The last buddy read of 2020 was a little bit of a struggle for us to narrow down to. We had originally planned for it to be Wanderers but that did not work for us. We picked up The Library of Lost and Found instead which we breezed through and decided to make time for one more. This is how we bring you the discussion for The Whisper Man by Alex North and contrary to popular belief, this was not a book that resonated with us. So if you love this book and choose to read the following discussion, know that we tried our best to be fair. Let’s start with the synopsis and content notes:
After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town: Featherbank.
But Featherbank 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.
Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes. His disappearance bears an unnerving resemblance to Frank Carter’s crimes, reigniting old rumors that he preyed with an accomplice. Now, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis must find the boy before it is too late, even if that means Pete has to revisit his great foe in prison: The Whisper Man. And then Jake begins acting strangely. He hears a whispering at his window.
Content Notes: Kidnapping, grief, child death, death of a parent, child abuse, violence, alcoholism, domestic abuse, blood, and bullying
The Library of Lost and Found
Whole book Discussion
Before we fully go into this, we will be honest that both of us did not entirely enjoy this book. However, we can definitely see the appeal of why people enjoyed this book and picked up the sequel. Maybe if we had read it at a different time before certain other books, we would have loved it too. Our thoughts below are fully our opinions, and are not directed towards the author at all, and we applaud all authors for their bravery and hard work in putting out novels. That being said, we are not meant to like every book that comes our way and this is one of those books for us. Thanks for reading!
This is one of those popular books we have seen a lot on social media. This year, the follow up to the story, The Shadows was released and that is how I came to know more about this book, thank you NetGalley. Since The Whisper Man itself is from 2019, we had no problem getting it from the library. The last thriller that we read was Seven Lies that did not warrant a discussion on the blog but since this is a well known book, we thought we would bring out thoughts together here.
The Whisper Man is the story about Tom and his son, Jake, who move into a house in the small town of Featherbank. Their house has character and quite a few people are interested in it and its history. It seemed like this was supposed be a horror story with some crime elements and most of the reviews I saw on Instagram said it was super creepy. What did you think of the spookiness of this tale, Ariel?
It was a little bit disjointed and underwhelming, if I’m being totally honest. I did not truly feel engaged or immersed until the last third of the book. It seems like a solid mystery thriller, but after reading some really amazing thrillers like Mexican Gothic (review) and The Only Good Indians and Ring Shout (review), I realize my expectations for a good thriller are now quite high.
I have read more horror books than ever this year and I will say after The Only Good Indians (review) and House of Leaves (which I am terrified to finish), The Whisper Man falls short. While attempts were made to scare us by blatantly saying “I want to scare you”, that just wasn’t enough in my mind.
We agreed at some point that the scariest part of the whole book was Mister Night, a random memory of an imaginary friend that one of the main character recalls from his childhood, and that was only a couple passing lines.
I struggled with the writing style of this book. While I have no problem with multiple point of views, I do not understand why authors mix first person narration with third person narratives. Why not just keep one? I do not think knowing Tom’s thoughts added any extra value to the story. It honestly caused more confusion when he was describing his relationship with Rebecca and the memories from his childhood.
Concluding thoughts
If you’re looking for a mainstream crime mystery thriller with a splash of spookiness, this may be the book for you. We have high expectations of critique and discussion whenever we dive into a book and so we are constantly questioning everything a character does or every turn the plot makes. Usually, if we’re enjoying the book, those questions don’t deter us from our immersion. This time, however, our high expectations got the better of us. I can certainly see its appeal, and if this is a book you’ve read and enjoyed, we’re happy that you did!
We had a wonderful year of buddy reads and will be sharing the list of books we discussed this year as well as our plans for next year so stay tuned for that! If you have read The Whisper Man, feel free to tell us something you enjoyed in that book.
Interested in reading The Whisper Man and adding to our discussion? Find it on all retail stores. We would recommend finding it at your local library and supporting them!
Cover Image: Photo by Neenu Vimalkumar on Unsplash
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