'The Angel Maker' is a thrilling question mark all the way to the end
Alex North's The Angel Maker is one of those tense, gripping narratives that walk a fine line between horror, mystery, a detective story, and something dark and enigmatic that lives in the shadows between those genres.
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.
Katie Shaw grew up in a nice house surrounded by a loving family, but that changed when a deranged stranger attacked her brother Chris. As a result of the attack, Chris became a problematic young man and eventually became estranged from his family, while Katie became haunted by guilt and developed a constant sense of worry and insecurity. Now, 17 years later, Katie has a young daughter, is struggling to keep her relationship afloat, and Chris is missing — meaning he needs her again.
Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page and his partner, Detective Caroline Pettifer, are investigating the gruesome murder of Alan Hobbes, a distinguished professor who was killed in his home hours after firing his entire staff and soon after giving instructions to his lawyers and getting most of his affairs in order. The case is strange, but a few pieces of evidence point to Chris Shaw being somehow involved in the crime. As Page and Pettifer uncover new leads and Katie tries to find her brother, the stories of Hobbes, Chris, Katie, and Jack Lock, a notorious serial killer who was also a religious zealot claiming he could see the future, all become deeply — and complicatedly — intertwined. Read More..