I really enjoyed this book. The story and the mystery kept me reading and wanting more. I definitely plan on reading other books by this author!

I’ll read anything Alex North writes. I enjoyed but felt like I struggled to keep up with this one. The story was confusing to follow and I couldn’t keep characters straight.

I finished this a few days ago and I've been sitting on the review because I'm still not certain how I feel. I'm giving it a middle of the road review because I'm torn.

I liked the book. I did feel like it drug on in some spots and the characters were difficult to keep track of. The timeline was back and forth but not consistently or obvious.

It was gory most of the time and very descriptive which can be good and bad. Overall, I enjoyed and will recommend. But I'm not sure it's a top thriller of the year.

Was delighted to receive an ARC of this book for my honest opinion, thank you to NetGalley for making this possible.

Angel Maker is one of those rare books that gets under your skin and leaves you thinking about it for days.
Slow to start, the books pick up rapidly about 60% of the way through. I found myself a bit lost on who was narrating at times as the characters and the timeline shift several times throughout the novel, but as I got into the groove of North's writing I found the novel much easier to follow and found myself chewing my nails down to nubs in anticipation of what would happen next.
Once we're introduced to the "Angel Maker" the novel was un-put-downable for me.

This isn't my usual genre, but can easily see myself returning to read more of North's novels. Gave this one 4 stars, and already recommending it to friends.

This is a very detailed story with a LOT of characters that is really about a long ago serial killer, his two sons and THEIR sons. Throw in another crime in modern day and a strained relationship between a brother and sister and you have The Angel Maker. I don't like get into a lot of synopsis, because you can read that anywhere. For my two cents, I really enjoyed Alex North's first two books, but this one gave me mixed feelings. First of all, it took me way too long to finish because for me, it dragged in the beginning. However, about halfway through, I really started to get into it. But, after I finished, I sat and thought it seemed pretty far fetched for the characters do what they did over WHAT the issues were. especially the first one that seemed to set everything in motion (hint: a woman) BUT, no spoilers here. Once it started picking up, I thought I would be satisfied at the end, but I just thought it was kind of over the top. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher.

This book really confused me. There were too many characters and timelines to keep up with. The characters laced development and I could not connect with any of them. I am unsure of what I just read. Definitely my least favorite read by this author, but I will absolutely pick up his next book as I loved his other books!

“If you could see the future, would you want to?” The first chapter had me hooked! Then it got very confusing and went down hill from there. Jumping around to different perspectives and timelines, but not letting you know at the start of each chapter. It took me a bit to wrap my head around who’s who and how they are tied together in the bigger picture. I love the idea of the plot, but the way it was presented was too chaotic for me. I would have enjoyed a more straightforward timeline and telling of the facts. I felt like Alan was the most interesting character and there wasn’t enough of him. I also felt like Michael’s storyline wasn’t fully realized. It didn’t connect with the overall plot as fluidly as I would have liked. I only rated it a three because I finished the book and liked the idea of the plot, but am hesitant to read more of Alex’s work if it is going to be this disorderly.

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.

Going into this one I was expecting a thriller, but it turned out to be more of a crime read. I read/listened on audio and found several parts of this one to be confusing. The twist was good and had some action, but it never totally had my interest. I never really felt any connection to the characters. It wraps up pretty quickly which was nice.

After loving The Whisper Man and The Shadows, I had high hopes for this one. It fell short of those two novels, and I think the main reason is because I found it to be fairly confusing. I had a hard time getting into the book and had a difficult time following the plot. Maybe it was just me!

I have mixed feelings about this novel. I've enjoyed North's other novels but this one kind of missed the mark for me. I found it confusing and chaotic. I guess it's hard to predict how things will play out when you can't quite keep up with everything as it's presented.

This is a tough one for me to review. On one hand I feel like the plot was very unique which I appreciate. On the other hand I was confused through much of the book and still am after reading it. A lot of characters and timelines and storylines along with a complicated premise made this not super enjoyable for me.

This is the 1st book that I have read by this author, and I am positive in saying it will not be my last.
For me it started alittle slow, but when I started getting into it I couldn't stop reading.

Always expect the unexpected when reading any Alex North book.
I tell myself this with each book I have read from this author. You absolutely will not guess what is going to happen. This is exactly what I love with this book! The storyline, the characters, all of it kept me engaged from the very first page.

I was completely confused for about 60% of this book and then things started making sense. I honestly don’t know how to feel about this one. I wasn’t enjoying it much in the beginning but it all came together in the end and made me like it more.

