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.

An excellent read overall. The writing is clear and well constructed, pace fast and edgy, and the plot thickens just enough to keep you guessing. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review. Will recommend.

I loved The Whisper Man with a passion so was at once very keen and seriously filled with trepidation to read The Shadow Friend. It only took a few pages for me to be gripped by what is another fantastic read. There’s something about the unique combination of chilling writing and a strong emotional heart that gets to me every time and that’s what makes The Shadow Friend quite so successful.

With echoes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz, yet very much a distinctive and bold book, The Shadow Friend is a fabulous blend of very scary and emotionally resonant that really touches the core.

Paul Adams has come home after a long absence to look after his elderly mother whose mind jumps in and out of reality. And reality is something that looms large in this book; because what is real and what imagined is fertile territory for Alex North and here he exploits the fine line to full advantage.

Paul’s childhood was traumatic. He lived in Gritten, a dying post-industrial town on the edge of woods that everyone called The Shadows, not too far away from Featherbank, which first appears in The Whisper Man. His closest school friend, James was murdered and two of his classmates were suspected of his murder.

One disappeared, the other was prosecuted but Paul has never been able to forgive himself for not protecting his friend; for not seeing what was coming. Now it is only his mother who can draw him reluctantly back to a place he cannot be comfortable in.

The story flits from past to present and is seen through Paul’s prism and from the perspective of Detective Amanda Beck (who investigated The Whisper Man). Beck is investigating the death of a teenager; a death that is strikingly reminiscent of the murder Paul lived through 25 years ago.

North examines the dynamic of teenage friendships, manipulation, peer pressure and bullying through the lens of this murder and shows us the immense impact that the past has on our character; how much it shapes our present.

Paul and to a greater extent, James had wanted to belong, to be insiders rather than loners and there were those who, even as young as they were, would seek to exploit and manipulate that. Using the idea of dream culture the teenagers had sought to make their sleeping hours active rather than passive experiences and that triggered a series of events that resulted in the death of one of them.

Now another teenager has been murdered and Paul is getting very concerned that his mother, herself caught somewhere between a dream world and reality, is in possession of knowledge that could help solve this crime.

Throughout the book, North builds in elements of a low level ‘something’s not quite right’ atmosphere that gets stronger as the book progresses. There’s that edgy feeling that won’t go away as you sense that there’s something that Paul isn’t quite grasping; something that is creating danger for him. We get signals for that all the way along as the story chills us with signs and portents; as the atmosphere deepens and darkens and grief, lucid dreams and a murderer on the loose all combine to make for a doom laden read that requires company to make you feel safe reading in your home.

As the tension rises, so the pace of the book quickens and when the full story is revealed it comes as a shock. What you thought you knew is not at all what you suspected. I love that unpredictability in a book and this one carries it off beautifully.

Verdict: A beautifully structured, character driven, tense and chilling read. Well layered, it creeps up on the reader to provide a read that is intense, chilling and shocking, and which focuses on relationships and is underscored by a remarkable sense of dark place.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I loved The Whisper Man and the same rings true for North's next book! I really find myself enjoying the teetering line between natural and supernatural that occurs in his work and am glad it came back to welcome us in The Shadow Friend. I connected with the characters on a further level in this (with all the hopes for an Amanda Beck series, is it just me?!)

I felt like the pacing was impeccable, with stories conjoining and revelations appearing at just the right moment for me to remain engaged. I loved the flip between past and present, particularly with the flashbacks giving me some Stephen King-esque 'kids in IT' vibes. The premise of lucid dreaming was really smoothly integrated with the story and while some arcs were predictable, others left me guessing until the very end. Just like with The Whisper Man, I do think the ending is this book's weakest section but not to the same extent. My rating is knocked down because of a few minor discrepancies I either found unrealistic or just not as thrilling as the rest of the book, but all the same a strong read I would highly recommend!

