“Nobody sees. And nobody cares.”

Another amazing thriller from Alex North!
The Man Made of Smoke is a psychological crime thriller that gets under your skin, and stays there.
Dan is a criminal profiler haunted by trauma, grief, and a monster from his childhood that may not be as dead and buried as everyone believed.
Back on a remote island after his father’s suspicious disappearance, Dan finds himself unraveling more than just an old crime and peeling back memories that were never as safe as he thought.
With sharp writing and an unsettling chilling atmosphere, this one will grab you and not let go.

This story follows a father and son tracking a serial killer. The story is told from three perspectives: the dad before he went missing, the son who is the main POV in the present time, and James, a little boy kidnapped by The Pied Piper serial killer 20 years ago. To say I DEVOURED the first half of this book would be an understatement. The pacing and plotting were propulsive. There is a lot of interior monolog of the characters which gives a lot of insight not only to their motivations but also their insecurities. Definitely another solid suspense from Alex North.

Alex North has done it again! The Man Made of Smoke grips you from the very first chapter. This is a book about how family dynamics and childhood traumas help shape the people we become. It’s been a long time since a twist caught me completely off guard but that’s exactly why this book did. 5/5 ⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was SO SCARY!!

Dan Garvie experienced a close call with an infamous serial killer at the tender age of eleven. This encounter has haunted him for decades. When his father suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances, Dan returns home to the small island community where he grew up. While trying to uncover what happened to his dad, he discovers that people are going missing and people are being murdered. Has the serial killer returned and is he coming for Dan?

I don’t want to say too much because it would be easy to spoil this one. I was spellbound by this story, sucked in to the fear and dread of what was coming. This is my first novel by Alex North and I have now bought his backlist. If you’re a thriller lover, don’t miss this one, it is dark and terrifying!

Thank you Netgalley, Celadon Books, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on May 13, 2025

I enjoyed the slow burn of The Man Made of Smoke. This is not the Whisper Man, but it does give you that creeping feeling that someone is lurking just out of sight. In this case it might be the Pied Piper, a serial killer, Dan Garvie had a brush with, in his youth. The run in stays with Dan and is why he becomes a criminal profiler. Dan has also avoided his home as much as possible, but is called to the town when his father is missing and presumed dead. What follows is a twisty dark tale of the things we choose not to see.

This story focuses on Dan and his dad, John, as they try to find the identity of the Pied Piper and a new killer who has struck. The story alternates between voices and time periods. This was creepy and chilling in just the right amount. If you enjoy slow burn mysteries with some family trauma thrown in pick this up on May 13th!

Creepy, emotional, and totally gripping—The Man Made of Smoke blends psychological suspense with just the right amount of supernatural. Alex North nails the atmosphere, and the twist near the end gave me chills. A must-read for fans of The Whisper Man.

The Man Made of Smoke was really good!! Alex North is so great at writing atmospheric, dark, mysterious stories and chilling characters.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

If you love true crime and books about serial killers (weird flex, but a lot of us do, right?), then you will fly through this one. My only complaint was that the ending kind of came out of left field for me. The rest of the book actually had very deep, reflective, emotional moments. A father and son experienced a traumatic event together and had to navigate through the aftershocks in the following decades. I thought their healing journey was well done.

It comes out on May 8th and I highly recommend it if you've enjoyed his previous books. The Whisper Man is still my favorite of his, and one of my favorite spooky thrillers of all time. Just beware that this one is pretty disturbing. 😳

Now, I greatly enjoyed the <i>Whisper Man</i> by Alex North; it's atmosphere creeped me out to such a degree that I actually chose to only read it during the day and read something lighter at night. I felt that familiar prickle going into <i>the Man Made of Smoke</i>, that same thread of anxiousness loitering for quite a while in the book, making me repeatedly check my doors.

But somewhere around the 45% mark, that tension deflated for me.

