The Whisper Man

Best thriller I've read in quite some time!
The Whisper Man is an engrossing, ominous read. In other words, a dark and creepy thriller...what more could you possibly want?

Twenty years ago, serial killer Frank Carter - nicknamed "The Whisper Man" on account of luring his victims out by whispering at their windows at night - was convicted for the murder of 4 children and put away for life. There was a 5th child that was unfortunately, never found which continues to haunt Detective Pete Willis to this day.
Now, another young boy has gone missing and his disappearance is unnervingly similar to Frank's crimes.
In need of a fresh start, Tom and his son Jake have relocated to Featherbank only to find themselves in the middle of the search for a show more serial killer. Since the death of his wife Tom has been having trouble connecting with Jake and is dismayed to find that Jake's imaginary friend appears to have followed them on their move. It isn't long before Jake begins reciting a rhyme about the Whisper man and Tom hears Jake whispering only this time, he says it's the boy in the floor...

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.
If your window’s left unlatched, you’ll hear him tapping at the glass.
If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.

With enough twists and turns that serve to amp up the suspense, I had a hard time putting this down. Not only do we have a spine-tingling, edge of your seat thriller, this book has a heavy focus on father-son relationships and the characters are all very well-developed.

I loved this so much that even though I had finished reading it a day or so before the books release, I picked up the audiobook and gave that a listen as well. I was not disappointed - I also happen to love Christopher Eccleston from his Doctor Who days so of course I adored his narration.

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

'If you leave a door half open, you'll hear the whisper spoken.
If you play outside alone soon you won 't be going home.
If your Windows left unlatched, you'll hear him tapping at the glass.
If your lonely, sad, and blue, the whisper man will come for you.”

The Whisper Man by Alex North is a creepy serial killer/ psychological thriller. Tom Kennedy is a widower with a young son. They move to the small town of Featherbank, hoping for a fresh start. But Featherbank is full of secrets, as Tom is about to find out.

This book switches between first and third person, depending on who the focus is. It made for an interesting difference. Tom is the only one in first person and it makes for a great dynamic with the other characters. Tom is a show more writer, though he's been stuck since his wife's unexpected death. And he feels inadequate to raising his son alone. Sadly, Jake feels he's a burden to his father. They just don't know how to communicate with one another, and each is still grieving.

Jake is an unusual boy. He talks to an 'imaginary friend', a young girl who often shows when he is stressed. Tom is concerned for his son. Jake tends to be withdrawn and shy. He likes to draw, but his drawings are often bizarre. Then he begins hearing a man's voice…

The initial 'Whisper Man' serial killer case was fascinating to read about. The reason behind the copycat murders of present day threw me for a loop. North has great insight into mechanisms of abnormal psychology. Everything made sense in the end, but the lead up to it was just 'wow'! Same applies with the girl Jake sees, and the revelation of her identity. That was touching, and it also left it open to the possibility of the truly supernatural. Not gonna lie, I thought she was a murder victim.

The family closure Tom found with his own father was touching, as was the redemption his father found for the transgressions of Tom's childhood. I also really loved Pete, the detective who caught the first Whisper Man, and is now assisting on the copycat case. He seems so sad, especially with his ritual with the alcohol. He tests himself, and passes those tests, no matter how hard it is. There was an unexpected death too, that left me asea. Not gonna spoil it, but it was my favourite character. I seem good at picking faves that end up dying… Whyyyyyyy??

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Celadon Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for the Manhattan Book Review. show less

The Whisper Man by Alex North is a 2019 Celadon Books publication.

Unsettling, spine-tingling, and emotionally charged thriller!

After the untimely death of his wife, Tom Kennedy feels like a fresh start in a new location, might help him and his young son, Jake, move forward from their grief and begin the healing process. But almost immediately after moving to Featherbank, a new set of problems presents themselves. Jake has trouble adjusting to his new school, just as another boy Jake’s age goes missing. The child’s disappearance prompts concerns that another serial killer is on the loose in Featherbank- one with the same MO as the dreaded ‘Whisper Man’ who murdered five people twenty years ago. The case becomes personal for Tom show more and Jake when Jake begins having nightmares, claiming he can hear someone whispering to him at his window….

