Blurb:

Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a much-needed fresh start.

But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago, a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys.

Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as ‘The Whisper Man’.

Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle in to their new home.

Except that now another boy has gone missing. And then Jake begins acting strangely.

He says he hears a whispering at his window . . .

Review:

My fellow bloggers have been shouting about The Whisper Man for some time, so I felt it was time for me to see what the fuss is about. I chose to listen to the audio version, narrated by Christopher Eccleston.

The atmosphere in The Whisper Man is phenomenal, and from the beginning, I felt a sense of creepiness as Tom and Jake tried to come to terms with the idea of living somewhere with a well known history. This is enhanced by the narration, although the increase in tension as the book reached its climax is not as pronounced as it could be. Nevertheless, I wanted to know who the whisper man was, and I was eager to keep on listening.

The perspective of the chapters switches between that of the police, Tom and Jake. I enjoyed this, as it helped me to understand the characters more deeply. There is a clear difference in the language each character uses, and I felt that North captured the thoughts and emotions of each one really well. However, this is not always immediately obvious in Eccleston’s intonation.

At the heart of The Whisper Man is a beautiful father and son relationship. They are both dealing with grief in their own way, but the love they have for each other radiates through the book. It provides some highly poignant moments which add an extra layer to the novel, which is so much more than a mystery.

The Whisper Man is available from Amazon and Audible.