I picked up and put this book down three times before I finally finished it. This book is a slow burn and to me it felt like we were going in circles for quite a long time. Had it been an actual police investigation book, it probably would've kept me more engaged and compelled enough to not put it down the first time. Instead we're following a dual timeline of Daniel, who's haunted by a brief moment of inaction that cost someone their life, and his father, John, who's recently retired and seeping in boredom. Had Daniel worked with Fleming or had John actively left his son legitimate clues for him to follow, I likely would've enjoyed this book more.

As it stands, this is a run-of-the-mill thriller with a dissatisfying twist that didn't feel like it made sense with the rest of the book. I still need to read the Angelmaker by North and I still intend to, but this one just didn't live up to the memory of previous reading experiences for me.

Book: The Man Made Of Smoke
Author: Alex North
Publisher: Celadon Books
Pub Date: May 13, 2025

I love Alex North and this is an absolutely phenomenal book. He knows how to tell a story – everything about this is deep, layered, and detailed. It’s told between alternating timelines of Dan and his father which gives you a complete 360 of what is going on. It’s chilling and atmospheric and you feel like you are there with them every step of the way. The writing is vivid and unsettling – I raced through it to uncover the truth. It’s heart pounding the whole way through to the end. This story lingers long after you finish it. If I had only had two words I could use to describe it then it would be it’s a “haunting masterpiece.” It’s about the things we can’t let go of and the things that won’t let go of us. Again, the atmosphere is thick and eerie and I didn’t just read this book I felt it.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is May 13, 2025.

Wow! Alex North has once again delivered the chilling, unsettling atmosphere that made The Whisper Man unforgettable—and I am absolutely here for it. The Man Made of Smoke opens with a truly disturbing scene that grabs you immediately (I’m not sure I’ll ever look at a rest stop the same way again).

The first half unfolds as a slow burn, but that creeping sense of unease is constant. North juggles multiple timelines and points of view, weaving them together with precision. And yes—there’s a twist than is different from what I expected.

If you’re unfamiliar with the premise: Dr. Daniel Garvie, haunted since childhood by an encounter with the notorious Pied Piper serial killer, has grown into a psychologist specializing in criminal profiling and prison work. His life, and his family, have never recovered from that early trauma. Now, Daniel is called back to his isolated island hometown after news that his father, retired policeman John Garvie, has likely died by suicide. But what really happened? Could it somehow be connected to the horrors of the past? Dan must retrace his father's steps if he hopes to learn the truth.

Lock your doors, turn on all the lights, and dive in. You won't want to stop reading.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all let me just say how shook I was when I saw I was approved for this book - I’ve been reading Alex North since the year The Whisper Man came out and have loved every single read. He’s an auto-read author for me and I’m always so excited when he puts out something new.

This book was SUCH A PUZZLE 🧩 and every single chapter was a little piece. It had so many different POVS between characters and even across time. I saw some reviews criticizing the book for this but honestly it was one of my favorite parts and kept me really engaged. My gears were turning the entire time ⚙️

That being said, this is certainly not The Whisper Man or The Shadows. The paranormal element really threw me off, I like my crime thrillers to stay squarely in that lane thank you very much. The implied romance between Dan and Sarah was also not necessary and it kinda ruined the last chapter for me. I also would’ve loved to see the Pied Piper ultimately get definitively identified but I understand that that doesn’t fit the whole “Man Made of Smoke” thing. It’s still a great read and lives up to the caliber of book that North delivers every time. Song pairing is How to Save a Life by the Fray 🌫️🥊🚐

PUB DATE: MAY 12TH 2025 🥳

This was a pulse-pounding thriller that combined past and present horrors. I feel like I enjoy Alex North more and more with each book. They just get better.

When he was a child, Dan Garvie had a very surreal encounter with a serial killer. It shaped the man who he would become. Now, a criminal profiler, he is determined to help as many people as he can. Dan has to go home, though, after news of his father's suspicious death. Connections are made to the evil encountered as a child and Dan is scared the past has come back to his small island hometown.

