This was such a chilling, twisty listen and everything we expect from Alex North, who knows how to wrap a mystery in fog and let it creep under your skin.

At the heart of the story is Dan Garvie, a man who narrowly escaped a serial killer as a child. Now a criminal profiler, Dan returns to his hometown after the sudden death of his father and is forced to confront the disturbing possibility that the killer might be closer than he ever imagined. It’s a layered psychological thriller with multiple POVs, a dual-timeline feel, and that slow-building tension North does so well.

Shane Zaza’s narration was spot on. His calm, almost placid tone gave just the right amount of eerie restraint, which made the unsettling scenes hit even harder. Five stars for the audiobook performance. He really elevated the atmosphere.

Yes, the story takes some focus at first. With shifting perspectives and a nonlinear structure, it can feel a little tangled, but that’s part of the thrill. North draws all the threads together with precision and the payoff is worth it. I made a couple guesses about who the killer might be and was totally wrong each time. That final reveal? So well done.

If you love a smart thriller with creepy undertones and a slow-burn tension that keeps you thinking long after it ends, this one’s for you. Highly recommend.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I’m starting to believe Alex North might be a little too good at writing serial killers, and maybe that’s because he understands them a bit too well 🧐🤨. Once again, he’s delivered a thriller that slowly crawls under your skin.

The Man Made of Smoke is a haunting slow burn that pulls you in with quiet dread. The mystery unfolds through the eyes of a protagonist who, while often frustrating, feels real in his grief and confusion. It’s easy to be annoyed with him at times, but when you consider the emotional weight of believing your parent has died by suicide, his choices become painfully human.

What really stuck with me was the emotional payoff at the end. North doesn’t just build tension for thrills, he uses it to say something deeper about trauma, legacy, and how society lets certain people disappear in plain sight. The final chapters brought tears to my eyes, a reminder that there are real people who have been hurt, silenced, and forgotten behind every tragic story- fictional or not.

If you’re into thrillers with substance, this one hits hard.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story. I love thrillers, and sometimes it's hard to have a unique plot. This one was definitely a few stories mixed together. It might have just been me, but I got a little confused at times with the change in perspectives. I liked the narrator. Overall, I enjoyed the novel.

Alex North has a talent for misdirecting his readers.

Dan Garvie has always carried a lot of guilt from his childhood. He and his family had a casual encounter with a notorious serial killer and they did nothing to stop him, but they didn't realize it at the time. Except that Dan knew something was off. Dan had been asked for help by a victim and had done nothing. Years later that decision is having real repercussions on everyone who was there that day.

North's stories are always so well crafted, to lead you to believe that you are figuring things out ahead of time, that you see the "twists" coming. There's always just enough of a hint to get you to think "Oh, I'm on to him. I see where this is headed!" only to have you be blindsided by the raptors in the trees to either side.

He's done this repeatedly throughout his books and "The Man Made of Smoke" is no different. It gives you the satisfying path to walk, while touching on heavy subjects such as grief, regret, and the nature of broken people in such a touching and deserving way.

His character work is always so real. You can feel the tortured minds of these people, for not being able to change the decisions of their past and this narrator, Shane Zaza, who is new to me, brought them to life so well. (I look forward to hearing more from them).

If you're a fan of North's other works, I think you'll love this as well.

This is my new favorite Alex North story. It's about Dan, who barely escaped from a serial killer when he was on the cusp of his teen years. It's about his life after, how the trauma impacted him, his parents, and his relationship with his father. And, it's about what happens years later when his father goes missing.

This story is dark, with all the possible trigger warnings. But it was so well-written and had the perfect balance between being character-driven and plot-driven. It was terrifying. And did I say it was dark? ;)

Read it if you dare. :)

Following Dan Garvie, we see how his life was shaped by coming in contact with a serial killer as a kid. He has struggled with the guilt of feeling as though he didn't do enough which leads to him becoming a criminal profiler. He soon begins to investigate the mysterious death of his father which brings him back to his close-call as a child.

I loved how this book weighed the consequences of both action and inaction. How one simple choice can alter the course of not only your life, but others as well. For better and for worse. Dan, deeply battling his guilt, strives to make up for his inaction as a child. It really fuels him as a person and it was interesting to see how things could come full circle.

This book kept me guessing which kept me incredibly interested. This wasn't a book that I found easy to figure out. The characters were complex, which I liked. I don't want to spoil anything, but these characters had me feeling an array of conflicting emotions. This book also reiterated the importance of speaking up when you feel that something is wrong.

The mystery and the investigation kept me on my toes and I felt invested in this storyline.

This book was narrated by Shane Zaza and I adored his narration. I hope to listen to future books narrated by Shane. He spoke clearly and with inflection. His voice was also relaxing to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Another amazing book from Alex North!! And this one is definitely one of my favorites of his. The Man Made of Smoke is full of the perfect creepy atmosphere and layered mystery, as well as a powerful look at the relationship between fathers and sons…all trademarks of North’s books to date…and I loved every minute of it! This story was so well developed and captivating that it lulled me right in and I didn’t stop listening until I reached the end. And the audiobook narration was so good! Perfectly captured the atmosphere of the story.

