Decent read. I liked the story line. However, initially it was a bit confusing especially the philosophy parts. Thankfully, it did not impair my reading of the book. Also, not quite a fan of the ending. Overall, the writing and characters were good.

When I read The Whisper Man in January of 2020, I was so impressed. It was everything I wanted in a Crime Thriller. It was gritty, eerie, sordid and compelling. That book single-handedly sealed the fate of my future with this author. I would anxiously await and then eagerly pick up all his new releases.

I ended up really enjoying The Shadows as well. Thus, when I heard about this book, North's most recent release, The Angel Maker, I was over the moon with anticipation. Sadly, this one ended up being a complete miss for me.

I listened to the audiobook and starting out, I was so jazzed. The narration was great and I was stoked to be getting early access to North's new book. The next thing I know, I am 20% in and I have NO CLUE what is happening, who anyone is, or what I am supposed to care about. I can recall the very beginning though, that was interesting and it did stick with me.

A teen girl, who is supposed to walk her brother home from school, chooses not to in lieu of spending some private time with her boyfriend. When she arrives home to police cars, lights and an active investigation, she's horrified to learn her kid brother had been viciously attacked.

Katie and Chris were the siblings. Here I am at the end of the novel and those are the only two characters I would be able to talk about with any confidence at all. I cannot name one other character. Truthfully, I couldn't follow this plot to save my life. It apparently required way more concentration than I was willing to give it. I didn't care at all. There were so many characters, none of which I felt were developed, besides Katie. After the 60%-point, I just wanted it to end and here we are.

With this being said, I am very aware that I am in the minority opinion on this one. There are so many people who read this and absolutely loved it. Therefore, do not take my opinion on this one as anything more than what it is: one Reader's jilted opinion.

Please note, even though this didn't work for me, I still think that Alex North is an incredible author and I will continue to pick up all his future novels. Thank you so much to the publisher, Celadon and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

I appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion and look forward to seeing what North comes up with next.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I love Alex North and this book didn’t disappoint. Chris Shaw and his sister Katie are estranged. The last time they saw each other, Chris stole money from her purse. Chris isn’t the man he could be. When he was a child, a man tried to remove his face. Now that man is out of prison and stalking Katie and her family. Chris’ boss, Alan Hobbs, dies in his bed. Was it murder? Why was Chris there? Why did he destroy the video evidence? This book is also one of those timeless books. There is a car. Not a red 2021 Nissan. There is a phone. Not described as iphone 14. This book will likely be a movie or tv show. The creators of that can set it anywhere. Alex North doesn’t complicate things by telling us towns, or streets, or pub names. This is great for an imaginative reader. Be that reader

Alex North is a gifted story teller. I have a hard time because his books scare me, but it’s worth it as long as I only read during the day. I struggled with all the characters in this book. I felt like I was half done and still being introduced to new players. I wanted to know the story badly enough that I just went with it and didn’t try to hard to keep everyone’s story straight. In the end I really end like the twist and the connections. I’m glad I stick with it.

Alex North will always be something I add to my TBR even with the scary nature of his work.

I give this 3.5 stars. This book is very confusing and it takes a lot to remember who people are and how they fit in the story. There are a lot of twists and turns. There is also an element that makes you think about situations in real life and in your own life. I did find the book interesting and it kept me engaged.

I've had Alex North on my radar for awhile, and my first book of his, The Angel Maker is now behind me.

Immediately after finishing this thriller, I headed to GoodReads to find an explanation for my lack of understanding in the plot and my "what did I just read" confusion. What I found in amongst the very positive reviews, were thoughts like mine: the plot and characters were just too much to keep track of.

The prologue had such promise, and it made me wish that I hadn't started this book right before bed! But then chapter one came, and I found myself questioning what was happening, wondering if maybe my eARC was missing a section, because there just seemed to be a huge gap between the prologue and this first chapter. As I kept reading, I continued to feel overwhelmed and as though I was thrown into a story that felt like it was already traveling at warp speed, with too many characters that weren't fully (or easily) explained, and a plot that I just couldn't grasp.

While I read, I was hopeful that the plot, and the many characters would all come together in a twist that explained things and everything would click into place for me; sadly that "ah ha" moment never came.

It seems everyone loves The Whisper Man and The Shadows (both of which sit on my shelf), and I will pick them up in due time, but I'm not sure I'm in a rush.

Thank you NetGalley and Caladon Books for the complimentary copy to read and review.

I absolutely loved The Whisper Man so was thrilled to read this one.

However, I found it to be confusing. I couldn't quite follow the story which was unfortunate because the setting and plot were fantastic. I still ended up enjoying it but found myself frequently taken out of the story to have to look back for plot points.

Will still be an Alex North fan forever!

I usually read thrillers when I need something "easy" or I'm in a reading slump so The Angel Maker was a little disappointing to me because I really had to concentrate. There were some different timelines to keep track of, a lot of characters (mostly characters that weren't fully developed), and the plot was just very confusing. However, once I realized what was going on it was a quicker, easier read and it did all come together in the end. I think if you love thrillers this one would be great, I think my issues with it are mostly because I don't read thrillers that often and when I do I want them to be quick and easy.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon books for the ARC.

Oh wow how can I do this book justice in my review without giving away spoilers. So I will just keel my review brief and say it was completely and utterly brilliant.

