I read THE WHISPERING ROOM without any problems following the story line even though I have not read the first book. The characters are engaging and although I felt the story was drawn out at times I did like the book. The main problem I had was it felt, to me, as if it was only a part of a story. Like part of it was missing. I would have liked to see probably the third book combined with this one and make the ending more complete. It was as if he was attempting to leave the audience wondering what would happen next, as if it was written as a cliffhanger for a television show instead of a complete book. By the end of the story I was skimming the pages. You can only read about a drive from here to Arizona for so long before you stop paying attention and loose interest in the story.