I really wanted to love this book, because I loved The Shadows and The Whisper Man, but it just didn't do it for me. It's not creepy like his other two books were and it had a very slow start with an ending that was kind of rushed. I also walked away really confused and feel like some things weren't resolved well.

🤷‍♀️ oh well, you win some, you lose some. Alex North is still an autobuy author for me though.

This book was a disappointment for me. I really loved The Whisper Man, and also enjoyed The Shadows. But The Angel Maker was, in a word, boring. I feel like my attention was divided between too many different POVs that I didn’t care about or connect with. The only one I was really interested in following was Katie, but I feel like she didn’t get enough page time. The book jumps back and forth so many times between characters, timelines, and backstories that it gets incredibly confusing. I normally enjoy books with multiple POVs where the stories converge, but with this one I was too lost or too bored to care.

3.5 ⭐️

At just a little over 300 pages this thing is sprawling. Jumping from character to character were given a female lead, Kate, who delivers the most traditionally thrilling storyline for me. She runs this thing all while searching for her missing brother & working through family trauma. When we jump perspectives (and timelines) we delve into a troubled mind and a hard boiled detective story. It’s at times endearingly reminiscent of Thomas Harris – especially in that it can be hard to follow (I spent my fair share of time confused as hell while reading this). Nonetheless, I enjoyed this almost as much as The Whisper Man or The Shadows and I’m so looking forward to more Alex North books.

I recommend this book to anyone who’s into:

• Strong female leads
• Family thrillers
• Police procedural
• Sprawling generational mysteries
• Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (my favorite book)

Y’all. I LOVED this book! I was obsessed with the whisper man by @writernorth but I think The Angel Maker has taken over that spot.

This read gave me heart palpitations. There were a lot of moving parts and I was so anxious for everything to come together. If you like serial killer novels, with multiple povs and timelines, than read this asap.

The Angel Maker by Alex North
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4
Years ago, Christopher Shaw was brutally attacked and wounded. In the present day, he has gone missing. A wealthy elderly man, Alan Hobbes, has been found murdered. Katie Shaw, Chris's sister, searches for him.
There is a lot going on in this book. There is the story of Katie and Chris, Alan Hobbes and his connection to a serial killer, and the detectives investigating all of this.The philosophical theory of determinism, where time isn't linear and everyone's actions and fates have been predetermined, also plays a big role in the story.
What I liked: the story moves quickly and isn't bogged down with unnecessary prose or details. The determinism theory is unsettling amd the lends the story a bit of a supernatural feeling.
What I didn't like: Trying to figure out how all of these people and stories are connected is a bit of a wild ride and at times confusing- eventually I was able to keep track of all characters and how they were connected but at first I had to flip back and forth a lot. I found myself frequently annoyed with Katie's character- she seemed to make ridiculous choices and just wasn't developed well. The twist also seemed a little predictable.
Overall I liked this book, but not as much as the Whisper Man.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I wanted to love this. I did enjoy reading it but it felt a little all over the place. I still have questions.

📚: The Angel Maker by Alex North (@writernorth)
⭐️: 3/5

A highly anticipated release for this winter, The Angel Maker sets a dual narrative, where one is Katie Shaw. At age 17, she’s about to graduate from high school when her younger brother, Chris, is brutally assaulted by a stranger. Fast forward decades later, and Chris has gone missing.

The parallel narrative sets a serial killer of the past at the center, who believed to prophesied the future. How these two come together (in a twist that felt slightly predictable), brings into question if there is such a thing as fate or if everything we experience is predetermined and set in stone.

This book slightly missed the mark for me. A creepy slow burn read that falls confusing at parts, I found myself putting this down even as the twist unfolded. The very end cumulates beautifully though - I just wish that carried through the whole book.

Big thanks to @celadonbooks via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for a honest review. The Angel Maker is out on February 28th. #gifted

Okay here we go. I have a lot to say.

I’ll start with the good: there are no gratuitous descriptions of child murders in this book. I kept expecting them to come as details about The Angel Maker were revealed and they didn’t, which I was surprised by and grateful for. As I read it I thought a lot about the genre of crime fiction; what are so many authors (and especially white male authors) doing writing in such detail about the murder and mutilation of women and children? Especially authors like Alex North who have written multiple novels in the genre? Just sitting around fantasizing in sick vivid detail about such violent ways to kill and mutilate and then making money off it. Why are they doing this again and again? Why do we want to read it? It’s gross. So, I am happy to report that that isn’t really what’s going on this time, which I appreciated.

