3.75 stars

Katie Shaw is a teacher who is haunted by the decision she made as a teenager not to walk her younger brother Chris home after school, choosing to visit her boyfriend instead, where Chris was violently attacked by a stranger. He survived the attack, but was set along a lifelong path of drug abuse and homelessness. It finally seems that Chris has turned his life around, with steady employment, a place to stay, and a devoted boyfriend, when he is placed at the scene of the murder of a prominent philosophy professor. Chris goes on the run, with Katie trying to track him down before the detectives working the case can catch up to him, and she discovers the ties between present and past, and how a notorious child k!ller called The Angel Maker, whose manifesto was purported to tell the future, connects them all.

The Angel Maker was one of those books that as I was reading it, I enjoyed, but after I sat for a few days after with my thoughts I realized I didn't like as much as I initially thought. Crime novels can be long and drawn out, of which this was neither, so it's fast pace and shorter chapters had that going for it. There were some difficulties for me following the who's who of characters, who have gone by different names at different times in their lives, and the heavy philosophical themes. Do we have free will, or has every action we take in our life already been predetermined? That is a depressing thought for sure.

3-1/2 ⭐️💫

This was a very creative story, and it’s obvious Alex North is a very talented author. I imagine it took a lot to come up with this book in its entirety (unique plot & then how everything intertwined). Overall this one missed the mark for me though. I liked it but I’m not sure how I can properly explain why I didn’t love it. I would absolutely read another book by him though. Great, intellectual writing, but not one of those books that it was all filled with words I didn’t know 😂 that I got hung up looking up definitions or having to read a sentence three times because the author was trying to be extra smart sounding. He’s ‘easy’ to read but not a mediocre writer, it’s fluid.

One of the things I didn’t love was there wasn’t a whole lot of character development. That’s one thing I like about reading is rooting for or relating to/ liking a character. I wasn’t sure I could get into the whole prophetic part of this (which I’m still definitely a skeptic) but I went with it for the sake of the entire plot. The whole predicting/seeing the future aspect is unrealistic, for me. There is a lot going on in this book, many characters & pov’s! Different storylines as far as events that happened in the past & how it affects people in the present & their families. It was creative how it eventually tied together but it was less suspense & more philosophical I guess. The synopsis made it seem like it was more of suspense (serial killer) but it was more about the cause & affect of life and choices made, and how things are destined to happened before they happen. As I said I went with it for the sake of the story but it’s not what I thought I was going to be reading & I’d have rather had it be more suspenseful of a book.

The ending was alright but not climactic & I feel like some stuff was missing at the end or not wrapped up nicely with some of the characters & their individual stories. Also very curious what happened to one character that it wasn’t ever clarified what their fate was. Just curious🤷‍♀️

So my thoughts wrapped up. I liked it, excellent writer (with a great mind!). While I enjoyed it I was also kind of ready for the book to be done before it was. I’ll absolutely be reading more of North’s books now that I have had the opportunity to see what he’s about.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher Celadon Books for the opportunity to have an advanced copy, always very much appreciated!

While the plot was interesting it was a little hard to keep up with the time switches. Unfortunately, it felt a bit over complicated.

Too many characters and too all over the place. I’m disappointed because I’ve loved Alex’s other books. Unfortunately I had to DNF.

I read another book by this author, the name escapes my mind at this time, but I absolutely loved it! It was a lot of fun to read, and it was very enjoyable. This book was also fun, but I loved the other one a lot more. I liked it, it was fun, but it wasn't great. It was also better than okay.

2.5 stars -

I wanted to love this book, but it fell flat for me for a few reasons.
- It felt disjointed. Too many characters that weren't well developed enough, and too many shifting timeframes. I wish the book would have been in chronological order to make it easier to follow along.
- Did not enjoy the detective work scenes
- Finishing the book, I still felt as if I had unanswered questions.

"Growing up in a beautiful house in the English countryside, Katie Shaw lived a charmed life. At the cusp of graduation, she had big dreams, a devoted boyfriend, and a little brother she protected fiercely. Until the day a violent stranger changed the fate of her family forever. Years later, still unable to live down the guilt surrounding what happened to her brother, Chris, and now with a child of her own to protect, Katie struggles to separate the real threats from the imagined. Then she gets the phone call: Chris has gone missing and needs his big sister once more. Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page is facing a particularly gruesome crime. A distinguished professor of fate and free will has been brutally murdered just hours after firing his staff. All the leads point back to two old cases: the gruesome attack on teenager Christopher Shaw, and the despicable crimes of a notorious serial killer who, legend had it, could see the future."

Great storyline, took awhile to pickup, but I will still read books from this author. I give 3 stars.
Thank you Celadon books, netgalley, and the author for a chance to give my honest review.
Published Feb 28, 2023

i feel like no October is complete without an Alex North book and this year’s read was
The Angel Maker
⭐️⭐️⭐️

similar to previous books by North this read takes you through multiple POVs (friends/ family of the victims and the detective working the case) and time jumps

While I did enjoy this book, it didn’t hold up to my previous two reads of his. I felt like this stoey didn’t spend too much time on the original Angel Maker and his reason for the monstrous crimes he committed as much as his previous serial killers. It also was a little too ambiguous at times for me as well.
I wanted more about the brothers relationship while they were kids to have a better understanding of what led to their relationship as adult- while I can guess I would’ve liked a deeper look.

