The Shadow House

A Novel

By: Anna Downes

Narrated by: Anna Downes, Natasha Beaumont

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Extraordinarily tense and deliciously mysterious, Anna Downes' The Shadow House follows one woman's desperate journey to protect her children at any cost, in a remote place where not everything is as it seems.

A house with deadly secrets.

A mother who'll risk everything to bring them to light.

Alex, a single mother-of-two, is determined to make a fresh start for her and her children. In an effort to escape her troubled past, she seeks refuge in a rural community. Pine Ridge is idyllic; the surrounding forests are beautiful and the locals welcoming. Mostly.

But Alex finds that she may have disturbed barely hidden secrets in her new home. As a chain of bizarre events is set off, events eerily familiar to those who have lived there for years, Alex realizes that she and her family might be in greater danger than ever before. And that the only way to protect them all is to confront the shadows lurking in Pine Ridge.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

©2022 Anna Downes (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Downes is . . . sowing the seeds of psychological terror, rooted in everyday traumas from sleeplessness to coping with teens, and branching out to create a nightmare world. A hair-raising mood piece you'll be glad to awaken from."—Kirkus Reviews

"This gripped me from the first tense and beautifully written page and didn’t let go. The intriguing, eerie premise of The Shadow House delivered in every sense—I won’t be moving to an ecovillage anytime soon! Anna’s writing is visceral and compelling and the main characters are so well-drawn. I couldn’t trust anyone . . .The tension in this novel slowly ratchets as twist after twist are revealed, climaxing in an edge of the seat finale that had me furiously turning the pages. A must read!"—Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium

"In her riveting and haunting novel, Anna Downes leads us deep into the dark tangled fear and self-doubt of a young mother struggling to distinguish between real and imaginary threats to her child. Downes captures the abject terror that can accompany motherhood. The Shadow House will keep you turning pages into the night."—Mary Dixie Carter, author of The Photographer

The Shadow House

I enjoyed this “spooky” story and getting to know the characters. It was an easy three-day listen for me. That second narrator almost got me though, but I got used to her. Author’s note at the end was inspiring. I always appreciate learning where and how authors come up with their ideas. I think I’ll check out her debut novel, too.

Light and interesting

Loved this audible book. Easy listening and interesting characters that are relatable and believable. Plot was easy to follow and finished in a day.

Too long

I was liking it, but dragged on, I listen to books as I work and this one was different.

A Good Story but Hard to Rate

These sorts of books are notoriously hard to write. After all, the author has to balance truth with misdirection, plausible with supernatural, and real with imaginary. It's a tall order to fill while introducing all the characters, their backstories, and their motivations. The author did a wonderful job of this, and unlike many similar books, she was able to meld the truth with constant misdirection in a way that does not insult the reader or make them feel somehow intentionally lied to or cheated. In other words, she did a wonderful job.
However, at the same time, I found myself listening to it in a faster speed just to get it over with quicker. Obviously I must have still been interested in it, but something in me hated listening to it. At one point I think I was going to give this three stars. I think, honestly, it's just because it is more or less a neverending stream of people being terrible to each other, and lots of paranoia and mistrust. Yes, I know, that's what the story is all about, but it does wear on a person nonetheless.
By the time the book had finished, I was back to listening at normal speed and I really loved the ending. I was then thinking maybe it should be five be stars, but then I remembered my previous thoughts so I compromised on four, unfairly or not.
In conclusion, this is a great book and very well written, just be prepared for lots of crappy situations and extremely annoying, spoiled teen characters that you almost hope will die. But if you are a struggling parent with an obstinate, net-addicted teen, well, you'll find comfort in this book come the end, I imagine.

Hit download now!!!

This was absolutely incredible. I truly could not have enjoyed this book more. The characters are beautifully developed. The scenery and environment was so well created and described that you truly walk down the streets, and into the homes with these characters.
And talk about twists and turns!! I had it all figured out, about 12 times and I was happily wrong again and again. I can not wait to read/listen to more from this author!

Good read!

I loved it!! A must try if you love suspense. Kept me on the edge

Engaging

This book started off strong and kept me interested all the way through. A few twists that I didn’t see coming also helped with the appreciation of the book. The narrator was very good and had a pleasant voice.

Great story

Off to a great start and the storyline kept interest all the way through! Great characters!

A Thrilling Read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Lots of twists and turns kept me listening well into the night. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery!

Great read

I am so used to reading authors I know and was getting quite bored. I took a chance on a new author and what a lovely surprise I got. This is a good story and well read. It entertained me from the beginning to the end.