But….I can’t recommend this book. It is SO freaking confusing. I normally love a novel with multiple points of view/through lines that converge but this novel is trying to do SO MUCH and jumps relentlessly between way too many characters, timelines, and really complicated history. I tried so hard to wrap my mind around what was going on but there were several times that I just couldn’t follow. People would pop up and I’d have no idea who they were - is this someone I should know? The introduction of yet another character? A character whose name or family has or both has changed for the first or second time?

I stuck with it to the end because I was so thoroughly puzzled that I wanted to see how he’d resolve it and I found the end to be really disappointing. It was super rushed after all the complicated exposition and backstory and it felt like North kind of just gave up on his own messy novel. It was a letdown where it could have maybe been a redemption if it were a bit more clever and built out (the irony of the ending really needing more when this book was otherwise doing so much is unfortunate).

I really loved The Whisper Man, didn’t feel the same about The Shadows, and this one….I just didn’t enjoy at all. Probably my last Alex North.

As always, thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions expressed here are obviously entirely my own.

I love everything Alex north has written and this is no exception! Such a good book with so much suspense.

. . This is a story that attempts to solve an old man's murder; who was a retired philosophy professor at a local university,while learning of the years of secrets and evil that are passed generationally within a family. It explores many themes including addiction, abuse and marital strife.
It was confusing in parts for me as there are many characters, who are intricately woven together. When I figured out who was who, I was so surprised by the plot twists and totally did not predict the ending. I didn't want to put it down! It is well worth the read and I will pick up more books by this author in the future. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Celadon books and the author for giving me the opportunity to read and review the arc of this great book!

Reading Between the Wines book review #14/115 for 2023:
Rating: 2🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Angel Maker
Author: Alex North
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASES February 28, 2023!!

Sipping thoughts: So this is a very intricate plot. So much so I was so lost. I know a lot of people will love this book based off the plot and writing method. This is probably a good book but I was lost for most of the first half of the book. Once I started to understand who was who and keeping the timeline straight, I started enjoying it better. I think North's writing style might either need a more focused mind from me or it may just not be for me.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @CeladonBooks and @MacMillanAudio for an advanced copy of @TheAngelMaker.

#TheAngelMaker #AlexNorth #CeladonBooks #MacMillanAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!!

I'm reading lots of good books lately and this is another one. Super dark and absolutely thrilling, this book had me hooked, especially with the back story of the murder victim.

Allan Hobbes was murdered in his creepy mansion, and the detectives are on the case. However, this leads them in a lot of directions, making it seem like there is an underlying connection between everything.

Sarah is a protective sister with her own family, a daughter, and her husband. However, she hasn't had a chance to be that protective sister for her little brother in over a decade. When she finds out her brother, Chris, is missing, she immediately takes it upon herself to start the search.

Chris is, in fact, in hiding. But it is not for what I first believed. There are connections, like a spiderweb, over the different character's and their pasts. This story really drew me in with the brutal history of serial killer jack lock and his creation of a book that reveals the future. It's almost as if the future is laid out, pre-ordained, and nobody even has any real choices. (A very interesting and quite depressing thought🤣🤣)

I loved this. I loved the darkness of the theme that ran through this story and following these characters. Definitely recommend for fans of thrillers!

Out February 28, 2023!

Content Warnings for violence and disturbing imagery

<i>Received a complimentary ARC of The Angel Maker by Alex North from Celadon Books/NetGalley. Scroll past the <b>BOOK REPORT </b>section for a cut-and-paste of the <b>DESCRIPTION</b> of it if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of a summary.</i>

<b>BOOK REPORT</b>
This was a pretty good one-off, but I probably enjoyed it more for the philosophical/theoretical aspects than the mystery/ies proper.

<b>DESCRIPTION
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Whisper Man and The Shadows comes a dark, suspenseful new thriller about the mysteries of fate, the unbreakable bond of siblings, and a notorious serial killer who was said to know the future. </b>

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.

Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page is facing a particularly gruesome crime. A distinguished professor of fate and free will has been brutally murdered just hours after firing his staff. All the leads point back to two old cases: the gruesome attack on teenager Christopher Shaw, and the despicable crimes of a notorious serial killer who, legend had it, could see the future.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for this ARC. Having loved the Whisper Man and The Shadows, I was very excited to read The Angel Maker, however this book didn’t do it for me. The plot has a lot of character stories to follow that can be confusing at times and hard to keep up with the story.

Alex North has done it again with a creepy, fast paced and intricate mystery. North is one of my favorite writers and just like his previous books The Whisper Man and The Shad0ws, this book takes you on a wild journey. The main character here is Kate, a teacher and mother of a young daughter. Kate is happily married to Sam but carries a lot of guilt from the time she snuck away after school and her teenage brother was attached and mutilated by a mentally ill man. The brother Chris, changed for the worse after the attack and Kate has not seen him since she had to call the p0lice on him for stealing her money to buy drugs. How Kate, Chris, Kate's daughter and a rich man who was murdered come together takes us to the 1950's and a serial killer named Jack Lock who was the "Angel Maker' and killed a number of young children.

As Kate begins to feel she is being followed, two police detectives are trying to find out who killed Alan Hobbes a distinguished and rich professor and Kate's brother Chris who may be involved in the murder has disappeared. Sibling rivalry, philosophy and the subjects of fate and free will all come to play in this dark and atmospheric book. Highly recommend to readers who enjoy gothic mysteries and not too gory serial killer stories. As always, I eagerly await any new books that North writes. Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

After absolutely loving The Whisper Man and liking The Shadows I was so excited to received an ARC of The Angel Maker. ⁣
⁣
Alan Hobbes is a philosophy professor who is brutally murdered after firing his staff. He has spent his life lecturing on determinism so he saw this coming.⁣
⁣
As he awaits his death, he explains that his death is going to affect two other people in life, whose journeys in life somehow sort of end up tying back to him in a way. ⁣
⁣
When one of those people is a detective who learns of Hobbes he starts looking back on old cases that are tied to the serial killer The Angel Maker. ⁣
⁣
Everyone is connected in unexpected ways and while the story lines were interesting there were a lot of different characters and evil people to follow that I got really lost at times. It was such an intricate plot that it took me a while to really figure everything out but once I did it held my attention til the end to find out what was really going on and the different connections.⁣
⁣
the whisper man is still my fave, but i liked this one.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A professor is brutally murdered. As the detective starts to investigate ties to a former religious fanatic and serial killer start to appear. Meanwhile, a sister gets an anxious call that her brother is missing, the brother she failed to protect in a malicious attack when he was a teen. Are the detective and the sister looking for the same person? This is my third Alex North book and I will say that it had a different feel than the others. While there were times of horror that kept me riveted, the storyline just seemed to move along slower than before. The plot was ok though a bit too busy but overall I enjoyed this book. I'm giving it 3.5 starts rounded up to 4. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

Has a huge fan of Mr North, I went into this one with super high hopes. And I was greatly surprised. The writing alone in this book, just fantastic. Twists and an ending I did not see coming. I have many patrons who I already know will love this one and I cannot wait to recommend.

I was so excited to be able to read an advanced copy of Alex North’s new novel, The Angel Maker. Thank you Celadon Books. Alex North has become a writer I get so excited about ever since reading The Whisper Man.

This book kept me completely engrossed and kept my brain working to figure out how the characters were intertwined. This was well told for something that can be tricky when there’s multiple characters with twisty backgrounds involved.

We have a couple of lead detectives involved, a main character Katie who has blamed herself for an event that happened to her brother Chris in childhood, and then we’ve got others involved that you have to figure out their relation to each other and their intentions— for good or bad.

While this is a crime/thriller, it also touches on other topics that were brilliantly intertwined with the novel. Alex North will be an auto-buy author for me!

Another terrific novel from North, this one covering one family torn by a tragic attack many years ago, another guided by a serial killer father who believed he could tell the future. The book skillfully moves back and forth in time as we see how each family came to be and the secrets that forged the futures of everyone involved. It's an intense story with well-drawn characters whose flaws define their nature. To say it's a serial killer novel wouldn't do justice to the entirety of the plot. The ending is strong and a perfect wrap-up for the serpentine tale we just experienced. If you haven't read North yet, it's time you started. He's definitely one of the best thriller writers out there. 4.5 stars bumped to 5 for the quality of writing and powerful ending. Thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.