never really knowing why they were taken. It alternates between their harrowing journey and the two chasing them. Connie, the psychologist, is a most interesting character who can't see colors but can intuit personalities by her intense questioning techniques. Fergus too, is an interesting study in mental illness and the pace never lets up in this procedural. I'm hoping there's a sequel as I'd like to read more about them!

I love all of Helen Fields work, and this book was not a disappointment. Different in tone and style to her Callanach thrillers, nonetheless an excellent read. Nightly recommended

WOW! This was absolutely terrifying and a book I would suggest reading with all the lights on, windows and closets closed! I was instantly drawn into this book with two different Points of view from the killer and a criminial profiler and lets just say that the killers point was so terrifying i almost had to check my closet and windows before bed and i absolutely stayed up way too late finishing this book! I read the whole thing in one night!

The shadow man abducts people and locks them in a house with no windows and only one door that he can lock and unlock. He leaves no ransom note or reason behind why he kidnaps Elspeth, Meggy, and Xavier but poor Angela fought back and lost her life for that brave act.Meggy is an absolutely brilliant character that isnt afraid to fight back! There are truly gruesome scenes but it only adds to the mystery that is the shadow man.

Ill leave the rest of the plot for you to read and decipher but i cant say much more without giving away the story.

Helen Fields has a new fan and i look forward to much more!
Thank you for the opportunity to read this absolutely terrifying novel!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
The Shadow Man by Helen Fields is a gruesome psychological thriller and is a thrilling, haunting book about the work of Harris Povey and his latest three victims. The police team with D I Baarda and his boss, Detective Superintendent Overbeck and the profiler Dr. Connie Woolwine make an interesting, and creative team, all of whom are interesting characters. I would enjoy reading more of the stories and challenges of Baarda and Woolwine in the future.
Highly recommended.

This is my first Helen Fields book and I’m hooked. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I loved Dr. Woolwine’s character and how she was able to profile the killer/kidnapper. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read another Helen Fields’ book!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. This book started off really good, I couldn’t put it down. Then it started to get slow. It seemed to be going on forever. A good storyline, not too pushed on the main character but the others where great. Not one for me to be honest.

OMG This is a scary book. I believe that the research is accurate and this syndrome which drives the story is real and what a frightening concept.
The perpetrator is a really scary person and the situations that arise are nightmare inducing!
In spite of this I was really hooked and was desperate to pick the book up again to find out more.
The investigating team felt very Helen Fields with clear thinking and team work. The two main characters being very supportive of each other.
Highly recommended -- if you like to be horrified!!

This is the best book I have read for quite a long time. It kept me hooked throughout and although I've enjoyed all of Helen's books I think this surpasses her others - which takes some doing.
It's certainly a read with a difference, a female lead with unorthodox methods of getting into the mind of a killer, and also the way she deals with him closeup!!
Hopefully this will continue into a long running series. I'll be waiting.

Helen Fields has done it again another brilliant book. She seems to always write a total page turner and this is no different. Again a great set of characters the new team adds a whole new dimension as they are not both police but one is a profiler.
To say too much would give the story away but needless to say the Shadow Man is a great character that is truly scary. This is one of Helens most terrifying books that keeps you reading right the way through to say it is a page turner is an understatement.

4.5 stars ⭐️ Holy CRAP, y’all! This book was so beyond creepy. There were several times I had to stop reading or turn my head like I was actually seeing what was happening. I can handle a LOT but this one got to me. Such an amazing story and great characters. Definitely add this one to your list!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Brilliant storytelling with a cracking pace. Can’t wait to read book two about Dr Constance and Detective Baarda. Loved them both. Thank you for the read NetGalley. Highly recommend Helen Fields.

Wow what an edge of the seat thriller! Grabbed me from the first page and kept me gripped until the end.

The book is set around Edinburgh.

When Elspeth Dunwoody disappears, leaving her shoe behind to show she was taken, the case becomes all hands on deck as she is the daughter of the head of a global tech company with many political contacts.

Connie, an American forensic psychologist, is employed by the police to provide a profile of Elspeth’s kidnapper. She joins DI Baarda who is investigating.
As they are following leads, a young girl is kidnapped from outside of her school and it becomes clear to Connie that it is the same kidnapper.

I don’t want to give anything further away with the storyline but it is a dark and addictive read which will have you reading well into the night!

Highly recommended.
Due for release 4/2/21
Many thanks to Avon and NetGalley for an advance copy in return for an honest review

After being a huge fan of the 'perfect' series I was eagerly awaiting this release. It didn't dissapoint!
Its beautifully written and builds suspense, whilst introducing you to characters both old and new.
I loved the nod to the perfect series with the setting in the foreboding Edinburgh and the return of superintendent Overbeck.
The hints of vulnerability in Connie, coupled with her fierce nature leave you both vying for her success and concerned for her safety.
But the masterpiece of this book is the Shadow Man creating a human so demonic but still retaining the believable human qualities has been done to perfection leaving me truly chilled.
A fantastic new addition to the crime fiction world.
Many thanks to netaglley for this wonderful book.