This book reads really different from North’s other novels. The perspective is constantly changing and I had to keep flipping back to remember who was speaking. The loose ends are tied up and the ending is pretty good but I could see a lot of people not finishing this one because the beginning is confusing and frustrating. It was worth it in the end but it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.


Ok. I was lowkey confused the entire book. Even at the end… like what? This just wasn’t it for me but 2 stars because there was potential for greatness … I just don’t feel like Alex North delivered. I would like to say I did read it fairly quickly and I just kept hoping for more and it never happened.

I read the previous book by this author so I couldn’t wait to get into this one. He sorry was great and it pulled me in from be very beginning. I can’t wait for the next book by his author.

Thanks to Celadon Books for the Advanced Copy!

So after a few days of back and forth deliberating, I have to go and rate this one a 2.5/5 Stars, which is upsetting for me to even do personally.

The story is broken down into 4 parts. Throughout Part 1, I was completely hooked. It starts off really well with a gripping introduction of a murder which leads two detectives to investigate said murder and how the events of the present, coincide with the events of the past.

However...parts two and three made it very very hard for me as the reader to properly follow along, as there were too many confusing plot lines, plot points and plot/character developments, to the point where at many times; I couldn't tell if I was reading about the past or present, and with the amount of changes of character names and relations, it almost seemed like there were up to 30 different characters at play.

I will say though, as the book was coming to its conclusion, it quickly tied up some of its loose ends to make the ending a bit more understandable but still left me feeling like I missed out on a good chunk of story for everything to make complete sense.

I have read both of Alex Norths other novels; The Whisper Man and The Shadows, and I found them to be quite enjoyable reads, The Whisper Man especially, so it was odd to me to see such a different writing style when it come to The Angel Maker.

This is not a biased review, this is an honest review based on reading said novel, so I am sure others will appreciate what is written here and can make their own personal claims/honest reviews on The Angel Maker, and still recommend others to read this, as not everyone's views are the same.

Again thanks to Celadon Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy and I can't wait to see what's in the store for the next one!

The Angel Maker by Alex North is the third book I have read by him and sadly it is my least favourite of the three. I liked the overall premise of the story but found that there were far too many story lines interacting with one another and the ending sort of remained unfinished, I did find myself somewhat confused with the ending and I wanted a little more. I found his other two books more creepy and eerie and that is something I missed in this one. I did think this was the perfect lenght of book and I enjoyed the short chapters.

I enjoyed The Whisper Man and The Shadows and really looked forward to reading The Angel Maker! It took a bit of time to get used to who was who because there was a large cast of people. The philosophy was interesting. Are our lives predetermined by fate or do we have control? I liked the paranormal vibes, suspense and each chapter was short and sweet. I was curious to know how the people fit together in the larger scheme of things. Once I got used to who everyone was, the pace picked up a lot more. I wound up reading this in 2 days. I felt like it wrapped up too quickly and would have liked an epilogue. There were a few chapters that felt like distractions and didn't really keep to the story. The Whisper Man is still my favorite but I enjoyed this one and anyone looking for more of a crime novel will enjoy this too. Thank you for the complimentary copy.

In the Post-war era, two brothers are born and raised to a father who is a fanatical believer in determinism - the philosophical theory that all events, including the actions of human beings, are inevitable. It denies the existence of free will, propounding that people could never have made any other decision. In the 1990s/2000s a brother and sister grow up to be very close, until one day a violent and delusional young man attacks the brother, causing horrific injuries and psychological trauma. It doesn't seem like these storylines are related, however the lives do intersect and in very tragic ways, with long roots in the past.

When Celadon calls this book "deeply complex", they are not joking. It is a complex, multi-layered plot, with multiple points of view and multiple timelines. I confess I found it confusing and jarring at times, with the constant transitions from present to past in the various character storylines. There were some aspects I found a little tired - the weary cops always several steps behind and the husband who downplays the wife's fears - that elicited an eyeroll from me.

The brother and sister supposedly have great affection for each other, however we don't see much evidence of that. Some of the plot twists were brilliant, and the main antagonist is definitely diabolical to the very end, although I found the ending to be a letdown. It felt like a frantic tying-up of loose ends, with constant jumping around in time. I had to read it twice before it made sense to me.

Overall, I have to conclude that I felt indifferent to it at the end. I wasn't connected to the characters and I didn't feel like I had much of a stake in the outcomes. It felt a little wooden to me. That being said, I see many positive reviews and regular readers of Alex North seem to love it. Thank you to Celadon for an ARC to review.