However, I was still shocked by certain twists that took place which made it a fast read!!!

I found this book confusing with all the storylines. I struggle to give a lot of feedback on the plot/story because of the confusion I had.

After The Whisper Man, I knew I needed more Alex North. This book kept me on my toes, being multi-POV. It had a twist of supernatural and a family theme. I found it a little hard to get into at first and then I was hooked.

2.75 ⭐️

While I enjoyed the overall mystery too this read, I was left often confused by the disjointed timeline or unsatisfied with the lack of connection to any of their characters. While I typically love a read that doesn’t follow a chronological timeline, but I found myself struggling with this one often. I especially found it hard to keep track of characters as the author regularly referred to them with differing names (switched between first and last name a lot which got especially confusing as some characters shared last names).

I also found it quite difficult to feel connected to any of these characters. I found myself not caring for any of them, which made it hard for me to truly enjoy the ending. Other than their connection to the mystery taking place, I found very little effort to make the reader understand the characters desires and motivations making them hard to care to deeply for in the height of conflict. Also, why the addition of detective Laurence Page? I feel like this character could have been completely removed from the story.

I’ll give Alex North another shot, as I have several of their books on my TBR, but this one was not for me.

Thank NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC of this book.

Another fantastically gripping thriller from Alex North, The Angel Maker is filled with twists and turns that are sure to delight dedicated readers.

Ok, I have finally finished and sorted my thoughts. And I really needed time to sort out my thoughts. I still stand with my initial impression that around 15%, it was just ok. It was ok even around 50% and that's because there is a lot of back story that needed laid out.

There is a passage about creating a maze around 34% in. You start by drawing a cross, adding dots in the four squares, and adding a curve on the top. You then draw a series of curling lines, connecting the dots. The sum of it is that you created what looked like a maze but it only had one single path. No places to get lost, no dead ends, no choices.

There is a passage describing a puzzle created from a family photo. Another of a painting that is made up of smaller, individual photos that create the whole. These are important. The maze and Alan Hobbes. The puzzle and Katie Shaw. The mosaic and Christopher Shaw.

This story is all that: the maze, the puzzle, and the mosaic. Yet, it is also is a twisted mass of densely woven, thorn bushes. Every time you turn the page, there is another name, a different timeline, or something going on that you feel as if you need to reboot your brain to keep up. I do suggest keeping a pencil with paper nearby so you can keep track of the timelines and people.

The pace picks up a little after 50% and takes off in the last quarter of the book. The ending feels like you are finally clawing your way out of the tangle of bushes, feeling accomplished you made it out, but not quite sure why you even went through it. But looking back, you realize you just walked out of a maze. Yep, just that crazy.

Alan Hobbes asked: If you were a father, which would you prefer? A child who always did as they were told-as you thought they should-or a child who disobeyed you and tried to forge their own path?

This is his story. Hold on tight.

This one wasn’t for me. I loved The Whisper Man and had high hopes for this newest novel. It definitely fell flat for me and I found it hard to follow the plot. I didn’t much care for the characters either. It felt hard to connect to or relate to them.

I made it about 3/4 of the way through before I DNFed. I likethedea ofthr book, but this was my least favorite of North's books (and I did not like their other books). I was not a fan of the writing style. And I don't mind a lot of things happening in books, but something about this just didn't feel right.

Gosh, the amount of twists and turns in this book! It was a bit hard to follow at times, there is a vast character list but still really enjoyed this unique storyline. This was my first Alex north and will not be my last!

I really liked Alex North's other novels, but I could not get into this one at all. It had a lot of characters and hard to follow so I decided to put it down. Thank you, publisher, for the early copy.

This book is broken into 4 parts and told in 3rd person from multiple POVs. At first the book was super confusing still very instructing. Lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end!

Growing up in a beautiful house in the English countryside, Katie Shaw lived a charmed life until the day a violent stranger changed the fate of her family forever. Years later, and feeling guilty, Katie struggles to separate the real threats from the imagined. Then she gets the phone call: Chris has gone missing and needs his big sister once more. Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page is facing a gruesome crime. A professor of fate and free will has been brutally murdered just hours after firing his staff. All the leads point back to two old cases: the gruesome attack on teenager Christopher Shaw and the despicable crimes of a notorious serial killer who, legend had it, could see the future.

As usual, Alex North has written a book that kept me guessing how everything would tie together! The murder mystery was there, and the characters were well written. I loved the fact that Chirs played such a large role in this book, but I didn't think Katie's daughter added much ti the storyline.

I rate this book 4 🌟

I'd like to say a huge thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Angel Maker tells the story of a series of unseemly events that don’t seem connected but are if you only know where to look. Katie struggles with the guilt she cares for failing to keep her estranged younger brother safe years earlier but now he’s come back into her life and needs help. Christopher’s life has been a series of ups and downs since the attack and he’s finally on the right path but something has gone terribly wrong. Detective Page has been tasked with solving the murder of an elderly man with deep connections to past tragedies and a criminal out for revenge.

This story is detailed and intricately written to keep the reader engaged and turning the pages quickly to see how all the puzzle pieces fit together. If you are looking for a spooky read this spooky season, definitely add this book to your tbr.


Thank you publishers and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.