The Shadows | Alex North’s Latest Spooky Thriller

4/5 stars

Charlie Crabtree was the type that had people questioning when he’d do something awful. He lived up to the whispers and committed a heinous crime. Paul was friends with Charlie and his victim. 25 years later, he has worked hard to move on and forget about that part of his life, but when a copycat killer appears, Paul must face his past and the unsettling knowledge that Charlie disappeared after the murder… never to be seen again… 

I really enjoyed The Whisper Man and Alex North has done it again with The Shadows. Despite this being set in the same universe and following Detective Amanda Beck, this is technically a standalone story and one wouldn’t need to read both to understand what is going on. 

This was a great story and a bit mystical/paranormal. It felt like a novel version of Inception which completely hooked me. For most of the story, I was predicting a totally different outcome and was genuinely surprised when the plot twists came. The story was never scary for me, but it definitely had its creepy elements. The Shadows had me questioning whether Paul was awake or dreaming and made him a bit of an unreliable narrator, adding to the thrilling aspect. 

The ending was wrapped up a bit too neatly for me. It came quickly and left me with some questions, but I was satisfied for the most part. This was another solid thriller from Alex North and I hope to read more by North in the future.