I am not sure whether or not I enjoyed this book. Its a gripping read - a young boy, Paul, who doesn't fit in, who's friend is befriended by two rather manipulative youngsters, who take them to the realms of lucid dreaming. However, together they commit murder.

Paul goes to university and never returns to his home town until he is summoned as his mother is dying. He learns that the shocking events of his youth are still remembered, and somehow still being enacted out as one of the young people responsible for the murders disappeared - is he still lurking around?

The book sends chills up the spine, it reflects on relationships, particularly within families. There are also some surprising twists that are cleverly handled. Overall I found it a gripping read, if uncomfortable in parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having read The Whisper Man I approached this with some trepidation, because I actually really like a decent night's sleep and The Whisper Man definitely was not conducive to that - both in terms of wanting to read late into the night and in scaring the living daylights out of me. More of the same from Alex North here, with a modern day thriller based around both a contemporary and a historical murder, overlaid with a supernatural flavour. Good read - I'd say perfect for a holiday, but those are thin on the ground these days. The Whisper Man was originally touted as a debut, which I think it was for this pen name but not for this author - but no matter, it's turning into a solid series from him.

After being chilled and thrilled by Alex North's novel, The Whisper Man, I jumped at the chance to read an arc of The Shadow Friend on Netgalley. The Shadows (US title) or The Shadow Friend (UK title) did not disappoint.The author takes hold with an icy grip from the outset of the book with another macabre offering.

Paul Adams returns to his childhood home of Featherbank after his mother is injured badly in a fall. Paul ran away from the village after his teenage friends brutally murdered another of their friends. One of the teenagers, Charlie Crabtree disappeared without a trace. 25 years after the original crime, there is another killing, a copycat killer is out there.

Paul revisits moments from his early life, involving the menacing and manipulative Charlie. Some of the scenes involving Charlie and Paul's friend James were unsettling, especially knowing the gruesome murder to follow.

One of the highlights from The Shadow Friend is Detective Amanda Beck. She is feisty and determined to find out what is behind the murders. Like The Whisper Man, there is a suggestion of a supernatural force at work, this time in the form of lucid dreaming.

There are creepy coincidences and an unravelling mystery throughout. The story is gut wrenching but gripping. I wanted to keep reading and find out exactly what happened in "The Shadows".

To conclude, North can really tell a story with characters that you care about, thrown into terrible scenarios. Ultimately, that makes for a nail biting horror-thriller that's hard to put down.

A dark and creepy psychological thriller from the author of The Whisper Man. Lecturer Paul returns to his rundown hometown to see his dying mother after a twenty year absence and relives memories of a tragedy in his boyhood. Fast paced storytelling and well written characters. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I have had 'The Whisper Man' by this author on my to read list for a while now so when offered the chance to read this novel thought I would give it a look.

Paul's friend Charlie Crabtree disappeared twenty-five years ago after brutally killing their classmate. Paul blamed himself for his part in that day and had never returned home until his mother is taken ill after a fall. On his return it's not long before things start going wrong and his mother claims there's someone in the house. Paul realises someone is following him and in a town many miles away, a copycat killer has struck. Paul is left thinking what really happened to Charlie the day of the murder?

There was so much I did like in this book, well written and some excellent characters but it just didn't quite do it for me. I did enjoy it but wasn't reading it non stop like many books I enjoy.  

