Goosebumps, The Woods, and Bloody Handprints OH MY
For the first time in my life, I got spooked while reading a book. Like goosebumps, discomfort–the whole bit. I am going to be honest, I was not excited for another Alex North book after reading The Whisper Man, which didn’t blow me away. But in The Shadows, the characters were more interesting (except Amanda Beck, because she is the same), and the mystery is more upsetting and personal. Paul Adams is quite the mystery, and I did not see the twist coming. This was more than a thriller; I would definitely count this as horror. And completely out of character for me, I liked it!
Paul Adams has not been to Griffen Woods for twenty-five years, as he is trying to put the horrific murder that happened when he was a teen behind him. But he gets a call that his mother is in hospice after taking a fall while alone, so he goes to stay at her home and visit her. Meanwhile, Detective Amanda Beck is called to a murder scene in Featherbank (which I believe is the town from The Whisper Man) that is a copycat for the murder in Griffen Woods that Paul wants to forget. She goes to Griffen to figure out what connection there is to the murder by Charlie Crabtree, who after the murder in Griffen had disappeared without a trace. Now there is someone on the internet calling themself CC666 and sending messages to encourage the murders and Crabtree’s beliefs in lucid dreaming.
I really enjoyed the mystery in this book. The reader asks questions like: who is knocking on Paul’s door? What happened to Crabtree, is he dead or not? Then instead of dragging things out, more mysterious things kept happening. Paul’s character arc is directly tied to the mystery and the crimes, which makes the stakes higher and the narrative tighter. There are a few extraneous characters (and way too many with names that start with D), but I sort of ignored them.
The pacing of this book was great, and really stood out to me. The switch between the “now” and the “before” were perfectly timed in a way that made me frustrated in the best way. In so many books, chapters leave on cliffhangers that continue on the next page or they go from the main plot to a B plot that doesn’t matter. But this book has two very interesting threads with Paul going that the cliffhangers on both sides were frustrating but I was excited to go back to the other side. All good for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I find it hard to talk about it without getting into spoiler territory, which I refuse to do because the book hasn’t even come out yet! But what I will say is this is worth your time, and would be a great summer read.
Honestly, I am left with two questions. Is this book the continuation of the Alex North Interconnected Universe? And who is Alex North? I want more!
Paul Adams has not been to Griffen Woods for twenty-five years, as he is trying to put the horrific murder that happened when he was a teen behind him. But he gets a call that his mother is in hospice after taking a fall while alone, so he goes to stay at her home and visit her. Meanwhile, Detective Amanda Beck is called to a murder scene in Featherbank (which I believe is the town from The Whisper Man) that is a copycat for the murder in Griffen Woods that Paul wants to forget. She goes to Griffen to figure out what connection there is to the murder by Charlie Crabtree, who after the murder in Griffen had disappeared without a trace. Now there is someone on the internet calling themself CC666 and sending messages to encourage the murders and Crabtree’s beliefs in lucid dreaming.
I really enjoyed the mystery in this book. The reader asks questions like: who is knocking on Paul’s door? What happened to Crabtree, is he dead or not? Then instead of dragging things out, more mysterious things kept happening. Paul’s character arc is directly tied to the mystery and the crimes, which makes the stakes higher and the narrative tighter. There are a few extraneous characters (and way too many with names that start with D), but I sort of ignored them.
The pacing of this book was great, and really stood out to me. The switch between the “now” and the “before” were perfectly timed in a way that made me frustrated in the best way. In so many books, chapters leave on cliffhangers that continue on the next page or they go from the main plot to a B plot that doesn’t matter. But this book has two very interesting threads with Paul going that the cliffhangers on both sides were frustrating but I was excited to go back to the other side. All good for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I find it hard to talk about it without getting into spoiler territory, which I refuse to do because the book hasn’t even come out yet! But what I will say is this is worth your time, and would be a great summer read.
Honestly, I am left with two questions. Is this book the continuation of the Alex North Interconnected Universe? And who is Alex North? I want more!