The most terrifying novel of the year, from the internationally bestselling author of The Whisper Man, available to pre-order now

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You never forget the day you meet a serial killer.

Dan was just a teenager when he had a chance encounter with the elusive killer known only as “the man made of smoke”. Nobody could blame him for being too scared to intervene, for being too scared to save the latest victim, for letting the killer vanish again.

Nobody except Dan himself.

Years later, Dan has a successful career as a criminal psychiatrist, unpicking the very darkest of human behaviour. Because, despite what he saw that day, Dan knows there's no such thing as a monster.

But now his father, John, has gone missing. And, when Dan returns to the small island where he grew up, he finds out that not long before his disappearance, John had stumbled across a body.

As Dan begins to dig, he finds unsettling links, stretching all the way back to the man made of smoke.

Which means this might just be a chance to not only save his dad, but to finally find redemption.
But what if he's been wrong about that day for all these years.

What if he was right to be scared?

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Praise for Alex North

"As terrifying as a great horror novel, as unpredictable as the best type of crime novel and above all beautifully written...a writer who is an absolute master of his craft" Jane Casey

"This is absorbing, headlong reading, a play on classic horror with an inventiveness of its own" New York Times

"Hugely atmospheric and deliciously creepy" Alex Michaelides