I'm not sure if I've ever anticipated a book's release so eagerly. After reading and loving The Whisper Man last year, as soon as I heard about The Angel Maker coming out this year, I couldn't wait!
It certainly didn't disappoint, delivering all the creepiness and complexity I've come to expect from Alex North. However, I do have to admit the storyline was a bit confusing. There are a lot of characters, all of which intertwine together throughout multiple timelines, and it can be tedious trying to remember who is who. I found myself having to backtrack a few times in order to keep up with what was happening, but I didn't mind. The story is woven together in a hauntingly beautiful way, and incorporates some fascinating philosophical views that you'll keep thinking about long after you close the book.
"If you could see the future, would you want to?"
The prologue introduces us to Katie Shaw and her boyfriend, Sam Gardener, two teens in love and wanting to spend as much time together as possible before heading off to different universities. Katie's parents make this difficult since they don't allow them to be alone together, and she is growing increasingly frustrated. When Sam mentions one afternoon that his parents won't be home for another hour, the two of them head to Sam's, leaving Katie's younger brother, Christopher, to walk home on his own.
Katie returns later that afternoon, finding her neighborhood blocked off by police, a red car haphazardly parked and abandoned with the door still hanging open, and a pool of blood, from where a man named Michael Hyde has attacked and badly injured Chris.
Seventeen years later, we meet Alan Hobbes, alone in his home but haunted by the voice of his brother, Edward. Hobbes had arranged a meeting with his lawyer, Richard Gaunt, for the following day, but Gaunt arrives to find Hobbes brutally murdered. Incidentally, all his staff had been dismissed the day prior.
"It's like he knew. Like he knew what was coming and was ready for it."
The case is investigated by Detectives Laurence Page and Caroline Pettifer. As they start looking into the life of Mr. Hobbes, a much deeper mystery unfolds. Hobbes was a well-respected philosophy professor who donated most of his net worth to charity and lived well below his means. He was occupying only a small apartment within his expansive mansion, the rest of it falling into disrepair—Page even noticed part of the roof was missing, showing clear signs of fire damage.
Professor Hobbes specialized in teaching determinism, a subject considered by some to be controversial. Now, I'm not a philosopher, but the gist of determinism is that all future events are determined by pre-existing causes beyond our control, and that it is impossible for any other outcome to exist. There are no random chances, and the choices we make are not actually choices at all.
He did receive a handful of hate mail over the years, all of which was scrutinized by Page and Pettifer. The one that stood out was a letter that simply read, "You have committed blasphemy, and it will be corrected. — Edward."
This is probably a good time to mention that Detective Page worked Christopher Shaw's case seventeen years ago. So, imagine his surprise when video surveillance is discovered of present-day Chris at the professor's home shortly before he was murdered. The footage shows Chris standing above a sleeping Hobbes, walking into the next room and coming back holding what appears to be a book. We then see Chris reach up to disconnect the camera, and the video feed ends.
"Yes, but the reality is that all the steps are there at once. Beginning, middle, and end—they're all the same. From above, the whole journey is there."
Katie and Sam, now married, live a happy life with their daughter, Siena.
Chris is off the grid; he and the rest of their family haven't spoken in 2 years, ever since Katie reported him to the police for stealing money from her. That is, until Katie gets a distressed-sounding call from their mom: "It's your brother." Katie soon learns that Chris had gotten in touch with their mom again about three months ago. Despite being an addict for most of his life, he seemed healthy, was holding down a steady job and had his own apartment, and was, "properly himself," for the first time in years. However, the last few weeks, he seemed afraid of something, or someone. Now, he seems to be missing altogether.
Katie's mother begs her to help find Chris, and gives her the address and phone number he had provided, along with a spare key to his apartment. Against her better judgement, Katie decides to check it out. She finds the apartment seemingly abandoned, but recognizes recent photos of Chris and his boyfriend, James Alderson Jr., who is presumed missing as well.
She also discovers an old news article entitled The Despicable History of Jack Lock.
After a brief chat with the neighbor, Ben, Katie further confirms the suspicion that Chris, and now James, too, were running from someone. Ben explains that Chris had seemed on edge, and reported seeing a man watching the apartment who he could tell had bad intentions. "He was someone who enjoyed doing really bad things to people."
As Katie leaves the apartment with more questions than answers, she is sure she's being followed. Her fears are reinforced when she learns that a car has been spotted outside Siena's daycare, watching the kids. Siena has also started repeating, "red car," for seemingly no reason.
With no other clues to determine where her brother is or who may be stalking her family, Katie decides to do some research on this Jack Lock.
"Everything is connected below the surface."
Jack Lock was a serial killer active in the 1950's, better known as The Angel Maker.
He was raised in an obscure religious chapter known as Deus Scripsit, which translates to, "Written by God."
After the death of his wife, Lock was arrested and charged with her murder and that of four children, but the total number of his victims remained unknown. His own two sons were put up for adoption and their records sealed, leaving their identities known only to the boys themselves.
He claims to have documented all his murders in a notebook, explaining that he had written them prior to the events actually taking place, and that the future had been revealed to him. The existence of this notebook has been debated and remains a mystery.
"My life was set in stone before my birth."
So, that leaves us with a lot of questions:
Who killed Alan Hobbes?
Why was Chris Shaw at his home?
Who is Michael Hyde, and why did he target Chris seventeen years ago?
Who is stalking Katie's family?
Where is Chris now?
What happened to the sons of Jack Lock?
What on earth do all these things have to do with one another?
If you want to answer these questions, challenge your views on destiny and free will, and be thoroughly creeped out in the process, The Angel Maker is definitely worth the read!
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