Title: THE WHISPER MAN
Expected publication: 20 August 2019
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a
fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new
house, a new town. Featherbank.
But the town has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed "The Whisper Man," for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.
Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes. His disappearance bears an unnerving resemblance to Frank Carter's crimes, reigniting old rumors that he preyed with an accomplice. Now, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis must find the boy before it is too late, even if that means Pete has to revisit his great foe in prison: The Whisper Man.
And then Jake begins acting strangely. He hears a whispering at his window...
But the town has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed "The Whisper Man," for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.
Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes. His disappearance bears an unnerving resemblance to Frank Carter's crimes, reigniting old rumors that he preyed with an accomplice. Now, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis must find the boy before it is too late, even if that means Pete has to revisit his great foe in prison: The Whisper Man.
And then Jake begins acting strangely. He hears a whispering at his window...
My musings:
Imagine talking to your young son and he says to you: “I
was playing with the boy in the floor!” Now if that’s not creepy I don’t know
what is. Trust a writer to take it one level further and base a whole book
around it, which is just what Alex North has done with his latest thriller.
As the statement above suggests, there are many deliciously spooky elements in THE WHISPER MAN, which made this book one of my most anticipated new
releases this winter. I love nothing better than a creepy thriller, and it is
so difficult to find one that delivers fully on that front without the horror
and gore elements of other books in the genre. In fact, this one was just a
damn good read that kept me up very late into the night (now remind me why I
started reading it at 9 p.m. when I had to get up at 5 the next morning????)
and then kept me awake as I thought about it and over analysed every little
creek in the floorboards until falling into a restless slumber where shadowy
figures were still stalking my dreams.
If you want to get real value out of this magnificent story,
I suggest to go into it blindly, which will keep all the surprise elements
tightly hidden until they spring out at you when you least expect it. For
maximum effect, read it at night, during a south-westerly breeze, when branches
tap against your windows and the old house groans and creaks in protest. Be
assured that North has packed something into his story for everyone: a spooky ghost
story, a solid police procedural and a chilling serial killer story. With one
of the most delicious settings of all – an old creepy house that may hold some
unexpected surprises for its new owners.
Driven by two enigmatic protagonists,
the story unravelled quite quickly, inexorably
drawing me into its web. And despite chilling me to the core, it also touched
my heartstrings to such an extent that my cold dark heart may have shed a tear
or two! Parenthood, especially the relationship between fathers and sons
feature heavily here, which added a depth to the story missing in many other
thrillers of a similar calibre.
But what I loved most about this book was the way North
presented its spooky elements. There MAY
have been a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all, but then again, there
may not have been. Can children sense things we as adults have long lost in the
confines of our logical minds? You will have to read it and make up your own
mind.
Summary:
All in all, THE WHISPER MAN
was the perfect example of all the things I love in a good spooky
thriller. There was a balance here that is so hard to achieve that only few authors
manage to pull it off. More often than not I walk away disappointed. But not
this time. I am so glad that I came across this book and it is definitely one
of my favourites I have read this year. The only thing that left me slightly
puzzled was the end, and I may have to reread it to see what I have missed. Or
is North keeping his options open for a sequel? With the movie rights already
sold, this would not surprise me ....
Thank
you to Edelweiss and Celadon Books for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment