THE WHISPER MAN

5 stars out of 5

For sure, this is a book I didn't want to put down - but for two reasons: First and by far foremost, yes, it's that good. Second, I was trying my best to finish before a cataract removal made it next to impossible to read anything, even with a bumped-high font on my Kindle. Happily (sort of), I made it - almost. The best I could do the night before my surgery was get close to the 90% mark, leaving me frustrated and chomping at the bit to get to the end. The day after surgery - with help from a pair of readers, a magnifying glass and a whole lot of determination, I finally got there.

And what a treat it was! Since it's still difficult to read (and therefore write), I'll necessarily keep my review short; but suffice it to say I enjoyed every thrilling page. For openers, a young boy has gone missing, and similarities soon point detectives to older murders by a serial killer known as the "Whisper Man." But that killer is in jail, so the theories are that there's a copycat on the loose or that the original killer had an accomplice. So strong is the connection that Detective Inspector Pete Willis, who worked the missing boy's case 20 years earlier and is the only person ever allowed to meet with the jailed killer, has been called in to help once again. That case has haunted him ever since - no body was ever found and the killer refuses to reveal the whereabouts - so he's understandably reluctant to get involved again.

Enter a second storyline as readers meet young Jake, whose mother died tragically. His father, a writer, is tryig his best to connect with his son even though both were devastated by the mother's death. The son, Jake, carries around a Packet of Special Things as a sort of security blanket, and he also "talks" to an unseen by anyone else young girl and, worse, hears a man's voice whispering to him on occasion. When Jake's dad moves them to a creepy old house that Jake inexplicably loves in Featherbank - the same community in which the boy went missing - things start to get really crazy.

And that's where I'll leave it. There are a couple of plot twists that keep things intriguing, and the character development keeps it interesting as well. This one, I think, deserves to be a winner - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

The Whisper Man by Alex North (Celadon Books, August 2019); 368 pp.