Alex North is a popular thriller author who is new to me. What did I think of his latest? And what were in those mysterious envelopes? Check out my Review of The Angel Maker.
The Angel Maker by Alex North
Published on February 28, 2023 by Celadon Books.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
What Else Has Alex North Written?
He wrote The Whisper Man in 2019. I’ve heard a lot of great things about it and I will be reading it soon.
He then wrote The Shadows in 2020.
He wrote The Man Made of Smoke in 2025
Review of The Angel Maker
It’s always fun to read a book by a brand-new (to me) author and try to get a feel for their overall vibe.
I’d call The Angel Maker a cerebral book. It had a VERY complicated timeline, an intricately crafted plot, and characters that are connected in ways that take a while to figure out.
The Angel Maker had two main characters:
Katie Shaw is a married mom of one who is still traumatized by the attempted murder of her brother, an attack that happened decades ago.
Detective Laurence Page is one of the police officers who is investigating a murder in the present. This murder will, through a VERY complicated string of events, have a connection to Katie.
The narrative of The Angel Maker is set in the present. However, it draws a LOT on events that happened in the fifty years prior.
As I read, I had to make myself a timeline and character list so I wouldn’t lose my mind.
I will share these (and the contents of the mysterious envelopes I received in the mail) in my Spoiler Discussion Post for The Angel Maker. I wasn’t going to do a Spoiler Post but I might as well share my work because there’s a lot going on here. Maybe a bit too much at times?
There was one aspect of the book I did not understand at all. At all! If you want to help me, head over to that Angel Maker Spoiler Post and straighten me out.
In sum: The Angel Maker definitely kept my interest.
For me, it had a bit too much delving into the past, but I do think this is partly a cultural difference between Brits and Americans. Americans are very future-looking (sometimes to their detriment) and I feel like the British have more interest in history and its lessons. I was listening to a podcast about the Murdagh case and a psychologist wanted to go back decades and talk about the family and their generations of trauma and I was like ehhhh … no. Let’s just talk about that dog video, please.
Authors Similar to Alex North
If I had to pick the author Alex North reminds me most of, it would be Lisa Jewell.
Both are British and their books have intricate plots that are rooted in secrets and traumas from the past.
Both often have a police officer as a main character. I reviewed Jewell’s The Night She Disappeared, The Family Remains, and Invisible Girl. If you’re a Jewell fan (and there are many) and haven’t tried North’s books, defitneily give them a try.
I’m still going to read The Whisper Man, as I am curious about that one.
If you’ve read Alex North’s books, tell me your thoughts in the comments!