Have you ever felt that bone-deep chill—when something in the air shifts and your instincts scream that something is wrong, but you're powerless to act? That lingering guilt, the "what if" that never lets go?

For Daniel Garvie, now a criminal psychologist, that moment came in childhood. A memory he can’t forget: a bathroom, another boy, and a man who radiated something dark and terrifying. Daniel didn’t understand what he was seeing then—but years later, he would realize he had crossed paths with the infamous Pied Piper serial killer… and one of his victims.

Now an adult, Daniel is called back to his remote island home after his estranged father, a retired detective, is presumed dead. The two never had an easy relationship, both quietly yearning for something better between them but never bridging the distance. Daniel returns to a house full of his father’s notes and cold case research—and quickly finds himself entangled in the mystery of his past all over again.

Haunted by trauma and driven by his lifelong obsession with a disturbing novel called *A Man Made of Smoke*, Daniel begins to question everything: what he saw, what he missed, and whether the Pied Piper has returned. As the lines between memory, guilt, and reality blur, the story builds into a chilling psychological thriller that’s as emotionally complex as it is suspenseful.

This isn’t just a twisty crime novel—it’s a meditation on silence, guilt, and the terrible cost of inaction. With razor-sharp pacing and a darkly poetic edge, it leaves you not only breathless but reflective. *Are we really the kind of people who look away when it matters most?* This book lingers long after the final page. A powerful, unsettling, and beautifully written read. Highly recommended.

I love Alex North's thrillers and this one was no exception. This story is very engaging and will hook you from page one. His prose is almost always very emotional, the kind that will make you cry. The emotions stay with you long after you are done with the book. My only nitpick has to be how we'd get a reveal in one chapter and that would be followed up by what led to its discovery which sort of made the middle half of this book drag a fair bit. Otherwise, I really liked this one.

I have never read any books from this author before but know they are popular and bestsellers. For this particular book, The Man Made of Smoke, I felt the author did an incredible job of setting the eerie scene, making your skin rise with goosebumps and - in my case - keeping you up all night finishing this book. There were a lot of twists and turns that keeps you guessing throughout the entire story. The plot was complex and the subject matter was dark, which makes for a perfect chilling thriller in my opinion. I was left wanting more in the end but overall I enjoyed this one! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

A few decades after a serial killer terrorized a small island community by kidnapping and murdering young boys, residents are in danger again as people with any connection to the early "Pied Piper" case are disappearing and showing up dead.
This was pretty interesting. I just didn't find myself super invested in any of the characters.
Thanks to #netgalley and #celadonbooks for this #arc of #themanmadeofsmoke by in exchange for an honest review.

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North started strong, but didn't hold my interest. I was really into the idea of a criminal profiler returning to his eerie island hometown to face childhood trauma and maybe a killer from the past, but the pacing felt uneven, and some twists didn’t work. Still, the writing is atmospheric and moody, and there are definitely some genuinely creepy moments. Worth a read if you’re into slow-burn thrillers with a touch of the supernatural.

Have you ever had the hairs on the back of your neck rise because you have perceived evil or danger? Have you ever thought that someone was in trouble but you felt you couldn't intervene?

For young Daniel Garvie, now grown to a doctor whose interest is in people who commit heinous crimes, he is haunted by a memory of being in a bathroom with another young boy and an evil man. Daniel knows that there is danger there, but he is a child, and he doesn't know what to do. So he does nothing, but later learns he has had an encounter with the notorious Pied Piper serial killer and one of his kidnapped victims.

Years later, he is called home because his father, John, is presumed dead. Daniel comes to the island where he and his dad once lived. His dad is retired, a former member of the police force who now has spent his days researching cold cases. Daniel and his father have always had a strained relationship but in their minds, they have longed for better.

As Daniel returns home, he is once again embroiled in his nightmare of years past, and the fear that the Pied Piper is back. Daniel, over the years, has been obsessed with the book A Man Made of Smoke, and this obsessions led to not only his profession but also has deepened the chasm that exists between himself and his father, John.

This was a fantastic hold onto your head and heart thriller which packed a huge psychological punch. Extremely well plotted and paced, this book sent the reader down those fearful dark alleys and nightmares of the past.

Are we all people who practice the "Nobody sees, nobody cares" code about us? This was not your average "fright" book but one that had deep meaning and a glimmer of hope and redemption. Definitely highly recommended.

Dan is out on an adventure with his best friend Sarah and his parents when they stop at a rest area. On his way to use the facilities Dan encounters a boy about his age who is ragged, dirty, and afraid. The boy is waiting outside of the stall where a man is whistling a strange tune. While Dan’s first instinct is to help, when the man stops whistling, an incredible fear surges over Dan and he hides in a nearby stall and waits until they leave the restroom. The man is a serial killer called the Pied Piper and the boy his next victim, the knowledge of which haunts Dan every single day.

As an adult, Dan works as a psychologist, frequently with patients with criminal behavior and sometimes he assists the police as a criminal profiler. He receives a call that his father has died under suspicious circumstances. It seems he might have jumped into the sea from a cliff known as The Reach. When Dan returns to the island, he soon learns that his father’s death might not have been as straight-forward as anyone initially thought.

Much like The Angel Maker that I reviewed in 2023, The Man Made of Smoke is a page-turner. The atmosphere is creepy. The writing crisp and well-paced. The characters multi-faceted. And, throughout, Alex North keeps you guessing about who the current killer is despite providing a solid reason as to why. Or is it?

The Man Made of Smoke is a top-rate psychological thriller. The only deficit (and it is minor) for this reader was that we never find out why the Pied Piper did what he did, was the way he was. I do recognize that perhaps this just wasn’t possible in the course of this novel, or maybe it was. I don’t know. I could have been satisfied with a couple of sentences. Regardless, this is a book that will keep you reading and biting your nails.

And, speaking of satisfying–the ending was just that. I can’t tell you why without spoiler-ing so, suffice to say, I was happy with the way that everything turned out, which certainly isn’t always the case in psychological thrillers.

The Man Made of Smoke is definitely for anyone who enjoys reading psychological thrillers and mysteries. It’s certainly one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year.

Many thanks to Celadon Books for providing me with a copy!

I loved the whisper man so so much. So I had high hopes. This took me a longgg time to read and just fell pretty flat.

Alex North is a must read author for me and I was excited to pick up his latest, The Man Made of Smoke. I listened to this novel on audio and it definitely provided a different experience than I feel physically reading it would have.

I enjoyed this novel but I didn't love it. There was quite a bit going on with various timelines and narrators, multiple mysteries, and layers to the (many) investigations. I think I would have been better able to keep track of everything had I been reading the novel rather than listening to it. The narrator was good but the accent was strong and there weren't multiple narrators to play each part (which is always a struggle for me).

I also slightly expected this novel to be horror-adjacent and it wasn't at all. The title was explicitly woven into the novel several times but I still don't get quite how it fit (probably a me a problem!).

North did a tremendous job keeping me guessing and ultimately tying his many storylines and mysteries all together. I appreciated that there wasn't one nice bow tied at the end, yet there were no loose strings or lingering questions.

All in all, I enjoyed this but it's not likely to stick with me. If you've enjoyed North in the past, definitely pick up but maybe grab an ebook or physical copy over the audio.

Thank you to Celadon and MacMillan Audio for the copy.

This is a dark, atmospheric book that, while a slow burn, was quite gripping once it sucked me in. The author does a good job of building tension and there were plenty of twists I didn't see coming. Recommended!

Alex North never disappoints. While I consistently strike out on most crime thriller writers, he continues to hit every single note. There’s always at least one moment in each book that catches me off guard and sends a chill right down my spine, and they’re always the perfect blend of horror, crime, and maybe just that hint of potential supernatural. It’s typically up to the reader to decide whether that part is real, since everything can be explained rationally, but it gives it that little bit of something more. I devoured this one much like the last two, desperate to chase down every clue and unravel every mystery. The mix of old and new serial killer cases makes this plot especially intriguing, and North expertly weaves them together into one horrific portrait. The atmosphere of that rest stop is so vivid, so visceral, that it calls up hazy memories of road trips past and hangs over every page of the book.