Another brilliant psychological thriller from Alex North.
This one is just as creepy as The Whisper Man and with lucid dreaming playing a key part in the story I’ll be careful what I’m thinking before I go to sleep!
Paul goes back to his childhood village when he’s told his mum has had a fall and is in a very bad way. He’s not seen her for 25 years but has spoken to her on the phone now and again.
Going back home brings back some awful memories for Paul, as last time he was in the village, one of his friends was murdered.
The story is told in the present tense and also flashbacks to what happened with Paul and his friends as teenagers. Charlie is the ring leader and encourages them to do things they’re not comfortable with but he has a way of persuading the others.
In the present time another murder has been committed and the crime scene is the same as the one 25 years before so the Police are drawn to the village of Gritten.
The two stories come together and there’s some great twists and turns in the book.
A great read that I highly recommend.
Thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I read Alex North’s debut novel earlier this year and was completely gripped and terrified by the story and the way North writes. So when the opportunity arose for me to read an advanced copy of his latest book, The Shadow Friend, I couldn’t wait to be taken on another terrifying journey.

The way North writes is completely compelling. Whilst reading, the real world ceases to exist and all you can think/worry about it the story you’re reading. Even when you put the book down, the story continues to play on your mind. So much so, I couldn’t read this book whilst home alone and I definitely could not read this book before going to bed.

The story of The Shadow Friend is magnificently written, but it also explores this idea of lucid dreaming. I had a vague idea of what lucid dreaming was before reading this book, but never understood the dangers of it when its used by children. These children were obsessed with the uneasiness and uncanniness of the woods and therefore used lucid dreaming to create a whole narrative about Red Hands.

As always, I was completely hooked on every single page of this book and the story twists and turns seamlessly to keep you craving more detail and answers. Yet again a brilliant crime novel by Alex North and he is definitely becoming one of my favourite authors. I cannot wait for his next book, that is for sure!

Very enjoyable creepy read. It kept me hooked from start to finish and definitely left me feeling spooked. Look forward to reading more by this author

Paul's mother is unwell, and likely doesn't have long left. He hasn't been home to the small village of Gritten Wood for years, but he knows he must go back to see his mother before it's too late. The place has bad memories for him, of the woods they called The Shadows, and of two young boys committing murder in the playground. Nobody has seen Charlie Crabtree since that day, and Paul is afraid he will still be lurking somewhere in the woods, waiting for him to come back.

Meanwhile, Amanda is investigating a similar murder, a copycat perhaps, after all these years. She travels to Gritten to see if she can find out who is encouraging teenaged boys to commit the same crime as Charlie Crabtree, someone who has the forum username CC666.

I've head great things about Alex North's other books, so I was happy to delve into this one. I wasn't disappointed. The writing is good, and the character of Paul is very endearing. There is definite history there are he goes back to his home town and starts to relive all the memories and horrors he left behind. There's a definite creepy feeling to the whole story, like someone is always watching Paul from The Shadows...

I wasn't quite so keen on Amanda's side of the story. It seemed a little bit superficial, as though it was added in without enough thought and depth. Paul's side of the story is certainly the real focus. I wonder whether the Police aspect was really necessary as another perspective, or whether the whole thing should have been from Paul's point of view. Anyway, it didn't ruin the story at all, it just wasn't my favourite part.

This was a good, creepy crime thriller, but with a sort of paranormal twist. If that sounds like your sort of thing then you will probably enjoy this one!

I wasn't a fan of the Whisper Man but decided to give Alex North new book The Shadows a chance alas I wasn't a fan of this either.

This is a book where nothing really happens and then we get robbed of a potential exciting ending for it to fade to black and explained to us with a short explanation from an observer.
We follow Paul on his return to his home town to visit his dying Mother after an 25 years absent after a shocking event that still haunts him till this day.
I didn't find the book scary or creepy and felt we had too much filler built in for a story that was boring and could have been told in a short Novella.

Sorry Alex I wont be picking up your third book.

