Alex North considers himself, first and foremost, to be a crime writer. However, he sprinkles in enough elements of the pure thriller and supernatural genres, which elevates his books to an entirely different level. His latest effort, THE ANGEL MAKER, is no exception.

"What drives THE ANGEL MAKER is the twisting plot that continually keeps readers off-balance. How North eventually ties all of these elements together is a wondrous feat that will be nearly impossible to predict."

When philosophy professor Alan Hobbes is brutally murdered, detectives Laurence Page and Caroline Pettifer are immediately inundated with two old cases that appear to be related to this one. The first was an attack on Christopher Shaw, whose face was disfigured by a homicidal maniac named Michael Hyde when he was a teen. There is also a plethora of memorabilia, including an extremely rare book that has now gone missing, that link to infamous serial killer Jack Lock, aka “The Angel Maker,” with whom Hobbes seems to have been obsessed.

What drives THE ANGEL MAKER is the twisting plot that continually keeps readers off-balance. How North eventually ties all of these elements together is a wondrous feat that will be nearly impossible to predict. Along with the work of Page and Pettifer, we are privy to the private campaign of Chris’ sister, Katie. She has been trying to locate her brother, who she hasn’t seen in a couple of years. When his name surfaces in connection with the Hobbes murder, she is even more keenly interested in finding and protecting him. She fears that Hyde, who is back on the streets once again, is seeking to finish the job against Chris that put him behind bars in the first place.

Early on in the story, Katie’s husband asks if she would want to be able to look into the future if she could. This bit of foreshadowing will stay with readers throughout the narrative. Katie is bewildered by the connection of Chris to Hobbes, especially when she learns that Chris may have worked for Hobbes in some unknown capacity.

That the Angel Maker died in 1956 but still plays such a prominent role here really keeps the supernatural themes humming throughout these pages. THE ANGEL MAKER is quite a puzzle to decipher, but the journey is well worth it.