Alex North (2) (1976–)

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 4.5/5
I was absolutely pumped when Celadon hooked me up with "The Man Made of Smoke" for their Little Free Library Drop Day! Alex North has a knack for crafting dark, twisty crime tales that pack an emotional punch, and he's definitely on my list of must-read authors. Mark your calendars because this spine-tingling thriller drops on May 13th! 📅

After a close encounter with a serial killer when he was a child, Dan Garvie dedicates his career to catching bad guys as a show more criminal profiler. But when his father mysteriously dies, he finds himself back on the island he couldn't escape fast enough, ready to dig into some family secrets.

This book is emotional. One minute, I’m holding my breath in suspense; the next, I’m diving deep into the complex—sometimes fraught—father-son dynamics. North truly nails it with a signature blend of shocks, reflections, and enough spine-tingling terror to keep you on your toes.

"The Man Made of Smoke" is like a well-crafted jigsaw puzzle of timelines and narratives you can't resist piecing together. Once you crack open this book, late-night reading sessions are guaranteed. Prepare for a thrilling ride! 🕯️

Thank you to the author and Celadon Books for this ARC provided via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. show less

Dan Garvie has spent his entire adult life trying to understand what makes people do terrible things. He works as a criminal psychiatrist in a prison, sitting across from killers and methodically unpicking what made them that way — because Dan believes, professionally and philosophically, that there are no actual monsters, only damaged people. He has needed to believe this ever since he was a teenager and had a chance encounter with a serial killer known as the Pied Piper, a man who show more abducted and killed children. Dan froze. He didn't intervene. A child suffered as a result, and the killer vanished again. That guilt has quietly defined his entire life.
When his father John — a retired police chief — dies under suspicious circumstances on the small, isolated island where Dan grew up, Dan goes back. He discovers that just before his death, his father had stumbled across a body and been quietly, obsessively investigating what looked like a return of the Pied Piper's crimes. The novel unspools across three timelines: Dan in the present, his father John in the period before his death, and a boy named James in 1998 — a child who was abducted. North is the author of The Whisper Man, and this has exactly that same creeping, deeply atmospheric dread. Comparisons are to Thomas Harris and C.J. Tudor. The chapters are structured around the stages of grief.

[May contain spoilers]
James, the child in the 1998 timeline, survived his abduction — but barely, and with lasting damage. The Pied Piper's modus operandi was proving a point: that nobody would intervene to help a child in danger. Dan's encounter as a teenager was one of these tests, and the killer never forgot that Dan failed it. James, having survived and carried his trauma into adulthood, becomes the present-day killer picking up where the Pied Piper left off — whether that's continuation, tribute, or something else is part of what the novel leaves you to sit with. John, Dan's father, had tracked down the farmhouse where the Pied Piper had held his victims, which is what got him killed. The twist that floors readers is the identity of the person Dan has been in contact with throughout — the man who told Dan his father was proud of him and then made clear he intended to punish Dan most of all, because of everyone, Dan failed to help James that day. The ending has Dan still visiting the killer in prison — because he remains a man, never actually a monster, which loops back to Dan's core belief. Most readers found this genuinely satisfying and gobsmacking.
What I think: This is right in your wheelhouse — atmospheric British serial killer thriller with a complex male protagonist, multiple timelines that actually pay off, and an ending that's earned rather than cheap. The Whisper Man vibes are strong, the child-in-peril elements are handled with restraint rather than gratuitously, and the grief structure gives it more emotional weight than your average thriller. show less

4.5⭐⁠⠀
If you need some chills and thrills this novel delivers!
A very quick read under 2 days for me, I felt the creep factor- North writes effortlessly and a few of the scenes (?) were so smooth in execution I could out myself in the action and feel the hairs on my neck raise.
⠀
After the sudden death of his wife Tom Kennedy decides to make a fresh start in a new town with his son Jake.
Unfortunately, their “fresh start” lands them in the middle of a two decade old web of a show more serial killer- the Whisper Man.
20 years ago Frank Carter haunted the little town, whispering in windows and abducting boys. He is locked behind bars and the town is safe once again. Until a littleI’m boy goes missing- and his mother reports he heard whispering a few nights before he disappeared ....
....Now Jake is also hearing a whispering at the window....
⠀
I struggled between a 4.5 and a 5 for this one and ultimately decided to not let hype push me- there were a few loose ends I really need tied up otherwise this was perfect. It’s full of suspense and very creepy- might not be scary enough for big thrill seekers- it’s a subtle chill factor imo, not a book I would read home alone.
I was also very impressed with the generational cycle issues woven into this story and I hope once more people have read this that we can talk openly about these themes with spoiling!

Full review on my blog! ⠀www.readwithwine.com
⠀
A big thank you to Celadon and Goodreads for the copy of The Whisper Man! show less

The Whisper Man by Alex North is a 2019 Celadon Books publication.

Unsettling, spine-tingling, and emotionally charged thriller!

After the untimely death of his wife, Tom Kennedy feels like a fresh start in a new location, might help him and his young son, Jake, move forward from their grief and begin the healing process. But almost immediately after moving to Featherbank, a new set of problems presents themselves. Jake has trouble adjusting to his new school, just as another boy Jake’s age show more goes missing. The child’s disappearance prompts concerns that another serial killer is on the loose in Featherbank- one with the same MO as the dreaded ‘Whisper Man’ who murdered five people twenty years ago. The case becomes personal for Tom and Jake when Jake begins having nightmares, claiming he can hear someone whispering to him at his window….

Meanwhile, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis are working overtime to find this missing boy before another child disappears…

I’ve been avoiding hyped up thrillers, books that everyone is reading, and mostly gushing over, because my experience with these situations has taught me a few hard lessons- mainly, don’t buy into the hype, because I’m only setting myself up for a big disappointment. But, earlier this year, another book by this same publisher became a huge sleeper hit, and although I was highly skeptical, I caved and checked the book out the library. Well, much to my surprise, the book was very good. So, when ‘The Whisper Man’ started to generate a little buzz, I decided to jump on board the already crowded train, just see if lightning might strike twice… And lo and behold, it did!!

But, to be honest, when one gets right down to the nitty and the gritty, this book is basically another thriller with a serial killer trope. However, what sets it apart from so many other cookie-cutter novels in this category, is the characterizations, and the author’s ability to explore the real psychology behind the character’s actions, without compromising the intensity of the real terror one feels while reading this book. The story is packed with strange, creepy, atmospheric vibes, promising Tom and Jake are being threatened by true evil.

While the mystery is compelling, and the atmosphere is thick and heavy, the author takes a story of horror and dread, and adds in a deeper, more complex angle- a topic that isn’t explored often enough in general fiction, much less in a thriller- the dynamics of the father-son relationship.

The story is very masculine, with the few female characters being suspect, bland, or not very nice-like Jake’s teacher, for example. I never bristled though, because the male leads are portrayed as flawed, burdened, troubled, and vulnerable, and the book never once veered off into an alpha male, testosterone driven story.

From start to finish this is a well written, intense, highly suspenseful thriller- but it is also smart and profound, ending not only with extreme, exhilarating relief, as I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding- 😉, but also on a note of redemptive satisfaction.

Overall, this is another winner for Celadon Books, but as a reader, I’m super excited about Alex North! If this is his debut novel, I wonder how much his talent will develop over time.

5 stars show less