What scares us

We all have things that scare, irritate, and anger us, and even the ones that make our skin crawl. In the Whisper Man, Alex North was able to get under my skin. First, you have the quiet little boy and his imaginary friends, then our narrator, his father, who is a writer and good at making things up. Then we have the detective in charge, D I Pete Willis, a former alcoholic with his own demons. And then a creepy killer who had started to abduct children just like the man behind bars, Frank Carter, who had done the same over 20 years before and who had been known as the Whisper Man.

It seemed someone had picked up where Frank left off.

In this book review, I can describe Alex’s story in two words – deliciously creepy.

About the story

The Whisper Man is about a serial killer who kills children in the small town of Featherstone. The town had locked away serial killer Frank Carter, who had murdered 4 children, but only 3 bodies were recovered.

Then a boy disappears, and the nightmare of the past comes back to haunt DI Pete Willis, who had been hunting for the body of the 4th child.

The storytellers

Alex North tells his story from four points of view.

Tom Johnson’s son, Jake. Tom had lost his wife and was starting a new life with Jake, a highly sensitive child who seemed to have the ability to speak to the departed. Jake is intelligent and introverted and enjoys his own company and that of his invisible friends.

Tom is struggling to be a single father to Jake after the death of his wife. We are taken into the inner workings of his life and his wishes that Jake was ‘normal’. Also, his desperation is that he might not be doing a good job as his late wife, who cared for and understood Jake better.

D I Pete Willis, who had been hunting for the body of the last victim of Frank Carter. He regularly visited the killer in jail to see if Carter would reveal where he buried the boy. Willis was a former alcoholic carrying around the baggage of his past and his fears.

Amanda is the detective in charge of investigating the missing boy, Neil. Her point of view is less intense than the other three.

In conclusion

As Alex delves deeply into Tom, Jake and Pete Willis, we start linking things as we progress with the book.

So, what sets the Whisper Man apart, and why am I reviewing it.

It is how Alex North demonstrated the strong theme of dark family relations and our fear and vulnerability. Alex combines his ability to hint at the supernatural and delve into our angst and fears.

Alex has also written The Shadow Friend and The Half Burnt House.

I love his writing and will definitely read more of his work.