Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Angel Maker by Alex North

12 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

    Another great thriller by Alex North. When an old man is murdered around the same time a woman's brother goes missing, the police wonder if they're connected. And are they connected to the attack on the brother as a teen?
     I liked how everything tied together in the end I saw some of the threads coming together pretty early on, but not all of them. But we still had some unanswered questions I would have liked answered.
    I'm glad that this book was a bit more diverse than his other thrillers. Since a lot of UK adult thrillers don't have queer characters, and sometimes no POCs either, this had both!
    I guess I just felt a bit unsatisfied with the ending and not getting more answers on the serial killer and whether the book really tells the future question.
    Overall a great edge-of-your-seat thriller. Though I'd recommend reading an eBook or a print copy if possible, I may have missed something listening to the audio.

 Extra ratings: Fluff- NA   Heartfelt- 4/5   Helpful-NA    Horror- 1.5/5   Inspiration-NA   Love- NA    Mystery- 3.5/5    Predictability- 2/5   Spice- NA      Suspense-3.5/5    Tear 3/5    Thrill-4/5    Humor-1/5  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Child abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

unboxedjack's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Child death, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicide, and Murder

zosiablue's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This was a time-twisty mystery and what I liked about it was that the magical element wasn't overly explained. There was a book that told the future and that's about all you knew about it. And all you needed. I wish - and maybe in a sequel? - the serial killer dad / fortune teller and his sons backstory was there. It almost felt like the author didn't get the gist of her story until the end. Regardless, I really enjoyed this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Addiction

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Stalking, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

jraley_writes's review

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Torture

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Infertility, Gore, Stalking, Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Drug use

kris386's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, and Abandonment

Minor: Infertility, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Suicide

rosemaryandrue's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Katie and her brother Chris have had a strained relationship ever since the brutal attack on Chris that changed their lives forever. Decades later, it might be too late to fix things when Chris goes missing.

In this book, we are introduced to two separate mysteries that inevitably wind together – the disappearance of Chris Shaw, and the murder of Alan Hobbs – and the way that they come together made me exercise my brain and sometimes stretched my incredulity. I would hesitate to call this a mystery, as we are given nearly all the pieces in the first section of the book – it is fitting them all together which takes time.

I enjoyed the clever writing, and the theme of determinism that forms the keystone of the story, the question of if our pasts determine our present, or if we are more than the sum of our parts. I also really liked the sibling relationship between Katie and Chris, which is very complicated but still loving, and empathized with Katie’s need to not give up on her brother.

However, I thought the story moved along rather slowly, and while some reveals were well-done, I felt that others had been so telegraphed so obviously that they were rather robbed of their impact. There was also a supernatural elements to the story which I wasn’t expecting – though they are alluded to in the blurb, I did not realized how thoroughly the author leaned into them – and it seemed that many other readers were taken aback as well. Also, while I liked the character of Detective Page, I felt that his side of the narrative never really rose above being a device to move the plot along.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book, which is narrated by Rosalie Craig. I thought she did a good job of differentiating characters, and was especially good at portraying the fear and horror that characters felt during the story.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

paronomaniac's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Child death

Minor: Abandonment

sarahmcg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Thanks to Celadon Books for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review! 

This book kept me engaged, but ultimately left me with more questions than answers at the end. I listened on audiobook, while my husband read the physical copy, and I found myself having to rewind and re-listen to certain parts to get a handle on the characters’ various storylines - who was who, and how did they relate to each other?

I would have liked further explanations on certain storylines, I feel like some just ended up being red herrings. This bummed me out because I really enjoyed the Whisper Man! As a fellow reviewer mentioned, it felt more philosophical than a thriller. 

Despite my complaints, I still would describe it as an engaging read, and it was fun to discuss theories with my husband as we read along. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death

readingwithkaitlyn's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Stalking, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia