I was very excited to read this book and the cover looked promising. I listened to about 3.5 out of the full 8hours and sadly just could not get into it. I was confused, uninterested, and just not getting the thrill books normally give me. This was the first book I DNF’d of 2023.

Book Title: The Angel Maker
Author: Alex North
Narrator: Rosalie Craig
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Mystery Thriller, Horror
Pub Date: February 28, 2023
My Rating: 3.4 Stars!

This story is two parts well at least two parts.
Heads-up: Reader has to stay focused and the timeline seems to shift often and easy to get lost.
Note: I love audiobooks so several reasons. I love a good audio performance and I enjoy that I can multitask while listening ~ exercise, doing chores or driving. I feel like I am accomplishing a lot. This story is one where I had to stay focus and pay attention as there is a lot going on!

Basically it starts when Katie Shaw is a teen and then later when she is married.

Katie grew up in a beautiful English countryside home with her parents and her brother Chris who is two years younger.
Katie’s boyfriend Sam is very charismatic. She feels so lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend who loves her and wants to spend more time with her.
Katie typically walks home from school with brother as their parents are very protective of him. He is small for his age and is a loner ~ so the parents worry a lot about him.
One day Katie decided to go to Sam’s house after school and not walk with Chris.
As she approaches home she sees police cars in front of her home as Chris was the victim of an awful crime.

A few years later Katie is married- she and her now husband Sam have a child but Katie is still trying to deal with the attack on her brother.

Meanwhile we have the murder of Professor Alan Hobbes who teaches philosophy at the local college. His philosophy teaching has a focus on “determinism” – that is how our future is already determined. He just let his staff go it appears he knew his life was about to end.

Detectives Caroline Pettifer and Laurence Page are investigating the professor’s case as well as a few cold cases.
Yes! There is a lot going on so don’t skip any pages! Hung in there as it does all come together!

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 28, 2023

Wow this book was so intense!

Super heavy subject matter but I really enjoyed it. I devoured this one within a day. I definitely was surprised by some of the twists and some I had figured out but what a wild ride!

I really enjoyed this clever read! To be honest, I had to restart multiple chapters, because the timeline does jump, and sometimes the characters are referred to by first or last names only, and I had to remember who was who. Maybe it's just my brain :)

In any case, the story begins with a serial murderer of children who "sees the future", and writes what he sees in a journal. He kills his wife in front of his two sons (not a spoiler, this is in the first chapter), so when he's sent to prison, the two boys are adopted out with their files sealed.

What follows is the story of the two brothers, their eventual families, and the various ways they interact - is it what their father saw in their futures, or is it something else?

Throughout the timeline we meet other families who weave into this timeline, and a careful trail leads us to what ties them all together.

I LOVE a book that twists in ways I didn't predict!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early audiobook in exchange for my honest opinions!

Thank you NetGalley, Macillan Audio and Alex North for this audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

I've read Alex North's previous books and I was so excited for this one! The narration was awesome but I think I would've enjoyed the ebook or physical book more because there was so many characters, details and twists that went on that were just hard for me to follow and keep up with through the audiobook. It started off strong and I was immediately pulled in but then as the book went on I got more and more confused and found myself wanting to go back and review a few things but because I was listening to the audio I was unable to do so. Alex North does a fantastic job of pulling you in and hooking you with his style of writing and I love the creepy feel his books have without being too scary. Whisper Man is still my favorite Alex North but I definitely recommend checking this one out but with an ebook or physical copy vs. audio!

3 star read/listen for me.

I voluntarily listened to an advanced audio book The Angel Maker by Alex North. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC.

The narrator, Rosalie Craig, was very talented. I especially enjoyed her narrating Katie Shaw's POV. She really brought the character to life. I would happily listen to a book narrated by her again.

Alex North is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and his latest book, The Angel Maker, did not disappoint. The Angel Maker weaves an intricate story about two brothers, the sons of a notorious serial killer, and how their father's history has dictated their lives over the past forty years. I love how the story goes through multiple POVs, and the narrative goes round and round, throwing out small nuggets of details that all combine for a brilliant ending. Add in the fact that he has just enough creepiness to make it chilling without excessive gore, and you have a story that will keep your attention from start to finish. I give The Angel Maker 5/5 stars.

