The Shadows by Alex North

Trigger/Content Warnings: Blood, Child murder (early/mid-teens), Gore, Murder, Suicide, Domestic abuse. About 25 years ago, Paul Adams experienced the worst day of his life when one of his friends was murdered ritualistically by two of his other "friends". The police pick up one of them but the other, whose name is Charlie Crabtree, was never found; some say he's been living in the woods since then. Now, 25 years later, Paul's mother is suffering from dementia and falls down the stairs in Paul's hometown Gritten, where the murder happened. She's in the hospital and hesitantly, Paul comes back to the town that once haunted him so long ago. All the while, Detective Amanda from Featherbank comes across a grisly murder that was committed by two teens against a classmate. She ends up tracing the murder back to Charlie Crabtree - and Paul. Alex North wrote a very creepy and irresistible novel that quickly caught my attention with a lot of tension and suspense. I loved the captivating look at lucid dreaming started off among the boys by Charlie, who is charismatic, self-assured, and creepy. The Shadows is very well written and developed. The read is addicting and spooky and I couldn't put it down once I started reading.