The Angelmaker: a killer of children said to have known the future. Notebooks written by the killer detailing what is to come have gone missing, just like Katie's little brother, Chris. In another area of town, an elderly professor has been murdered in his home after dismissing his care staff hours before. Upon looking deeper, police find footage featuring Chris on surveillance. What will police find when investigating this death? How was Chris involved? And where did he go?

The Angelmaker had all it took to be a banging follow up to North's The Shallows. Everything about The Shallows was a home run for me, so when I received an AudioARC I screamed with delight. Telling the future? Sick and twisted people manipulating their way through others lives? Okay, it sounds bad when I put it like that.... especially with how excited I was. The opening of the novel didn't disappoint, spreading out stories through multiple timelines. Unsure of how they would all be connected, I tried my best to keep everyone straight, timelines in order, and remember the fine details(there are seriously like 7 mains telling the story and it changes rapidly). Overall I couldn't enjoy the massive reveals due to how much time I spent feeling like the meme of Charlie Day with the yarn connecting dots on a board. Also, The Angelmaker himself wasn't given enough page time to me, I wanted to be disgusted by this child killer and his plot was mostly glossed over in a few flashbacks. I crave murder and mayhem if given a story so driven by a child killer.

3.25 rounded down to 3 stars. I look forward to seeing what Alex North does next, even if I have the unrealistic expectations from the absolute beast The Shallows was. Recommended for those who love a good "is it spooky-natural or just terrible people". Age recommended for 16+ due to the subject matter. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillian.audio for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Alex North’s previous books, but this one I just could not get into. Maybe if I had the physical or ebook to follow along, it would have gone better for me. I still cannot wait for future books and will still recommend this author.

3 stars

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I tried so hard to get into this one but it just wasn't holding my attention. I ended up giving up on it about half way through.

Alex North is one of my favorite authors so I thought I'd try one of his audiobooks. The story is typical North. The characters interact and react so realistically that you'd swear you knew them. The audio enhanced this feeling to a great degree. The narrator did an excellent job of building suspense and tension, I could not have done a better job in my mind movie so this one definitely gets 5 stars across the board.

Alex North has written some page turning stories. This was a solid effort and I know struck some people with the same fire (see what I did there) as the titles before it. I just didn’t find it as captivating. Not bad, not amazing. Still can’t wait for future works.

The audiobook itself was well done!

I was warned this book is a bit complicated on audiobook due to the varying characters and times - but I didn't find it too difficult to follow along.

With that, I just did not enjoy this one as much as I have Alex North's previous work. It just dragged a bit for me - and having that many characters made it difficult to feel invested in any part of the story.

Overall, I liked the vibe? The overall story? It's hard to say. But I definitely think my enjoyment was hindered by the multiple characters and storylines to keep track of.

I liked this audiobook! I think if you're looking for a good twisty read this is a good one to pick up! Don't sleep on it!

4 out of 5 for me!

4.5 stars. I was trying to figure out whether I loved all the stuff that happened or hated it. There was so many interconnecting plots going on but I think in the end I decidedly really enjoyed everything coming together at the end. The ending was messy and didn't have a tidy little bow tied to it and I think I liked that.

Alex North Does it again with The Angel Maker. I really enjoyed the story. Although, the pacing was so slow. It went in a lot of different directions and I did like that things all wrapped up but it was about a hundred pages too long.

I'm such a huge fan of Alex North and was so glad I was able to read and listen to this one. The narrator adds to the vibe of the story. I loved the style of writing!

There is a lot going on and I think if I hadn't also listened I might have been lost in it a little bit.

Definitely didn't see the twists coming, very chilling and mind bending.

Another good read by Alex North! Another good read by Alex North! Another good read by Alex North! Another good read by Alex North!

*NetGalley review*

This was my first Alex North book and I've heard such great things, but I was disappointed with The Angel Maker. There was too much going on and too many characters to keep track of as well as too many events and what I think was meant to be twists. I'm still not totally sure what Michael Hyde's purpose was overall in the story; it seemed like an unnecessary addition. While it did pick up the speed at about the 60% mark, I had a hard time keeping everything straight and often had to go back to the character's previous chapter to see what was going on. There was a lot of family drama in this one and I'm glad most of it was resolved, but this one fell short for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Alex North, and MacMillan Audio for the chance to listen to this one in exchange for an honest review.

Usually I love Alex North novels, but this was my first DNF of the year. I tried multiple times to get into this one and just couldn’t. Too slow, not enough action or drama, and not an interesting storyline for me.

This one was a DNF for me. Disconnected, choppy, slow and lacked the suspense I enjoy with a thriller.

I have loved past Alex North books and this is no exception. The narrator added to the horror of this story.

Alex North always finds a way to take tropes from horrors/thrillers and make them fresh. I would say this is no exception, but it was kind of hard to follow on audio. The connections between characters were unexpected and imaginative—keeping the characters straight took a lot of work, however.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ARC and ALC of The Angel Maker! All opinions in this review are my own.

The Angel Maker was offered to me by the publisher and not necessarily one I would have picked out for myself. I have heard great things about North's other books, The Whisper Man and The Shadows, but they seemed too creepy for me.

While I'm not disappointed that I gave The Angel Maker a try, it was definitely much darker than I normally read. I listened to it and found it difficult at times to keep the story straight, especially when it came to how characters were connected. Overall, it was a decent dark thriller, but I don't think this author is for me!

Thanks so much to the author, Celadon Books, and Netgalley for the gifted e-copy of this book, as well as to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audio copy, in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW: death/murder, stalking, violence, death/injury to children

Oh my gosh, I listened to this book on audio and it was slightly terrifying! I couldn't stop listening to it and almost listened to it all in one go, just because I needed to know how it ended and what happened next.

There are multiple stories and timelines going on in this book - there is the past with two young siblings being raised by a religious serial killer who believes everything is fated and pre-written in a diary for him; there is the more recent past with two young siblings that experience a great trauma in the form of an attack on the brother; and then there is the present, where the police are investigating a strange death that may link the two other storylines together.

This book was really well written and had me invested basically from the first page, and the narration on the audiobook was amazing! The narrator really captured every emotion, and absolutely added to the horror and terrifying atmosphere of the book. I think that it is absolutely worthwhile to read the book in this format.

Overall I would absolutely recommend this book to my friends and fellow readers - but I would definitely recommend looking at the trigger warnings before reading this book, as it is pretty intense at times. I think that the perfect way to read this book would be inside on a grey and stormy day, under a blanket, and with a very large glass of red wine. Maybe even next to a roaring fire, to add to the ambiance and make it feel like a real ghost story!

I’m usually a big fan of Alex North but this audiobook didn’t work for me. I found it very hard to pay attention and would become confused about who is who. I’d like to say I’ll try a physical copy of the book but I’m not sure I’m that invested in the story anymore. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of those book reviews that I have trouble writing. A book that I'd really looked forward to reading, from an author I've enjoyed before, ends up being a book I did like well enough, but just didn't love - but I can't quite figure out why I didn't love it. This is a book that takes focus - it jumps back and forth both in time and in perspective. And I suspect the stuff of daily life got in the way of my completely engaging when I listened to this book. It's dark and twisty, with a serial killer with a really messed up mind, all elements I usually love, but something just didn't completely gel with me on this one. I suspect if I gave it another try I'd enjoy it more - and recommend anyone considering it to give it a go when you can really focus on it. I will say that it wasn't an issue with the narration, which was quite well done by Rosalie Craig.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.