The Whisper Man by Alex North

The Whisper Man by Alex North
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Celadon Books (August 20, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1250317991

In this dark, suspenseful thriller, Alex North weaves a multi-generational tale of a father and son caught in the crosshairs of an investigation to catch a serial killer preying on a small town.

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...

REVIEW:

First Sentence:

The abduction of a child by a stranger is every parent’s worst nightmare.

The Whisper Man by Alex North is everything I thought it would be and a bit more. It had some of the terrifying elements that I was expecting but there was a lot of psychological and emotional qualities that I wasn’t quite anticipating.

Unless you live under a rock and hey, rocks are great – I have a favorite I like to hide under when I’ve had enough - you’ve probably heard the buzz about The Whisper Man. I’ve seen the book all over the book stores and various social media outlets and have refrained from reading any reviews past the stars that were given because I didn’t want them to shape my opinion. I do this a lot with really popular books. It seems most people really liked it and some, not so much. I fall on the side that liked it. There were some things about the book that maybe I didn’t ‘love’; one thing was that I didn’t really feel a connection with the main character, Tom, he just seemed off to me and I also didn’t care for how the author would write a dialogue and then put in italics what the character was actually wanting to say. I don’t mind this occasionally but Mr. North did this more than what I care for and it became a bit tedious for me to keep reading what the character wanted to say or was actually thinking, blah!
What made The Whisper Man a 4-star book for me was the plot! The eerie element to it is undeniable; starting with the creepy house they move in to and the overwhelming sense of not being alone pretty much had me a little freaked out. Not to mention some of the secondary characters are just downright evil and creepy. Jake, Toms son, also had imaginary friends *wink, wink* and to be honest, that was really well written and equally as eerie. There are a lot of hideous people in this book which really threw me off, in a good way because halfway through the book, I was sure I knew who the bad guy was and I was way off. I like when a book can surprise me like this.

I think that it’s important if you read The Whisper Man, do so with an open mind and no expectations. You just may love it. Or not.


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