Member Reviews

I found this hard to follow as an audiobook and ultimately chose not to finish .
I did not post a public review as I felt I did not read enough to provide accurate feedback.
Thank you for the opportunity.

Was this review helpful?

I received this book as an audiobook - while the narration was well done, the story itself was complex, so I don't think it was a suitable format for this particular story. I found myself losing the thread as it progressed. I would forget the characters' names and what was happening when. As an avid reader, and someone who listens often in audiobook format, that doesn't usually happen. The ending ties everything up nicely, but by then, I had lost interest in it sadly.

Was this review helpful?

I just wasted how many hours of my life on this drivel? I don’t care about Katie. I don’t care about Chris. I sometimes enjoy a time jump, but the repetitive back and forth was extremely hard to follow. Also I just didn’t care.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Was this review helpful?

Alex North became an autobuy author for me after loving The Whisper Man. North’s writing has such a dark quality to it that I always know I’m in for something unexpected and twisty.

This is going to be a hard book to talk about without spoiling any of the details, so I’m going to keep things a bit vague and go with a pros and cons list review.

Pros:
📚 The setting! I loved that everything had a small town vibe where people and stories were interconnected. I thought this setting lends itself to making the characters' interactions and location choices for different scenes seem authentic.
📚 Multiple POVs! I’m a sucker for multiple narrators because I love that it allows the reader to fully understand the author’s vision from all sides. I’m always eagerly waiting for how they’ll finally connect as well.
📚 The writing! I honestly didn’t fully understand what was happening in this book until around the midpoint, but North’s writing is so good that I knew I needed to keep going. I think this might be a case of me zoning out on the audio, so perhaps people who chose the physical copy didn’t have this issue. Despite that hiccup, when I hit my ah-ha moment, nothing could stop me from wanting to know how this book would end!

Cons:
📚 The multiple POVs not being labeled at the start of the chapters. I listened to this one on audio and with each chapter constantly switching narrators, I would have loved an addition of labeling who was going to narrate at the start of the chapter.
📚 The amount of characters. Whew! Ok, once I finally got where things were going, this was fine, but I was confused for probably the first half of the book trying to figure out who was who and what they had to do with the story.

A huge thank you to Celadon Books for my gifted copy!

[Review to be posted on blog & social media on 4/24]

Was this review helpful?

I'm rounding up. I gave this book 3.5 stars.
As a fan of Alex North, I looked forward to this book for a while! I enjoyed his works and even gave his books as gifts to friends for gifts because he is a very talented writer. However, while the second half of this book was terrific, the first half was rough, and I had to push to get through it.
North has an exciting way of twisting philosophy into his storyline that flowed throughout the book very well, and that ending left me confused. The story was wrapped up in a bow at the end, which was pretty awesome! This one showed the risk of taking chances as a parent and the results that happened as well. The story is well written, but the time jumps confused me several times with the story. If you are an Alex North fan, you should pick this one up as it is worth the read but be prepared to have an open mind with the story. It was a compelling read, and the author did finish strong!
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrarator did a fantastic job! I thoroughly enjoyed the listen!
I want to extend my gratitude to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the exciting adventure that kept the gears in my mind going, as well as express a sincere apology for the tardiness of this review! I honestly miscalculated the time my college classes would consume! Great listen thou!

Was this review helpful?

This was my second time listening to an Alex North novel and it did not disappoint. The Whisper Man was the previous book I listened to and I actually enjoyed this one more. Sometimes the content of North's novels are hard for me to read, but if you like suspenseful mysteries involving serial killers, then I recommend this one.
It's a good idea to check out content warnings if you have sensitive subjects you stay prefer not to read. If I could use 3.5 stars, I would!

Was this review helpful?

#TheAngelMaker #AlexNorth #MacmillanAudio
The audiobook version of this novel is narrated in an engaging fashion and delivers a thrilling, multi-layered tale full of intrigue and suspense. The story follows Katie Shaw, a woman who has been haunted by a violent incident that happened to her younger brother Chris many years earlier. When Chris goes missing, Katie's path converges with that of Detective Laurence Page, who is investigating a violent murder and suspects Chris of having had some connection to it.

As the investigation unfolds, the author skillfully peels back each layer of the story, revealing new clues and unexpected twists that keep the listeners on the edge of their seats.

