A serviceable psychopath-thriller with some truly grim characters and a couple of appealing heroes. I'm not sure how I feel about the lack of come-uppance for one especially heinous brute but the redemption arc on the veteran policeman was engaging. Crime fans will love this. I thought it was mostly good but almost all the females in the book felt a bit superfluous, as if they had to be seen to exist but provided no real purpose except to be supportive, even the women who had power seemed not to be particularly necessary.

Ooh this is so creepy and twisty! Such a brilliant read and well worth the hype. Very enjoyable and scary - will be hearing things for weeks.

A wonderfully creepy chiller. It is a haunting tale about a widower and his young son looking for a fresh start. Unfortunately, the place they move to has a young boy go missing in a similar manner to those taken by a serial killer 20 years ago. They all heard whispering days before disappearing and now Jake is hearing the whispers too.

Wonderful characters and a gripping story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a copy of this book.

I'm glad my son is grown up, otherwise I'd be locking all the doors and windows at night! It really creeped me out. Dad and son are so lovely and my only gripe is the end wound up too quickly.

I'm giving it 4/5 as not that many books actually scare me and the ending felt a bit rushed (or maybe that's because I wanted it to end fast)........................

I enjoyed this book, there was something creepy about it but at the same time drew you in.
Easy read and although it did flip a bit between characters you could understand who it was.
perfect quick read, short chapters help draw you in.
looking forward to reading more Alex North

4.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2019/06/24/the-whisper-man-by-alex-north/
I think the best way to start this review is to state quite simply that I loved The Whisper Man. It’s really that simple. It scared me and demanded my full attention and on one particular evening whilst I was reading (or devouring) it I completely lost track of the time and everything else going on around me faded into the background. I was in my own little reading bubble, and when the bubble finally popped I found myself quite alone. The darkness had set in and I was the last one to bed. So…., yeah, I had to turn the lights off and like a big girlie wuss I had a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. This involved me doing that mad dash thing where you have to switch off the light, run across the room, banging into various pieces of furniture with your big toe along the way, followed by an Olympian style dive onto the bed so that the monster underneath can’t grab you by the ankle, then finally cocooning yourself in your bed covers so that not a single piece of you is exposed and you’re nearly suffocating in the process. That, my friends ,is the effect this book had on me. Reduced to a quivering scaredy-cat. Did I mention that I’m a wuss though?

This is a thriller with supernatural elements. The sort of thing though that can be explained away if you really put your mind to it – I’m not talking vampires and shapeshifters here. More the hint of things. Its an impressive debut and the main elements of the story revolve around every parent’s worst nightmare – the abduction of their child.

As the story begins we follow a young boy as he makes his way home alone. Neil is a lonely boy, not entirely happy and prone to lash out on occasion. Strictly speaking he’s a little young to be making his own way home unaccompanied, but, it’s broad daylight after all. Unfortunately Neil’s remote path home is being watched and he’s about to pay a terrible price for his solo journey. Neil is abducted and two months later the police are no further forward in finding him.

Meanwhile, Tom Kennedy is about to move home with his 7 year old son Jake. Tom’s wife has passed away and the family home holds too many painful memories. He’s still trying to cope with the loss of his partner whilst also getting to grips with the fact that he’s now responsible for bringing up his son alone. At the same time Jake desperately misses his mother and suffers nightmares about the day she died. He seems to have acquired an imaginary friend and sometimes the exchanges between the two don’t seem altogether friendly. So the two pack up and move to Featherbank. What a wonderful name for their new home. It sounds positively welcoming doesn’t it – comforting even – you’d think you’d be able to relax in a town called Featherbank and yet the harsh truth is that around 20 years ago this small town was home to a serial killer who abducted and murdered five young boys. Known as the Whisper Man, because he lured his victims out at night by whispering through their windows, he has now been caught and imprisoned. However, this latest abduction has brought back memories from the past, particularly as elements from the original case still remain open and haunt the detective who was in charge of the original investigation.

I think that’s probably enough to give you the general idea of what’s going on here. Featherbank is haunted by it’s terrible past and still holds secrets, Tom is haunted by the loss of his wife and the guilt he feels about not being a good enough parent to his son and Jake is haunted by his imaginary friend and the memories he’s trying to avoid. It’s only a matter of time before things start to unravel. Secrets and lies have a way of coming out – they want to be discovered.

Why did I love this? It’s just an excellent combination of suspense and fear. It’s one of those stories that has you holding your breath while you read – or wanting to hold a cushion in front of your face like you do when you’re watching a movie – everybody does that don’t they? It gets off to a great start, the characters are easy to get along with and there’s this overall sense of menace.

There are a few different POVs which I thought worked really well here, you spend time with Tom, with his son and with two of the detectives and the thing is – all the characters are easy to like. Tom and Jake are very quirky and are only just starting to form a meaningful father/son relationship, they’re both sad and they’re both holding back their feelings from each other. The two detectives were also easy to get on with. One a young ambitious female, keen to learn and desperate to find the missing boy and his abductor before it’s too late and the other a slightly jaded chap who struggles to keep the bottle and his own personal demons at bay. They make a very interesting bunch to read about and I can genuinely say that I enjoyed all the different voices here. No groaning or eye rolling here when the POV chapters switched.

The world building. Well, this is a modern world so there’s no need for extensive world building really. I liked the easy way that Featherbank is brought to life though and also the cunning way that the author actually makes you realise that you never really know what’s going on behind closed doors. It’s a bit of a chilling thought which I really wish hadn’t occurred to me – but now it’s in my head so I thought I’d share it with you – you’re welcome.

In terms of criticisms. Well, I guess there’s a few cliches thrown into the mix – but nothing that was out of control or spoiled my enjoyment. I think the ending was a little bit sudden – but then I think that’s a feeling I quite often experience so I’m starting to think that’s a ‘me’ issue really, maybe I’m a bit greedy and always want more.

Overall though, I can’t fault this. It was a gripping read. There were certain vibes that other readers will no doubt pick up on – can I just say Silence of the Lambs and Sixth Sense – but, at the same time, let me stress that those are really red herrings because this book is nothing like either, more it has whispers of them (see what I did there!) Do I recommend this – oh yes. I hope I’ve not oversold the scary factor here – I know die hard fans will probably take this in their stride but I can genuinely say that this scared me and I definitely advise readers to pick it up during daylight hours. And, on the other hand, readers who are easily scared – well, I’m easily scared too and I thought this was just great so I think you will too.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Rating : 4.5 stars out of 5.

I read this in one day - literally could not put it down. It's an on the edge of your seat thriller but with an emotional an punch that adds a whole new layer to the familiar 'serial killer' story. I can't recommend it highly enough - a huge congratulations to the author for creating such believable characters.

Every now and again, I like to dip my toe in the murky waters of scarifying. If it comes with a hint of the supernatural, then so much the better. So I turned to Alex North’s debut, The Whisper Man, with some warm apprehension.

Goodness me, but it is SCARY!!!! This is a novel that literally stuffs your head with atmosphere and sends shivers down your spine with its menacing tones.

A dark cloud hangs over the small town of Featherbank. 15 years ago DI Pete Willis put Frank Carter in prison for the murder of 5 Featherbank boys over a period of years. Known as ‘The Whisper Man’, Carter is still toying with Willis, who visits him in the hope that he will one day be able to extract the resting place of the body of the last boy, Tony Smith, so that his parents can finally say a proper goodbye to their son. Every visit by Willis to this psychopath haunts him, but this is something he has to do.

The Whisper Man is now a tale told by children to scare their peers. He even has his own scary nursery rhyme.

Tom Kennedy is struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of his wife Rebecca. Trying to make a new start he moves to Featherbank with his 6 year old son, Jake. Jake is a special little boy, sensitive and with a huge imagination and Tom loves him with all his heart. There’s no denying though, that Rebecca was the one who understood Jake best and now the father and son are left trying to connect. Both Tom and Jake struggle to make their relationship work and this part of the book is tender, full of raw emotion and a searing honesty about how badly Tom is struggling and how much Jake needs to be loved by his dad.

