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The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

Thriller

The Man Made of Smoke

3peat author

by Alex North

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Quick take

A son follows in his father’s footsteps to unmask a serial killer in this eerie, spine-tingling thriller.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Psychological

    Psychological

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Nonlinear_Timeline

    Nonlinear timeline

  • Illustrated icon, Creepy

    Creepy

Synopsis

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?

Content warning

This book contains mentions of the death of a child.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of The Man Made of Smoke.

The Man Made of Smoke

It could be anywhere, this place.

A rest area in the countryside, just off the motorway. There’s a low-budget hotel on one side of the car park, gas pumps on the other. Inside the single-story building at the far end, there is a food counter, a shabby amusement arcade, and a shop with snacks and newspapers and a selection of bestselling books. Outside the entrance, a van is selling flowers. The bunches rest in battered metal buckets, wilting in the afternoon heat.

After parking, the man sits in the darkness of his van for a time.

Then he gets out and walks slowly toward the main building.

The first witness to see him is a teenager dressed in creased kitchen whites, who is leaning against the wall of the hotel, smoking a cigarette. Hours later, he will give the police the same vague description as others who are present here this afternoon. The man is tall. Long green coat; dirty jeans; work boots thick with dried mud. The teenager will mention brown tufty hair, and a sun-weathered face. But the main thing he will remember is a sense of threat that he can’t quite put into words.

“He was someone you don’t want to look at,” he tells the police.

The man stops briefly at the flower van. A young woman is working inside. From behind the counter, she can really see only the man’s upper body, and so she wouldn’t be able to describe his face even if, like the young man outside the hotel, she had been prepared to look at him for long enough.

She will be clear about the words, at least.

“Nobody sees,” the man says. “And nobody cares.”

Inside the main building, the man approaches the food counter and stands there for a moment without ordering. Another teenager is working there, but he’s too busy and distracted to pay the man much attention. He’s scanning the racks of burgers and hot dogs wrapped in greasy paper, making a mental count. A smart kid, this one. He’s only been there for two weeks, but he knows what sells and when, and has been trying to get the guy working the grills in the back up to speed.

“Nobody sees,” the man says. “And nobody cares.”

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Why I love it

It’s a known fact that thrillers are pulse-pounding stories meant to keep you guessing at each twist and turn. However, a truly special thriller is one that feels incredibly propulsive, while also being eerie and haunting at the same time. The Man Made of Smoke is one of those special thrillers. Alex North takes a suspense-filled story to the next level with atmospheric writing and truly terrifying moments.

Many years after escaping a close encounter with a serial killer, Dan Garvie has dedicated his life to helping people through his work as a criminal profiler. He’s moved on from his experience as a child and has decided to focus on the future…until he learns that his father has died under mysterious circumstances. Upon his father’s death, he returns to the small town that he left behind long ago. As Dan tries to uncover the truth about his father’s death, questions begin to arise, and Dan wonders if the monster he faced in his youth has returned.

There’s nothing quite like an Alex North novel, but I would say The Man Made of Smoke has to be his best one yet. This is more than a story about a returned serial killer—it’s a story that tackles the complexity of trauma and the tenuous relationship between a father and son. Equally thought-provoking and chilling, The Man Made of Smoke will have you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

Other books by Alex North

Member ratings (22)

May 2025
The Man Made of Smoke
Home of the American Circus
The Names
The Bombshell
Silver Elite
Alive Day
May 2025
View all
The Man Made of Smoke
Home of the American Circus
The Names
The Bombshell
Silver Elite
Alive Day