Alex North's latest thriller is as dark and mystical as his first two books. Katie lives with a guilt that she couldn't protect her teenage brother Chris from the attack of a mentally ill person. Years later, Katie is married and has a three-year old daughter. Her happy life is shaken when she realizes someone may be watching her family.

The story grabs you from the beginning when Chris, a quiet boy, is brutally attacked in front of his home. I couldn't help but sympathize with Katie who already feels unloved by her parents and carriers a huge responsibility to care for her brother.

But then the story drops its pace and slowly advances forward. We see multiple POVs, multiple timelines and new characters being introduced. It took a minute to keep everything straight, but the writing style was beautiful, and a little story-hopping didn't get in the way of me enjoying the narrative.

Philosophical determinism is the core of the story, and past and present intertwine. Be prepared for the elements of horror and paranormal which is the author's signature style. The story has many twists and turns and about 70% into the book, it was driving me crazy, I wasn't anywhere near figuring out the connection between the Lock family of the past and Katie's brother. But questions get answered in the end and the story ties together with a bit of a sigh of relief ending.

Although this book contains a great deal of philosophical reasoning, it's suspenseful and atmospheric. Pay attention to the characters entering the scene and enjoy figuiring out their connections. 4.5/5 stars from me.

DNF - 56%

Yeah I just can’t do this. I have no idea whats going on nor do I really care. The formatting of this book is so odd and the time jumps kept confusing me. I loved Alex North’s other books but this book feels like something I’ve read 10x before by other authors. I can already predict the ending so to be honest I just have no care in finishing.

The audiobook was just as confusing, so take with that what you will. I did read an ARC, so maybe adding some time/date stamps in the final print would be useful since everyone is super confused?

**Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy!

Thank you @celadonbooks and @netgalley for my complimentary digital copy AND audiobook! I was thrilled to receive these and my thoughts are my own.

I have been waiting for this book for the last year and I was so excited to finally read it! For my friends who want to read a book with a creepy storyline and a few grisly murders, this one is for you!

This book opens up with a murder that will give you cold chills! But there is a conundrum too. It’s almost as if the victim, a popular college professor, KNEW he was going to be murdered!

Meanwhile, in a seemingly unrelated case, Katie Shaw’s brother is missing. As she searches for him she begins to feel she is being watched and she fears her family is in danger.

As Detective Laurence Page investigates the murder of the professor, he finds ties to an old case and a dead serial killer from the past…one who claimed to be able to see the future!

All of these cases tie together and lead to a dramatic conclusion!

MY THOUGHTS: This is a complex story, with multiple characters and switching timelines. I started with the audiobook but switched to the print version. For me, the print version was easier to follow and allowed me to pick up on the intricacies of the mystery…things I may have missed if I wasn’t totally focused on the audio version. Read this if you enjoy complex dark thrillers!

I was so excited to get approved to read this ARC. I really enjoyed his other two books but this one was my least favorite.

It was plain confusing for me. I like the past and present timeline but I dislike when it happens a sentence after another. I had to go back a few times to see when it occurred in a particular sentence. I was confused with the characters and though they are connected, it took some effort to keep track.

Maybe my dislike will be your favorite, so definitely give it a read.

The Angel Maker - a prolific serial killer from the past known for their deprave crimes - left a legacy written in paper and blood. Both, forgotten - and time passes. But both the book left behind and the boys who survived will lead a tale that is intricately woven into the lives of the Shaw family. Katie and Chris Shaw are siblings - haunted by the day Chris is attacked and severely injured while Katie, just once, lets him out of her sight. But the Shaw siblings’ tale is preordained - in a book, in blood, and in the actions of those they’ve yet to meet.

Alex North is a master at taking timelines and characters and making them so intricately woven that a reader just has to stop and appreciate what’s been written for them. The end of this book blew my mind - it’s a perfectly wrapped up story, with all the minor details coming together at the penultimate chapters. The cast of characters in this book is loaded with nuance and layers - reading each part of the book peeled back more and more until the essence of each is laid bare. This was my first Alex North and I know I’ll be going back to read his prior work.

If you’re looking for a gritty, quick crime story - this is not your book. But if you’re looking for a tale of crime so artfully designed and laid out that the journey is just as important as the motive, definitely checkout this one today.

I really liked Alex North’s books The Whisper Man and The Shadows, so I was so excited to be able to read The Angel Maker and I did not disappoint!!

This book revolves around Katie Shaw and her brother Chris Shaw. Katie feels guilty about Chris getting brutally attacked when they were teenagers. It is years later and Chris is now gone missing. Katie is enlisted by her mom to try to find him. What happens next is twisty and turny and being pulled into the story of serial killer Jack Lock, The Angel Maker, and his his sons.

