Let me start off saying, I read a lot of books. I can easily read a book a day. For it to take me three weeks to finish a book, it has to be boring or hard to grasp. This one was hard grasp and hard to get into. I thought it was going to be a mystery but and it was but it was also a lesson in theology. It was an interesting book once you finally get into it.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest review.

This was a delectable story that twists and turns. I enjoyed the characters and was pleasantly surprised by their twist and turns. I think this one had tension and fear that Alex North's previous work. It's my favorite of his stories to date.

I did not love this one as much as I wanted to. I will, however consider purchasing the written book as I feel this story had more potential. I wasn’t crazy about the narrator as there were not a lot of inflections to change characters and the story ran more like a slow burn which made it hard to stay tuned in.
This story has potential but id probably give the physical book a shot over the audio book.
The plot seemed solid, the characters had the ability to be relatable but I feel reading the book would have given them more definition for me

⭐⭐.5/5

• psychological thriller
• really slow burn

I had high hopes for this one because I really enjoyed both The Whisper Man and The Shadows. I switched between my physical copy and the audio version. I found my mind wandering when listening to the audio - I couldn't get fully engaged and I kept getting confused. 🤷‍♀️ The plot moved quite slowly. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley, @celadonbooks and @macmillan.audio and for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC and audio! All opinions are honest and my own.

A full review is coming for this book (publishes 2/28) on my Youtube Channel. I LOVED The Whisper Man by Alex North and this was also a very enjoyable read. I will post the link to my video review when it is published but for now I will say that this was a great, thrilling, and terrifying read! Alex North has a way of making a thriller very dark, engaging, and isn't afraid to scare you. One of the better books I have listened to so far in 2023!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this audio book in exchange for my honest review*

This is a thriller that really packs a punch! There are many layers to this complex tale that really comes together perfectly! I can't wait to read more by Alex North! I alternated reading and listening to this book!

A captivating story of a woman and her fight to protect her family, and her discovery of her brother’s past mistakes and choices.

This is the first book that I have read by Alex North, and I was very happy to receive a preview of the audiobook from Netgalley. Although I really enjoy audiobooks, and seem to listen to quite a few, this one was difficult to follow. The premise was intriguing, and the sections of the book that focus on Katie and her brother, Chris, were basically what kept me going, this book jumped around to the point that I felt lost much of the time. It was very difficult to keep track of the various characters and the timeline, which also was confusing. This particular book might have been easier to follow in book format, as I could have gone back and reread those parts in which I became confused. I did, however manage to finish the book, but naturally, I still wasn't exactly sure that I knew what happened. Maybe die hard Alex North fans will appreciate his style more than I did, but this was a tough one for me.

DNF at 48%...there was no way for me to keep up with the characters and their stories. With each new chapter, I just continued to feel confused and struggle to connect the characters. It might have been easier to follow with reading it, however I listened to the audio and was lost the whole time. I did really like the narrator, Rosalie Craig, but I just couldn’t go on past the half-way mark. I’ve heard such great things about this author, so I’m pretty disappointed that I couldn’t get through this one, and not finishing a book is very rare for me. I do plan on giving his other books a try, but this one is a no-go for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan audio, and Alex North for providing me with this gifted audio in exchange for my honest review.

Dark and disturbing novel that is one of the best I’ve ever listened to, definitely my favorite by this author. This novel was so well written (like all his others) that it really makes you think about family and what is important in life. This story spanned many different years and timelines but the story was brought together seamlessly with excellent narration. Katie and Chris are siblings, having grown up in a loving family Katie thrived. Chris wasn’t so lucky, always a little awkward but well loved and watched out for by his big sister. In the aftermath of a terrible seeming random attack on Chris everyone’s life changes forever. Fast forward years later when a professor with no known enemies is brutally murdered and Chris has ties to the man. With the guilt she feels for her brother’s attack when they were kids, Katie will do anything to help Chris even if it puts everyone she loves in danger. This audiobook is impossible to stop listening to, highly recommend.

This is the best Alex North book to date. Complex characters, fun and twisty plot, mystery, Good vs evil, and enough suspense to keep you up late reading. The narrator was great.

🎧3⭐️

After loving The Whisperman, I was all over a new book by this author.
I had the audiobook version read by Rosalie Craig.

The previous books have flirted with a supernatural element, this one jumps in with both feet.

There are quite a few characters and strands which doesn’t make it easy to keep track, I’d go as far as to say I found it confusing. It’s slow and rambling, and rapidly moves time frames. It’s complex with very subtle hints and clues, you need to really concentrate, perhaps not best suited to audiobook format unless you are able to concentrate 100%. This one might be appreciated more by reading. I perhaps need to read this too, I’m just not sure I have the patience. I found with shadow friends it needed reading twice to appreciate it fully. Life’s too short to have to read books twice to get the most out of them.

There’s a serial killer who knows the future, a victim Alan Hobbes a philosopher who lectures on Determinism, that life is pre ordained. As he waits to die he thinks about three people whose journeys are interlinked with his own,
Siblings Kate and Christopher, Kate is still traumatised by an event earlier in her life which Christopher bore the results of.
DI Laurence Page who is investigating the murder of Hobbes.
I found this one weird, the themes explored seeing into the future, life being predestined and parallel universes felt like an overload although I can appreciate that they are linked theories.

I’m beginning to think that the author isn’t going to be able to match The Whisperman for me. So anticipating that this will be my last early read, I’ll wait for others to rave about a new book before giving it a try.

Alex North's latest, THE ANGEL MAKER, is a slow-burning complex, dark, chilling, and twisty psychological thriller with multiple storylines and characters.

It will take significant concentration to keep up, especially listening to the audible version.

Set in the UK, meet Kate Shaw, age seventeen. She had a boyfriend and a younger brother. Her life is quite pleasant in the English countryside with big dreams.

Until that when an impulsive decision changed her life and those around her. She was supposed to care for her younger brother, Chris; instead, she spent the afternoon with her boyfriend.

Chris was attacked by a stranger, Michael, who attempted to cut off his face.

Now in her 30s, Kate still feels guilt. Her mother informs her that Chris has gone missing. He has been troubled and has become an addict and a criminal. He needs her.

Kate now has a child of her own. She is pulled in all directions, struggling to separate the real threats from the imagined. Chris continues to be involved in criminal activity or caught in and around it.

We then meet Detective Laurence Page handling a gruesome crime of a distinguished professor, Alan Hobbes, of fate and free will, who has been murdered after firing his staff. Did he expect to die?

This connects with the old case and attack of teen Chris and a notorious serial killer known as The Angle Maker, who is known to see the future. How are these cases connected?

They are indeed connected in mysterious ways.

Totally creepy and a bit confusing, serial killer, a brother, and a professor. A whodunit and motive. I had to rewind multiple times to see if I had missed something. There are a lot of evil characters, and you may need a scorecard to keep up.

I am not a fan of the paranormal, horror, and creepy; however, I did enjoy the narrator, Rosalie Craig, who delivered an engaging performance.

Thank you to #MacmillanAudio and #NetGalley for a gifted ALC.

Blog Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 🌟Stars
Pub Date: Feb 28, 2023

Alex North is back with another edge of your seat thriller. This was dark and creepy with cult vibes and a slowly unraveling story. What happens when life doesn’t follow its prescribed course and bucks fate?

I wasn’t a huge fan of how quickly the story ended and there was one plot point that never quite came around. I also struggled with characters going my multiple names and had to flip back a couple times to make sure i kept things straight! I did like the layers and suspense that kept me turning pages until the very end. The red herrings were well placed and played into the suspense.

I loved reading this with book club friends!

Katie is about to graduate high school and has an idyllic life until her brother, Chris, is the victim of a violent attack. As an adult, Chris struggles with addiction/mental health and Katie has no relationship with him. When Chris goes missing, Katie realizes her family is in danger and begins looking for her brother.

The logistics of the book were a bit off for me. It was really creepy at times and I liked getting the killer’s perspective. However, Katie irked me. I did like the detective and I could almost see this becoming a series.

I had not read anything from Alex North before but now I will be reading all of his backlist! I loved how creepy this book was and I really enjoyed the narrator.

Once again Alex North weaves together the past and present of multiple characters, in his latest thriller, Angel Maker.