I love serial killer thrillers and this one delivered! The slow burn pacing was done exactly right, letting the tension build while layering in a gripping sense of dread. The haunted past and return to the eerie island community made for the perfect setup to an atmospheric mystery. The unsettling clues and the possibility that the monster from childhood had returned added a fantastic edge of suspense. This is the kind of story that lingers long after you finish.

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

What a chilling book! First of all the audio narrator did a really great job, there are alternating chapters in this book that switch between past and present and it was always obvious what timeline we were in and all what was going on.

The premise follows a criminal profiler who interviews prisoners to study their motivations and childhood experiences through interviews and hypnosis. He returns home after his father, a retired police officer, is missing presumed dead. Whilst in his childhood home he finds a mysterious photograph pertaining to a recent dead persons case and starts to wonder how many things are connected.

I loved the mystery surrounding the main characters childhood and its connection to present day murder cases. This book is definitely eery and chilling and I’m a big fan of the authors ability to evoke these reactions in the reader.

Thank you for the gifted copy!

Publish date May 13th

This book is absolute perfection! I have loved all of Alex North's previous books, but this one is my favorite by far. The story is about Daniel, who as a teenager encountered a serial killer and his victim at a rest stop bathroom on the way home from a family trip. He is haunted by the fact that he did not help. In the present day, Daniel's father, a retired police officer, has gone missing. Daniel returns home to unravel the mystery behind his father's disappearance and connection to the serial killer. The story was haunting and emotional. It starts off as a slow burn, but the tension quickly starts to build about a third of the way in. I enjoyed that the story was told from alternating timelines.
This book was perfection, and will be on my list of top books for the year.
I was able to listen to this on audio and the narrator knocked it out of the park! I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan audio for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I think this is Alex north-west book yet. I love a book that has you questioning every single character and you cannot see withe twists before the come out. The narration was well done the various pov was so dang good.

Suggest giving it a try if thrillers are your jam.

4.5/5☆

Dan Garvie didn’t just witness something awful — he walked into it. One second, it’s a routine visit to a rest stop after a trip to the zoo. His parents, his friend Sarah — the girl who made things feel just a little too intense, in ways he couldn’t name yet — everyone piles out, stretching legs, grabbing snacks.

Dan pops into the restroom and inside, he sees a boy. His age. Dirt-streaked, hollow-eyed, like something in him has already given up. A few stalls down, a man is whistling. A light, tuneless hum that slices through the air like a knife disguised as a melody. Dan doesn’t fully understand what’s happening, but he knows it’s dangerous. And he does the only thing his brain can process, he hides.

When it’s over, the boy is gone. Not dead. Not screaming. Just gone. And in his place, a photo has been left behind. That man — the one with the whistle — would become known as the Pied Piper, a serial killer who hunted children and left ghosts behind. And Dan? He hears the words echo through the rest of his life: “Nobody sees. Nobody cares.”

That moment is the crack everything leaks through. It spawns a profiler. It builds a man out of shame. It drives a wedge between Dan and his father, John — a cop who also couldn’t stop what happened. And when John dies under suspicious circumstances years later, Dan is dragged back to the island he’s spent decades running from. Because maybe the past isn’t buried. Maybe it’s pacing, waiting, still whistling.

But this isn’t a healing journey. This is a reckoning in slow motion. The island is drowning in silence, rot, and secrets that smell like sea air and bad apologies. No one wants to talk. Everyone looks the other way. It’s like the whole damn town is still hiding with him in that bathroom stall, waiting for the danger to pass if they just stay quiet.

And Dan? He’s had enough of staying quiet.

The first half of this book crawls. It broods. It stares at you. But that’s the point. Alex North doesn’t just write thrillers. He writes trauma puzzles, and this one takes its time slotting every jagged piece into place. Dan digs through his father’s old files, talks to people who’ve been lying to themselves for decades, and slowly realizes that he might not be chasing the past — he might be walking straight into it.

Then the back half hits. And it burns. The mystery deepens. The bodies surface. The truth? Not just ugly — it’s annihilating. The Pied Piper isn’t just a man. He’s a metaphor. He’s a legacy. He’s what happens when guilt gets passed down like a family name.

It’s a heavy, haunting, 4-star read. The pacing will test your patience, but the payoff is smart, sharp, and soaked in dread. Dan’s relationships — especially with his father and best friend — are a heartbreak cocktail of missed signals, grief, and emotional repression served over ice. And the ending doesn’t feel triumphant. It feels like survival. Barely. With just a hint of hope.

Bonus points for the audiobook, by the way — Shane Zaza’s narration is phenomenal. He doesn’t just read the story, he inhabits it. Every line lands like it’s been soaked in fog and regret. If there’s a voice made for unraveling generational trauma and serial killer nightmares, it’s his.

Whodunity Award: For Proving That Yes, Someone Saw — and Cared the Whole Damn Time

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the early listen — I was emotionally unprepared and narratively wrecked in the best way.

The Man Made of Smoke is an atmospheric, chilling thriller that kept me up past midnight to race to the ending. Heart-pounding moments paired with multiple POVs kept me thoroughly entertained throughout the entire book.

I really enjoyed narration by Shane Zaza and loved his accent.

I received an ARC and ALC from Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.