I could not put this book down and flew through reading it. There were so many different theories going through my head as I was reading and I loved that. I love when a mystery/suspense has me guessing and trying to figure everything out but it isn’t straight forward and I have to keep thinking and rethinking my theories. As everything unfolded a few things took me by surprise but I did figure out a lot as well.

I really enjoyed The Angel Maker and I will continue to read whatever Alex North continues to write.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Alex North for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There are many characters, but it all comes together.

Katie blames herself for what happened to her brother, when they were younger. A detective is investigating a brutal crime. Their paths cross.

It will keep you turning the pages.

Alex North's writing expects a certain level of engagement from his reader and that might be one of my favorite things about his novels. I am partial to books that are both entertaining and thought provoking and The Angel Maker delivers on both fronts. Yes there are multiple timelines, a number of characters with obvious and not so obvious relationships but if you invest a bit of your attention, your reward is going to be a well thought out, well written novel that is going to simultaneously thrill and tease your brain cells.

Katie Shaw leads a seemingly normal life but underneath the surface she is riddled with anxiety and worry rooted in the events of her past. Now her estranged younger brother Chris is missing and she feels compelled to figure out what happened. Meanwhile two police officers are working on a peculiar murder of a retired professor Alan Hobbes whose work revolved around determinism and free will.

The first part of the book is focused more on character introduction and development while the second half is faster paced and much more intense. This balance worked really well for me - I was equally intrigued by various characters, their potential connections and deeper theme of whether our choices in life matter or if everything is predestined. The story was dark, suspenseful and made me hungry for more, so it ended up being one of those books I inhaled. If you are a fan of complex thrillers with elements of supernatural, you will not want to miss this one!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was don't get me wrong a very good thriller, but it takes ALOT of concentration. So, if you have a lot going on this may be either too much or a nice distraction. In this book has a brother and sister who have become estranged as adults. Police investigating an unexplained death. Two men. A book that might tell the future. And so many other threads that this author skillfully weaves together to create a complete picture. At one point in the book Katie (the sister) comes across a portrait of her brother made from photographs from over the years. When she is close, she sees the individual elements, but when she stands back, she sees the big picture. That's what the reading of this book is like. The paranormal vibes, puzzling storytelling style that connects different timelines by questioning the free will and faith, the realist approach of the author to the theology are absolutely unique, intelligent, piquing your interest, pushing you to flip the pages a little faster. Twists are mostly well developed. Definitely worth the read, even more if you're into paranormal/ fantasy genres.

Wow! I really enjoyed The Angel Maker. This was the first Alex North book that I've read, and now I'm excited to dig into The Shadows and The Whisper Man.

I loved how the chapters unfolded, slowly giving away a new piece to the overall puzzle. The reader is kept fully engaged and on the edge of their seat as they try to figure out how all of the characters are connected. I at first had a difficult time trying to keep all of the names and clues straight, but by about the halfway mark all of the plot started to come into focus more and it was easier to follow.

I also liked how the author did not neatly wrap up every single question. Particularly, the reader is left wondering how Alan Hobbs really was able to pull off so many perfectly "planned" moments in his life, almost as if he really did have a written out manual for the future. Is life really completely predetermined - the good and the bad - and what happens if you knew the future? Could you or would you try to stop the bad from happening? This book definitely leaves you thinking well beyond the last page.

Alex North is now right up there with Riley Sager for me! I can't wait to pick up his other books. This one was fast paced and kept me trying to figure out how everything fit together! I'm glad I was warned because it was a little difficult keeping the characters straight (I'm so bad with names and sometimes they went by their last names!) I also thought it ended a little abruptly.

If you like horror, I definitely recommend checking this out. It comes out Tuesday 2/28 but I've heard rumors that some Barnes and Nobles already have it out!

Thank you Celedon Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I don't know what's wrong with me, but this book had me so confused. There were so many characters and timelines to keep track of and my 40+ weeks pregnant brain just couldn't do it.
Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for the chance to read the advance copy!

Alex North has another winning thriller with “The Angel Maker”. This book is eerie and full of mystery and twists – everything I love about a psychological thriller. Time is a paradox within this book.

“The Angel Maker” is an excellent thriller for people who love a good mystery about a serial killer and all things dark and terrible, but do not like too much gore. North did an excellent job of telling the story of horrific things, without being so detailed as to take away from the story. Every time you turn around there is another facet to the story and mysteries within. It is told through multiple POVs and jumps around in time (or does it, since time is just a concept?), which while I thoroughly enjoyed, it may not be for everyone as it could become confusing. There are a lot of moving parts and characters. Everything is weaved so perfectly together in the end.