Now another Featherbank boy, Neil Spencer, is missing. DI Amanda Beck is in charge of this case but already the rumours about the return of The Whisper Man are flying around. Could this be a copycat abduction, or what if Carter had an accomplice all those years ago? Norman Collins collects macabre objects from serial killers and he is obsessed with the Whisper Man. Jake, meanwhile is hearing voices…and soon he will be drawn into grave danger; into a nightmare of horrific proportions.

Alex North has written a beautifully plotted, richly atmospheric novel with characters you care about. Tom, Jake and DI Willis are all characters you are drawn to and root for. The sense of small town life where a rumour can fly from corner to corner until everyone knows it for a truth is palpable.

Verdict: Spine-chilling, propulsive, tense and atmospheric, The Whisper Man is a startlingly good debut from a writer with a prodigious talent.

Impressive thriller - the author sets the scene and builds tension effectively. Pacing is good. Interested to read the next book by Alex North.

The premise of The Whisper Man sounded really intriguing so I was excited to get stuck into it. While the writing is good, and the story flows well, I found myself left wanting. It promised a really creepy plot and I just think it didn’t deliver for me personally. It’s pretty formulaic in that there’s a troubled detective, a dysfunctional familial relationship and so on. I will stress that this didn’t work for me, but I can see how people are loving it, I can. It just wasn’t for me.

Truly terrifying! The relationship between Tom and Jake as they try to recover from the devastating loss of Jake's mom is so well written. The reason behind the Whisper Man coming into being is so unique. The person who is Jake's invisible friend is scarily plausible and puts a whole new twist on this common childhood behaviour.

I was one of a lucky few people to receive a copy of this book almost a year ago in Harrogate. I know a lot of my fellow bloggers were very excited about it, although it was a book I knew little about myself. This is one of those books, the kind in which the reputation, or the expectation, precedes the actual story. So, did the book match all the pre-publication excitement?

I'd say, by and large, yes. I was very curious about this book when I finally read the blurb as, and I won't lie here, I had read a book with a very similar premise a year, maybe a year and a half ago. In some respects the stories are very, very similar, in others they are poles apart, and I think that what really separates the two is the level of atmosphere and tension which is built within The Whisper Man, along with the backstory and those moments where the author manages to convince you as a reader that there is more to this world than what the eye can see.

I don't want to say much about the plot of this book as the blurb really say it all. Featherbank is a town with a very dark past, one which seems set to be repeated. One boy missing and it seems that whoever, or whatever, has taken him, may well have Jake in their sights ... So far, so expected as it wouldn't be much of a creeping tale if Tom moved him and his son to town and nothing much happened now would it. What makes this story pop, and what I believe it is that is captivating readers and, I will confess, drew me into the story, is the way in which the author has taken the practically everyday, albeit tragic, circumstance and woven it into an intricate tale of family, secrets, suspense, and perhaps a touch of the unexpected.

The characters in this book are beautifully fleshed out. Firstly you have Tom, a man struggling desperately with fatherhood since the tragic death of his wife. His inability to understand or feel as though he could bond with Jake was so authentic that every ounce of frustration and feeling of failure made me that fraction more understanding toward him. Despite his failings, his self doubt in most cases, there was never any doubting his love for Jake and theirs was a very touching, if troubled, relationship. When you understand Tom's background, as you eventually come to do, it is clear why he acts as he does.

Jake is a wonder and I really liked his character. Quiet, secretive, and with 'special friends' who would give anyone the absolute heebie-jeebies, you could sense that all he wanted was two things - his mother back and to know his father's love. There were moments in the book that would make your bottom lip wobble with emotion, but also that would make you pause, catch your a breath even. For Jake is a child who appears to have a strange knack for knowing things he couldn't possibly know, saying things he couldn't understand and hearing voices which can't possibly be real. Can they?

My favourite character, though, has to be Pete, the Detective Inspector who caught the Whisper Man some twenty years before and has dedicated all of his time since then trying to find the killer's final victim and bring him home to his parents. You can feel his weariness on each page, feel the weight of that burden he carries upon his shoulders and sympathise with his struggles, mental and physical, as he battles against a demon that has haunted him for years. We learn surprising things about Pete, some more than others, but from the very start of the book he was the character I found myself most drawn to, and the one I wanted to stick with until the end, no matter his flaws.

This is a creepy and atmospheric novel with a keen sense of place. From the descriptions of the quirky house that Tom and Jake move into, through to the waste ground from which the latest boy is taken, you get a real picture building up of where the story is set, the small town community which has been rocked by such tragedy. From those small creaks and unexplained noises that penetrate the silence, through to the clever use of an old rhyme to drive the sense of superstition and foreboding, everything is pitched just right to keep readers on edge. In fact it is the rhyme which will really start to set your mind whirring, reminding me very much of the rhyme which played a central part in movies such as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. You know the kind? The ones that children tell each other to scare their friends and try and prompt brave, or inevitably foolish, acts.

Every little thing, the whispers, the voice at the door, the contradiction of the colourful butterfly against the dank and clustered interior of the old garage at the end of Tom's garden - it all makes you sit up and take note. Now I grew up on horror stories - reading, watching, telling - from when I was three years old, so it takes a lot to spook me, but I did get that kind of unnerving undercurrent as I read, and the author has allowed the tension and suspense to flow really well, all building to that final killer reveal. (No pun intended ...)

So if you like your thrillers to lie, how should I put it, on an angle, with a kind of sense of the supernatural, or at the very least inexplicable, then I think The Whisper Man will be for you. It will certainly be a big seller this summer and deserves all the attention and praise it is getting.

THE WHISPER MAN is a page-turner!!! It’s dark, creepy, and addictive and, even though it made me check that the doors were safely locked at night before going to bed, I couldn’t stop reading it. The main protagonists are Tom Kennedy and his six-year-old son Jake. Following the premature and sudden death of his wife, Tom moves to Featherbank for a fresh new start. This quiet English town has been shocked by the kidnapping and murder of a young boy. While the police investigate and tries to figure out if this case is somehow connected to the Whisper Man, a psychopath now in jail for kidnapping and killing 6 children twenty years before, Tom is worried about the fact that Jake is hearing voices…

THE WHISPER MAN quickly went to the top of the best books of the year. I heard there is a movie in the making which it’s really exciting and which I will definitely watch, although not alone and probably in daylight. It’s twisty, haunting, and immersive. The atmosphere is dark, the tension slowly builds up, and, although some of the scenes make for an unsettling and disturbing read that it’s not for everyone, especially when it comes to children being murdered, I couldn’t put it down.

The two protagonists of the novel are ordinary, genuine, and very likable. Tom is a young widower and his grief over losing his wife feels very real. The author perfectly captures the insecurities of a man who suddenly finds himself alone and who doesn’t know how to deal with a son he loves very much but he doesn’t understand. Jake is sensible and very smart. He misses his mother who was the only one who could really understand him, his relationship with his father is not easy, and I really felt for him.

THE WHISPER MAN is a chilling and superb read, a novel that highly recommend… but don’t read it at night!

My goodness this is a creepy book! Scrabbling fingers through a letterbox, children with psychic abilities and ghost mothers left me longing for sleep at 3am and listening to every creak.

I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

When Tom and his son Jake move to Featherbank they think it will be a new and fresh start, but when the whispers start and a boy goes missing, are they truly safe?

The Whisper Man really surprised me (in a good way!) I was expecting a somewhat standard if well written abduction crime thriller and what I got was a fantastic read that delved into horror and the supernatural at times as well. None of these felt unrealistic as part of the narrative, there were some parts of it that really got me making sure the doors were locked and the lights were on after reading! I liked how the chapters bounced between perspectives – from perpetrator, detective, victim, father and son with a mix of third and first person narration as well to make it easy to tell whose story you were reading. You got enough chapters in a perspective to really feel like you got to know some of the key players but also enough was held back to keep secrets and still allow for twists which is quite a tricky thing to balance from other books that I have read.

The plot is well constructed and paced to leave you wanting to read more – I finished it in a day as I was so hooked! I also liked that Alex North is not afraid to pull punches with his plot developments. You truly didn’t know what was going to happen next. This did not feel like a debut at all and I shall certainly be on the lookout for more of North’s work in future!

Overall The Whisper Man is a great crime thriller with a horror twist that leaves you captivated and guessing at every turn. Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved its creepy feel right to the end, it kind of reminded me of The sixth sense film. Tom is bringing up his son alone after the loss of his wife, it not easy and he not confident he is doing a good job. Jake feeling confused after the loss of his mum starts to talk to his imaginary friend, A little girl who is a little creepy. Both Tom and Jake are great characters well written and very likeable, I routed for them both all through the book for a happy ending. The plot is a wonderfully unsettling psychological thriller that pulls you in and hooks you to the end.

This book is very worthy of all the hype going around about it!

Recently widowed Tom moves with his son Jake to the village of Featherbank. Trying for a fresh start to hopefully start to move on from their tragedy, things don't get off to a great start. The house feels strange and Tom worries more and more about Jake's mental health as he seems to be talking to his imaginary friends more instead of trying to fit in at his new school.
We also follow DI Pete Willis who is struggling with his own personal issues when he is brought in to look at a recent child abduction that is very similar to a huge case he solved 20 years ago.

I wouldn't call this a slow burn as I was hooked in from the start, but it isn't a out-and-out grabber! It doesn't need to be. It is just a brilliant tense and creepy read from the start that has elements of police procedural, psychological thriller, family drama and supernatural. And they are all done excellently. With some very believable and relatable characters too, this is one you really don't want to miss.

Well, I probably won't be sleeping again. I think this is a debut novel, in which case it's extremely accomplished for a first book. Tom and his son Jake have suffered the appalling loss of their wife and mother, Rebecca. Jake is showing great signs of distress, especially as he found his mother dead at home, so Tom decides they need a fresh start and at Jake's prompting, chooses a curious and some might say scary house in Featherbank. But as they arrive, a boy is taken, bringing back memories in the community of the child murders carried out 20 years previously by The Whisper Man.

This is a multi layered book which is a proper edge of your seat thriller. Alex North pulls all the strands together at the end, and I was desperate to get there to see how he did it. Really nicely done and a strong plot and characterisation.

When a young boy goes missing on his way home, DI Pete Willis wonders if it is connected to the infamous Whisper Man case. Willis put Frank Carter in prison but he's always wondered if Carter had an accomplice. Meanwhile Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank following the death of Jake's mum. Jake has always been quiet and a loner, prone to imaginary friends, but Tom becomes even more worried when Jake says a man is whispering to him at night.

There is a nice balance of crime and paranormal aspects which stops it from being your usual crime read. I thought the characters of Tom and Jake were very sympathetic and although there were one or two coincidences which drove the story along, overall it was a very good read. Recommended to anyone who likes a slightly different take on the crime novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This is a seriously creepy, scary, eerie and menacing read. I found it to be very unsettling and didn't want to read it late at night, without checking the doors were locked, because if you leave a door half open.........
Tom Kennedy and his son Jake, are suffering, following the death of Rebecca, wife and mother. They move to Featherbank, a quiet , safe village in order to rebuilt their lives. But the village has a horrifying past, a serial killer murdered five young boys years ago, and now another youngster has been taken. Before each boy disappeared, they heard someone whispering at their windows.
Now Jake hears these whispers and someone tries to break into the house. Tom is concerned about Jakes imaginary friend, a little girl in a blue dress, whom he draws in several pictures. And, who is the boy in the floor?.
This is a brilliant , thoughtful story about the love between father and son, and how it is to be treasured. And, how it can go so wrong. It is so full of pain and tension, I felt the misery of the loss being suffered. It was an addictive read, and with writing of such quality, it will be a best seller.
I was so delighted to guess the identity of the girl in the blue dress, before it was revealed !! I will leave a copy of this review on Goodreads with a five star rating. Thank you so much for letting me read this novel and give my honest opinions.