The Shadow People

College student Brandon Cossey, the narrator of this impressive thriller from Thriller Award finalist Clifford (The Lakehouse), gets a call from his friend Jacob Balfour’s mother informing him that Jacob, who’s mentally ill, has disappeared from their hometown of Utica, N.Y. This news sends Brandon racing back to Utica, plagued by guilt for neglecting Jacob after going to college. In his friend’s bedroom, Brandon is unsettled to find a pile of homemade magazines, titled Illuminations, containing Jacob’s conspiracy rants about the moon landing, alien lizards controlling the U.S. government, and “a sinister race of doppelgängers, plants sent to spy on us from netherworlds and report back” called the Shadow People. The stakes rise after Brandon learns that Jacob’s body was found in a Minnesota quarry, with a fatal puncture wound to his stomach, and Jacob’s grandfather shows up to suggest that the Shadow People really exist. Clifford does a great job of facilitating engagement with his lead and at tossing in satisfying twists. Blake Crouch fans should take note. gent: James McGowan, BookEnds Literary. (July)