Katie and her brother Owen have a strained relationship, but when Owen goes missing, Katie jumps into action to figure out what's going on. Somehow she feels this is connected to the danger she feels lurking at her own periphery, and she isn't wrong!

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the audiobook, and while the narration was wonderful, I wonder if I would have spent a bit less time confused had I read a physical copy. Overall, a solid 3/5 and those who have enjoyed North's books before will do so again.

Katie Shaw is a family woman who is haunted by her past, when her brother was attacked by a stranger. Now, her life is upended after her brother goes missing again and her daughter sees a mysterious man. At the same time, a detective has found a professor of fate and free will murdered in his home, discovering a connection to the Shaw family and a famous old serial killer. These two stories expand outward as past and present intersect, with plenty of mysteries and twists along the way.

This was an average novel that was elevated by its themes and discussion of free will and fate. It is certainly intricately woven, with one character having memories across his life and multiple characters in the present trying to solve various seemingly disconnected mysteries. I enjoyed a lot of the research North did into free will and the characters discussing how it effects their own lives. It works to elevate what otherwise felt like an ordinary mystery novel, and the finale's use of those ideas was excellent and very satisfying.

While the books short length makes the story move quickly, it also makes it hard to get situated in any of the various stories that the characters face. It also makes it hard to connect with the characters. I enjoyed the ride that I went on, but every chapter I had to reorient myself and recall everything that was happening to every character. I recommend this a little more if you are a "read it all in one sitting" kind of reader, versus "I pick this up whenever I have a moment."

As for the audiobook, the narration was well done. However, the short chapters and constantly shifting viewpoints make the audiobook more challenging to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for a copy of The Angel Maker in exchange for an honest review.

This could have been so much better. I originally rounded down to two stars, but a good night's sleep gave me some perspective, so it's rounded up to three now. I've rated books I liked a lot less than this one three stars, but this one did that thing where it failed in very specific ways while still holding my interest and dangling potential in front of me, so it made me mad and I punished it. I have not rescinded my punishment and I'm just disappointed.

Not gonna bother with synopsis, just want to start on the thoughts, which are numerous and conflicted. The actual prose of this book was clear and interesting, and I never once lost interest when listening (the audio narrator's voice was fantastic as well). I also liked the story! (Well, I could have done without the paranormal elements, they just felt like a distraction.) The problem is twofold. First, nothing in this book was developed properly. This was an eight hour audiobook, only 336 pages in hard copy. For everything North wanted to do, that was not enough pages. None of the characters were fully developed, and neither were any of the plots fully realized. It felt very surface level and went incredibly fast, which meant that I never got really emotionally invested, and there was a lot of room to explore themes and character here.

The biggest problem, though, is that the way North structured the book was incredibly confusing. I am a good reader! I am very good at reading comprehension! I will not lie it is probably the thing I am best at because I do it the most of any thing that I do. I know how to read books, and I am rarely confused by a book that is not meaning to confuse me. But this book was confusing, and not in a way that the author meant it to be. There were too many POV characters, and the POVs jumped often and sudden between themselves. He also jumped time periods. At least fifteen times while listening to this book (probably more) I would be listening to the book and following along with what was happening and then the next thing I knew we were following some other character in some other time and place and I would have to rewind to figure out what was happening, and I had to do this multiple times. I also had to rewind during the two biggest reveals, because the way that they were revealed made no sense. One of the reveals only made sense twenty pages later when another character was thinking about it.

So: a good premise, a good writing style, made frustrating by a confusing structure and a lack of development. Not the worst thing I've ever read, but I'm not sure I'll be trying any other books from this author if this is what they're like.

[2.5 stars]

🎧 Burn it to the Ground - Nickelback

I should have just DNF’d this one. It took me 95% of the book to finally get the stories straight….I realize I have mush brain right now but it should not have been THAT HARD! Half the time the author was referring to characters by their first name and the other half by their last. Wtf. No. Stop.

The ending wasn’t worth the suffering. Also, there was a point where one of the many characters compared brand new dollar bills to the innocence of a newborn baby….get fucked with that idiotic comparison.

⭐️ (a rare rating for me)