There were parts of this book that were so unsettling in that creepy, can't tell if it is supernatural or human monster, way. That is one of the things I enjoy about North's thrillers. There is an undercurrent of paranormal woven through every book and the finding out the truth is always the best part. The way this one plays out is very satisfying (imo). Great characters, engaging plot, suspenseful mystery... I loved this.

✨ARC REVIEW: The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 Stars, rounded up)

Release Date: May 13, 2025
Publisher: Celadon Books
Genre: Thriller/ Suspense/ Crime Fiction

Thank you NetGalley, Alex North and Celadon Books for an Advanced Read Copy of this book! Alex North is back at it again with an enticing and thrilling read that he has become known for. I first was introduced to Alex North when I read The Whisper Man on a recommendation from a friend. I really enjoyed the writing style and the suspense that North brought to the novel, as well as this one.

Daniel Garvie finds himself reflecting and living with the guilt of being unable and unwilling to help when he is met with the serial killer, "the man made of smoke" in his childhood. The tragedy of what happens to a young boy that he had an encounter with in a roadside service station haunts him throughout his adulthood. Daniel finds himself, down the road, as a criminal psychologist that works in prisons to help build profiles for law enforcement to use in criminal cases. When Daniel's father and ex-cop, John, goes missing, Daniel follows his leads back to the island where he grew up. With an opportunity to reclaim his ability to assist, and knock out his years worth of fear, Daniel finds himself following the trail of breadcrumbs left by his father about recent crimes and murders.

What I Loved:
✔️ North really ramped up the creep factor in this book. The Man Made of Smoke was terrifying! And the catchphrase "Nobody sees and nobody cares" was GENIUS.
✔️The themes surrounding grief, disappointment, and guilt were heavy in this book, for many characters. I like the way that the segments on the book were titled with the 5 stages of grief, I thought that was very clever and love how the plot followed the subsections.
✔️Unspoken connection between Dan and John. I can't elaborate on this took much without spoiling, but, it's a really fun aspect of the book that I'm sure many people will enjoy!

Minor Critiques:
❌ The slow burn was a little bit too slow for me. I was getting lost in the sauce, in a concerning way. The pacing felt a little disjointed at times. I'm sure this was a conscious choice to build suspense, but the execution was a little lacking for my personal taste on pacing. It took me a bit to get into this one. But once I got through about 70% of the book, the rest flew by and had me in a grip!
❌I had a hard time keeping my characters straight. I wish that the character name would have been included at the beginning of each chapter. I found I would read halfway through the chapter thinking in the POV of one character, but it was really the other character.

Overall, lovers of the following should give this book a try!
✨ Crime Thrillers with Supernatural Feel/Flair
✨ Reckoning with Feelings of Guilt and Grief
✨ Second Chances
✨ Multiple POVs and Non Linear Time Plots
✨ Slow Burn Thrillers
✨ Serial Killer novels

This felt like the most thoughtful and serious of the Alex North novels to date - and I enjoyed that about it. It's more thoughtful tone highlighted the emotional aftermath of trauma rather than the more traditional horror elements he usually focuses on. The characters and plotting were, as always, spot-on. North has a knack for presenting the banal face behind which evil so often hides. It's a dark and tricksy tale, full of questions about motivation, meaning, and the role of secrets in everyone's lives.

It was a different type of story - and read - as a result. It was still every bit as enjoyable as his other books, but it IS different in tone and tenor. I'm curious now to see where he goes next!

Fans of the creepiness from THE WHISPER MAN will not be disappointed with this one! Alex brings us back to the world of creepy, organized, and intelligent serial killers with THE MAN MADE OF SMOKE.

Daniel was such a great character to be the POV of for this story and I rooted for him so much throughout the pages. I loved the island, “locked in” setting and the catalyst of a story being something from their past that leaves them all connected in a way they never imagined.

I’d read even a grocery list from Alex North, but I’ll happily take another well-plotted suspense thriller from him any day.

4.5 stars rounded up.

