This was the second read for Read By Spooktober over on Instagram and The Shadow Friend is Alex North’s second book (The Whisper Man being his first nearly twelve months ago-two books in less than a year? Must be an avid writer!) and is the first of his titles I have read.
After feeling somewhat dissatisfied with my previous Spooktober read (Pet Semetary by Stephen King) I wasn’t sure how I would take to The Shadow Friend and how I would find it, so opened up the first pages with little to no expectations and I was pleasantly blown away!
The Shadow Friend is set in the village of Gritten where 25years ago, a horrific murder took place and a bit vanished. Paul, a friend of the one boy who committed the crime, returns for the first time when his mother falls ill during the turbulent time of copycat murders taking place elsewhere. As part of her investigations, Detective Amanda Beck comes to Gritten in search of answers, which she mostly finds.
I was gripped! And without giving away too much, I was saddened when Paul’s first love was revealed as the subject of harm and I really felt my heart break for Paul at that key moment during his adult life. I honestly couldn’t read further that evening because I was so cross with North for his decision in that particular chapter! That’s how invested I was in this story and it’s characters!
The ending wrapped up a lot of loose ends and left the reader feeling settled with the answers they had been presented with. All in all, this was an excellent read and I’m certainly adding North’s previously published novel to my online shopping cart and I eagerly await his next title! This is well worth a read! Not frightening but chilling and very eery in places.
Morelli’s Reads 