The audio production for this novel was well done. That said, I think I would have enjoyed this much more as a print or ebook version. The plot is very intricate, and many characters have overlapping story lines so much so that I lost track of who and what was happening from time to time. By the end, everything did make sense, but I wish I could have gone back and reread. I suppose I could have gone back and relistened, but unless you flag a particular part that is easier said than done.

Overall, I found this to be a well done thriller. The theme of your fate being preplanned with no free will is engaging. Professor Hobbes and Katie Shaw have much in common, but unraveling those threads takes time as a reader/listener.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

DID NOT FINISH. I had trouble listening and comprehending the narrator, therefore I was unable to become engaged in the book.

Alex North has done it again! I loved all the twists as the character's stories and lives in twined and the tale unraveled! Loved those 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

I really did like this narrator and felt it was well done but the story line did get confusing at times and flipped people a lot.

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.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a review of the audiobook version of “The Angel Maker.”

Alex North’s books are very multi-layered and always engrossing. “The Angel Maker” will thrill fans of “The Whisper Man” and “The Shadows”. At the heart of the story seem to be three timelines: that of Katie Shaw and her brother Chris, who was attacked as a teenager by a man with apparently no motive and who has gone missing as an adult; the murder of Professor Alan Hobbs, a suspicious death being investigated by Detectives Laurence and Pettifer; and a decades old story of a serial killer named Jack Locke who claimed to see the future. It's an amazing journey as the stories overlap and finally come together and connect. Had I just read the novel (and I did read a chapter sampler), this would definitely be a 5 star adventure.

However, as an audiobook, this is a confusing experience since characters have changed their names and identities as part of the plot; the author seems to use first names and surnames interchangeably; and the timelines change from present to past. Rosalie Craig’s narration is terrific — filled with emotion and proper dread, but it can’t overcome those moments when you really want to re-read an old chapter to get a better sense of who was who, or even see a chapter heading with a possible clue (all are named “The Angel Maker.” I would definitely recommend that you read this instead of listen to it. 5 stars for the basic story; 3 stars for the audio version.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

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. The narrator did an excellent job and it was a good listen. I'm giving it 3.5 starts rounded up to 4. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

Katie and Chris are teenagers when, seemingly out of nowhere, Chris is attacked by a man. Years later, Katie and Chris have been estranged for a while when she hears from her mom that Chris (who had cleaned up his act since Katie had last heard of him) has gone missing. In another part of town, a professor is murdered. He seemed to have known his death was coming, as he had dismissed all of his staff the day prior.

As far as the story goes, I thought it was a good thriller plot but the author used a lot of elements to confuse the reader, including weird timelines and inconsistent character naming. The story of Chris and Katie is a good one, but the family drama from Katie's perspective felt unnecessary even when the reveal was done. I didn't think the detectives were necessary to the story. As far as everyone else, eh. I understand where they fit in but I still don't think such a large cast was necessary here.

Because of the very complicated timelines and large cast of characters, I would not recommend the audiobook but would suggest trying the book if you've liked his other work.

TY to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to review this ARC!

Alex North gripped me with the Whisper Man so I was so pumped to get a chance to get my hands on this before pub date and it didn’t disappoint. This gives you the same gripping, edge of your seat creep factor that you would expect but it also puts a whole new aspect of philosophy into the mix. It deep dives in and there were a few sections I had to go over a couple of times to make sure I was grasping it all-make sure you’re paying attention to everything!!
In 2000, Katie Shaw was the good girl who always followed the rules. Until one day she decided she’d had enough of being her brothers keeper and went to her boyfriends house for an hour after school and in that hour her brother Chris was attacked and nearly killed by a man named Michael Hyde. 17 years later a philosophy professor named Alan Hobbes is found dead in his home and as Detective Laurence Page investigates his death, it looks like he was murdered and the signs seem to point to the fact that he knew he was going to be murdered, that Chris Shaw was somehow connected to Alan Hobbes and that Hobbes had an extensive collection of memorabilia from a serial killer known as the Angel Maker. How are all these things connected?
Katie deals with a lot of guilt as can be expected as a result of what happened to her brother and these years later as he’s been in and out of her life, we see their complicated relationship. There are a lot of characters to keep up with and sometimes it is hard to do but the narrator does a fantastic job with this cast of characters and bringing them to life.