"We are shaped by our pasts, not defined by them. It was important to remember that."

As a young boy, Dan Garvie's traumatic encounter with a serial killer dubbed "The Pied Piper", and his own failure to save another young boy that day, left him haunted. Having since sought redemption by becoming a criminal profiler, Dan is forced to confront the ghosts of his past when a phone call from local police alerts him that his father may have committed suicide, prompting Dan's return to the island where he grew up. Upon his arrival on the island, Dan soon realizes that his dad, a retired police officer, never recovered from that fateful brush with evil, either. Following the breadcrumbs his father left him, Dan is drawn back into the decades-old case that dominated his childhood - and that may not be over yet.

"The Man Made of Smoke" has it all: an absolutely eerie, evil serial killer, a sharp-witted main character, and a gripping story, interspersed with tender introspections about the relationships between fathers and sons. Alternating between the terrifying story of the Pied Piper and the mystery surrounding Dan's father's apparent suicide, and relying on multiple points of view, this book may start out as a slow burn full of foreboding, but quickly picks up the pace until its heart-stopping finale.

Tense, terrifying, well-written, full of rich, dark atmosphere, and with excellent characterizations, this was a disturbing, near-perfect* dark thriller.

*The only reason I did not award it a full five stars is because Dan's regular conversations with his own subconscious - but in the form of other people, say, his father, or the serial killer - became a bit too much; the revelations he gleaned from them were essentially results of Dan essentially talking to himself (or worse, imagining himself talking to himself) in the voice of other people, which was about as weird as it sounds.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Man Made of Smoke" is slated to be released on May 13, 2025.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Alex North is one of my favourite authors. I really enjoyed all of his books. A Man Made of Smoke is no different. It is Alex North's best book yet. North’s slow-burn horror creeps under your skin—it's downright haunting. The tension builds so hard you’re desperate for answers, and putting the book down feels impossible. And the characters? You fall for them completely, which just makes everything hit harder.

Highly recommend you grab a copy on May 13, 2025.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advanced readers copy of The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North. When Daniel was a young boy, he encountered a boy in a roadway rest stop who needed help, the boy was with a scary looking man. Daniel was so afraid of the man, he didn’t help the boy. Daniel’s father John spent most of his life investigating cold cases and one of the cases was that encounter Daniel had at the rest stop. This is a complex tale of a series of murders, and missing boys. Daniel, after returning home, as an adult, assists in the case from clues his father had left behind. Alex North has written another psychological thriller that will keep you reading and not want to put the book down.

This suspense novel is a gripping read that kept me turning pages late into the night. The writing is sharp and immersive, pulling me in from the very first chapter. Plot/tension is perfectly paced, keeping the suspense alive without feeling overdone. A strong story I’d definitely recommend.

The Man Made of Smoke is a haunting masterpiece—equal parts psychological thriller, gothic horror, and deeply emotional character study. Alex North has always been skilled at tapping into childhood fears and hidden trauma, but this might be his most layered and unsettling work yet.

Dan Garvie is the perfect kind of unreliable narrator: not because he’s deceptive, but because his past has cracked something inside him. Watching him return to his eerie, isolated island hometown to investigate his father’s mysterious death—while wrestling with a terrifying memory of the serial killer he escaped as a boy—was like being submerged in a dream you can’t wake up from.

This book delivers horror in every form: the creeping dread of the supernatural, the knife-edge fear of a killer potentially returned, and the quieter, quieter ache of loss and unresolved grief. The atmosphere is suffocating—in the best way—thick with salt air, ghost stories, and things left unsaid between fathers and sons.

And the writing? Sharp and cinematic. There are lines I reread just to let them sink in deeper. The tension builds masterfully, and when the reveals start coming, they land. Every twist hurt. Every moment of connection mattered.

The Man Made of Smoke is about memory, myth, and how we live with our monsters—real or imagined. It’s not just a thriller, it’s a reckoning. Easily one of my top reads of the year.