A chilling thriller that'll make you hear whispers at night
When I first heard about The Whisper Man, this book immediately went to the top of my must read list for the year. This is Alex North’s crime debut, and I definitely think he hit this one out of the park.
In the small town of Featherbank, the disturbing story of the Whisper Man continues to haunt the town. More than 20 years ago, the Whisper Man kidnapped and murdered 5 local boys. Frank Carter, the Whisper Man, is currently incarcerated in prison where he relishes in his fame and notoriety. Even though it’s been over 20 years, Frank continues to torment 56 year old DI Pete Willis, the DI who finally captured Frank, by playing mind games and tricks rather than reveal the location of Tony Smith’s body. Regardless, Pete continues to visit Frank and put up with his incessant antics in hopes to finally give the grieving parents some closure.
“If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.
If you play outside alone, soon you won’t be going home.”
Tom Kennedy is an author, father, and widow. Following the sudden death of his wife, Tom is left battling depression as he attempts to pick up the pieces of his shattered world. In an attempt to gain a fresh start with his seven year old son Jake, who is constantly ridiculed by his peers since he tends to withdraws from others and focus on his art , Tom decides to move to an odd yet quaint house in idyllic Featherbank that Jake picks out. This is finally going to be the reinvigoration this father-son relationship needs, since Tom constantly feels like he’s walking on eggs whenever it comes to Jake.
“We were going to be safe here.
We were going to be happy.
And for the first week, we were.”
To Tom’s greatest horror, he ends up placing Jake in danger that is something from his worst nightmares. A boy, who was a part of the class that Jake has now joined, has mysteriously disappeared…but it is it really the Whisper Man? Jake’s special friend seems to think so…she seems to think that there’s the body of a boy buried within his new house.
I was immediately hooked while reading this truly engrossing crime thriller. There are so many different themes that were beautifully addressed. One of the most important was father-son relationships. Parental-child relationships are always difficult but imagine adding the layers of grief and depression matched with a child that has difficulty relating to standard social norms. What would you do if you were at your wit’s end?
There were some interesting twists and turns along the way that definitely kept me on my toes. Don’t go into this one thinking that this is going to be a fast paced thriller that you tear through the pages to find out what happens next. This is a slow burn. The author slowly plants nuggets of information that you may catch or you may not. This is the type of plot that has to be peeled away, and the insidiousness of all of it doesn’t hit you until the very end.
Overall, if you love crime thrillers that always make you second guess everything that you’ve read then pick up this book. You won’t be disappointed.
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing an ARC for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
Rating: 4.5 stars
In the small town of Featherbank, the disturbing story of the Whisper Man continues to haunt the town. More than 20 years ago, the Whisper Man kidnapped and murdered 5 local boys. Frank Carter, the Whisper Man, is currently incarcerated in prison where he relishes in his fame and notoriety. Even though it’s been over 20 years, Frank continues to torment 56 year old DI Pete Willis, the DI who finally captured Frank, by playing mind games and tricks rather than reveal the location of Tony Smith’s body. Regardless, Pete continues to visit Frank and put up with his incessant antics in hopes to finally give the grieving parents some closure.
“If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.
If you play outside alone, soon you won’t be going home.”
Tom Kennedy is an author, father, and widow. Following the sudden death of his wife, Tom is left battling depression as he attempts to pick up the pieces of his shattered world. In an attempt to gain a fresh start with his seven year old son Jake, who is constantly ridiculed by his peers since he tends to withdraws from others and focus on his art , Tom decides to move to an odd yet quaint house in idyllic Featherbank that Jake picks out. This is finally going to be the reinvigoration this father-son relationship needs, since Tom constantly feels like he’s walking on eggs whenever it comes to Jake.
“We were going to be safe here.
We were going to be happy.
And for the first week, we were.”
To Tom’s greatest horror, he ends up placing Jake in danger that is something from his worst nightmares. A boy, who was a part of the class that Jake has now joined, has mysteriously disappeared…but it is it really the Whisper Man? Jake’s special friend seems to think so…she seems to think that there’s the body of a boy buried within his new house.
I was immediately hooked while reading this truly engrossing crime thriller. There are so many different themes that were beautifully addressed. One of the most important was father-son relationships. Parental-child relationships are always difficult but imagine adding the layers of grief and depression matched with a child that has difficulty relating to standard social norms. What would you do if you were at your wit’s end?
There were some interesting twists and turns along the way that definitely kept me on my toes. Don’t go into this one thinking that this is going to be a fast paced thriller that you tear through the pages to find out what happens next. This is a slow burn. The author slowly plants nuggets of information that you may catch or you may not. This is the type of plot that has to be peeled away, and the insidiousness of all of it doesn’t hit you until the very end.
Overall, if you love crime thrillers that always make you second guess everything that you’ve read then pick up this book. You won’t be disappointed.
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing an ARC for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
Rating: 4.5 stars