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Carmen's Reviews > The Whisper Man
The Whisper Man
by
by
Carmen's review
bookshelves: british-author, fiction, he-says, horror, published2019, traditionally-published
Oct 08, 2019
bookshelves: british-author, fiction, he-says, horror, published2019, traditionally-published
(view spoiler)
He looked around the room, weighing again the emptiness of his existence. There was nothing to him. He was a man made of air. A life with no heft. There was nothing good in his past that could be saved, and nothing in his future that was worth trying to. pg. 188
This is normally a book I would never touch. Child-focused-serial-killers are NOT my idea of a good time or an idea of entertainment for me. But for a spooky Halloween book, this fits right in.
We really have two main characters - Detective Pete Willis, sober-but-still-fighting, deadened by the child-murders he's seen and the now-incarcerated serial killer who keeps toying with him.
And Tom Kennedy, an author whose wife dies so he moves them to a new town for a new start, not realizing the evil lurking beneath the towns quiet facade. His seven-year-old, Jake, is eerily prescient and prone to talking to himself. Or is it himself he's talking to?
...
Let's break this down.
ANALYSIS
The book is a mix of horror (supernatural) and horror (human). Tom and his boy move to a town where a serial killer murdered five little boys around Jake's age twenty years ago. He was said to have befriended his victims by standing outside their bedroom windows and whispering to them. The serial killer was caught and is in prison, but the body of his last victim was never found.
As the book opens, a second serial killer seems to be starting the Whisper Man thing up again. We know it can't be the first serial killer, because he is in penitentiary. Is this a copycat?
Adding to the human horror, we have Detective Pete being a sober alcoholic. We have the fact that Jake came home from school to find his mom's dead body. And we have the existential horror throughout the book of parents feeling burdened, trapped, and angry at their children. I'll come back to this theme later, it's a huge theme.
So most of this horror is human. Human weakness, human anger, human murderers. But there is also a (rather unexplained) supernatural bent to the book, with (view spoiler)
WRITING STYLE
North has a simple, straightforward writing style. That's good - in the area of being able to understand him and understand who is saying what and when.
However, it's not a very emotional book. I felt like it was creepy, but only mildly creepy. A serial-killer and (view spoiler) novel should be more than just mildly creepy IMO. North is not good at writing or conveying emotions. He cannot really convey true horror (or chooses not to?) in the way someone more complicated like King can.
This is good for people who don't really want to read a child-killer novel. That would be me. Even though North could have written things in a more detailed, complex, emotional and creepy way... I would probably have to stop reading the book. I hate thinking about violence against children. But even someone as easily revolted as ME can read and enjoy this book. Take that as a criticism, if you want to. It's mild. It's pulling punches. North does not really focus on the murders or the horrible darkness that must lie inside a person who does something like that, nor does he seem to want to. Everything is glossed over.
This makes it easy for someone who is not into 'dark reads' to enjoy this, but it doesn't make it gutting, pulse-pounding suspense either.
Don't get me wrong, it was creepy and I was entertained. But I was far from sleeping with the lights on. And the fact that I can use the word 'entertained' to describe my reaction to a book about someone who kills children pretty much says it all.
And I appreciate the way North describes alcoholism, it's accurate. And I appreciate the way he talks about relationships, I think he makes some good points. But it is simplistic and not soul-punching. He seems to lack the skill to really turn you inside out about something.
FATHERHOOD - FATHER/SON
The whole entire book is actually about fatherhood. SPECIFICALLY being a father to a son. Father-son relationships dominate the whole entire book, paired with North's other huge theme - feeling burdened by your children and wanting to get away from them.
Don't get me wrong, women are in here. And I don't even think they are particularly ignored, but they are not part of the overarching central core of the book which is about exploring father-son relationships in about ten different ways. The book is OBSESSED with father-son relationships and how that colors a male individual's life FOREVER.
Parenting isn't an exact science IMO. But to be sure there are good parents and terrible ones. But North doesn't seem interested in exploring these relationships in depth or dissecting what makes a father act a certain way. He doesn't dive down into the recesses of these topics, merely brings them up and talks lightly about them before moving on. He's not good with in-depth psychological analysis.
ENDING
I didn't enjoy the ending, either. (view spoiler)
TWISTS
By my count there are three twists, with Twist Three being divided up into Part A and Part B. Only the first twist and 3B surprised me.
1.) (view spoiler) Did NOT see this coming at all. Best spoiler in the book IMO.
2.) (view spoiler)
3.) A. (view spoiler) I read things too carefully. I feel like this is not going to be a surprise to anyone who pays close attention to detail.
B. (view spoiler) I did not see that coming. But it was not as good as the first twist IMO.
Then there's the whole "Is there a supernatural aspect to this story?" thing which I don't really consider a twist. Also, it's unclear IMO.
Some stuff in here doesn't make sense. (view spoiler)
TL;DR - If I can enjoy a book about a serial-killer who targets children... well. That means that the author is pulling punches (or is unable to deliver punches) in a major way. I'm squeamish about murderers.
But this book is creepy but not frightening. Might make you tingle a bit but you will sleep fine. Good, enjoyable book. Just not heavy-hitting or deep or complex. North just skims the surface of things like unwanted children and destructive father-son relationships. He does not do the heavy lifting. He is not inclined to open up the hood and look at the engine. The car runs fine. Why would he go deeper?
He gets in a few good twists. The book isn't sloppy. The writing is concise. The plot makes sense. The twists make sense. No one is OVERTLY stupid (maybe slightly stupid sometimes, but that's very difficult to avoid in a thriller). The book chugs along at a good pace. It's not boring. It's not dumb. It's entertaining and slightly spooky. It's NOT what you would expect when you pick up a book about a serial killer who targets children.
If you want great horror, read King. If you want a great horror that deals with a male child, try The Boy Who Drew Monsters. You can also check out my horror shelf for more suggestions.
I'll end with another sample of North's writing:
Glass smashing.
My mother screaming.
A man shouting.
"Daddy."
I jerked awake from the nightmare, disoriented, aware only that Jake was calling me and so I needed to do something.
"Hang on," I shouted.
A shadow at the end of the bed moved, and my heart leaped. I sat up quickly.
Jesus Christ.
"Jake, is that you?"
The small shadow moved around from the foot of the bed to my side. For a moment I wasn't convinced it was him at all, but then he was close enough that I could recognize the shape of his hair. I couldn't see his face, though. It was occluded entirely by the darkness in the room.
"What are you doing, mate?" My heart was still racing, both from what was happening now and from the residue of the nightmare it had woken me from. "It's not time to get up yet. Absolutely nowhere near."
"Can I sleep in here with you tonight?"
"What?" He never had before. In fact, Rebecca and I had always held firm on the few occasions he'd suggested it, assuming that relenting even once would be the beginning of a slippery slope. "We don't do that, Jake. You know that."
"Please."
I realized that his voice was deliberately quiet, as though there were someone in another room he didn't want to hear.
"What's the matter?" I said.
"I heard a noise."
"A noise?"
"There's a monster outside my window."
I sat there in silence, remembering the rhyme he'd told me at bedtime. But that had been about the door. And anyway, there was no way anybody could be outside his window. We were one floor up.
"You were dreaming, mate."
He shook his head in the darkness.
"It woke me up. I went to the window and it was louder there. I wanted to open the curtains but I was too scared."
You would have seen the dark field across the road, I thought. That's all.
But he sounded so serious that I couldn't say that to him.
"All right." I slipped out of bed. "Well, let's go and check, then."
"Don't, Daddy."
"I'm not scared of monsters, Jake."
He followed me into the hall, where I switched on the light at the top of the stairs. Stepping into his room, though, I left the light off, and then approached the window.
"What if there's something there?"
"There isn't," I said.
"But what if?"
"Then I'll deal with it."
"Will you punch it in the face?"
"Absolutely. But there's nothing there."
And yet I didn't feel as confident as I sounded. The closed curtains seemed ominous. I listened for a moment, but there was nothing to hear. And it was impossible for anybody to be out there.