I was so excited for this one. I loved The Whisper Man and liked The Shadows, but was quite disappointed with this unfortunately. Honestly, the first half of the book, I was just so confused. I found myself not wanting to pick it up again and just bored. The last 25% of the book did keep my interest and have a few twists I didn’t see coming… but I kind of attribute that to the fact that I didn’t know what was going on the first half of the novel. I enjoyed the ending and how everything came together, but it didn’t make up for the rest of the story for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This unfortunately was a DNF for me. I really enjoyed the writing style but the abuse within the book was too much for me. I made it roughly 30% through before I had to DNF. I will definitely try other books by Alex North but may look into their subject matter a little bit more before committing!

This fast paced thriller will keep readers on their toes, but only if they read this book in as few sittings as possible. Why do I suggest that? Because there are multiple characters and storylines to keep up with. If readers don’t, it may cause confusion. I finished this in a day (shoutout travel days), and there were a few points where I was scratching my head.

Although there was a lot to remember, I really liked how much crime was incorporated rather than gore. Yes, there were some really creepy and gruesome descriptions, but there was more true crime than I was expecting. The atmosphere North provides definitely brought the eerie vibes to life, but too much was included to really give that slow burn, drag out the mystery, kind of feel.

One POV, Katie, is a mess and as Andy Bernard says, “I don’t trust you, Phyllis.” She’s not unstable per se, but her decisions are chaotic and the situations she finds herself in are a little too coincidental. Her actions alone annoyed me, which made the other POVs feel disjointed and as if they were a different story altogether.

There is another aspect that is very spoiler heavy so I won’t share it here. It involves mockery, which I found sort of hilarious, but maybe I turned it into dark humor when North didn’t have that intention.

Did I like it? Kind of. Did I predict the twist? Yes (really proud of myself for this). Will it be a thriller I recommend to folks? Probably not.

Big thank you to Celadon for the gifted copy.

Content warnings: murder, child abuse, suicide, drug abuse, addiction, misogyny, pedophilia

This book has A LOT going on and I often found myself having to go back a reread parts bc I couldn't keep some details straight.

I enjoyed it but it's just a lot.

The Angel Maker
Author: Alex North
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 2⭐️
Pub Date: February 28, 2023

If you could see the future, would you want to?🔮

What I Thought: I have heard many good things about Alex North’s The Shadows and The Whisper Man (still on my TBR). I was beyond excited when I received a NetGalley for this one, but unfortunately this one was not for me. I was confused with all the different characters, some with name changes, that I felt like I needed to take notes in order to keep up. This book was chaotic in writing and flipped POVs between many characters. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to write my own synopsis.

I love this author, BUT, i’m not going to lie, about halfway in, I was ready to give up on it. Thank you to the Book Gods that I stuck it out. Shortly after I was about to quit it, I thought just one more chapter. Next thing I know I’m almost done with it. It completely turned around and I was riveted. The characters had me confused at first and I was having trouble seeing all the connections or even remembering their part in the story but all the dots do connect. Stick with it, you won’t regret it.

The Angel Maker is a dark thriller that mixes philosophy with suspense, following multiple perspectives of those whose lives have been forever impacted by the actions of a serial killer, even decades after his death.

When Christopher Shaw, a shy teenager, is brutally attacked by a random stranger, everyone in his hometown is shaken, including his older sister, Katie. Christopher’s life begins a downward spiral, until he disappears mysteriously. After a wealthy professor is murdered in his own home, Christopher’s whereabouts become a key element in solving the case. In the meantime, Katie feels that she’s being followed by the same man who attacked her brother decades earlier. As Katie races to figure out where her brother is and why she’s being followed, she learns of a serial killer who believed he could see the future and killed young girls decades ago, making them “angels” according to what he believed he was told to do. Though long deceased, his fanatical writing and teachings have been passed down to others, and now Katie and Christopher’s lives are both at risk.

This book was deeply disturbing and creepy, with sections that truly made my blood run cold. The narrative was told through multiple perspectives and jumped quickly back and forth across several timelines. Although it was a quick read and kept me engaged, I struggled to keep track of everything. It was also very heavy in the philosophy of determinism vs. free will. I understood it on a general level, but I did get lost on the particular philosophical theories that North included in the novel. While the ending did resolve some of the central conflict, it left me with more questions than answers. I normally enjoy books that leave a little to imagine or question, but I really wanted more answers towards the end of this book. Readers who enjoy philosophy and the reverberations of a dark family history throughout the decades will enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this advance copy, in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5 stars

This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Alex North, my first one was The Whisper Man, and I can’t say I necessarily like this one more than other.

HOWEVER, this story was beautifully executed and you are given all these pieces but you can’t quite figure out how to piece it all together.

North does an incredible job at slowly feeding you answers and ending the story with a bang.

Great read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks Celadon Books & NetGalley for the ARC!

I struggled with this book. There were a lot of timelines, characters, and events. It was hard to keep up and required a lot of focus. It did eventually come together for the most part, but I never found myself invested in the characters or plot.

I appreciate the opportunity to review but I was very bored by this. Too many timelines to follow to try to be complex. Just ended up losing my interest!

Received this one from @celadonbooks just in time for its release today and I am so excited to add to my collection.

@writernorth - bestselling author of The Whisper Man and The Shadows - invites us into the life of Kate Shaw, whose brother’s disappearance might somehow be connected to a serial killer with a predilection for seeing the future.

Sound dark, complex, and a bit twisty, doesn’t it?