The Shadows (North) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
This is absorbing, headlong reading, a play on classic horror with an inventiveness all its own. As in his debut, The Whisper Man, North is aware of how a good horror novel can subtly rearrange a reader’s surroundings, charging them with menace.… In the third act, a revelation upends both the entire narrative and its emotional valence.… As with all the best illusions, you are left feeling not tricked, but full of wonder.
New York Times Book Review


(Starred review) The complex plot shifts smoothly between past and present with numerous unexpected twists. An… atmosphere of doom and disaster hovers over the… darkness of the nearby woods. This heart-pounding page-turner is impossible to put down.
Publishers Weekly


Before this twisty story ends, there are many surprises.… a successful, creepy thriller.T he conclusion wraps it up too tidily, but overall, this is a successful, creepy thriller. If you like Stephen King, you'll probably like North's new thriller, too. —David Keymer, Cleveland, OH.
Library Journal


(Starred review) Expect to be electrified by the author’s total mastery of misdirection. This second stunning thriller firmly establishes North as a rapturous teller of tales.
Booklist


The complicated backstory and new characters introduced late in the game… are not great. But the recourse to the ol’ "and then I woke up" tactic to pull one over on the reader is worse. Despite several interesting characters, the suspense plot lacks an engaging emotional core.
Kirkus Reviews