I pulled the curtains open. pg. 60
NAMES IN THIS BOOK
(view spoiler)
He looked around the room, weighing again the emptiness of his existence. There was nothing to him. He was a man made of air. A life with no heft. There was nothing good in his past that could be saved, and nothing in his future that was worth trying to. pg. 188
This is normally a book I would never touch. Child-focused-serial-killers are NOT my idea of a good time or an idea of entertainment for me. But for a spooky Halloween book, this fits right in.
We really have two main characters - Detective Pete Willis, sober-but-still-fighting, deadened by the child-murders he's seen and the now-incarcerated serial killer who keeps toying with him.
And Tom Kennedy, an author whose wife dies so he moves them to a new town for a new start, not realizing the evil lurking beneath the towns quiet facade. His seven-year-old, Jake, is eerily prescient and prone to talking to himself. Or is it himself he's talking to?
...
Let's break this down.
ANALYSIS
The book is a mix of horror (supernatural) and horror (human). Tom and his boy move to a town where a serial killer murdered five little boys around Jake's age twenty years ago. He was said to have befriended his victims by standing outside their bedroom windows and whispering to them. The serial killer was caught and is in prison, but the body of his last victim was never found.
As the book opens, a second serial killer seems to be starting the Whisper Man thing up again. We know it can't be the first serial killer, because he is in penitentiary. Is this a copycat?
Adding to the human horror, we have Detective Pete being a sober alcoholic. We have the fact that Jake came home from school to find his mom's dead body. And we have the existential horror throughout the book of parents feeling burdened, trapped, and angry at their children. I'll come back to this theme later, it's a huge theme.
So most of this horror is human. Human weakness, human anger, human murderers. But there is also a (rather unexplained) supernatural bent to the book, with (view spoiler)
WRITING STYLE
North has a simple, straightforward writing style. That's good - in the area of being able to understand him and understand who is saying what and when.
However, it's not a very emotional book. I felt like it was creepy, but only mildly creepy. A serial-killer and (view spoiler) novel should be more than just mildly creepy IMO. North is not good at writing or conveying emotions. He cannot really convey true horror (or chooses not to?) in the way someone more complicated like King can.
This is good for people who don't really want to read a child-killer novel. That would be me. Even though North could have written things in a more detailed, complex, emotional and creepy way... I would probably have to stop reading the book. I hate thinking about violence against children. But even someone as easily revolted as ME can read and enjoy this book. Take that as a criticism, if you want to. It's mild. It's pulling punches. North does not really focus on the murders or the horrible darkness that must lie inside a person who does something like that, nor does he seem to want to. Everything is glossed over.
This makes it easy for someone who is not into 'dark reads' to enjoy this, but it doesn't make it gutting, pulse-pounding suspense either.
Don't get me wrong, it was creepy and I was entertained. But I was far from sleeping with the lights on. And the fact that I can use the word 'entertained' to describe my reaction to a book about someone who kills children pretty much says it all.
And I appreciate the way North describes alcoholism, it's accurate. And I appreciate the way he talks about relationships, I think he makes some good points. But it is simplistic and not soul-punching. He seems to lack the skill to really turn you inside out about something.
FATHERHOOD - FATHER/SON
The whole entire book is actually about fatherhood. SPECIFICALLY being a father to a son. Father-son relationships dominate the whole entire book, paired with North's other huge theme - feeling burdened by your children and wanting to get away from them.
Don't get me wrong, women are in here. And I don't even think they are particularly ignored, but they are not part of the overarching central core of the book which is about exploring father-son relationships in about ten different ways. The book is OBSESSED with father-son relationships and how that colors a male individual's life FOREVER.
Parenting isn't an exact science IMO. But to be sure there are good parents and terrible ones. But North doesn't seem interested in exploring these relationships in depth or dissecting what makes a father act a certain way. He doesn't dive down into the recesses of these topics, merely brings them up and talks lightly about them before moving on. He's not good with in-depth psychological analysis.
ENDING
I didn't enjoy the ending, either. (view spoiler)
TWISTS
By my count there are three twists, with Twist Three being divided up into Part A and Part B. Only the first twist and 3B surprised me.
1.) (view spoiler) Did NOT see this coming at all. Best spoiler in the book IMO.
2.) (view spoiler)
3.) A. (view spoiler) I read things too carefully. I feel like this is not going to be a surprise to anyone who pays close attention to detail.
B. (view spoiler) I did not see that coming. But it was not as good as the first twist IMO.
Then there's the whole "Is there a supernatural aspect to this story?" thing which I don't really consider a twist. Also, it's unclear IMO.
Some stuff in here doesn't make sense. (view spoiler)
TL;DR - If I can enjoy a book about a serial-killer who targets children... well. That means that the author is pulling punches (or is unable to deliver punches) in a major way. I'm squeamish about murderers.
But this book is creepy but not frightening. Might make you tingle a bit but you will sleep fine. Good, enjoyable book. Just not heavy-hitting or deep or complex. North just skims the surface of things like unwanted children and destructive father-son relationships. He does not do the heavy lifting. He is not inclined to open up the hood and look at the engine. The car runs fine. Why would he go deeper?
He gets in a few good twists. The book isn't sloppy. The writing is concise. The plot makes sense. The twists make sense. No one is OVERTLY stupid (maybe slightly stupid sometimes, but that's very difficult to avoid in a thriller). The book chugs along at a good pace. It's not boring. It's not dumb. It's entertaining and slightly spooky. It's NOT what you would expect when you pick up a book about a serial killer who targets children.
If you want great horror, read King. If you want a great horror that deals with a male child, try The Boy Who Drew Monsters. You can also check out my horror shelf for more suggestions.
I'll end with another sample of North's writing:
Glass smashing.
My mother screaming.
A man shouting.
"Daddy."
I jerked awake from the nightmare, disoriented, aware only that Jake was calling me and so I needed to do something.
"Hang on," I shouted.
A shadow at the end of the bed moved, and my heart leaped. I sat up quickly.
Jesus Christ.
"Jake, is that you?"
The small shadow moved around from the foot of the bed to my side. For a moment I wasn't convinced it was him at all, but then he was close enough that I could recognize the shape of his hair. I couldn't see his face, though. It was occluded entirely by the darkness in the room.
"What are you doing, mate?" My heart was still racing, both from what was happening now and from the residue of the nightmare it had woken me from. "It's not time to get up yet. Absolutely nowhere near."
"Can I sleep in here with you tonight?"
"What?" He never had before. In fact, Rebecca and I had always held firm on the few occasions he'd suggested it, assuming that relenting even once would be the beginning of a slippery slope. "We don't do that, Jake. You know that."
"Please."
I realized that his voice was deliberately quiet, as though there were someone in another room he didn't want to hear.
"What's the matter?" I said.
"I heard a noise."
"A noise?"
"There's a monster outside my window."
I sat there in silence, remembering the rhyme he'd told me at bedtime. But that had been about the door. And anyway, there was no way anybody could be outside his window. We were one floor up.
"You were dreaming, mate."
He shook his head in the darkness.
"It woke me up. I went to the window and it was louder there. I wanted to open the curtains but I was too scared."
You would have seen the dark field across the road, I thought. That's all.
But he sounded so serious that I couldn't say that to him.
"All right." I slipped out of bed. "Well, let's go and check, then."
"Don't, Daddy."
"I'm not scared of monsters, Jake."
He followed me into the hall, where I switched on the light at the top of the stairs. Stepping into his room, though, I left the light off, and then approached the window.
"What if there's something there?"
"There isn't," I said.
"But what if?"
"Then I'll deal with it."
"Will you punch it in the face?"
"Absolutely. But there's nothing there."
And yet I didn't feel as confident as I sounded. The closed curtains seemed ominous. I listened for a moment, but there was nothing to hear. And it was impossible for anybody to be out there.
I pulled the curtains open. pg. 60
NAMES IN THIS BOOK
(view spoiler)
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Reading Progress
August 8, 2019
– Shelved
October 7, 2019
–
Started Reading
October 7, 2019
–
0.28%
"It's not going to be easy, and I need to start with an apology. Because over the years I've told you many times there's no such thing as monsters.
I'm sorry that I lied."
page
1
I'm sorry that I lied."
October 7, 2019
–
2.82%
""Watch yourself, sir. The ground's a bit shaky here."
"I'm fine."
Young enough to discount him as some old man as well, apparently. Presumably he'd never seen Pete in the department's gym, which he visited every morning before heading upstairs to work. Despite the disparity in their ages, Pete would have bet he could outlift the younger man on every machine. He was watching the ground, all right. Watching"
page
10
"I'm fine."
Young enough to discount him as some old man as well, apparently. Presumably he'd never seen Pete in the department's gym, which he visited every morning before heading upstairs to work. Despite the disparity in their ages, Pete would have bet he could outlift the younger man on every machine. He was watching the ground, all right. Watching"
October 7, 2019
–
25.35%
""Have you made any new friends yet?" she said.
"Not really. Adam, Josh, and Hasan seem okay. Owen isn't very nice."
"Owen is a little shit," she said.
Jake stared at her.
"But a lot of people are, aren't they?" she said quickly. "And not everybody who acts like your friend really is."
"But YOU are?"
"Of course I am.""
page
90
"Not really. Adam, Josh, and Hasan seem okay. Owen isn't very nice."
"Owen is a little shit," she said.
Jake stared at her.
"But a lot of people are, aren't they?" she said quickly. "And not everybody who acts like your friend really is."
"But YOU are?"
"Of course I am.""
October 7, 2019
–
25.92%
"This little boy thinks that he is surrounded by idiots. I sympathize. He's quite a smart little boy."
page
92
October 7, 2019
–
28.45%
"This isn't very well-explained.
Which I suppose adds to the creepiness, but on the other hand it's lazy."
page
101
Which I suppose adds to the creepiness, but on the other hand it's lazy."
October 7, 2019
–
31.83%
"My son moved his hand toward the mail slot in the door. That was when I noticed it was being pushed open from the outside. There were FINGERS there. My heart leaped at the sight of them. Four thin, pale fingers, poking through among the spidery black bristles, holding the mail slot open.
"Let me in.""
page
113
"Let me in.""
October 7, 2019
–
33.8%
"I don't really understand this and I'm hoping the book explains it."
page
120
October 7, 2019
–
35.49%
"After what had happened, it seemed ridiculous, but I had no excuse for keeping him home. In fact, given his performance in front of the officers earlier on, a horrible part of me WANTED not to be around him right now.
Theme of the book."
page
126
Theme of the book."
October 7, 2019
–
45.35%
"God he wanted a drink right now - and wasn't it strange how that worked? People often thought of alcohol as a buffer against the horrors of the world. But [little boy's] body had been found, and it was more than possible that the man responsible for [other little boy's] murder was in custody, sitting behind him right now, and yet the urge to drink was stronger than ever. There were always so many reasons to drink"
page
161
October 7, 2019
–
52.68%
"Over the years, he had grown numb to the fact of his fatherhood, as though it were something he had learned at school that no longer had any bearing on his life."
page
187
October 7, 2019
–
52.96%
"He looked around the room, weighing again the emptiness of his existence. There was nothing to him. He was a man made of air. A life with no heft. There was nothing good in his past that could be saved, and nothing in his future that was worth trying to."
page
188
October 7, 2019
–
56.06%
"He didn't want to be remembered at all.
And he was good at that - although it was true that people made it easy for him. So many of them seemed to be lost in the noise of existence, all but sleepwalking through their lives, oblivious to the world around them. Hypnotized by their cell phones. Ignoring the others they passed. People were self-centered and uncaring, and they paid little attention to things on their"
page
199
And he was good at that - although it was true that people made it easy for him. So many of them seemed to be lost in the noise of existence, all but sleepwalking through their lives, oblivious to the world around them. Hypnotized by their cell phones. Ignoring the others they passed. People were self-centered and uncaring, and they paid little attention to things on their"
October 7, 2019
–
59.15%
"I feel like the author expects me to feel a bunch of emotions, but I just don't."
page
210
October 7, 2019
–
61.41%
"I liked when people were impressed with my son; it made me feel proud of him. Stupid to think that way, of course - he was a person in his own right, not some accomplishment of mine - but the feeling was always there, and, if anything, with x it was stronger than usual."
page
218
October 7, 2019
–
65.63%
"This isn't a surprise to me, although I'm sure North intends it to be surprising."
page
233
October 7, 2019
–
67.89%
"In fact, she couldn't quite believe her eyes. Because Pete appeared to be smiling. Could that ACTUALLY be the case? It was the smallest of expressions, but she realized she'd never seen even that before. He'd always been so stern and serious - so DARK, like a house in which the owner stubbornly refused to turn on any lights. Right now, though, a single room seemed to be illuminated. A text message, she guessed."
page
241
October 7, 2019
–
72.68%
"For so long now, he'd buried himself in distractions: used books and food and television - ritual in general - as a way of clicking fingers to one side of his own mind and keeping it from glancing in more dangerous directions. But he didn't feel that now. The voices were silent. The urge to drink was not alive tonight. He could still sense it there, in the same way that a stubbed-out candle smokes a little,"
page
258
October 7, 2019
–
Finished Reading
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Dem
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rated it 3 stars
Oct 09, 2019 07:21AM
Terrific review Carmen and while I liked it too and enjoyed the twists and turns, I did have a little difficulty buying in to some them.
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Dem wrote: "Terrific review Carmen and while I liked it too and enjoyed the twists and turns, I did have a little difficulty buying in to some them."Yes, thank you, Dem! I was thinking while I was reading this, "This is EXACTLY something Dem would read." I can't wait to read your review! :)
miss.pergaine wrote: "t was ok"Oh, did you read it?
Excellent review, Carmen!
Libby wrote: "Excellent review, Carmen!"Thank you so much, Libby!
Great review! The bit with the fingers through the mail slot scared the crap out of me.
Paula wrote: "Great review! The bit with the fingers through the mail slot scared the crap out of me."LOL I know, right? Definitely creepy. And thanks!
Great review, Carmen! I’m glad you were able to enjoy the high points of this book, even though it missed in certain areas. Sounds like it had some great twists, even though you figured some of them out.
I agree that the Father/Son relationships were the strength of this book.
Great review, Carmen! I’m glad you were able to enjoy the high points of this book, even though it missed in certain areas. Sounds like it had some great twists, even though you figured some of them out.Thanks, Donna! Are you planning on reading it? The likelihood of me picking up a serial-killer book voluntarily is very low. The fact that I read the whole thing is itself a good sign.
Vivian wrote: "I agree that the Father/Son relationships were the strength of this book."Yes, that was the real message of this book. Write what you know, I guess.
Great review as always, Carmen. I always enjoy reading your analysis of a book!
Michelle wrote: "Great review as always, Carmen. I always enjoy reading your analysis of a book!"Thank you, Michelle!
Leanne! Thank you so much. Yes, it was pretty ambiguous. Do you think that is annoying?
I guess I didn't see that as a major twist, but it was one in a way. :) Perhaps there were more twists than I thought.
"But this book is creepy but not frightening. Might make you tingle a bit but you will sleep fine. Good, enjoyable book. Just not heavy-hitting or deep or complex. North just skims the surface of things like unwanted children and destructive father-son relationships. He does not do the heavy lifting. He is not inclined to open up the hood and look at the engine. The car runs fine. Why would he go deeper?"Thank you for this great review! You have absolutely summed up why I found this read underwhelming.
"But this book is creepy but not frightening. Might make you tingle a bit but you will sleep fine. Good, enjoyable book. Just not heavy-hitting or deep or complex. North just skims the surface of things like unwanted children and destructive father-son relationships. He does not do the heavy lifting. He is not inclined to open up the hood and look at the engine. The car runs fine. Why would he go deeper?"Thank you for this great review! You have absolutely summed up why I found this read underwhelming.
Thank you, Melinda! I think this was overhyped, and that the advertising made it seem like it was something it wasn't. Looking for 'true horror' here would only lead to disappointment. It's not Stephen King.
