The Angel Maker is a masterful crime/psychological thriller that requires you pay attention to every minute detail. Doze off or distractedly read, and you'll probably end up in the DNF or dazed and confused group. There is a rhyme and reason for everything, How much do you have control over your daily choices? How much is predetermined? How much is guided by a masterful hand, human or otherwise? How do you know if your free will is truly free? As philosophy, religion, and phycology converse, it will all make sense in the end.

Thank you to Celadon Books and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I just really didn’t follow this book. The pacing was very weird, and there were so many characters. I’m still confused about exactly what all happened and why. So I don’t know how to review it!
Thanks to Celadon books and MacMillan Audio for the advance copies. Narration was great—I listened to the first half and read the ebook for the rest.

If you are going to read THE ANGEL MAKER, I’d suggest taking notes. I both read an eARC of this one, and listened on audio. I wasn’t able to follow at all while listening, and I barely managed the first half of the book while reading it with my own two eyes. I was confused a lot of the time, but everything came together at the end. THE ANGEL MAKER is thought provoking, detailed, and quite creepy.

Katie Shaw is summoned to help her brother, who had a traumatic experience in childhood and sadly turned to drugs and homelessness in his adult life. At the same time, detective Laurence Page is investigating a murder of a college professor. All of this is wound up in the crimes of a serial killer who died a generation ago and who believed that everything is fated.

THE ANGEL MAKER is told in different timelines and from multiple points of view. Half the time I didn’t know where I was and I had to keep trying to figure out who was who, which didn’t make it very enjoyable. However, for those with quick minds and people who like books that fit together like a puzzle, THE ANGEL MAKER might be just the ticket.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies of THE ANGEL MAKER as an eARC and on audio. I appreciate the opportunity to give my honest opinion.

Having loved Alex North's previous books, I was very excited to receive The Angel Maker. The Angel Maker was a religious zealot who believed himself to be doing God's will in proving his devotion by k-lling children in the 1950s. He left behind a book that is supposed to contain prophecies for the future and religious instruction. The story is largely set in present day and we're learning how The Angel Maker is seemingly still affecting events with his doctrine.

The mystery follows a number of characters and timelines, which can be a bit difficult to keep straight while reading. They did ultimately come together in an interesting and unexpected way. It was difficult for me to connect with the story and characters as it read in such a fragmented manner. Ultimately, I thought it was just okay. I listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated by Rosalie Craig.

Thank you Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I have enjoyed every other Alex North book and this one was no different. There was a lot to follow with overlapping timelines and characters but that made it a more interesting read. I truly didn't know how the story was going to go until the end. A really phenomenal thriller with twists and turns!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for a digital review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinions!

I adored North’s other thrillers and was so excited to get my hands on the newest release! Unfortunately, I do feel that this is the weakest of his works so far, and its because of just a few too many characters/perspectives, an abrupt ending, and a focus on the more mundane rather than fantastical elements of the plot.

It took probably 40-60% of the way through the story to start keeping all the perspectives of this story straight in my mind. While piecing together how everyone is connected can be interesting and rewarding, here I found it more frustrating than anything. Chapters would stop just as a character flicked on the light in a dark, foreboding room, or right as they got a piece of crucial news, and then we’d get 3 to 4 chapters from other characters’ POVs before we get around to discovering what was in that room or how the news will affect the story’s trajectory.

Another thing I’ve really enjoyed from North’s other books was the speculative fiction/supernatural tinge to the real-life horror happening on the page. You occasionally have the question pop up in your mind: is something supernatural afoot? Or are the bad guys just taking advantage of the circumstances that that uncertainty brings?

And the fanatical bad guys at the center of this story have a really compelling and dark “method” that they use to justify their madness…and we never get resolution or a satisfying degree of detail about it. It was the most interesting piece of this puzzle to me, and we just never got enough of it. Adding to that; the final chapter ends with further uncertainty, right in the middle of action. It only left this reader frustrated and disappointed that these disparate storylines and characters didn’t get any true resolutions.

This is a quick read, and you do turn the pages to find out how everyone and everything is connected, but the payoff just didn’t make the journey all the way worth it for me.

