Alex North

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.

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.

A Novel

The Angel Maker

*A suspenseful but shambolic novel that didn’t live up to its ambitions*

Quick note: this book was also published under the name 

 by this author, so I was excited to read 

. Unfortunately, the ambitious scope of the story led it to be a bit too muddled and spread thin.

 is about a serial killer dubbed by that name. It is partially about Katie Shaw whose family was torn apart when he brother was attached by the famed serial killer. But it is also about Detective Laurence Page who is investigating the case of a mysterious professor who could allegedly see the future who was brutally murdered hours after dismissing his entire staff.

The story was told through multiple POV – and a whole lot of them. I honestly have no idea how many POV, because I couldn’t keep track of them. They were all in third person, but the narrative switched between present tense and past tense as well as jumping around through the years with no real direction. It gave the story an extremely muddled feel and made it hard to keep track of things. It also made it hard to connect with any of the characters. Not that I usually expect deep character development in suspense novels, but I was too busy trying to keep track of who was who and what timeline they were in to have any emotional connection to a single character. This was barely longer than a novella, but it felt like there was too much crammed in. And the possible supernatural elements were too murky. I would have enjoyed it more if the story had a firmer stance one way or the other about supernatural. Sometimes leaving the decision about believing the supernatural in the hands of the reader works (such as 

). But this story just didn’t have enough focus. I don’t mind stories that require attention, but there is such thing as requiring too much effort.

I am still plan on reading more by North since I enjoyed his previous books even though this one was a little disappointing.

Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars

Colleen

3 Stars

*A suspenseful but shambolic novel that didn’t live up to its ambitions*


Quick note: this book was also published under the name The Half Burnt House in the U.K..

I enjoyed The Whisper Man and The Shadows by this author, so I was excited to read The Angel Maker. Unfortunately, the ambitious scope of the story led it to be a bit too muddled and spread thin.

The Angel Maker is about a serial killer dubbed by that name. It is partially about Katie Shaw whose family was torn apart when he brother was attached by the famed serial killer. But it is also about Detective Laurence Page who is investigating the case of a mysterious professor who could allegedly see the future who was brutally murdered hours after dismissing his entire staff.


A life is lived forward. The present is a vantage point from which every moment in the past is inevitable and every moment in the future invisible.


The story was told through multiple POV – and a whole lot of them. I honestly have no idea how many POV, because I couldn’t keep track of them. They were all in third person, but the narrative switched between present tense and past tense as well as jumping around through the years with no real direction. It gave the story an extremely muddled feel and made it hard to keep track of things. It also made it hard to connect with any of the characters. Not that I usually expect deep character development in suspense novels, but I was too busy trying to keep track of who was who and what timeline they were in to have any emotional connection to a single character. This was barely longer than a novella, but it felt like there was too much crammed in. And the possible supernatural elements were too murky. I would have enjoyed it more if the story had a firmer stance one way or the other about supernatural. Sometimes leaving the decision about believing the supernatural in the hands of the reader works (such as The Turn of the Screw). But this story just didn’t have enough focus. I don’t mind stories that require attention, but there is such thing as requiring too much effort.

I am still plan on reading more by North since I enjoyed his previous books even though this one was a little disappointing.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Interesting concept, but I found myself losing track of characters/getting them confused. It all ties together eventually, but I felt lost at times. Also had trouble feeling connected to most of the characters as development was often shallow. 

Erin Goss

C. J. Daley 

I was super stoked when I was approved for the audiobook from NetGalley. I am a huge fan of The Shadows and The Whisper Man, so I couldn’t wait to get to this one. I love how the audio mixes crime with horror elements. 

Sadly, I’m not much of a fan of this one. I feel like the book lost me within the first 20 minutes of audio. This book features like Goosebumps-level short chapters but from different perspectives. Not to mention also time periods? It jumps so fast and so often that you aren’t really spending significant time with anyone, which wasn’t allowing me to settle into any one perspective. It was incredibly confusing. 

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. 

Personally a 2/5* for me. Oddly disappointed!

This is slow-burn, creepy, atmospheric. It explores the lives of siblings and parenting, and how our upbringing impacts us. And, do we have free will? Go into it pretty blind and enjoy.

The Angel Maker A Novel

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