This was my first Helen Fields novel and I now want to read more of her work. This was a well-written and creepy thriller.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The main character in The Shadow Man is a forensic psychologist named Connie Woolwine who has been called to Edinburgh to help solve the missing person case of Elspeth Dunwoody. Connie's partner in sleuthing is Detective Inspector Baarda. Connie is a unique character in that she has a unique perspective of the world- partially because she is an achromat (can't see colors) and partially because of her own past psychological traumas. This is a woman who is not afraid to get up close and personal with the dead to see what they can tell her. Edinburgh is a perfect setting for this dark and brooding mystery. As the story progresses, several other people disappear. Are the cases linked and if so, what can Connie deduce from each case that will help her find a connection to the villain? I don't want to give away anymore details accept to say that this was a rewarding read which kept me at the edge of my seat. I hope that this is the first book in a series because I would love to read more mysteries with Connie and Detective Inspector Baarda!

Brrrr! This book completely froze my blood cells, taking tour inside the criminal’s mind and as you discover how his dysfunctional mind works, how he chooses his preys, stalking and watching, if you’re not a tough one who cannot digest gory, dark, terrifying way of story telling, please just drop the book and run! That’s not your cup of Earl Grey, for sure!

Luckily I don’t like tea but I always keen on reading darker, challenging, complex stories just like this one. I already packed more adult diapers just in case before diving into this journey.

At the beginning we’re introduced the perpetrator, after a few glimpses make us realize his motives, we learn he is sick ( not only mentally but also physically) but he needs to finish his passion work. So we’re not sure his health conditions can prevent him to finish what he started. He wants his legendary name “ Shadow Man” leaves a memorable trace when he’s gone!

Dr. Connie Woolwine, an American forensics psychologist and Brodie Baarda, a London detective, team up to solve the missing person cases in Edinburgh. Their relationship dynamic and quirky characteristics( especially talkative forensics Ms. Woolwine has some similar qualities with Annette) reminded me of Katherine Engberg’s Tenant series detectives Werner and Korner.

Elspeth,Meggy and Xavier are three characters from different backgrounds.They’re captivated at some unknown place, their each moves are monitored by their hunter. They need to find a way to escape but how?
As the number of the cases is increasing, eventually the pressure on the detectives are getting higher. They have to find a way to stop them but how?

What if Connie attracts the perpetrator’s attention, acting like ideal candidate to be abducted. Well, her plan may work but also may drag her to the most dangerous places she cannot ever imagine.

Click! Click! Click! You hear the sound! I keep ordering more DI Callanach series! I enjoyed the author’s riveting writing style, high tension building of the story and memorable characterization including shadow man. She portrayed the sick mind of a character with a realistic, objective and also horrifying approach.

I cannot wait to read more works of the author sooner.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for sharing this arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This is my first Helen Fields book that I have read so I didn’t really know what to expect but she has gained herself a new fan because of this book . The story is a great thriller from the very beginning it pulls you in and keeps your attention page after page . 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 . 5 stars it’s everything you want for a read like this .

I've been a great fan of Helen Fields' D.I. Callanach series so I was looking forward to reading her new standalone book, "The Shadow Man".
The wife of a rich and influential man disappears in Edinburgh and American forensic psychologist Connie Woolwine is sent to help Old-Etonian London Detective D.I. Brodie Baarda investigate. Somewhat predictably the couple are chalk and cheese,the suave and mannerly Baarda and the brash,bolshy and foul-mouthed Wookwine,
The odd couple very quickly come to the conclusion that the lady, Elspeth Dunwoody, has been abducted and the story alternates between the story of her kidnapping and their efforts to find her. There's more to the abduction than first meets the eye and it becomes apparent that the perpetrator, the Shadow Man of the title, has a bizarre motive that leads to other seemingly unlinked victims finding themselves being abducted and held together. Aside from Elspeth there's Xavier,a man in his 30's and 12 year-old Meggie kept captive in a dingy flat and their trials and tribulations are described in often quite disturbing detail.
Much as I love Helen Fields' books this one misfired a bit for me,I wasn't convinced by the main characters . there are parts of the dialogue that read like Wikipedia entries as Woolwine lays out her theories and the plot often veered into "horror movie" territory.
It's good but not in the same class as the Callanach series, where the relationship between the 2 mismatched lead characters works a lot better than it does here.

Thanks to Helen Fields, Avon Books Uk and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.