Meanwhile, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis are working overtime to find this missing boy before another child disappears…

I’ve been avoiding hyped up thrillers, books that everyone is reading, and mostly gushing over, because my experience with these situations has taught me a few hard lessons- mainly, don’t buy into the hype, because I’m only setting myself up for a big disappointment. But, earlier this year, another book by this same publisher became a huge sleeper hit, and although I was highly skeptical, I caved and checked the book out the library. Well, much to my surprise, the book was very good. So, when ‘The Whisper Man’ started to generate a little buzz, I decided to jump on board the already crowded train, just see if lightning might strike twice… And lo and behold, it did!!

But, to be honest, when one gets right down to the nitty and the gritty, this book is basically another thriller with a serial killer trope. However, what sets it apart from so many other cookie-cutter novels in this category, is the characterizations, and the author’s ability to explore the real psychology behind the character’s actions, without compromising the intensity of the real terror one feels while reading this book. The story is packed with strange, creepy, atmospheric vibes, promising Tom and Jake are being threatened by true evil.

While the mystery is compelling, and the atmosphere is thick and heavy, the author takes a story of horror and dread, and adds in a deeper, more complex angle- a topic that isn’t explored often enough in general fiction, much less in a thriller- the dynamics of the father-son relationship.

The story is very masculine, with the few female characters being suspect, bland, or not very nice-like Jake’s teacher, for example. I never bristled though, because the male leads are portrayed as flawed, burdened, troubled, and vulnerable, and the book never once veered off into an alpha male, testosterone driven story.

From start to finish this is a well written, intense, highly suspenseful thriller- but it is also smart and profound, ending not only with extreme, exhilarating relief, as I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding- 😉, but also on a note of redemptive satisfaction.

Overall, this is another winner for Celadon Books, but as a reader, I’m super excited about Alex North! If this is his debut novel, I wonder how much his talent will develop over time.

5 stars show less

This book left me a changed person! I have always been the cautious type: scared of my own shadow, yet strong in ways that people would not imagine, like hearing gunshots in my neighborhood and trying to run down a suspicious group of children in the road to demand answers. But this book plays and preys on my worst fears that when I am alone and vulnerable, unable to sleep in the dark, the question: Am I really safe? OH, BOY! Trying not to give any spoilers, but ghosts that reveal information, people with demons in their past, a flat out demon in real life, and a traumatized boy who ends up being a demon, too, provides a lot of thriller moments in this book. This is the first book I have ever read by Alex North. I now understand the show more fascination with his books. I think the disclaimer should be made if you are too fragile, sensitive, scared of the dark, you might either want to read this early in the day, small blocks of reading, or not at all. For people who LOVE to be scared to death and love constant drama, THIS IS YOUR BOOK! It has made me more sympathetic of the roles of detectives and private investigators who not only see nightmarish things in the line of duty but how much of sadness and burden it is when a crime is not quickly resolved. I know for a fact that I will never look at butterflies the same way again. And all the "whispering" in the story still freaks me out. It wasn't only The Whisper Man or schoolyard children repeating the Whisper Man chant that added to the suspense. This book had umpteen thriller moments. No matter where you stopped and started, the suspense kept on and on. I liked the way the loose ends of the story were all tied up in the end, but I have never read an ENDING that was yet another CLIMAX of the book! And it is overwhelming the many emotions I as the reader felt as disgust, fear, hate, the satisfaction that justice was served, but sometimes feeling guilty because if the past hadn't been so horrible, the present wouldn't have been so horrible. A special shoutout to the character that was fascinated with death, caught up in the storyline, but not really part of it. He was creepy! His obsession with death made my skin crawl! Alex North has a talent for weaving random images in the story that usually bring smiles to people, and turning them into something sinister, like art murals. I bet I could go back and re-read this book several times and see something in a different light, or pick up on something that was a clue that I had missed the first time. This book would be perfect for a book club, as I think most would WANT to talk about it after reading it. It provides interesting and provocative discussion. I have a few questions in my mind: Did Detective Pete really think that his own father hugged him in the end? Also, was The Whisper Man a pedophile, or possibly an abused boy who just cracked into abnormality? To me, those were the only 2 questions in the end that bothered me. show less

Ooh! This is a good one! Well crafted with little twists along the way, this novel keeps the reader guessing to the end. It's a look at how we deal with trauma and loss and how we listen to others (or not). It's also about the things that haunt us and how sometimes the difference between "real" and "imaginary" isn't all that clear (and maybe doesn't even matter).

