‘If you leave a door half open, you’ll hear the whisper 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 your lonely, sad, and blue, the whisper man will come for you.”

The Whisper Man by Alex North is a creepy serial killer/ psychological thriller. Tom Kennedy is a widower with a young son. They move to the small town of Featherbank, hoping for a fresh start. But Featherbank is full of secrets, as Tom is about to find out.

This book switches between first and third person, depending on who the focus is. It made for an interesting difference. Tom is the only one in first person and it makes for a great dynamic with the other characters. Tom is a writer, though he’s been stuck since his wife’s unexpected death. And he feels inadequate to raising his son alone. Sadly, Jake feels he’s a burden to his father. They just don’t know how to communicate with one another, and each is still grieving. 

Jake is an unusual boy. He talks to an ‘imaginary friend’, a young girl who often shows when he is stressed. Tom is concerned for his son. Jake tends to be withdrawn and shy. He likes to draw, but his drawings are often bizarre. Then he begins hearing a man’s voice…

The initial ‘Whisper Man’ serial killer case was fascinating to read about. The reason behind the copycat murders of present day threw me for a loop. North has great insight into mechanisms of abnormal psychology. Everything made sense in the end, but the lead up to it was just ‘wow’! Same applies with the girl Jake sees, and the revelation of her identity. That was touching, and it also left it open to the possibility of the truly supernatural. Not gonna lie, I thought she was a murder victim. 

The family closure Tom found with his own father was touching, as was the redemption his father found for the transgressions of Tom’s childhood. I also really loved Pete, the detective who caught the first Whisper Man, and is now assisting on the copycat case. He seems so sad, especially with his ritual with the alcohol. He tests himself, and passes those tests, no matter how hard it is. There was an unexpected death too, that left me asea. Not gonna spoil it, but it was my favourite character. I seem good at picking faves that end up dying… Whyyyyyyy??

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Celadon Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for the Manhattan Book Review.