A Book A Week

"If you leave the door half open, soon you'll hear the whispers spoken."

One of my biggest challenges as a book blogger has always been balancing the number of new releases I read with the titles that are already on my bookshelf. More often than not, the new releases take precedence. There are just so many exciting books to share each week. During this quarantine time, I've really committed to trying to give more attention to the books that are already on my shelf. The Whisper Man by Alex North is one of those books. I got it as a Christmas gift last year and have been dying to read it ever since.

"If you play outside alone, soon you won't be going home."

Tom has just moved to Featherbank in the hopes of finding healing and closure for his devastated family. Well, at least for him and his young son Jake. After the sudden death of their wife/mother, both of them are eager to start over. Jake is kind of a peculiar child. He carries with him a bag of "special things", memorabilia from his life that he holds close. Jake doesn't really talk to Tom, but Tom has noticed him talking to the empty chairs and spaces around him. Normal, imaginary friend type conversations, Tom hopes. Just as the two are starting to settle in, the town's dark history begins to resurface.

"If your window's left unlatched, you'll hear him tapping at the glass."

Decades ago, Featherbank was haunted by a serial killer who preyed on small boys from the town. He would lure the children from their homes by standing outside of their bedroom windows and whispering to them. Each night he would speak to the children until they trusted him enough to leave with him. At first, the parents thought this Whisper Man was just a childhood superstition. Then the kids started disappearing. The culprit, Frank Carter was eventually brought to justice, forced to remain in a prison cell, unable to harm any more children. At least that's what everyone believed. Now all these years later, another boy has gone missing under frighteningly familiar circumstances. The legend of The Whisper Man is alive and well.

"If you're lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you."

In his debut novel The Whisper Man, Alex North takes fairly straight forward police procedural and morphs it into the kind of chilling nightmare that will have you turning on all the lights and anxiously checking your surroundings. Much like Thomas Harris's famed Hannibal Lecter, The Whisper Man Frank Carter is a diabolically charismatic villain whose presence permeates the entire novel with a sense of paranoia, even when he isn't directly on the page. North employs a multitude of perspectives to weave his twisted web, enticing the reader to drift ever so slightly forward into his literary labyrinth. The father-son dynamic between Tom and Jake is portrayed in a way that is genuine and heartfelt. It provides some much-needed glimpses of light in this dim narrative. Equally impressive is the way North imbues DI Pete Willis, a grizzled old detective who blames himself for not catching The Whisper Man fast enough the first time, with just enough humanity to avoid him being just another run-of-the-mill detective. The Whisper Man is a stunning debut that will have you reading into the wee hours of the night and haunt your dreams long after you finish. I'm very happy to have this one sitting on my shelf, and I already have an open space for whatever North comes up with next.

For more information visit Amazon and Goodreads.
(2020, 19)