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Penguin Books UK - Michael Joseph for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Im Prolog beginnt das Buch mit dem Augenblick, als Paul Adams vor 25 Jahren von 2 Polizisten abgeholt wird, da er im Rahmen eines schrecklichen Verbrechens unter Verdacht der Beteiligung steht.
Nach dieser langen Zeit kehrt er nun erstmals nach Hause in Gritten zurück, da seine Mutter mit zunehmender Demenz und einem neuerlichen schweren Sturz mit dem Tod ringt. Sein erster Besuch bei ihr ist verstörend und endet damit, dass sie sich schrecklich aufregt und düstere Dinge ruft. In eingeflochtenen Rückblicken erfahren wir mehr über Pauls Jugend und seine Freunde. Es kommt zu ersten geheimnisvollen Andeutungen bezüglich Charlies Rolle in dem Ganzen. Schon bald berichtet Paul von der ersten verstörenden Begegnung mit Charlie, nachdem sein Freund James mal wieder Mobbingopfer beim Sport wurde. Nach Charlies Erzählung über einen grausamen Traum kommt es zu einem entsetzlichen, unerwarteten Ereignis. Opfer und Außenseiter schließen sich danach zusammen. James verehrt den exzentrischen Charlie, den geheimnisvollen Jungen, der sich für Bücher über Magie, Träume und Dämonologie interessiert.
Derweil wird Detective Amanda Beck in der Gegenwart zum Ort eines grausamen Verbrechens gerufen. Die beiden angetroffenen Jugendlichen, der völlig hysterische Hick und der eiskalte Robbie haben ihren Freund Michael ermordet und dann Schlaftabletten genommen, nach dem Erwachen sind sie blutverschmiert mit einem Messer und einem Buch in der Hand herum geirrt und so gefunden worden. Amanda fehlt zum Abschluss des Falles nur noch das warum. Doch bei der Beweislage findet ihr Chef diese Frage nicht wichtig. Die beiden führten Traumtagebücher, deren letzten Einträge absonderlich sind. Es wird ein Charlie erwähnt und die Initialen rh tauchen auf.
Der Fall scheint doch nicht so einfach zu liegen, die Jungen haben wohl auf Anweisungen gehört und sich auf einer True Crime Webseite herumgetrieben, wo seltsame Traumexperimente laufen. Über Einträge auf der Seite stößt sie dann auf den alten Fall um Paul und Charlie und erkennt Zusammenhänge.
Das Buch ist atmosphärisch, gruselig und düster. Seltsame Dinge geschehen, Paul und Amanda finden unabhängig voneinander verschiedene neue Infos. Der Roman ist fesselnd und ständig verfolgt einen eine ungute Vorahnung. Die Stimmung ist intensiv. Die Erzählung dreht sich um abstruse Traumtheorien, man fragt sich schon ob man das nicht selbst mal probieren müsste...
Nach dreiviertel des Buches kommt es zu einer völlig überraschenden Eröffnung, die die ganze Geschichte auf den Kopf stellt und einen an den Grenzen zwischen Traum und Realität zweifeln lässt.
In den Wäldern, die die ganze Erzählung durchdringen kommt es zur spannenden finalen Konfrontation, die Geschichte findet ein passendes Ende. Beide Protagonisten finden ihre Position zur Vergangenheit. Es würde mich freuen in Zukunft noch mehr von Amanda zu lesen.

Dark and atmospheric, this is a haunting tale about friendship, memories, and loss. The flashbacks to Paul’s teenage years show in stark terms the highs of friendships and the lows of peer pressure. The eccentric Charlie introduces Paul and his best friend, James, to dream diaries and lucid dreaming. Even though he disliked Charlie and full of skepticism, Paul couldn’t help but be pulled in. I found the lucid dreaming scenes effectively creepy! The book also shows Paul’s estranged relationship with his mother. This relationship is tinged with longing and regret, and I thought the book hits every emotional beat without resorting to sentimentalism.

Detective Amanda Beck first appeared in The Whisper Man as a supporting character. Here she is the lead detective in the murder of a teenage boy reminiscent of the Charlie Crabtree case. Her path is on a collision course with Paul and it was interesting to watch both of them searching for the same answer. There are a couple of surprising reveals that I didn’t see coming, and I appreciate the author’s sleight of hand in handling the story.

The slow pace in the first half of the story, unfortunately, affected my enjoyment. I wish Paul is a bit more solid as a character, as I didn’t really grasp his personality beyond his trauma. I also wanted to know more about Charlie as he is the catalyst to everything that happened. But if you’re looking for a creepy read this summer, this would be a great choice!

Another creepy tale from Alex North!
I loved the Whisper Man and this was every bit as good.
Paul Adams returns to his home town after 25 years to see his ailing mother and to confront events of his past .
When he was a boy -Charlie Crabtree committed murder in the local park .and was never seen again . Paul has been racked with guilt ever since that he may have been able to stop it
Not long after Paul returns -someone is following him .. and the killings begin again

Fabulously Spooky -loved it.

Thankyou NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

A dark and gritty thriller. I was glued to this story the whole way through. It is gripping and creepy and compelling.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Shadow Friend is a slower paced thriller/mystery that managed to keep my attention thanks to the creepy atmosphere. I'd read The Whisper Man by Alex North already, but I don't think I really got a feel for his writing style until I read The Shadow Friend.

