The Shadows Written by Alex North Book Review by Miranda Fraser (Moses) ISBN:9781250318039 My fellow creatures of the night, this is the last planned book review for the Halloween Book Reviews of 2021. We'll see if there's a special Halloween addition.. But this is the last book because it was released on September 28th and I had to patiently await my preorders arrival. So it is truly hot off the presses. This was the first time I had ever heard of Alex North, but I guarantee you it won't be the last book of his I read. My goodness! This is a fictional thriller mystery that is written so beautifully that you can really see this kind of event actually happening. I found myself IN the town of Gritten, walking down the sidewalk of this broken down town, looking at tiny old shops, etc. And as a true crime junkie, I was flowing right along trying to solve all the crimes and questions. The story revolves around our main character, Paul Adams. He is back in his childhood town after 25 years because his mother is dying in hospice. But Paul hates everything about being home. The memories are choking him and he just wants to get through this. You see, when he was 15 he was the suspect in a horrific murder of one of his closest friends. Two other boys in his group of friends were found to be the murderers. But only one of those boys was ever found. The other vanished out of this world leaving behind even more pain and questions. After this event, Paul's life was never the same. So when the time came, he left for college and never looked back... but the pain, the guilt, and the worry never fully left his life. After being back home to see his mother, she wakes to shout some of the most terrifying lines of the whole damn book! "You shouldn't be here!" "Red hands, Paul! There are red hands everywhere." "Oh God, it's in the house, Paul!" "It's in the fucking house!" Given that his mother ended up in the hospital because she was found at the bottom of the stairs with head damage... that sure does add another terrifying level. What's in the house, ma'am??? And then an officer shows up at his mother's house to ask him some questions about the murder that happened when he was a teenager. Because in a neighboring town a similar murder had been committed.. with links to this town. The child murderers from this copy cat case, believed that the boy who vanished from the face of the Earth, had managed to escape to the land of dreams- all powerful- to live with a shadowy figure they believed in. Which sounded very Slender Man attack-ish to me. Anyone else? But this now adds a paranormal element to the story and that leaves you on edge for the majority of the book. Until the end when I finally saw what was happening I was so nervous. I kept jumping and putting it down because I didn't want to be reading it alone after my husband left for work, lol. Unfortunately for Paul, being home, has made it impossible for him to truly escape the past. As strange occurrences keeping happening around his mother's house, copy cat killings are coming to light, and more horrific information springs up- Paul is left with little choice but to think about the past, put the pieces together, and maybe help solve this almost 30 year old murder mystery. NOW, because this is a mystery AND A DAMN GOOD ONE TOO, that's all I can actually give you about the story. I can now say- WOAH PLOT TWISTS. I was truly blindsided by a lot of the information that comes out by the end of the book. And yet, with some of the information, somehow relieved to see what was actually happening. To make sense of it all. And yet other pieces were gut wrenching and absolutely heartbreaking to come to terms with. From start to finish this was wonderful. The right balance of reality and wonder. In looking up information on this author I saw countless comments saying how a previous book of his, "The Whisper Man", was so good that it still trumped this one. Even though it was amazing... So now, I have to get my hands on that book! I clearly don't need to get sleep, lol. But I truly hope you guys pick up this book and share your thoughts on it with me. I am still reeling from the turn of events and the perfectly packaged ending. Read on my fellow book worms. May we one day have Belle's library! And as always links to the author's pages can be found down below.
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