Holy chills. And did my power go out while reading this book at night home alone in the dark? It sure did. Poor planning on my part but regardless ouuu this book drew me in big time. LOVED it. The multiple POVs, multiple timelines and intricate storylines that weaved together seamlessly were *chefs kiss* and the twist??? Never would have expected things to weave together in the way they did. 5 stars and without a doubt the most chilling spine tingling thriller I’ve read in a while. A must read for psychological thriller fans!

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon books for this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

To sum it up: I'm disappointed.

I loved The Whisper Man, still have The Shadows on my shelf (haven't been in the mood for it), and was hoping for another five start favorite from this author.

Sadly, I think all of the timeline jumps and the multiple of characters did a great disservice to this work. Also, there needed to be more of the actual Angel Maker.

I just needed more, but can't put a finger on what that more is besides needing more Angel Maker.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is my third Alex North book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a lot of overlapping characters and timelines, a thing of which I am a fan, and kept me guessing what the ending would be until the very last page. I appreciated the questions that it posed regarding fate and destiny and if we have the power to change the course of our lives or if they are already written into law before we have the chance to make any decisions.

Definitely a great twisty thriller for fans of Alex North and the genre alike!

This was my first Alex North novel but not my last. I've heard great things and was very glad to receive an advance copy.
This story had a captivating atmosphere that drew me in and made it hard to put down. I do not often enjoy police POVs, however this one was not excessive and balanced out the unreliable accounts of the other narrators. The chapters alternated between people and time periods, and I found the voices unique enough to keep track of throughout. The twists were not that hard to predict yet never had me bored.
As a fan of horror and stories about cults, I wanted to hear more of the serial killer aspect but even without it this was a solid thriller. I think the ending wrapped up a bit too conveniently for my tastes. Overall, an enjoyable thriller that I'd definitely reccomend!

Unfortunately I had to dnf this one. One thing that prevented me from reading this book until the very end was there was just too much? It was just difficult to grasp the story and I hate to dnf a book but I had too :( For example I was confused to keep up with the characters as well as the timelines that were implemented in the story :(

Thank you so much to Net Gallery, Celadon Books, and Alex North for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

The Angel Maker by Alex North

Pub Date: February 28th, 2023

Rating : 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

“It could no more foretell the future than the past defined the measure of the men who emerged from it.”

The Angel Maker takes you on a roller coaster jumping between the past and the future, with most characters having multiple layers and different timelines throughout the book. You follow a family that went through a brutal attack and you also follow two brothers that are connected to the attack in a truly unexpected way.

The action starts from page one and doesn’t end until the last page which I loved. I really enjoyed the mystical aspects that were involved to build the story; and as you turn the pages, the story definitely grows mysterious.

This story had all the aspects of a great thriller such as a serial killer, a murder/homicide & kidnapping, and last but not least, family trauma. The storyline was a little complex so I would recommend taking notes as you read to grasp every aspect of this amazing story.

I was really excited to read the new Alex North book. The Whisper Man had some really scary moments that I wanted more of. The opening chapters are creepy, extra bloody, and full of dread. Paranormal elements thread the entire book and keep the interest of the reader. The pacing is improved from the last book and the fear never truly dissipates. For me, this would have been a solid 4 star thriller has the characters had more depth or loose ends were wrapped up. Instead, interesting elements are introduced and then there is little follow through. Because of this, the ending felt underwhelming. I didn’t like the introduction of fantastical elements with out said elements being fleshed out or supported.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for my ARC. It was a wild ride. 3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Angel Maker by @writernorth has just skyrocketed to my favourite Alex North read yet. When you talk about atmospherically intense, taunt, gripping psychological thrillers, THIS is a book the delivers generously on all fronts.

The story weaves between past and present timelines, and character POV’s as seemingly unrelated events drag a group of strangers together again and again - and in the center of it all,
a terrifyingly deranged serial killer who believes he knows the future, and believes there is no stopping fate.

This is the kind of thriller that GLUES YOU to the page, I was utterly and entirely a slave to reading this story and needing to know what happens next. Every chapter builds on the “something very bad is coming” vibe and there was literally a point where I was ACTUALLY on the edge of my seat, watching a scene play out, it was so tense. This is a book that reads cinematically - you can so clearly imagine this on the big screen, and you’d be watching through your fingers, begging the heroine to please not go in that house.