I think Alex North's strength is his ability to craft such a chilling atmosphere. He perfectly cultivates the creepy local legends, the disturbing teenagers, and the dark and ominous woods in this story and so when it all comes together you're left with chills. I've now realised that this is my favourite thing about his books.

I spoke in my Booktube review of The Shadow Friend that I come from a small town with lots of local legends, and I think that's one of the reasons why I'm able to connect with Alex North's books so much. He perfectly incorporates local legends to his books, and turns them into something disturbing, and yet also very realistic.

The characters are what I would say are Alex North's weakest point when it comes to writing. His characters are never very memorable, and I never get attached to them. This is often the case with thrillers for me, but it was particularly stand out here as I was loving the rest of the story apart from the characters.

I was expecting more on Charlie Crabtree, to be honest, and less on Paul and his love life. It's fine as it is, but I would have liked to see more of Crabtree and his creepiness, and also more on Paul's relationship with his mother if the focus had to be on him so much.

The Shadow Friend is certainly a slower paced thriller, but it's one that I really enjoyed, and I can't wait to see what Alex North comes out with in the future. His books are great for Halloween if you want a spine tingling mystery to keep you up!

I so much wanted to like this book. The story sounded so intriguing. And for a while I enjoyed it really. But there is something about the authors writing that failed to captivate me. I had the same problem with “The Whisper Man”. I wanted to read and was interested what happened but somehow I was never really gripped and captured by the story.

The author tells us a tangled story told in two timelines. Paul returns after 25 years absence to his hometown because his mother is dying of cancer. Something happened then that kept him from returning home and seeing his mother. In the past we see him as a fifteen year old boy. He has a friend, James, who is the classic type of boy who gets bullied. And Paul stands up for him as good as he can. One day something weird happened and they find themselves somehow naturally befriending two other boys, Billy and Charlie. Charlie is a weird guy. He is obsessed with lucid dreams. James falls totally under the spell of Charlie and his fantasy world about dreaming. But Paul is not so keen about that stuff.

I am not going to tell more about the story because it is very complex and you should discover it for yourself. It is a very interesting story but as I said I was never captured. The author can write and he knows how to create a unique story. The atmosphere in this book is very creepy and I enjoyed that. But he has a problem to drag me really into it. I never felt the urge to leave everything behind and just read the book. I had no problems to leave it for days because I had other things to do. I don’t know why because there is nothing wrong with his writing. But I experienced the same lack of tension with “The Whisper Man” so there must be something missing for my taste.

Until 80% I would have rated this book with solid 4 Stars because of the creepy atmosphere and the interesting story. But then North overdoes it at the end. There is just too much happening towards the end and not everything felt right and logical. I also got frustrated that there are so many characters in the book but they all are characterized very superficial.

I think I would read another book by Alex North, His stories are interesting and maybe next time I can get really involved in the story. You never know.

Paul left his hometown because his friend got murdered and another of his friends was responsible for committing the murder. Paul can never forgive himself for what happened. Now he has had to come back as his mum has had a fall and is very ill. On arrival strange things start happen,!there is a copycat murder and Paul feels like he is being followed.

I was really excited about reading this book because I had enjoyed The Whisper Man so much. This is a book of dual timelines. We go from present day to 25 years ago. Throw in some lucid dreams and not forgetting the female detective and her partner and a few other side characters. I was quite honestly confused a lot of the time. All that being said it is quite a spooky read and on the whole enjoyed the story.

One of my favourite novels last year was The Whisper Man, the debut novel by Alex North, so I have been really looking forward to reading his second book, The Shadow Friend, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Twenty-five years ago, the small village of Gritten was shocked by the horrific murder of a high-school student and Paul Adams, shocked and feeling guilty about the tragedy, swore he would never return home until, one day, he receives a call that informs him that his mother is dying in hospital so he has no choice but to go back and face the past. Many miles away, in the village of Featherbank, detective Amanda Beck is investigating another gruesome murder of a student. Is this connected to what happened in Gritten all those years ago?

