by Alex North ★★★☆☆
Having read Alex North's previous two novels, The Whisper Man and The Shadows (which thoroughly made my skin crawl), I was looking forward to another thriller with a dose of horror. However, The Angel Maker played out more like a straightforward murder mystery, which was fine, but just not quite what I had come to expect from North.
The novel opens with a gruesome scene. High schooler Katie Shaw is supposed to escort her younger brother Christopher home from school, but instead chooses to spend some "quality time" with her boyfriend, trusting Christopher will get home home without her assistance. When she makes her way to her house a couple of hours later, she's shocked to see caution tape and police officers. Left alone, her brother had been attacked on the way home by a complete stranger, who stabbed him several times and then "attempted to cut off his face". Christopher survives, but the scars run deep, both physical and emotional.
One of the first officers on the scene that day was Detective Laurence Page. Years later, he's called in to investigate the murder of a reclusive professor and philanthropist who was killed at home in his bed. His partner finds security footage that shows someone disconnecting the camera in the bedroom prior to the murder. The face on the screen is one Detective Page still remembers: Christopher Shaw.
For whatever reason, The Angel Maker didn't quite capture my interest. There was nothing wrong with the plot, which was better than average, or the pacing, which moved quickly, but I didn't find myself seeking out time to read this one the same way I had with North's previous novels. It's a relatively quick read, but one that I wanted to finish not so much to have the book's final secrets revealed, but mostly so I could move on to the next book. I'd recommend either of North's previous novels; this one was fine, but temper your expectations.