In The Whisper, tragically orphaned and adrift, young Jasper Newman gets involved in the drug empire of Owen "the devil" Arlington, a ruthless despot of a drug lord who reigns over his city atop his glamorous Art Deco skyscraper. The peons who work for Arlington know he's totally unhinged, but Jasper decides it'd be a great idea to start an affair with the drug lord's wife, and we follow the consequences that ensue thereafter.

The Good
Initiated with good pacing as a thriller (for the 1st half of book)
• I started out thoroughly enjoying this book as we followed Jasper try to untangle his drug deal mess and how the conflict built up with the affair involved. Greer did a good job of making you feel engaged with the next job in the "mundane" world of drug dealing. However, I think the story ultimately suffered after the halfway mark, where we get more into the paranormal/magical part of the story.
• I was definitely surprised when certain death(s) happened, though, and was eager to read on to find out more (omg! who did this? why? why is X still alive though?)
Realistic Character Personalities and Motivations
• Greer wrote realistic characters, from the loyal, yet jaded mentor figure of Glen, to the tragic neglected millionaire housewife, to the addicted drug addicts, etc. 1st half of the book was MVP of the story, where most of the world building occurs.

Drawbacks
Uninteresting Magical Ability
• I ultimately think that if Greer had decided to cut out the paranormal aspects of the story, where Jasper eventually gains the power to harness people's inner demons (negative emotions) and use them against them, and instead just focused on actual political intrigue within the drug world alone without any magical aspects, this would've been a better story--and that's coming from me, someone who has fantasy as taking the largest pie slice in book genres that I read.
• To me, the power itself didn't seem to be that interesting; perhaps it was either because of the explanation of it or how it was used, but in any case, I didn't think it was that compelling of a magical ability, and it really dominated the second half of the story
• It felt like Greer actually spent too much time in the Jasper-figures-out-his-power phase and too little time with explaining the origins of it, so it simultaneously feels like we're languishing in training phase while also feeling like it came out of nowhere.

Story Structure: Time Jumps => Disjointedness
• I wasn't a fan of the story structure being broken up into years (1972, 1973, 1976, and 1977)--at least particularly the coma as a time skip trope. It really just diffused all the built-up tension that happened in the previous year, only for the characters to wake up fumbling around and confused.

• And then in terms of overall plot, the drug world advanced in time-skip-like ways, which was unsatisfying, b/c it never felt like there was a real goal to that interesting realm, and we're left with the sense of just the nebulous goal of "escape" for Jasper.

Sluggish 2nd Half Pacing
• Pacing suffered the 2nd half, specifically in the asylum section
• We got the really long training montage
• Also coupled with the fact that the character is isolated for the most part in the story. No side-kick or anything to talk to. So that just means we're stuck with a lot of in the character's head moments or large stretches of zero dialog, which really felt like a trudge.

Thank you, NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a mystery thriller with a supernatural touch and I really enjoyed it. There are twists and surprises aplenty and I like the way the author shows the reader that everybody has good and bad in them. For a debut novel, it's impressive.

3.5 stars rounded up for a debut.

Interesting read, a combo of suspenseful thriller with the paranormal. Its starts off as a thriller, then paranormal and then we get the combo for the finale!
Once our protagonist gets into an accident after the love of his life gets killed, we delve into the paranormal with some new abilities that he acquires. Now as he aims to find out who killed her and, we learn the true villain behind the mask!

Solid 3.5 Star!!!
Thanks to Victory Editing Net Galley for the ARC! Beyond grateful and humbled

"The Whisper" out DEC 1st 2024

I wanted to like this - action, fantasy elements. However I didn’t click with this narrative. The writing style, language and characters didn’t appeal. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This book was annoying because it normalized cheating and affairs, it is so morally ignorant and that made it unlikeable. If it did not have that aspect and instead focused on a relationship without cheating, it would have been great! I liked the fast pace of the book, and it kept me intrigued. Again it could do without infidelity

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and especially the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book!!