The Whisper Man by Alex North Book Review!

Hi Readers! How are you all? The last 2 weeks had been incredibly stressful. To add to that stress, I was also reading a thriller right before sleeping at night. So, yeah, I am doing great! I finally finished the novel. I think for the first time it must have taken me 10+ days to finish a thriller novel! I wish I could say it was anticlimactic, but it disappointed right from the beginning. More on that below.

So anyway, because my days are super busy, I have decided to get up a little early & devote those 1.5 to 2 hours entirely to reading. It is only a plan at the moment, but one that I’m soon going to take to action! So, if I read more, I will be able to write more book reviews! Win-win for us both!!

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

“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… “

~~OVERALL THOUGHTS~~

I decided to read The Whisper Man because of all the amazing reviews it has on Goodreads. I mean, I’m sure after reading the blurb, anyone’s attention would be grasped. Despite its amazing premise, the story was UTTERLY BLAND. This is yet another time that Goodreads has let me down. It is a 355-page novel, which is a lot for a thriller. But, which also made me believe that the story would be damned interesting if it is this long. But, nope!

When I started reading this novel, I was entirely into it because I started I thought it was actually a thriller. I was expecting twists in the story, ups & downs, oohs & aahs. But, it turned out to be a pretty straightforward story. There were no parallel stories to make it more complex either. Just one thing going on & on. I cannot exactly say it was predictable. I think the best way to put it is that there was ZERO SHOCK factor when we find out who The Whisper Man 2.0 is.

Also, I was unable to form a bond with these characters. Estranged father-son or too similar father-son pair. The only character I liked was DI Amanda Beck, who had very little to do in the story. I couldn’t even see the point of bringing this father-son relationship angle between Pete & Tom. There was no potential in it & nor did it enhance the reading process. It was a poor choice for a thriller/mystery genre. Whatever the point of it was, it definitely did not work.

From a thriller perspective, there wasn’t much to it. It might had felt chilling sometimes, but I’m sure that’s only because I read it in the dead of the night with the lights off. Most thrillers I have completed, to give it a stretch, within 3 days, because they were just so good. The point of a thriller is you just cannot put it down. Or even if you did, you still can’t stop thinking about what could happen next. But, with The Whisper Man, firstly it took me 10 days to finish it & secondly, I only read it just to finish it off. For a thriller, it was incredibly slow & did nothing to keep the reader’s interest. I have rated it at 2/5 on Goodreads!

I suppose the only way to wash off this book is to read another thriller or better yet to go back & read a book from my favourite historical fiction genre. Currently, I have started reading a couple of books, but at this stage I’m really not sure if I will stick with them. So far, I have read a little bit of Little Women & also started reading Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler. Hopefully I will complete one of these soon enough. Will keep you posted!

Until next time,