I have been a big fan of Alex North for many years since initially meeting him in Harrogate at the festival a while ago. So I was very excited to be accepted for a netgalley preview of his latest novel Man Made of Smoke.

In The Man Made of Smoke, Dan has been haunted by a crime he was involved with as a child when he narrowly escaped a notorious serial killer. Years later Dan has became a criminal profiler to try and get justice for innocent victims. When his Dad disappears from home leaving no trace, Dan returns to the small island of his youth to try and find out the truth. He soon gets drawn into a mystery that stretches all the way back to the man made of smoke, ‘Nobody sees, nobody cares’

Man made of smoke was another absolute cracking novel by Alex North that I was immediately gripped by. 

I love the menace that was brimming off the page as the story progresses. The talk of the ‘Man Made of Smoke’ has become an urban legend which gives it an almost supernatural horror story feeling but with it’s feet firmly in reality. The story actually starts quite slowly with Dan being drawn back to his birthplace as he hopes to find some clues as to where his father has gone, before the fear and the terror soon start ramping up. Halfway through I thought I’d guessed the plan and thought it would become a bit predictable, but I was completely wrong!

It’s a difficult book to review without giving away spoilers. It’s an incredibly multi-layered story that manages to balance creepy horror with emotional depth through characters that you really care about. The setting of the story was interesting, as it felt like it could be on any of 100 remote islands yet equally the setting was key to the whole story. 

I really enjoyed this and found myself racing through to the end late into the night, helped by the fact that is was all so unnerving I couldn’t sleep. A fabulous read once again from one of my favourite authors.

The Man Made of Smoke is out next month pre-order now https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alex-North-4/dp/0241438144