I don’t want to even HINT at a spoiler but, fellow readers, this is the psychological thrilling hit of the spring to get on that wish list, pre-order list, library hold list now, you so very much cannot miss this one.

So many many thanks to @celadonbooks for the copy and for knocking my February top reads out of the park.

Thank you to netgalley and Celadon Books for the ARC of this book!

I've previously read The Whisper Man and The Shadows and even though The Shadows wasn't my favorite, I LOVED The Whisper Man and was secretly hoping for another banger of a thriller from Alex North with this book.

I was unfortunately disappointed. I thought the premise was interesting, but right off the bat there were too many characters and too many POV's to keep track of. They all slightly intertwined with one another until the very end when I'm assuming they were all supposed to come clashing together and give the reader a "OMFG" moment...but that wasn't the case. I turned the last page expecting more because in my head there was no way the book was done, and then I hit the acknowledgments page...

I truly ended the book confused and I thought to myself "what did I just read???" I had a headache trying to keep everyone and their backstories straight and the fact that the POV changed with it also just kept me confused as all hell...

DON'T GET ME STARTED WITH THE PLOT HOLES - there were at least two side stories that we just didn't get any more information on? Like why were those characters explored so much if you were just going to leave me hanging??

Y'all, clearly I am salty about this book - but I will tell you one thing I did enjoy about reading this book. A big part of the plot was Determinism: "which believes that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. This explores the idea that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions." This was such a COOL concept to read about and think about - which kept me intrigued I won't lie. But ultimately, I was left more confused than anything once this book was over.

Book Ratings:
1. The Whisper Man
2. The Shadows
3. The Angel Maker

Oof - hopefully next one will be better!

I was really excited to read this one, since I loved The Shadows and The Whisper Man. However, The Angelmaker fell flat for me. It was a slow start, and I felt like it never really got going. There were a lot of characters and storylines to keep up with, which I thought made the reveals more confusing than shocking. This one was just okay for me. I wish it was a little darker or more suspenseful. Great writing though.

Review to be posted on @readwithkendall on Instagram.

I'm really sorry but I wasn't able to finish it. It wasn't my cup of tea and I lost interest pretty quick. It was all over the place. It was just not for me I guess.

I loved Alex North's The Whisper Man. I didn't care much for The Shadows. The Angel Maker is somewhere between.
Thank you to Celedon Books and Netgalley for my eARC for review!
The first chapter winds up with a violent image, of a boy being viciously attacked with a knife.
The book unfolds with multiple storylines and timeframes intersecting. Compelling characters and creepy scenarios keep things moving quickly.
Personally, I struggled a bit to keep some of the connection lines drawn between the characters, and some plot points weren't resolved enough for me.
I enjoyed reading it, but I'm left with questions.
For release on Feb. 28.

I was surprised to read a number of reviews that comment (or complain) about how hard this book was to read because it jumps between timelines and characters, because I didn't think it was all that confusing. Yes, early on, there were a couple of times I had to reread a page to make sure I was following, or go on faith that something would make more sense later, but I quickly found myself immersed in the story and engrossed by the overall concept of determinism and good vs. evil. Is the future already written? Is free will a fallacy? If God asks you to do evil things to test you, is he really God?
Without giving too much away, the story has two main plots. One is the two sons of a notorious serial killer in the 1950's who claimed to be acting on the will of God, that his killings were a test of faith. One brother follows his father's teachings while the other tries to forestall the future his father claimed was already written. Their plot line transects the other, which focuses on Katie Shaw and her brother Christopher, who was attacked as a teenager. Seventeen years later, Katie still feels guilty for not protecting Christopher, so when evidence mounts that the same evil may now be targeting her young daughter, Katie feels compelled to take action. Gothic suspense at its best, I thought the pace of this thriller was excellent and loved the philosophical conundrums.

Received as a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

I love Alex North and was so excited to read the new book. It was a let down. The book felt meh and was not as good as his other ones. I didn't really like any of the characters and wasn't as invested in the story. The book did not feel suspenseful or a thriller. I would have not finished the book, but I wanted to give a review and was hoping I would come around and like it.