The Whisper Man is a gripping thriller about missing boys and “The Whisper Man” who takes them. The story involves many characters and Alex North does a wonderful job with developing them all. The point of view changes throughout the story which to me was essential in building the connections to the characters. The storyline was beyond perfect to me and always kept me guessing. There were some things I figured out early on, but that only made me love the book more. One thing Alex North did in this book that really “wowed” me was how the underlying theme of grief was so exceptionally presented. “…grief is a stew with a thousand ingredients and not all of them are palatable.” That sentence right there spoke to me in so many ways. Losing a loved one is one of the most world upending things and there is no way to know how to navigate it. I absolutely fell in love with Jake’s way of dealing with losing his mom by collecting things of hers that made him remember her and putting them in his “Packet of Special Things”. I do something similar to this with my mom’s things and for me it made the book that more special. Towards the end of the book there were a few things that brought me to tears, but I don’t want to give any details away in this review so feel free to message me about them and we can discuss! This book will forever be one of my favorites and largely because it spoke to my love of thriller novels and my dealings with grief. Thank you Alex North for writing such an amazing book! This read gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me!