The Angel Maker: A Novel

"Deeply complex and carefully crafted, this novel is a thrilling question mark all the way to the end, and it puts North's storytelling skills on full display.... The Angel Maker, his best so far, is a superb addition to his already impressive oeuvre."-NPR

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.

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336 pages

Average rating: 6.67

27 RATINGS

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1 REVIEW

Community Reviews

Anonymous
May 13, 2023
6/10 stars
3.5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC.

The Angel Maker is a thriller with several timelines and characters that are somehow all related. Katie Smith is devastated when her brother, Chris, becomes a victim of a crime and blames herself for not being around to protect him. Alan Hobbs, a philosophy professor, is found murdered shortly after letting his staff members go. Without providing too much information to give things way, detectives are trying to connect the two crimes and determine how a serial killer is able to predict the future.

This was the third book I’ve read by Alex North and unfortunately it’s my least favorite of his. The biggest issue I had with this book was the amount of concentration it required to follow along. I didn’t even try to piece together the puzzle due to its complexity. I felt as though there were too many characters and stories to follow. I was definitely hooked on trying to figure out how the crimes were connected but it took until halfway through for me to feel fully invested. As the story came to an end, I was satisfied to have all the answers.

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