The story is very well-written and addictive. It has supernatural elements that perfectly fits with the dark and creepy atmosphere. The tension is always high so that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading and it’s full of surprising twists, especially one that make me jump from the couch and yell “WHAT???”. The story is set in Featherbank with the reader is already familiar with if they’ve read The Whisper Man, but mostly in Gritten which the author describes as occupied by run-down houses, industrial estates, and neglected neighbourhoods and with a dull and gray air that made me feel claustrophobic.

The Shadow Friend is told from the points of views of the two protagonists. Paul and Amanda are very intricate and well-developed characters. I loved reading Paul’s flashbacks of his teen years, how he took care of his friends and wasn’t afraid to stand up to bullies and take action. Adult Paul was also an interesting and realistic character and I really felt for him. Amanda also feels authentic and relatable and I really liked her.

Alex North is a brilliant author. He creates unforgettable and chilling plots that makes it nearly impossible to put the book down. Like The Whisper Man last year, The Shadow Friend is one of my favourite books of 2020 and I am already looking forward to reading book number 3!!!

If it had happened to you, you would have run away too.

Paul returns to his hometown of Gritten to visit his mom, who has had a bad fall and is now in a hospice, the last time he was here was 25 years ago when, as a teenager, he was linked to the death of one of his classmates. The killers were Charlie and Billy, two of his friends, Billy was caught and convicted but Charlie disappeared and hasn't been seen since. Now Paul is back and strange things are happening again, someone else is killed and it looks to be a copycat murder, or is it?

The story is told across two timelines, the present day and 25 years ago. It's very busy with lots of characters and is, at times, confusing as it's not always clear which timeline is being referred to when the chapter begins. It's a very spooky read and certainly keeps the reader on their toes. I absolutely loved the author's previous book, The Whisper Man, but this one didn't really grab me the same. Having said that, it is an enjoyable read.

I'd like to thank Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Shadow Friend is Alex North’s second psychological thriller which often verges on becoming horror fiction and has your heart-thumping uncontrollably at times. Although the book shares elements and connections with North’s previous novel, The Whisper Man, this works perfectly well on its own. Paul Adams hasn't visited his hometown of Gritten for 25 years due to the terrible memories of his friend having been brutally murdered there. However, his mother is currently residing in Gritten hospice, has terminal cancer and hasn't long left so he must pluck up the courage to travel back to the place he's avoided for so long. The murder was truly gruesome with blood everywhere and bloody handprints all over the scene but of the perpetrators, only Billy Roberts was caught as Charlie Crabtree disappeared off the face of the earth. Now Detective Amanda Beck wishes to speak with Paul about the crime he witnessed as the present-day murder of Michael Price shares the same MO and she feels Charlie is involved in some way.

Wow, I don't often say that about a book but this is such a riveting read that is not to be missed. It's well written and impeccably structured to create a mounting sense of dread and the explosive opening kicks the story off with a bang; once you begin it there's no stopping and I devoured it in a single sitting. Undoubtedly one of the best thrillers with a slight supernatural twist thrown in for good measure. I loved that we got only Paul’s perspective rather than multiple and this made the narrative much more powerful and suspenseful. The timeline effortlessly switches between past and present-day slowly unravelling the secrets and nefarious behaviour. It's a complex, deeply sinister tale with a claustrophobic atmosphere that has you on the edge of your seat throughout. There are a number of great, unpredictable twists and they were all superbly executed. All in all, this is a compulsive, absorbing, highly entertaining and unbelievably tense read with some shocking twists and a well-conceived plot. Many thanks to Michael Joseph for an ARC.

After the huge success of Alex North’s debut novel ‘The Whisper Man’ I couldn’t wait to get started on this one. Again this was another creepy and mysterious book but for me, I did find it a little hard to keep track of all the characters. Overall though I still found it to be a very good and entertaining book and I would recommend giving it a read. Looking forward to seeing what Alex comes up with next. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was really excited to read this book – it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year because I absolutely loved North’s debut, The Whisper Man. I am pleased to say that The Shadow Friend is every bit as sinister and amazing as I’d hoped and just as fantastic as The Whisper Man. The story follows Paul Adams, whose life has been haunted by a traumatic violent event in his teenage years. Charlie Crabtree murdered one of his classmates in a strange and shocking manner and then apparently disappeared off the face of the earth. 25 years later, Paul is forced to return to his childhood home and confront the events of the past and reckon with the copycat murders and eerie events taking place in the present. The narrative is split between Paul and Detective Amanda Beck, who we met in The Whisper Man.