This was a very solid book that I would not mind reading again. Alex North is an auto read for me and he didn’t disappoint this time. I will be recommending this book to all of my thriller lovers!

As usual with Alex North books, I am CONFUSED for most of it. But contrary to my usual experiences, I actually enjoyed the confusion this time around. It helped that the real action started within the first few pages, but I really enjoyed the focus on the future as a theme. Would you truly want to know what would happen, especially if it meant you couldn't stop it? Plus the entire idea of controlling your own fate mixed with the tales of a serial killer love it. Still a super fun and gruesome thriller.

*Thank you to Celadon and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

The Angel Maker tells the story of Katie, Chris, Alan, and Edward. They are all connected by a past that has not been unraveled that relates to a long ago serial killer called the Angel Maker. When Alan is murdered, it sets in motion events that can’t be undone. Will everyone make it out alive?

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I mean beginning to end so dang good. I haven’t been this engrossed in a story in a long time. I was trying so hard to figure it out but I couldn’t. I loved the characters that he built. One of my favorite things was his ability to make this a serial killer story without completely fixating on the serial killer. He was an ancillary character and nothing more and that’s what is so brilliant about this story. Most need the serial killer to keep you interested. This one absolutely did not. By far my favorite Alex North and definitely a contender for favorite book of the year!

The Angel maker was a great book. It is the story of Katie, who is searching for her missing brother, Chris, all while feeling like her family is being stalked. Chris was attacked years earlier and Katie blames herself.
I don't know how to give too many more details without giving anything away, but this was a very well-thought-out book. I do recommend keeping track of the characters (I had thought I missed something in how they fit together until it was revealed in the end).
Anyone who likes a good thriller will.enjoy this book!

Uh oh! I think this review is going to be an unpopular opinion. I found The Angel Maker to be extremely intriguing when I was first granted access to the sample chapters so of course I clicked to request the whole book via NetGalley (thank you!!!).

Lucky me!! I was granted access to the book and the audiobook thanks to Macmillan Audio! Since I hadn’t read the first chapters in weeks, I went back and reread them and then continued on to read the rest of the book alternating between the ebook and audiobook (my new favorite way to consume books).

The elements for a page-turner thriller/mystery are there. In fact, I was so captivated by the book I couldn’t put it down until the last 15% where things just get so messy and complicated that I found myself rereading chapters because I felt like I had missed a link or a clue. That’s why I feel like my rating is a bit lower than I would’ve initially anticipated.

Bottom line, it’s worth reading! It’s an unusual story which really drew me in, I just struggled with the ending.

This was my first Alex North novel and I really enjoyed it. It's a slow burn - it took me a good quarter of the book to really commit to it, but once I did, it was a serious page-turner, and I finished it in about two days flat. I'm not generally a fan of police procedurals but this combined that with enough aspects of thriller, dysfunctional family drama, and very thought-provoking philosophy and theories that it kept me hooked. It helps that the two detectives had personalities that I really enjoyed following (and were quite funny together). It is detail-heavy and I definitely had moments where I had to flip back to see what it was referring to, but all of the loose ends coming together made it worth it.

Thank you Celadon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars for DNF as I'm unable to comment on the overall quality of the book. I've heard amazing things about Alex North and was excited to receive not only an audio ARC, but a physical ARC as well. I struggled with this one but I'm definitely going to give The Whisper Man a try.

Because I loved The Whisper Man, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Angel Maker courtesy of Celadon Books and NetGalley. The premise is fascinating. Is our destiny pre-determined or do we have the opportunity to change it by exercising free will? Serial killer John Locke wrote obsessively on the topic. After his arrest, his writings disappear as do his two sons: one who participated in his father’s hobbies and the other who did not.
This story is juxtaposed with a contemporary story involving Katie Shaw, married mother of the precious toddler, Siena, who is pulled into the search for her estranged brother Chris, an addict who never recovered psychologically from a random attack when he was a young teen.
The multiple story lines weave from distant past, to the current day murder of a beloved philosophy professor to flashbacks to the attack on Chris.
The book, which feels part police procedural, part mystery, party family dysfunction and part thriller never truly gels for me. There are too many non linear pieces that don’t fully create a cohesive story. While I truly enjoyed The Angel Maker, it did not leave me feeling satisfied, that the many loose ends ultimately worked, or left me wanting more.