With his Mother in a hospice with end of life care, Paul Adams must return to the town he left behind over 20 years ago.The memories come flooding back of the day that Charlie Crabtree committed a dreadful murder and all that led up to that fateful day. However, the past seems determined not to remain in the past - who is encouraging copycat murders and who is stalking Paul?
This is an exceptionally well written psychological thriller with great suspense and several twists leading to an unexpected conclusion.
The cast are great - Paul an average sort of teenager and a man who is struggling to put the past behind him. Charlie Crabtree that teenager with charisma and the power of manipulation. There is Amanda a detective who is struggling with her own demons as she tries to live up to the standards she has set herself. These and a host of supporting characters are well written and very believable.
The only hiccup in this book is its swift change between time periods. These are done with little notice and occasionally I had to play catch up to fit the facts within the story. I imagine that the author made them so seamless within the story to continue the flow. However, I am aware that not all readers are a big fan of this style of writing. It does work for this book but as a reader you do need to keep your wits about you.
I really enjoyed this book. It is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in a while. I can highly recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
This is a very dark story by Alex North, The Shadow Friend reflects how dark and forbidding the storyline becomes. It is the story of four boys growing up together, but with the secrets of the past interwoven Into the story. Paul is the main narrator of the story, as one of the original four boys still alive. He returns to the village of Gritten to visit his mother on her deathbed. Amanda, who is the main police officer involved in the deaths to come also plays a significant part in the storyline.
A very clever story, with many twists and turns to keep the reader intrigued.
Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book. I absolutely loved this book, I really enjoyed it as much as the whisper man if not a little more, the writing is incredible and the plot and characters are so interesting. I highly recommend this and the whisper man, 4.5 stars

After reading the whisper man by Alex North I jumped at the chance to read his latest novel the shadow friend and I wasn't disappointed, straight away it had me hooked and the pace didn't let up until The end.

The story follows Paul who has returned to his child hood home after his mum has a call it's the first time he's returned after staying away for 25 years, The reason being is when he was a teenager, lads he knew committed a murder a murder the police he thought he'd committed, so as soon as he was able he left and never returned but The last of Gritten haunts him.

A brilliant book and I look forward to the next one from Mr North

After being a huge fan of The Whisper Man by Alex North, I was beyond thrilled to receive an eARC of his new book, The Shadow Friend, and it did not disappoint!
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The story follows Paul, who returns to the village he grew up in to see his dying Mother. Paul stayed away for 25 years after being tortured by events that happened in his teenage years, but returning now, he has no choice but to face them.
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This book is creepy as hell, and I loved it. As a lover of thrillers, very few of them scare me or make me feel creeped out, but The Whisper Man did, and did it so well. The Shadow Friend gave me the same vibe, its filled with secrets, ghost stories from childhood and mystery, and I loved it.
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The tension built slowly and North is clearly a master at this, as I didnt want to stop reading. It was entirely consuming and the twists and turns were just fantastic.
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If you enjoyed The Whisper Man, you are going to enjoy this book!
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Thank you to Netgalley, Alex North, Penguin UK and Michael Joseph

"'I don't think time works that way, Paul. As you get older, it all begins to blur into one. You start to think life was never any kind of straight line. It was always more of a...scribble.'... The description struck me. Everywhere I looked in Gritten, I could see traces of the past beneath the details the years had etched on top. Places. People. The past was all still there below the present: not a mine, but a scribble. However much you tried to forget it, perhaps without realizing it you were only ever running on the spot."

Twenty five years ago, Paul Adams left his grim home village of Gritten, following the murder of a classmate. One of the killers, Charlie Crabtree, disappeared after the murder and has not been seen since. Paul has avoided thinking about these events, including his girlfriend Jenny, until his mother is taken ill with dementia and, nearing the end of her life, he returns to see her.

At the same time in the village of Featherbank a schoolboy is found brutally murdered, in what appears to be a creepy, copycat killing. Detective Inspector Amanda Beck, who is investigating the murder in Featherbank and sees the connection with the murder twenty five years ago in Gritten. She also investigated The Whisper Man in Featherbank (in North's debut novel).

