Alex North, internationally bestselling author of The Whisper Man, The Shadow Friend, and The Half Burnt House, is set to release his highly anticipated fourth novel, The Man Made of Smoke, on May 8, 2025, in the UK and May 13 in the US.
The Man Made of Smoke introduces Daniel Garvie, a man haunted by a mistake from his childhood. When he was just a boy, he saw a lost child in the woods but was too afraid to help. Because of his inaction, one of the world’s most notorious serial killers—the Pied Piper—was allowed to escape. Now an accomplished criminal psychiatrist, Daniel spends his life unraveling the darkest aspects of human nature. But when his father disappears, Daniel is forced to return to the small island where he grew up, a place that holds the ghosts and monsters he thought he’d left behind. The return could offer him redemption… or it could lead him into a trap.
In an exclusive interview with SCREAM, North discusses the emotional dynamics at the heart of the novel—the complex father-son relationship between Daniel and his retired policeman father. He also reveals the chilling inspiration behind the Pied Piper serial killer and shares his excitement about the upcoming film adaptation of The Whisper Man, currently being adapted into a film, starring Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, and Michelle Monaghan.
WORDS: Howard Gorman
