The Man Made of Smoke: A Novel

I have read and loved every Alex North thriller. He has a way of chilling you to the bone. The killers are human but very twisted and oh so believable. This one is a freaky twist on the Pied Piper. An island, trauma, child abduction, guilt, shame, rage, a sick, domino-effect murder path. You need to read this and all of Alex North’s books.

The Man Made of Smoke feels less like stepping inside the mind of its characters and more like opening an exceptionally detailed case file. Alex North creates an unsettling psychological thriller filled with murder, childhood trauma, buried secrets, and an isolated island that practically breathes alongside the people living there. Dan Garvie witnessed a horrifying abduction as a child after crossing paths with a notorious serial killer. The experience follows him into adulthood and shapes his career as a forensic psychiatrist. His return to the small island where he grew up pulls him into another investigation with disturbing connections to the crime that has haunted him for decades. North makes the island feel cold, isolated, and threatening. There is a sense that something unpleasant could emerge from every shadow. The investigative details receive an impressive amount of attention. I finished the book feeling like I could give a presentation on the case. I cannot say the same about the characters. Their personalities and relationships felt secondary to clues, theories, timelines, and red herrings. Dan's trauma should have created a powerful character arc, but I never developed much attachment to him or anyone he cared for. Large sections became tedious to read because so much information was explained directly instead of unfolding through character interactions or meaningful scenes. The mystery wandered through more possibilities than it needed to. Several red herrings extended the investigation without adding much to the story. The major revelations were fairly easy to anticipate early on. A focused plot and deeper characterization would have made the psychological suspense much more effective. Pick this up if you love detail heavy crime investigations, forensic psychology, serial killer mysteries, and gloomy Gothic atmosphere. A complimentary paperback of The Man Made of Smoke was provided by Celadon Books. All opinions in this review are my own.

This book was eerie and challenging, smart and complex, I couldn't get enough. I loved how the characters developed over the course of the story, and how the timeline fluxed through so many different time frames.

This was a slow moving story. I normally enjoy his stories, but this one just wasn't' the same. I did enjoy the twists that he had, just not something I was excited about.

Once again, Alex North knocks it out of the park! I could not have seen that plot twist coming!!