Thank you to Alex North, NetGalley, and Macmillan Publishers for this ARC of The Angel Maker. I was so excited for this book as I really loved The Whisper Man and The Shadows by North. This books along with all of the books from this author leave me thinking about the plot and the characters for a long time after I have finished the novel. My only slight complaint about this book is that there are a LOT of characters, too many characters. It is hard sometimes to keep track and I have to go back a bit to figure out exactly who they are referring to. Other than that, once I started this book I really couldn't stop. It was consuming my thoughts when I wasn't reading and I couldn't wait to get back to it. This book is a bit of a slow burn but overall, I loved it!

The perfect eerie thriller. North has never disappointed me. At this point, I will read anything he puts out. This was an easy read to devour in one sitting.

This was my first Alex North book and it definitely won't be my last. I think that his others may be a better fit for me, but I still really enjoyed this!

I usually enjoy Alex North’s books more than this. This story was so scattered and a bit too much to follow. The names, the dates, the story … all a bit scattered and disjointed. I was not a fan.

This review was also published on Goodreads.

After reading several of Alex North’s book and enjoying them, I cannot believe how much of a dud The Angel Maker was! It was completely confusing and boring and I struggling to follow the storyline.

Two stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for sharing this a digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Angel Maker by Alex North is a solid horror mystery thriller. I was really excited to try this given how much I enjoyed The Whisper Man and The Shadows, but as it turns out I couldn't get into this one nearly as much. It's a quick read like his previous books, but the it was a little too tricky to follow the storyline and characters for me overall.

The hooks and twists of the story were lacking for me, they read as kind of unbelievable. I’m not sure if it was because they were too simple, too coincidental, or because they actually didn’t make sense. This read like a book that got published 2 or 3 drafts before it was finished. There’s interesting stuff here, but it’s not collected well. The Angel Maker? It’s like oddly referenced two or three times, sounds super creepy and weird, but literally has no pay out. Did they forget? It kind of sets up its horror elements, but then forgets to add them in.

I was warned this book is a bit complicated on audiobook due to the varying characters and times - but I didn't find it too difficult to follow along.

With that, I just did not enjoy this one as much as I have Alex North's previous work. It just dragged a bit for me - and having that many characters made it difficult to feel invested in any part of the story.

Overall, I liked the vibe? The overall story? It's hard to say. But I definitely think my enjoyment was hindered by the multiple characters and storylines to keep track of.

All the right kind of creepy. Sucks you in from the first chapter and doesn’t let you go. Alex North knows how to keep you on your toes and reading with the lights on at night.

This novel was intriguing but also fairly confusing to me. I sometimes found it hard to follow but I really enjoyed the multiple POVs. While I was left with some questions, overall I feel it had a satisfying ending.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital ARC.

The Angel Maker is a chilling thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat while reading. Alex North's ability to create a suspenseful atmosphere combined with his gift of storytelling makes this novel a captivating read for a his fans! Be prepared to be disturbed, intrigued and fascinated by the dark secrets that unfold within its pages.

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I absolutely LOVED Whisper Man by Alex North, but Angel Maker unfortunately just didn’t compare. In my opinion the time jumps were confusing and convoluted, and there were a couple character POV’s that should have just been cut altogether. The end has me thinking “who cares?” And that’s the absolute last thing I want to be thinking during the final twists of a thriller. I will probably read the next book from AN, but I’m hoping the next one will be more polished.

***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. ***

Alex North has a very complex brain there is so much going on in this book I found it hard to keep up with who the characters were and their relevance to the story. Even at the end, I'm still unsure!
The story is very cleverly put together making the past and the present join together for the final
Not my favorite book of his but an author I will continue to read.

I enjoyed the whispers by Alex North but this one was slow, boring, and I found myself so confused. I ended up pulling the plug on this one sadly, and chose to DNF it. I was expecting a gnarly serial killer gripping thriller but this wasn't for me.

This was soooooooooooooooooo boring. Not up to par with the author's past work at all. DNF @ 60% which is so late to quit but I just couldn't make myself do it anymore.

I had such high hopes for this book after hearing a couple of trusted sources, say that it was good. And I absolutely loved his earlier book the whisper man.

There were a couple of things that I liked about this book: it has an interesting premise, and there is not a Tired trope anywhere in the book. It is nothing if not original.

But, there is so much going on in this book. There are so many different characters, and it takes at least 40% of the book to have even the slightest idea of how they might come together or why we even care.

There wasn’t a lot of character development in most of the characters of this book. It was just running from one meeting or fact-finding mission to the next.

While I usually like philosophy and religion mix with my mysteries, here, I just found that I struggled the entire way through to care. By the end, things became so convoluted that I just Wanted it to be over.

So I wouldn’t call this a Popcorn thriller, but I really don’t know what else to call it. It was sort of just a muddled mess. Which is such a bummer.

This is the angel maker by Alex North.

This was my first Alex North book and I will definitely be reading others in the future. This book very successfully juggles multiple times lines and plot twists. It was also a rare thriller where I was guessing until the end. Great read!

A very good read! This the third book of Alex North that I have read, and like the others it did not disappoint! Now I will have to wait for his next release. Highly recommend!

My second book by Alex North and yet another 3 stars. It's not that I don't enjoy the book, but I do find it a bit hard to get into. The beginning starts off SO FREAKING GOOOD... then I think I set high expectation and the rest doesn't follow through. Katie Shaw is the main character, amongst about 3/4 others... The beginning starts with Katie making a decision that ultimately changes the course of her life and how she treats herself. Katie and her younger brother Chris are like any other sibling where they share that sibling love until one day Katie doesn't show up for her brother as she should, ending in terrible consequences. Years later, Chris goes missing and Katie needs to fall into that 'big' sister role and play her part in helping.

I think my biggest problem with this book was the multitude of characters and timelines. At a certain point it was just too difficult to keep track of and I found myself lost. I don't recommend the audiobook unless there are sections with the years titled to separate. I was expecting the story to follow a serial killer with some twists, but honesty the story was too layered to liking. It made sense at the ending, but Katie kept getting herself in situations that only *idiots* would... *oops sorry* I liked her at first, but as the story continued I found myself sighing out loud or asking "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT ALONE" smh typical poor me female role...

I'm not sure if I would recommend this one, I truly didn't like it too much but the ending and start of the book is what made me give it that 3 stars. I'll still keep Alex North on the horizon, but I'm starting to realize I'm not a big fan of these horror type of books. I like the ones that will keep me up at night because in a way they are so realistic I'm finding that I can't go to bed at night unless my cats are bundled around me. We shall see what the next Alex North book looks like.

While the book offers an intriguing premise and a well-constructed plot, navigating it was somewhat challenging. The narrative was occasionally confusing, requiring re-reading of certain sections to fully grasp the storyline. This made the reading experience a bit laborious and hard to finish.

Despite these issues, the book's true-crime plot provides an interesting read. The dark and suspenseful elements of the story add a layer of intrigue, making it an overall decent read.

In conclusion, "The Angel Maker" is an OK book with a complex narrative that might require some patience to fully appreciate. I would rate it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.