Another Pulse Pounding Thriller from Alex North!

Fate is a funny thing. Either you believe in it, or you don’t. Alan Hobbes is a Professor who teaches Fate, and Free Will, and believes fully in both. As if he knew, or had some sort of intuition, a few hours before Alan Hobbes is about to be murdered, he fires his entire staff. Sounds almost like fate or perhaps just a coincidence?

Growing up, Katie Shaw and her brother Christopher were quite close until one fateful day when Katie made the greatest mistake of her life. Thereafter, both she and Chris paid dearly for it. Chris most of all.

Years later, Katie has a family of her own, who she would do anything to protect. Unfortunately for her, she’s going to have to do just that.

Throughout most of his life, Chris has been through hell. It seems as though he has come out the other side. It’s too darn bad that hell isn’t done with him.

A twisty-turny novel that got me all riled up, The Angel Maker is another winner from Alex North.

I will admit that I wasn’t sure about this at first, and had a bit of trouble keeping all the storylines straight. Listening to the audio simply didn’t work for me at all! Normally, I just would have given up on a book that confused me from the get-go, but since I’ve loved all of Alex North’s previous books, I decided to switch to the ebook and start fresh. Let’s just say that I’m super glad I did.

This was a buddy read/listen with Kaceey.

Thanks to Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley.

4 out of 5 stars



I would like to thank Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for allowing me to listen to this in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good dark thriller and this is definitely that! When Katie Shaw was on the verge of graduating her younger brother Chris was attacked. Things were never the same after that. Chris was never the same and Katie got over her guilt of not protecting her brother the way she felt she should have. Years later Katie has a partner and a child of her own when her brother disappears.

Meanwhile Detective Laurence Page catches a terrible murder of a man who leads back to two terrible crimes, one of them leads back to Christopher Shaw.

I would describe this as a slow burn dark thriller. Alex North did a good job of slowly building up tension and the performance by Rosalie Craig was fantastic.

I really enjoyed this book though. It was a little bit of a slow start for me personally. I really like the narrator kept the story moving. I like the characters in the book. I’ve read this author’s previous novels and enjoyed them. Definitely add this book to your to be read list if you were a fan of the authors work.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my gifted audio copy of THE ANGEL MAKER by Alex North!

THE ANGEL MAKER is a dark horror thriller following a set of siblings. Katie has a good life with a husband and an adorable daughter. She grew up close with her little brother Chris until he was violently attacked out of the blue and his life was sent on a different trajectory. When her mother calls to let her know that her brother has gone missing, again, Katie feels the need to try to make contact. She doesn’t expect then that there might be a danger to her own little family as well.

Meanwhile, there is a Detective Page who is looking into a horrible crime. The victim was an expert on the study of free will and predetermination. The investigation will bring the detective across the same path as Katie and Chris and bring ties to old crimes even more horrifying.

This book took me quite a while to get into. In the beginning we are getting glimpses of what happened to Chris in the past, things that are happening in the present with Katie and her family, and the crimes being investigated in the present and the past. All of this together made it a bit of a struggle to keep who was who straight and how the timelines fit together.

There is a lot of philosophizing as well about the issues of predetermination and freewill and the ways this works in with religion and . At times this feels a bit like attending a lecture, but in the end I did find that there was a payoff in how it tied in with the story. There is a need for suspension of disbelief as well with the way some elements have you wondering what is real and what is out of the realm of possibility.

I wound up enjoying myself in the end and this did make up for the slow and confusing start, but I would recommend starting this one at a time when you really can put full focus on it! The audio was good, but I did find myself wishing I also had a physical copy to be able to flip back and reference things in the beginning.

😭😭😭 this review pains me because I do LOVE this author. However, I felt like as a reader, I was left too much in the dark for too long. The jumping timelines and pov's (even mid chapter) made it so hard for me to follow. Reading a book shouldn't be this difficult.

It could be the audiobook that fell flat for me, so I'll give it a go once the book comes out and I can get the physical or e book to eyeball read.