Alex North does it yet again. He is a master at weaving a great tale, leading in one direction until the truth smacks you in the face. The Man Made of Smoke is no different. After a brush with the “Pied Piper” as a kid, Dan does everything he can to forget the small boy he could have saved that day. Running away from the island he called his home, Dan becomes a criminal profiler who spends his days psychoanalyzing violent inmates. When the apparent suicide of his father brings Dan back to the island, Dan must unravel the clues his father was leaving behind.

The repeating line of “Nobody Sees, and nobody cares,” drives home the fact that humanity only pays attention to the people they think matter. Could the “Pied Piper” have been caught years earlier if someone at the rest stop other than Dan had just paid attention? I guess we’ll never really know.

A bit of a slow burn in the beginning, but by half way through, I couldn’t put it down.
This title doesn’t release until May 13th, 2025