The Shadows is a creepy little tale spanning two time periods. When Paul was a child, he was friends with a group of boys who started dabbling in lucid dreaming and urban legends. A boy named Charlie convinced one of the gang to help him murder someone before vanishing without a trace. Now as an adult, Paul is determined to find out what's going on when another copycat case happens 25 years later. Has Charlie really returned?
This book is a great blend of thriller with some horror elements thrown in for fun. It has an interesting premise and I actually liked the uncertainty of potential supernatural elements which isn't something I usually enjoy. It was well-paced, I couldn't entirely tell where it was going to go and it did manage to genuinely surprise me. There were only a few minor points which stopped it being perfect. Firstly, there are some chapters narrated by a police officer investigating the crimes (Amanda). These felt largely unnecessary and didn't really add a whole lot in my opinion. I feel the story could have been easily reworked to not have these sections and it wouldn't have lost anything. Secondly, I found it a little difficult to keep track of what time period it was. Rather than have it at the start of every chapter, it would only let you know when it was switching which meant it would always take me a few seconds to work out which part we were in. This wasn't a major issue but it was distracting.
In terms of the audiobook, I had no complaints. There are two narrators for Paul and Amanda, and they both had great voices.
Overall, if you like creepy thrillers with a darker atmosphere then this is a great book to pick up. It has a fairly unique tone for a thriller and it was one I enjoyed immensely. I can't wait to finally check out North's other book and I'm sure I will love it just as much as this one.
Overall Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment