🦋BOOK REVIEW 🦋
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Thank you to my friends @celadonbooks #partner for my gifted copy.
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Fifteen years ago five boys went missing in Featherbank at the hands of a serial killer called The Whisper Man. Those killings were so extremely brutal that it shook the entire town and one of the remains of the victims was never discovered.
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The killer, Frank Carter, was long ago caught, confessed to the murders, and has been serving time in prison: However, he would never reveal the location of the final body leaving the detective working the case, Pete Willis, without closure.
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Present day, Tom and his son, Jake, move to Featherbank and settle in their new home. They have no reason to be scared or leery of their new home or community. Except another boy in the area has recently gone missing and his body discovered. The details on this murder match The Whisper Man serial killer murders so Detective Amanda Beck calls on Detective Pete Willis to assist.
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Soon after Jake begins acting strangely, seeing things, and says he hears whispering at his window...
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“𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣, 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣.
𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚.
𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬’𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨.
𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙨𝙖𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
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My honest thoughts... Thrillers are honestly one of my favorite genres and this story didn’t grab me until over 100 pages in and it wasn’t until the halfway point that it became unputdownable. But I wasn’t creeped out or scared and there was one element I still don’t understand and would love to discuss with someone who had read it. This is a good thriller and I feel it would make an excellent movie and have far more creep value (think Sixth Sense vibes) but it felt predictable to me! I still would give it a solid 4 Stars.

This was a nail-biter for sure! There were some hints at the supernatural.which had the potential to turn me off. Not that I mind supernatural stories, but I didn't pick this one to read for that. But I'm glad I just went with it. I enjoyed the characters. I got mad, scared, happy, hopeful, distressed, and everything in between. There were just a few things I would have liked elaborated on, primarily for backstory purposes, mainly about Frank Carter's wife and about DI Pete Willis' parents. I could definitely go for a prequel or sequel.

One, two The Whisper Man’s coming for you. Three, four better lock your doors.

Reminiscent of the iconic movie, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Whisper Man is sure to bring you to the edge of your seat.

A terrifyingly dark tale, centered around a serial killer dubbed, The Whisper Man, who twenty years earlier abducted and murdered five young boys in the sleepy little town of Featherbank. His M.O. similar to that of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, The Whisper Man, lures his victims out of their homes not by music but with his whispers. Thankfully, The Whisper Man is eventually caught and sentenced to life in prison. Yet twenty years later, when parents the small town of Featherbank are starting to feel safe, The Whisper Man strikes again! But how? He’s in prison and in twenty years has only had one visitor - the detective who caught him. So is this a copycat murderer or did The Whisper Man have a partner?

Wow! Just WOW! This is a MUST read for 2019, 5+ stars for The Whisper Man.

Thriller? Eh. Not so much. I was never fully engaged with the story, but was somewhat interested. The writing was fine, the characters were okay, but there just wasn't enough to make me want to read into the night. I did finish it -- that says something.

All parents, regardless of where they live or how many children they have, teach their young ones early on about "stranger danger," the inevitable alarm that comes when the unknown meets the inexperienced. But the sobering truth is that most violent crimes enacted upon children occur much closer to home, and only a small percentage of abducted kids are taken by someone completely unfamiliar to them. In Alex North’s THE WHISPER MAN, readers are confronted with a figure both terrifyingly real and nearly supernaturally omnipotent: a sadistic kidnapper and murderer known as the Whisper Man.

Twenty years ago, five young boys disappeared in the small town of Featherbank. Their capturer was known for luring his victims out by whispering at their doors and windows, convincing them to leave the safety of their homes and families. The horrors of these crimes became part of the local lore, with children reciting playground rhymes about the nearly mystical Whisper Man. With the capture of killer Frank Carter, Detective Pete Willis discovered the bodies of only four of the boys --- all had been starved, beaten and brutally murdered. But for years, the final body (and Frank, who revels in his own prison notoriety and has a certain fondness for Pete) has haunted the detective, and he knows he will not consider the case closed until it is recovered.

Due to some irregularities in the crime scene reports suggesting an accomplice, Pete has kept up regular visits with Frank hoping that he will reveal some small detail that will blow the remainder of the case open. For two decades, he is able to strike a careful balance between quiet police work and these emotionally grueling visits until a new boy goes missing. When his body is found two months later, the modus operandi bears a striking and terrifying similarity to the Whisper Man. So did Frank indeed have a secret accomplice, or --- even worse --- does he now have a fan in the form of a copycat?

On a different, quieter side of Featherbank, single father and struggling author Tom Kennedy has his own boy to worry about. Jake has been acting oddly following the death of his mother. He talks to himself, sometimes in scary voices, and speaks of an imaginary friend who teaches him strange rhymes. Ever since they moved into a new house, he claims to hear whispers at night. Consumed by his own grief and disappointed in his own shortcomings, Tom barely takes notice of the fact that they have relocated to a town with a killer on the loose --- until Jake mentions the “boy in the floor.” A gruesome and shocking discovery then draws the past right to their front steps with vivid and immediate repercussions --- for Jake, Tom, Pete and the entire town.

If this premise has you drawing comparisons to classics like THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, you are not far off --- North’s villains are every bit as terrifying and captivating as Hannibal Lecter (minus the cannibalism, thankfully). However, this is where the similarities end, as North has done something completely original. For a book based entirely in our world, THE WHISPER MAN has a paranormal-level fear factor: I cannot tell you how many times I gasped and startled myself while reading it. North has a wicked talent for pacing, and just when he pulls you into a quiet sort of calm, he upends everything you thought you knew with the turn of a page. His characterizations are nearly flawless, so much so that you will find yourself immersed in their personal journeys only to remember that “oh right, I’m supposed to be solving a murder here.”

More than a pitch-perfect thriller, however, THE WHISPER MAN is also a careful and complex rumination on fatherhood, coming to terms with one’s past, and the ways in which even our smallest actions can have a ripple effect. With Tom and Jake caught in the crosshairs of a decades-long investigation, their already strained relationship is thrown into harsh relief, with seven-year-old Jake calling the shots way more than Tom is comfortable with. But then, he never was the natural parent between him and his wife, and her loss propels father and son in intriguing and painful ways. Both are regressing into dangerous behaviors, but with the threat of whispers, copycat killers and hidden histories coming at them from all angles, they’ll have to find a way to understand and relate to one another or risk losing each other forever.

At the same time, Pete is dealing with his own demons in the form of a nightly battle against the bottle. But as he starts to tie up the loose ends of the Whisper Man, he also must confront his own need for closure. Instead of constantly asking himself what his drinking has cost him, he must remember what sobriety has given him --- a reframing that is easy in theory but far more difficult in life, especially with his guilt at never having found the fifth boy eating away at him.

Far more than a run-of-the-mill police procedural, THE WHISPER MAN combines several compelling threads that are each perfectly strong enough to stand on their own but make for a masterful tour de force when put together. Pete and Tom’s storylines converge beautifully with a powerful punch that elevates it from a typical thriller to something wholly unique. North knows exactly when to lean in, when to hang back, when to drop clues and when to horrify his readers most. This book is a stunning and fully realized thrill ride that I read in one breathless and terrified sitting. Perhaps the only flaw with this twisted, compulsively readable work is that it doesn’t come with a night light.

“If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.”

Featherbank is a small, sleepy town. Newly widowed Tom Kennedy believes it will be the perfect town for him and his young son Jake to start over. 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.

Now, just as Tom moves into town, another young boy disappears – with shocking similarities to the crimes committed by The Whisper Man. But it cannot be The Whisper Man because Frank Carter is in prison. Even more worrying is that Jake begins to sleep walk, leaving the front door half open and telling Tom he is hearing whispering at his window. Could Jake be imagining things? Is The Whisper Man coming for him?

Told from multiple perspectives, including Jake, Tom, and the lead detective who caught Frank Carter twenty years ago, The Whisper Man was absolutely thrilling. There were so many pieces of the puzzle to put together, right up until the very end. I thought the plot was very creative, but felt that the ending was a bit rushed. Overall though, a must read for this summer!

Tom Kennedy, a grieving widower, believes a fresh start is just what he and his son Jake need. The town of Featherbank holds promise for Jake, a sensitive and creative child still struggling with discovering his mother’s body. However as tranquil Featherbank seems now, it holds a dark past. Twenty years earlier a serial killer terrorized the town – abducting and murdering children after luring them from their homes by whispering at their windows. The Whisper Man was caught, but people have never forgotten Frank Carter’s heinous crimes.

And now a new threat has arisen. Just before Tom and Jake move in, another little boy went missing. Detectives Pete Willis and Amanda Beck must revisit Carter’s crimes and work tirelessly to save Neil Spencer. This means Pete will have to revisit the man who has haunted him the past twenty years in the hope he will slip up and reveal an accomplice. To make matters worse, Jake has been acting oddly and hearing things that don’t seem to be there. One night Jake wakes Tom because he heard a voice whispering at his window.

The Whisper Man by Alex North, a British crime writer from Leeds, England, is an unsettling and absorbing story that you won’t be able to put down. The characters and storyline are compelling and complex. This thriller will give you chills and surprise you at every turn – a perfect storm of mystery and suspense.

I really enjoyed this book. Hooked me from the beginning, very good mystery, suspense, kept me on the edge of my seat! Would highly recommend

Very early in the book, a small, innocuous-sounding sentence immediately made me wonder if I knew who the Whisper Man could be. That early in the book, feeling like I might have an idea of how it works out, makes me excited to see if I'm right.


Alex North's writing style is really lovely. There is a lot of skill involved in creating verbal imagery, and Alex North has that skill in spades. For example, "The road was lined with enormous trees, their leaves lost int he darkness except for where the streetlights touched them, scattering the street with intricate yellow-green explosions that undulated in the soft breeze." What a beautiful passage! The words evoked, for me, an image of my own childhood and walking home at night in the summer, as the streetlights came on. Less than 10 chapters in, and I have multiple emotional connections and investments in this book. That is the sign of a great story-teller.


As I read about Frank's desire to see his wife and child, I have this sudden, sinking feeling that the new Whisper Man is Tony . I can't explain where this feeling has come from, but it's there. I think that Frank killed his son and Tony, the boy who could be anybody, took the son's place. I think that Tony has grown up and is re-enacting the way he was abducted.


Oh my gosh, is it George? Is Francis-Tony-Whisper Man George, from the school???


Throughout this book, I was constantly trying to figure out who was the killer and who the little girl was and what was happening next. There was an excitement when I got something right, and even when I was totally off-base. There was a joy in continuing the story and seeing where the plot went.



Something that North has done here is struck an ideal balance of serial-killer-crime-thriller and a PG-13 rating. So many times today, we see books and shows and movies that rely heavily on blood and guts and gore for shock value. When I read the description of a serial killer that targets children, I worried that this book may actually be too traumatic for me to read. However, while children are the victims, there is not a great deal of detail given to how they're injured. That was important to me, as I do not appreciate high levels of gore, particularly in regards to children. I am a mother of two young kids, and sometimes I just see them in the book. That can be upsetting, rather than interesting. So I applaud Alex North for writing such a well-balanced, engaging novel.



Overall, I thought this was a very entertaining read. Once I started, I found myself unable to put it down until I finished it. I highly, highly recommend.

The Whisper Man is a slow building suspense who did it story. Alex North weaved a web of deceit with a slight of hand. The characters were well written and the plot was captivating. I enjoyed The Whisper Man. I highly recommend this book to those who love suspense and intrigue. Thank you NetGalley and Mr. North for allowing me to receive an e-ARC of your book. I look forward to reading more of your work.

I DNFed this at around 100 pages. It was slow and boring. I did not feel connected to the story or the characters. I wanted to be scared and I just was not. I could not even finish it. That made me sad, I so wanted to love this. I think it could have been better, maybe more intense and more build up to the scary moments.

The whisper man was scary thrilling and haunting it was an unbelievably good book. I could not put it down.

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

In The Whisper Man, recently widowed Tom Kennedy moves to Featherbank for a fresh start. What he does not realize is the town has a dark history and, as the old saying goes, history always repeats itself. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and killed people whom he lured out of their house by whispering at their windows at night. Kennedy quickly becomes too familiar with this because his son hears whispering at his window.

The Whisper Man is a dark, suspenseful thriller by Alex North. According to his bio, North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name. This is his first book published under Alex North. Betterreading.com sums up the mystery by saying "So, who is Alex North? Time will probably tell, but in the meantime, the biggest thriller of 2019 has been written by the Whisper Man himself."

The short chapters move the story at a fast pace. I had a hard time finding an appropriate place to stop reading because each chapter ended with me wanting more. There is a supernatural element but it is not the main focus.

I am looking forward to more by Alex North, whomever he is.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/30/19.

Twenty years ago Frank Carter spent his free time befriending young boys before kidnapping and murdering them. Before he was caught, five were dead. In the present, Tom and his son Jake have relocated to a new house in the town of Featherbank in order to start over after losing their wife/mother. Then another little boy goes missing. Is it a copycat? Did Carter have an accomplice? And exactly who has been telling Jake things he has no way of knowing???

First – to Alex North . . . . .

*STANDING OVATION*

This is how you do a debut. I read this a couple of weeks ago when I was woken up on a Saturday by a seriously loud thunderstorm in the wee hours of the morning. Quickly realizing there was zero chance of going back to sleep as long as the booms were booming and the dog was trying to wedge himself inside my butt for safety, I brewed a cup of Joe and started this book – and never put it down.

Per the comment string below, please take note that you may walk away from this one with a sense of déjà vu. Obviously as soon as a young boy starts talking to things that may or may not be there, a couple of things could come to mind. Either "I see dead people" or "REDRUM." And despite me not ever reading the book and having the memory of Dory the Blue Tang, the mere mention of a “corpse moth” can’t help but call to mind some fava beans and a nice chianti. But these similarities didn’t bother me. Most likely because I didn’t have time to really consider them since I was turning the pages so fast. Obviously I can’t give away things without spoiling the fun, but this sucker was tightly woven. I loved the mix of thriller/supernatural/police procedural, I thought all of the characters were pretty well fleshed out, and not only did I not know the whodunit, it was one of those rare and wonderful occasions where I didn’t even care about the whodunit because I was so wrapped up in the story as a whole. If you are looking for books to add to your October reading list, I recommend this one.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, NetGalley!

A thrilling suspense novel that you may want to keep the lights on while you're reading and make sure the doors are locked!! Is this doesn't grad you're attention, check your heart!! "If you leave a door half open, soon you'll hear the whispers spoken. If you play outside alone, soon you won't be going home. If your windows left unlatched, you'll hear him tapping at the glass. If you're lonely, sad, and blue the Whisper Man will come for you." Reminded me of recent actual news stories about kids who insisted there was someone like this! Just typing this causes chills! Great read and creepy factor! The story about the love between a father and son is touching as well!

Debut novel for North and it was just OK for me. Tom Kennedy and his young son, Jake, move to a new town for a fresh start after the death of Tom's wife and Jake's mother. Unfortunately, the house they move into has a sinister past, as does the town, as Frank Carter.....AKA the Whisper Man....murdered 5 young boys over 20 years ago. Carter has been in prison ever since, but when another young boy goes missing in town with the same M.O. that Carter used, the authorities wonder if the rumors that Carter worked with an accomplice back then were true. Creepy story but a couple of stretch-the-credibility holes in the plot for my liking.

I had really high expectations from this book because of the rave reviews I saw, but this book disappointed me. I guess the way a book is good for me is because of the unpredictability and the writing. The unpredictability factor was zero for me since I guessed who ‘The Whisper Man’ three chapters in. The writing was average at most - I felt that the seven-year old’s POV was choppy and didn’t seem to be consistent with the age. The atmosphere build up was great, but the end and the way it was explained was disappointing.

Scrappymags 3-word review: Lock the windows!!!!

Genre: Mystery/horror


Shortest summary ever: Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake are starting fresh in a new town and a new house. But soon Jake claims he hears whispering just like another missing child claimed... and many others who years before said the same and were murdered by serial killer Frank Carter. But Carter is in jail. So who is whispering? Or is it a case of a vivid child's imagination? A copy cat?


What’s good under the hood: I kept waking up at 3am to keep reading this book, it had me so on edge (in a good way). Creepy whispers and things that go bump in the night are my jam! Nicely paced and I enjoyed that there was good STORY to the book - meaning well developed characters and a sharp plot. Heeby jeeby kids are always good for a class A freak-out in my world.


What’s bad or made me mad: Not much. The chill factor died down a bit but my interest level was maintained.


Recommend to: All the mystery/horror fans in my crew!! Definitely a good mystery for a quick read.


Not recommended to: If child crime bothers you.


Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books and the author for an advanced copy (and crazy late night reading) in exchange for this completely honest review.

This book has been called The Silence of the Lambs meets the Sixth Sense and I would agree with that comparison. What stood out to me was how the author managed to create such a nuanced, emotional read by making characters like Tom, Jake and Pete so layered and flawed yet alternated that with creepy, suspense filled scenes. The story alternates narration between Tom, Jake, and later Pete and while this initially started off somewhat slow for me due to the author's laying the groundwork and teasing the storyline, I'm glad I stuck with it because this certainly became a pageturning read. I found the plot just complex enough to have me confused about the killer and by the end I could see how well the author had spun the web, it definitely kept me guessing. This would make a perfect fall/Halloween read.

After the deaths of his wife, Tom believes a move to a new town is exactly what he and his son Jake need. Since his moms death Jake has become distant and Tom finds it very hard to communicate and relate with his son. What Tom doesn’t realize is the new town and new house are filled with past tragedies and secrets. Twenty years earlier five little boys went missing and all but one of the boys was found brutally murdered. Now just before their move another little boy has gone missing in a remarkable similar way. Frank Carter aka The Whisper Man has been in prison for the past twenty years for these five previous murders and DI Pete has remained vigilant in trying to find the last boy he was never able to recover. With news of the newest kidnapping Di Pete wonders if Mr Carter has had an accomplish all along and is determined to help find the latest missing boy before it is to late.

This book was such a great debut novel although my take away may have been quite different. The Whisper Man promised to give you chills and there were definite moments that made me tense but over all I found this story to be one that showcased a fathers love.

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC of the Whisper Man!