The Shadow Friend: The gripping new psychological thriller from the Richard & Judy bestselling author of The Whisper Man

The Whisper Man was the one of my top ten reads of 2019, so I had high hopes for this book, and perhaps that’s where the problem lies, perhaps my expectations were set to high, or maybe I wasn’t in the mood for this type of read. Personally I found it very slow, and although the author uses the time to build on the tension I thought it just made parts of the book tedious to read. On the plus side Alex North captures the creepiness, and horror of Paul’s story, and there was a specific plot-twist that was unpredictable that I definitely didn’t see coming, which is always a bonus. Although The Shadow Friend was a decent enough read, it’s not one that excited me, or I found myself desperate to read another chapter! I’m definitely in the minority with this one, so it’s a book you may want to judge for yourself.

I was expecting to love this book just as much as I loved the brilliant 'Whisper Man' by Alex North. Unfortunately, it became a drudge to read. Interspersed with a few chilling and eerie moments, it centres mainly around the concept of lucid dreams. Twenty five years ago, when he was a school boy, Paul Adams' best friend was brutally murdered. Once he had left for university, he never returned to the town of Gritten, but when his mother is taken seriously ill, he has no choice. He has to face what happened all those years ago and why there is a copy cat murder. The story was slow moving and it was hard to invest in any of the characters.

Twenty five years ago Paul Adams left his hometown after one of his friends was brutally murdered by two boys he knew from school ..One of the boys served his time and returned home ...the other Charlie Crabtree vanished without trace . Paul never went back until the day he hears his mother has had a bad fall and is now in the care of a hospice ..Upon his return he finds that though nothing has changed ...nothing is as he left ..His mother now frail claims there is something in the house ..and Paul begins to realise that the past he left behind has come hurtling forward as another boy is found murdered ..The Shadow Friend will both terrifying you and at times make you want to cry ..A determined Detective wants to close this case , but there are shadows so dark ..so untouchable at work here ..A story of broken innocence , how evil can spread like the wings of a bird ..and a soul that is caught in the crossfire ...A Stunning read ..

I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a slight supernatural twist.The story follows Paul as he journeys back to his home town after 25 years away (see the synopsis for more details). There's two different timelines - Paul in the past and Paul in the present. The past is genuinely creepy when Charlie enters the picture. The present storyline is quite sad when certain things are revealed (no spoilers here!). There's also a separate storyline of Amanda, a police Officer investigating a brutal murder which may or may not be linked to Charlie (even though he disappeared 25 years ago).I really got sucked into this story to the point where i had no idea what the outcome was going to be. What was happening? Why? And who? When it was revealed (right near the end) a lightbulb went off in my head and i was annoyed i never put the clues together. I was happy though because the quality of the writing and the tale it wove was brilliant.I felt this was much better than The Whisper Man and look forward to what comes next from Alex North.

Wow, this book is brilliant. From the very first chapter I was totally captured and couldn’t escape. The story seemed to take over my subconscious and I found myself dreaming about it long after I had put it down. I suppose that’s only to be expected. It’s a story about controlling your dreams and it’s extremely haunting. We start off knowing that something sinister has happened but we aren’t told exactly what, and as the story goes on, jumping from the past to the present, we still feel an sense of the unknown revolves around everyone and everything. I found my imagination running rings in my mind trying to figure out what was going on. Slowly the truth starts to show itself but, as expected, there are many big twists – one which I really didn’t envisage and was a huge shock. This is an extremely well written, psychological mystery that remains with you for a long time. Just like The Whisper Man, I think it will be a while before it fades from my memory. I sincerely hope that Alex North writes more of these fantastic stories as I will certainly be excited to read them.

I've had this on my shelves for a while so glad I finally got round to it. ⁣⁣Unfortunately, this just fell a little short. I really enjoyed The Whisper Man (although the ending seemed a little rushed) so I was hoping for another creepy read but this just missed the mark slightly. ⁣⁣I didn't see the twist coming which is always a good thing for me, however, I wasn't keen on the twist. I can't explain why because obviously it will spoil it but if you've read let's discuss. ⁣⁣Overall its a good read, but out of both of North's books I much preferred The Whisper Man! ⁣⁣☆☆☆ ⁣

Well if this wasn’t a mind melding mash up of Slender Man meets Inception and I was captivated the whole time I was reading this. Alex North is a master of misdirection and end of the chapter cliffhangers which make you gallop on with a desperate need to know what is coming next.As with the Whisper Man, I felt suitably creeped out when reading this, never sure whether something supernatural was afoot or just plain straight crime. This is SUPER creepy with just enough information on the pages for my imagination to attempt to fill out the grisly details and then some!There’s a pervading air of desolation throughout the narrative which is something I often feel when reading Stephen King. Beautifully told, perfectly paced with plenty of smoke and mirrors which I fell for hook, line and sinker.Fantastic stuff - can’t wait to see what this author brings us next.