Author: Alex North
Narrator: Christopher Eccleston
Genre: Horror, Mystery Thriller, Crime
First published June 13, 2019
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.
Review:
There was a hype for this book a few years ago, I'm a bit late to the ship.
This is a very engaging book, as soon as you start you can't put the book down. If you have the time it's the types of books you will end in a single day.
As an FYI it's found in the AnyPlay subscription and the narrator does a great job of it.
Warning possible side effects while or after reading this book:
Paranoid who is afraid of their own shadows.
Leave the lights on, afraid of the dark
Afraid of footsteps coming your way
Do not trust even those who you know, they might have been replaced by another entity with no mercy.
Skittish if the people around behave to of character in any way.
The children's song/rhyme was of the most creepy aspects, why? I don't know but it's trapped in my mind days after I finished this book.
So we follow several characters, but the main one being Pete, the detective who initially captured the Whisper man, he has never actually got over that. Then we have the father-son duo who just moved to town, Tom and Jake, and of course the police team in charge of looking for the criminal or criminals.
The plotline is wild, and the best advice I can give is to go into it blind. So I will now go into a lot of rambles with not many details on specific plotline details.
We see several examples of dysfunctional Father-Son relationships. From Frank and Francis( the worst in my opinion) to Pete and Tom and finally Tom and Jake. All of them have connection issues and all of them have inner demons to strangle. We see different levels of retention that go from null to a good start.
STORYTELLING
-Well-crafted story-telling, smartly organized twists and shocking surprises, unputdownable, fast and furious pacing! This is an awesome style, you get pulled into the story and enjoy the whole ride. This book reminds me of Stephen Kings Finder Keepers for obvious reasons. Not sure if that's a common take, I assume it is (I have no proof to back up my opinion really, too much effort to look into it).
It does include a few unexplainable aspects, the characters are running around like a headless chicken because the events are hard to catch up. Mild Spoilers: For a while you have the question: is there a paranormal aspect here? Is is an entity or just an evil person?
CHARACTERS
- All the characters have too many flaws and they are not the classic Mary Sue perfection incarnate but still relatable and lovable. Looking at them struggle makes them more likable in my opinion.
Peter, among his flaws, is a recovering alcoholic, for example, he portrays his struggle and does it downplay it to a simple matter of just one day deciding to stop drinking and breezily move on. He struggles with that fight every day, and even more on some days than others, he always wins but the thing comes close several times to simply giving in.
-Another of my favorite part was Tom and his struggle to understand and connect with his son. It starts with a very cliche belief of 'the connection with his mother' and the I don't know how to take care of my son the mother was the one who was in charge of it. And the cherry on top, Tom believes he could connect to his son better if he was older if the mother could have stayed with him through his forming years. He reflects a lot of men's belief that they are less fit to parent their own children. It's a very common flaw in our society, father or men have just as much ability to care for their children: be it babies, toddlers, small children, or teenagers- women are not born with a motherhood manual, and everyone feels lost as they go. It's a journey of self-discovery and trial and error, unfortunately. Personally, I was frustrated with Tom and his behavior towards his son, but I can't blame him, they were very realistic reactions.
I will definitely try to find more works by this author.
This was used for the challenge:
Around the world: England
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