I usually write notes as I'm reading books but I ended up with a blank page whilst reading The Whisper Man because to write notes would have meant that I had to tear my eyes away from the page and I was completely incapable of doing so. The prologue is a letter to Jake from his father, Tom, about what happened in Featherbank...like a hungry fish I gulped at this tasty worm on a hook - I just had to know what happened in the innocently named town of Featherbank.

I read The Whisper Man in one day and felt rather aggrieved that I had to put it down to do such tiresome tasks as eat and use the facilities, so there was no way I was putting it down to go to sleep. Everything is completely perfect about this book; the storyline, the characters, show more the setting and the pacing. I was as scared as I was intrigued and I knew it was a good book when I experienced my Cinderella emotion of not wanting it to finish yet simultaneously needing to find out what happens at the end.

Jake completely stole my heart in this book; he is grieving for his mother, Rebecca, and has imaginary friends which help him to cope. Tom, as a single father is naturally disturbed by this, especially when he hears one of the imaginary friends talk back. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end several times whilst reading this book; it's scarily creepy in addition to being a disturbing story about missing children over several years. As the layers are peeled away we eventually unearth the rotten black heart of Featherbank, so put on your speed reading glasses to find out the truth!

I was pretty creeped out a lot of the time at the whispering at the windows and I totally blame sneaking a peek at Salem's Lot on TV when I was an impressionable 4 year old. I still can't sleep with a crack in the curtains so the thought of a monster at the window literally covered me in goosebumps every time it was mentioned. It's giving me goosebumps just thinking about something at the window and even though the special effects of the 70's are pretty non-existent I'm actually creeping myself out right now.

A lot of books these days are cleverly marketed and labelled 'the best', 'the biggest', 'the most disturbing' or 'the most gripping' but in the case of The Whisper Man you can definitely BELIEVE THE HYPE! This book is AMAZING! It is the most chilling, disturbing and scarily creepy crime novel I have ever read. If you only read one book this year, make it The Whisper Man - you won't regret reading it but you'll definitely regret missing it.

I'm not in the least surprised to learn that The Whisper Man has been snapped up by Hollywood and I can't wait to see it on the big screen, even though it might creep me out more than Salem's Lot did 40 years earlier. Bring on the creepfest!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less

The Whisper Man is one of the big hitters of 2019 and rightly so. It's a cracking good crime thriller.

Tom Kennedy is a recent widower. He's struggling with his 7 year old son, Jake. His wife always said they were too alike and maybe that's why Tom can't get through to Jake. He decides a fresh start in a new house and a new village is what's needed and they move to a house known locally as 'the scary house'. Hmmm, perhaps warning bells ought to have sounded!

This is a village where 15 years ago a serial killer stalked young boys. He was known as The Whisper Man. All well and good except it's happening again and now Jake is hearing whispers himself.

Ooh-er! I think I was expecting something a bit more supernatural with this book and whilst show more there is a little of that, it's much more of a crime thriller. We hear from Tom and Jake, but also from a police officer, DI Pete Willis, who was involved with the original case and who is now called upon to help with what is happening currently. This enables us to see matters unfold from different directions: from the viewpoint of a father who is already struggling and who is now fearing for his son's safety; and from the viewpoint of a man who thought the nightmare was over, although he's never been able to put it completely behind him, and who now realises the threat is back.

The whole Whisper Man thing is very creepy and the idea of a predator like that being at large is pretty scary. I have to say that I didn't find the story as scary as I expected, but I did find it compelling reading. There's a theme of fathers and sons running through it and how the relationships between them can affect them. I thought this was really cleverly executed.

I really liked Tom. He's written in a very sympathetic way and his grief is palpable. I loved Jake too, with his very grown up way of speaking and quiet manner. All the characters are very well drawn in fact.

The Whisper Man is a gripping story. I was very impressed by the way various strands of the story that I didn't even realise existed were then brought together. There were quite a few 'ohhhh' moments for me, ones I didn't see coming. It's a brilliant read. show less