Overall, this audiobook is a great-listen for fans of the thriller genre who enjoy stories that are fast-paced, suspenseful, and intricately plotted.

Was this review helpful?

I have become such a big fan of Alex North, and it seems to me that with every book he puts out, I like him more and more while I have been keeping each novel at a solid 4 stars. North employs a very unique writing style for The Angel Maker and it happens to be one I am a huge fan of. It is very hard for me to describe and may jump around too much for some readers, but I found it to work really well here and there was also plenty of foreshadowing which is something else I tend to love. The story itself is a very slow burn, but I wasn't put off by that and I was actually really into it which is a bit of a surprise since I don't always love pacing this slow.

The audiobook is narrated by Rosalie Craig and even though it would have been nice to have a larger cast, I still happened to love it. One thing I will say though is that there is a complex plot at work here so I found it imperative to pay attention or I would miss something and have to rewind it. I found that I didn't want to miss a single thing and eventually, after entirely too much rewinding, ended up giving The Angel Maker my full attention until I finished.

There are creepy occurrences, some religious aspects, lots of suspense and tension, and spots where I practically jumped out of my skin. I thought it was a nice touch having a detective viewpoint in the book as well which gave it a bit of a procedural feel at times until all the pieces are put together. I ended up being very surprised by the twists, and I loved how everything tied together. Lots of viewpoints here so keep that in mind, but I think the audiobook is the way to go if you can focus enough. Otherwise, having the book handy wouldn’t be a bad idea!

Was this review helpful?

I will start saying that The whisper man was an absolutely amazing read and I was really excited to read more from Alex North. The Angel Maker was a whole different experience this time around. From the beginning I felt that the story as a bit all over and it was a bit hard to follow. It was actually how I felt until the very end. I do want to add that I still want to read more from Alex.

Was this review helpful?

"The Angel Maker" by Alex North is a chilling and suspenseful novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. As a follow-up to "The Whisper Man," North does an excellent job of recreating that sense of dread and uncertainty that made the first book so successful. The characters are well-developed, and the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways. North's writing style is engaging and keeps you hooked from the first page to the last. Overall, "The Angel Maker" is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and mystery novels. Alex North has once again proven himself to be a master of the genre.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much to the publisher for the early read! I LOVED this story so much! It held my attention the whole way, was darkly twisted and engaging, and the characters were well fleshed out. Definitely would recommend.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. I read anything North writes but this was probably my least favorite of his novels. The horror was just not as horrible as in his other stories. 3 stars.

Was this review helpful?

It was definitely an interesting story concept and made me think A LOT. Unfortunately I was bored most of the time. It was.. forgettable…

I just loved The Whisper Man so much that I’m not sure any A.N book will be able to top it.

The narrator was really good though! I really enjoyed her inflections and accent!

Also, I think the creepy pedophile theme was really hard to read especially as a mother.

Was this review helpful?

I was looking forward to this book. I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it. Maybe it was because I was listening to the audiobook but I was having a hard time following the story

Was this review helpful?

This ended up being a DNF for me. The storyline was a jumbled mess and the POV constantly changing didn’t help. I wanted to like this so much because I’ve loved his other works. I will be back.

Was this review helpful?

Another great book by Alex North! I definitely want to sit down and read this book again as opposed to listening it, but it was a good one!

Was this review helpful?

Original, creepy, and engrossing as you’d expect any Alex North book to be. While I enjoyed the story, the multitude of characters and their multiple monikers, made it difficult to keep the details straight, especially on audiobook. This negatively impacted my listening experience despite the narrator being brilliant. Just too much of a distraction. Won’t be my last Alex North though as I think this was a one-off!

Was this review helpful?

This was good but I was also super confused but I'm not sure if it was mostly my fault cause I was usually listening to it while doing other things. But it was still enjoyable and kept me engaged especially towards the end! I bet I'd I had physically read it I would have been less confused, maybe? But I did enjoy the audio!

Was this review helpful?

This just was not for me. It was so muddled and really lost my attention after a while, because I was confused what was going on. I have read others say the same thing, so it's not just me.

Was this review helpful?

Did not finish at 37% - this was more of a crime novel and less of a thriller than I was expecting. I had a difficult time connecting to any of the characters which made it hard for me to feel invested.

Was this review helpful?