Told primarily from Paul's perspective, the narrative moves from twenty-five years ago to the present day and back again, telling a scary and uncomfortable tale of a group school boys and their cult-like efforts to join a mystical dream world, though lucid dreams. The theme of belonging is explored throughout. Creepy and slowly building to a number of terrifying experience, there is a supernatural element to the plot, in the form of both the Red Hands character and Gritten Woods, AKA The Shadow. This is an eerie tale of belonging, that kept me turning the digital pages, perfect for fans of horror/thrillers.

This is the second book by Alex North I have read and enjoyed. It’s a very gripping story, that drew me in immediately. The ending surprised me as what I thought was going to happen, was completely wrong.

I have not read the Whisper Man, Alex North's first thriller but this can easily be read as a separate book.
The book is written in the first person, from Paul Adams' character and third person featuring detective Amanda Beck from Whisper Man. Paul has returned to his family home as his mother is nearing the end of her life. He has so far avoided coming back, as the place holds traumatic memories.
I enjoyed the first half, which recounted the past, and was steeped in creepy supernatural overtones that had much in common with Stephen King and CJ Tudor. I was disappointed with the present day reveal, however, as it shrugged all of this off and went for a more mundane approach.
The character of Paul was well written and sympathetic and there is a clever rug-pull half way through that helps build this.

A book of two halves, I feel but very enjoyable never the less.

I absolutely loved the 1st book the whisper man so when I saw the new book the shadow friend I couldn't wait to read it. I thought the book started well and was an even paced throughout. I wasn't sure about the plot, would teenage boys be into analysing dreams? I just felt like I could connect with it.
I did think it was creepy at time, just how I like it but to unbelievable for my liking.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Shadow Friend but that has in no way influenced my review.

The Shadow Friend is one of my most eagerly anticipated books of 2020, without a shadow (see what I did there!) of a doubt. I loved (LOVED!) The Whisper Man so much. Expectations were high. But, as is normally the case (with me, anyway) because I was so looking forward to reading The Shadow Friend, I kept putting it off. Would it be as good? What if I was left feeling disappointed? Would life ever be the same again?! Oh, the pressure! I needn't have worried. I thoroughly enjoyed North's latest book.

Paul Adams had a traumatic childhood when his friend was savagely murdered by two other teenagers. The murder went down in the annals of history, as the killers were convinced that by doing what they did, they would be rewarded by being whisked away from this life to a fantasy dream world. Crazy, right? But immediately after the murder one of the teenage killers, troubled Charlie Crabtree, vanished without a trace and hasn't been seen since. Now, 25 years later, history is repeating itself and more teenagers are copying the murder in an attempt to disappear just like Charlie. Paul can no longer hide from the past and has to confront the guilt he carries for what happened that fateful day twenty-five years ago. But someone doesn't want Paul back in Gritten Wood...

Creepy, chilling, twisty and everything I had hoped for. North has done it again and given readers a compelling, character-driven mystery which I was more than happy to lose myself in for a number of hours. I really liked Paul from the get-go. Putting likeable, normal people in the most ominous of situations is something this author absolutely excels at. I also really liked Detective Amanda Beck but I was a little confused as to why she didn't search for similar murders pre-dating the Featherbank killing (the eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that Featherbank is the town the Whisper Man tormented all those years ago!), and had to rely on Paul to drop that particular bombshell. But what do I know about modern-day policing?! (Only what I read in crime novels, dear reader 😂.)

There was one particular twist in this book which took my breath away and I loved it. I really took to the plot as the science behind why and how we dream is something I find really interesting. I remember keeping a dream diary at the same age as the teenagers in this book. Not to the same end, thankfully, but I felt I related to some aspects (for the record, it wasn't so I would disappear and there was absolutely, definitely, categorically no murder involved).

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Shadow Friend and The Whisper Man are both cracking reads. There's such a chilling edge to both books and for that, they get top marks from me. I'm excited to see what this author comes up with next. Creepy, compelling and so very entertaining from start to finish. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Shadow Friend. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.