Book Review: “The Shadows” by Alex North
Håfa adai! Welcome to my review of Alex North’s The Shadows.
This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.
Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Mystery bookshelf.
Spoiler-Free Plot Summary
Twenty-five years ago, in the town of Gritten, then 16-year-old Paul Adams was a part of a friend group lead by Charlie Crabtree. Most likely to become a cult leader, Charlie Crabtree was persuasive, controlling, and had a sinister demeaner that lead others to believe he was capable of something malicious. The actions he committed with another member of the friend group proved what he was capable of when they murdered a teenager in their small town. Paul has done his best to move on from that terrifying chapter in his life, but Charlie Crabtree’s complete disappearance after the discovery of the murder has left a permanent mark on Paul’s conscience.
Now, in the nearby town of Featherbank, Detective Inspector Amanda Beck is investigating a case with eerie similarities to the infamous Gritten murder all those years ago. Going back and forth between the small towns to speak with witnesses of the past crime, DI Amanda Beck hopes to shine light on events of the present. Carrying the weight of past cases she has worked on in Featherbank—alongside what her deceased father taught her from his years as a Detective Inspector—might hinder her while reinforcing lessons that could save her life. And, as with the case she worked on before, it seems like she is running in circles to chase a ghost from the past.
Are the events in modern-day Featherbank the actions of a copycat killer? Or has Charlie Crabtree emerged from the shadows to kill again?
Important Trigger Warning for The Shadows
The Shadows goes into detail about the violent murder of a teenager. There are also mentions of addiction, domestic violence, and animal cruelty as well as depictions of gore and the effects of dementia. The scene depicting the murder and the mentions or depictions of other things are essential to the plot. If these themes or images would cause you distress or discomfort in any way, then please make sure to take necessary steps to prepare and protect yourself before and after reading this book.
My Thoughts on The Shadows: 4 stars
I first read The Shadows in the summer of 2022, shortly after finishing The Whisper Man, and revisited the book in January 2025 to produce an accurate book review for the Bookmarks & Armchairs blog. In The Shadows, Alex North presents complex maladaptive coping mechanisms by weaving the natural with the possibly supernatural, giving the story a spooky vibe while also acknowledging what many people do to live with trauma and stress. This story also explores cult dynamics, coercive control, guilt by association, coping with sudden loss, following the influence of another to the harm of others, and carrying the weight of your own actions.
Alex North’s The Shadows is set in the town of Gritten, neighboring the town of Featherbank featured in The Whisper Man. The fact that these two stories take place in the same universe means the reader gets to spend more time within Alex North’s worldbuilding and learn more about previously introduced characters. The main protagonists in The Shadows include Paul Adams, a man who was a teenager in the same friend group as Charlie Crabtree before the murder 25 years ago, and Detective Inspector Amanda Beck, an investigator based in Featherbank assigned to work on the more recent murders and who appeared in The Whisper Man. The story is told from Paul Adams and DI Amanda Beck’s perspectives across two timelines: Paul’s first-person perspective “then” (25 years ago), Paul’s first-person perspective “now” (present day), and a third-person perspective following DI Amanda Beck in the present.
Paul Adams is a complex character. As a teenager in Gritten 25 years ago, he was one in a friend group of four with Charlie Crabtree assigning himself “leader” to the group. At first, Paul seemed to be just as enamored by Charlie’s charm and influence as Billy and James, the other “lead” members of the friend group. But the rose-colored glass he, Billy, and James view Charlie through slowly begins to crack when the group leader’s fascination with dream journals and lucid dreaming turns into a malignant obsession. As Paul pulls away from Charlie, Billy, and James, he develops a closer friendship and more with Jenny, an intelligent, talented, and beautiful teenage girl in the same grade as him.
Unlike the connection he has with Charlie and the friend group, his connection with Jenny is based on their shared interests and desire to be a published horror author. But Paul and Jenny’s connection is not destined to last long. Over the years, Paul graduates secondary school, leaves Gritten for university, and transitions into adult life without Jenny. He sees Jenny again in the present day events when he returns to Gritten to take care of his mother, whose health is declining after years of living with dementia. Paul’s perspectives “then” and “now” reflect his years’ long search for something that was not quite right, for something that must be hiding under the surface that he cannot make sense of for some reason.
The third perspective presented in The Shadows follows the present-day investigation handled by Detective Inspector Amanda Beck. Alex North first introduced DI Amanda Beck in The Whisper Man, where she was assigned to investigate the missing persons’ case of two young children in Featherbank. In The Whisper Man, the reader was given some insight to her personal thoughts and struggles, but the emphasis was more so on how she carried herself in a professional context. In The Shadows, the readers is given more insight to what DI Amanda Beck personally carries with her and sometimes struggles with as she handles the investigation between Featherbank and Gritten.
All that being stated, the three aspects of The Shadows I appreciate the most are (1) its shared universe with The Whisper Man, (2) the themes explored throughout the multiple perspectives and timelines of the story, and (3) the use of an unreliable narrator. First, even if a fiction author writes all of their stories in the real world, it is never a guarantee that their stories exist together in that real world. By setting The Whisper Man and The Shadows in the same universe, we get to see extended character growth of the Detective Inspectors assigned to the cases and see how those investigations effect them over time.
Second, Alex North presents important themes through the experiences of Paul Adams and his friend group. It is not outright stated—if is, then I do not remember—but Charlie Crabtree’s influence over Paul, Billy, and James goes beyond normal persuasiveness and into cult-like coercive control. This control over others leads to the murder of a teenager. Paul struggles for over two decades with the guilt he feels by being associated with Charlie and the other friend who committed the murder. This struggle leads him to develop truly maladaptive coping mechanisms far into adulthood.
Third, Alex North employs an unreliable narrator to deliver a gut-wrenching plot twist. Using an unreliable narrator can be tricky. There is a fine line between presenting a distorted sense of events to the reader through a narrator’s strained perspective and outright lying to the reader. In The Shadows, the reveal of the unreliable narrator caused me to think back on scenes that should have indicated what was going on and—in that recollection of events—I could see that Alex North carefully plotted out the use and reveal of the unreliable narrator. It really did take me by surprise.
Even though there are aspects of The Shadows that I appreciate, there are a couple things about this story that did not sit too well with me. With Alex North going in the direction of a cult leader maliciously leading others to commit harm, it seems as if the younger versions of the characters are too young. This gave the impression that Charlie Crabtree was some sort of genius of social intelligence who was able to masterfully manipulate those around him from an early age. This part seemed rushed and unnatural. Another aspect I did not like was that a particular setup was never paid off. I cannot say what it was without giving a major spoiler, so I will leave it at that.
My overall rating of The Shadows is 4 out of 5 stars. I first experienced Alex North’s The Shadows in 2022 immediately after finishing his debut mystery novel The Whisper Man and enjoyed revisiting it for this review. By setting The Shadows in the same universe as The Whisper Man, the reader gets to learn more about the worldbuilding Alex North is establishing and get a more nuanced view of the detective tasked with solving the crimes in each story. In The Shadows, I like the way Alex North uses an unreliable narrator to present the tragic plot twist. I also appreciate the way Alex North creates a spooky scenery in his stories while acknowledging the coping mechanisms people can develop in real life to face intense trauma or stress. There were things I wish were handled differently, and there was a set up that was not paid off, but The Shadows delivers a chilling mystery.
Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of The Shadows by Alex North.
Rating Cheat Sheet
4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.
Post Date: 10 March 2025
Published: 28 September 2021
Publisher: Celadon Books