I think this book’s only shortcoming is that it’s just so sad. All the victims of the past killer are children, and it makes those chapters especially difficult to linger on. I enjoyed the present timeline a lot more. Dan doesn’t really stand out among North’s other narrators; they’re typically just normal guys who had something terrible happen to them once, but I did enjoy his backbone in standing up to his shadows, both real and imagined. I also adored the connection between Dan and his father. That difficult relationship is at the heart of the novel, and despite its complications, it’s ultimately about a father and son who love each other very much. I’ll definitely be looking for a copy for my shelves. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Celadon Books.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

"The Man Made Of Smoke" by Alex North was a very interesting but disturbing book because of its subject matter. The book does show the reality of child abduction, and the fact that abductors don't have to look like monsters. The psychological aspect of the story was fascinating. The plot had many twists and turns, and I was surprised by the ending. The storyline held my interest all through the book, and I tried to solve the crime along with the main character. I would recommend this book for people who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. Readers should check the trigger warnings before reading this book, especially parents.

5 stars. I would definitely recommend this book.

This is the perfect example of a dark, psychological, atmospheric serial killer thriller! Different POV and different timelines, voices and just thinking about the whistling now gives me goosebumps. North delves into the mind of the killer and those forever impacted by his actions. Dark and haunting but it also has another side as it delves into a father/son relationship and overcoming guilt for things that we many wish we had done differently, even though we did our best at the time.
The Pied Piper – named for the children he took – is still having an impact long after his death. Daniel Garvie, now a psychologist and profiler has to once again face his guilt over an encounter with the serial killer years later when his father’s suicide is prompted by his renewed research into these crimes.

Alex North was the first thriller author I think I ever read and he remains my favorite. While other thrillers tend to fall into various tropes of main characters making questionable (at best) decisions, North's characters tend to have expertise and a background that makes it logical for them to be tracking down a serial killer either with or without police support.

North's books lean into the psychological thriller aspect as opposed to the more pop thriller side of the genre (if you can understand my meaning).

That does mean they lean more on the dark side of the genre, so I definitely don't recommend any of his books to those sensitive to abuse, murder, torture, psychological manipulation or harm done to children.

Despite the dark subject matter, this book is also full of hope there is an underlying theme of broken relationships and desires for restoration and particularly relationships between fathers and sons. There is also quite a bit of exploration of guilt and the decisions we carry with us and the things we can and cannot be blamed for.

If you're a fan of thrillers and can handle dark subject matter, I highly recommend Alex North. The Shadows is my favorite of his, but I think The Man Made of Smoke has become a close second.

Pleased with the latest from Alex North. Much better than The Angel Maker. The twist was definitely big for me! I also enjoyed how the isolated aspect of the island mirrored the isolation Dan created for himself at his job in the prison.

Another extremely solid thriller from Alex North! This one was absolutely chilling, fascinating premise, and deliciously dark in the way I've come to know and love from Alex North. I can't recommend enough for anyone interested in a "is this paranormal or all in my head" type of thriller!

Couldn't really get into this one, but I've heard great things so if you're a thriller lover, give it a go.

Loved this! I've enjoyed every Alex North book I have read, and this was no exception. It had me guessing until the end. Totally recommend!

Alex North is baaack!! This time, it's all about a serial killer, The Man Made of Smoke. Dark, suffocating, suspenseful... although this slower paced book didn't quite have me at page one. It did manage to seep into my psyche and wrap its creepy tendrils around me.

Dan returns to his childhood home after he hears that his dad, John, has disappeared, presumed dead. While looking through clues that led his father to possibly kill himself, he discovers a cold case that John, a retired police officer, had been working on. The case is familiar to Dan as he was a witness when he was twelve years old. He saw a young boy being kidnapped while he and his dad stopped at a restroom on a road trip. While in the restroom, he hears the kidnapper say, "Nobody sees. Nobody cares." Dan, frozen and scared, does nothing to help the boy.

This book had many layers. It was more than just a mystery thriller. It delved into guilt and remorse and the impact it had on Dan, John, and their relationship. The story was told from multiple perspectives - Dan, John and a kidnapped victim.

The pacing was on the slow side. It took time to get into the first half while the second half galloped along. The mystery itself was riveting and unpredictable.

Thank you #NetGalley for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great story! The identity of the killer completely baffled me. Every time I believed I had deciphered a clue, I was proven wrong. Good job, Alex North!