An excellent crime début novel from the relatively unknown author Alex North, one of the better ones in the genre that I have read in recent times. Set in the Stephen King mould, the book is a riveting read from start to finish.
Frank Carter is the infamous "Whisper Man", the children killer who used to whisper the names of his victims before killing them. He had been caught by detective Pete Wills around twenty years back, bringing an end to the horror that had gripped the small town of Featherbank then. But, with the body of the fifth dead child still missing, Pete keeps visiting the man in his cell to glean any clues about its whereabouts. Carter, a man of notoriety who loves his legend, keeps toying with emotions of the now old detective during their conversations. Unable to discover anything about the body for over twenty years, the detective is a man overburdened by his past, but still he perseveres.
Around the same time, Tom Kennedy and his son Jake move to this quaint town of Featherbank looking for a fresh start after the death of his dear wife, Rebecca. Both of them are emotional wrecks, struggling to come to terms with her death. Tom is a devoted father who loves his son, but finds it difficult to communicate with him and feels lacking in his responsibility as a father. Jake, a precocious seven year old, has imaginary friends and struggles to adapt to normal life. Tom dearly hopes that the relocation to new surroundings will help bury the ghosts of the past, bring the two of them closer and make Jake feel happy, especially as the boy chose this new house. But, the house is run-down and scary, with a sinister halo around it and a dark past.
The past threatens to rear its ugly head again when one day, a six-year old goes missing under strange circumstances. Detective Amanda Beck, who is leading the investigation, ropes in Pete after finding eerie similarities with the Whisper Man killings of the yesteryear. Soon, it is Jake’s turn to hear the dreaded whispers. Who is the new Whisper Man? Together, Amanda and Pete must confront the past as they try to solve the puzzle before it is too late.
The book is narrated from the point of view of four characters: detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Wills, Tom Kennedy and his son Jake and is a fascinating read. The story is right up the alley of thriller and mystery genre with the former dominating more. The thing I instantly liked was the lucid and engrossing writing style of the author. The air of suspense was kept up pretty nicely throughout which made it a quick, riveting read. It really was difficult to put down this book once started. Another hit for me was the deep personality development of the main characters and how their emotions and past intertwined throughout the story. Initially, the story gave the feeling of disparate plot threads which felt a bit disconnected but the way those threads came together gradually was quite satisfying.
I really wanted to give it a higher rating, but the feeling of the plot being a little thin from the mystery perspective didn't quite go away and that's why 3.5 stars seems like the right choice.
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
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