The Man Made of Smoke

Alex North has become one of my favorite authors in the past few years, so I was excited to read his brand new book, The Man Made of Smoke. Following several characters and a few timelines, it starts when young Dan has a brief encounter with a serial killer and one of the boys he’d abducted. Decades later, Dan is still haunted by his inaction and that he wasn’t able to save the boy. But when that old case is cracked open again, with new murders occurring and Dan’s retired father missing, he’ll have to delve into the past again to put a stop to the escalating horrors happening now.

What I Liked:

• Highlighting relationships between fathers and sons, with all the complications and miscommunications that can come with. Dan and has father John are both torn apart and united by their proximity to a serial killer two decades earlier. When that case comes back into their lives, it threatens to end their relationship forever… or bring them back together again.
• How characters have conversations with each other in their minds, putting themselves into each other’s shoes. How would my dad think about this? How would my son approach the issue? Dan and John are both following a trail of clues on their own, each imagining what the other would consider or do to get closer to the truth. But how well do they understand each other?
• The mantras people tell themselves, often in the most unforgiving, belittling way. It’s what can drive isolation and self-hate if not checked. John, Dan, and even the serial killer have their own phrases that are repeated again and again. But are they reciting an existing truth or creating that reality for themselves?

Final Thoughts

The Man Made of Smoke has several of the themes that stand out most in Alex North’s work. This novel is tragic in many ways, and especially now that I have a son myself, it was at times hard to read. But for all the horrors that occur here, it is ultimately about uncovering the real people behind the labels and healing from tragedy.

Special thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for providing me with physical and ebook ARCs of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Man Made of Smoke here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North
Audience	Adult
Genre	Crime Fiction; Thriller
Setting	England
Number of Pages	320
Format I Read	Paperback (ARC Giveaway) & Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	May 13, 2025
Publisher	Celadon

Official Summary

“Fans of Thomas Harris will be creeped out by North’s hair-raising antagonist… This is a winner.”
—Publishers Weekly

The latest gripping serial killer thriller from the New York Times bestselling author Alex North.

Dan Garvie’s life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child—narrowly escaping an encounter with a notorious serial killer. He has dedicated his life since to becoming a criminal profiler, eager to seek justice for innocent victims. So when his father passes away under suspicious circumstances, Dan revisits his small island community, determined to uncover the truth about his death. Is it possible that the monster he remembers from his childhood nightmares has returned after all these years?

With his signature shock and suspense, Alex North brings us The Man Made of Smoke. In turn emotional, introspective, and utterly terrifying, this is a story of fathers and sons, shadows and secrets, and the fight we all face to escape the trauma of the past.