The Shadows - Alex North

Twenty-five years ago, Charlie Crabtree committed a shocking murder and disappeared without a trace, attracting the kind of strange, bizarre popularity that exists only in the darkest corners of the Internet and inspiring copycat killers. Today, Paul Adams is still haunted by the case because both the killer and the victim were Paul's friends. Although he has settled his life away from the crime scene, his mother's deteriorating health brings him back home and awakens old, forgotten demons. Soon everything starts to go wrong, the web of events from twenty-five years ago slowly begins to unravel, and Paul discovers some dark family secrets. Detective Amanda Black investigates a new case of a Charlie impersonator. Inevitably, their paths will cross.

Hmm... After being relatively enthusiastic about the novel The Night Whisperer by the same author, Shadows came to me like a cold shower. I'm not saying the book is bad, but something was missing here. The story of Charlie, the dreams, the murder and the whole mystique that surrounds it is phenomenal. Jenny Chambers and her relationship with Paul. The relationship between Paul's mother and Carl Dawson, then Mary and the bookseller, urban legends and the stories that Jenny and Paul write based on them. There was material there that could have been more focused. The introduction of Amanda Black and the copycat killers made very little sense to me, because the initial case that leads Amanda to Paul and the Charlie story was not resolved. Those parts seemed to me as if they were only there to connect Shadows with Nightcrawler and make these two novels into a duology in the minds of the readers.

As I write and read what I have written, I realize what I am missing in the novel. As I already mentioned, a little better elaboration of events from the past. But also a little more focus on Amanda and new cases and copycats of Charlie's murder. There was material that, at least in my opinion, was irretrievably wasted. I have the complete impression that the author squirmed, started to say a lot, then lost himself a bit, or maybe he was rushed by the deadlines, so he shortened what should and should not be done, and somehow left the story unfinished.

All in all, I don't regret reading Shadows, but I certainly won't be running to the bookstore to buy North's new titles when they come out.