I cannot overstate how much I love Alex North’s writing. It totally draws you in and makes every page feel intense and compelling. The atmosphere of dread and darkness he creates is incredible – there is always a sort of hint of the supernatural teasing at the edges of what is happening. I had to stop reading late at night because it was sending shivers up my spine. Charlie Crabtree is a truly sinister character and every time he was on the page or even just being spoken about I had to keep looking over my shoulder. Charlie is obsessed with the concept of lucid dreaming (which is being in a dream but also being aware that you are dreaming and able to act within it) and this totally freaked me out. There is something quite otherworldly and spooky about dreaming to begin with so the added layer of sinister lucidity creates an honestly terrifying concept which worked perfectly in this story.

I don’t want to give too much away about the plot because there are some fantastic twists and turns to the story that I didn’t see coming in the slightest! What The Shadow Friend does so brilliantly is it gives the reader the dark atmosphere, the frightening characters and clever plot but there is also a real emotional weight to this book. I cared so much about these characters and was completely invested in trying to work out what exactly was going on. If you like your thrillers intense, addictive and unrelentingly engaging then I think you will love The Shadow Friend. I cannot wait to read whatever this author, who is fast becoming an auto-buy for me, writes next. Highly recommend.

I find it difficult to pigeon hole this book. I found it both quite unsettling with an uncomfortable undercurrent throughout and not particularly scary in places. Those who liked Alex North's previous book The Whisper Man will like this I think but I can't say it really gripped me. It does seem that North is a writer with a growing following in this genre though so it definitely has a market.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for ARC.

3.5 Stars
I really enjoyed The Whisper Man by this author and was really looking forward to this book.
The story was interesting and the creepy undercurrent was very apparent throughout, but it was a very slow burner and I dont feel like it really got going until the last 20%.
I adore the way this author writes, so lyrical and easy to read and get lost in, but I must admit that I didn't get as carried away into the story as I did with The Whisper Man.

My thanks to Penguin U.K. Michael Joseph for an invitation to receive an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Shadow Friend’ by Alex North in exchange for an honest review.

Last year I read and reviewed North’s ‘The Whisper Man’ and so was delighted to be invited to read his new literary crime thriller. It has quite a complex plot, which isn’t easy to summarise though I will try to provide a taster. As with most thrillers I advise it is best read ‘cold’.

‘Red hands, Paul! There are red hands everywhere.’ ‘Oh God, it’s in the house, Paul!’ - Paul’s mum.

Twenty-five years ago when he was fifteen Paul Adams life was forever changed when two of his friends, Charlie Crabtree and Billy Roberts murdered one of their classmates. Billy had been arrested but Charlie disappeared and was never seen again.

It cast a shadow over Paul’s life and when he turned eighteen he left the town of Gritten and never returned. Yet when his mother is hospitalised after a serious fall, he returns. He is shocked when his mother insists that there is something in the house and he finds that she has collected some quite disturbing material linked to the murder.

Meanwhile, in the village of Featherbank, DI Amanda Beck, who had been involved in the Whisper Man case, is now investigating a murder that appears to be a copycat of the Gritten case. In both instances the boys involved had become obsessed with lucid dreaming.

The narrative follows a familiar pattern with contemporary thrillers of switching between multiple points of view. Paul narrates his chapters with some set in the present and others exploring the events of the past. Other chapters follow Amanda’s investigations.

As with ‘The Whisper Man’ this started out fairly slowly and increasingly gained momentum in terms of tension and a growing sense of unease. Much of this links to the boys’ interest in lucid dreaming and their fascination with the local woods, known as The Shadows, and the sinister figure that they believe rules over this kingdom, named Red Hands by Charlie.

There are subtle elements of supernatural horror within the novel as well as a sense of the fluidity of reality and the nature of the borderlands between waking and dreaming. It certainly surprised me, not only in terms of whodunnit but other plot elements.

I was pleased to encounter Amanda Beck again. It will be interesting to see where North will go from here and if his next project will be set in the same fictional world. I will be eagerly awaiting news.

Highly recommended to those who like their crime novels intelligent, dark, and unsettling.