The Whisper Man by Alex North

Last year, despite my love of fantasy and sci-fi, I found it heavy sledding listening to many of them on audio, so I started having affairs with other genres. I’ve always liked horror and been fascinated with serial killers, so The Whisper Man sounded like a good fit. When I found out it was narrated by Christopher Eccleston (yes, THE Christopher Eccleston), who I’ve been a fan of since the movie Shallow Grave (1994), there was absolutely no chance in hell I was not listening to this. To be honest, it could have been narrated by Christopher Robin and I’d still have listened, but this really enhanced the experience.  

Disclaimer – I listened to this in October, so forgive me if I’m a little hazy on some of the details.

So, what’s it all about?

After the death of his wife, Tom Kennedy hopes a change of scenery will not only help him move on but bond with his young son, Jake. They move to Featherbank, a small town in the British countryside. But Featherbank has a dark history. Frank Carter, a serial killer known as the Whisper Man, killed five boys many years ago. The murders start up again not long after Tom moves in, but Frank is still locked up in jail, so who is the culprit (sounds a bit wishy-washy for a serial killer)? DI Amanda Beck, whose investigation into the current murders has stalled, brings in Pete Willis, the detective who caught Frank Carter. Will they catch the killer this time, or will his attraction to lonely boys lead him to Jake?        

Is it any good?

In short, yeah. It’s a relatively short book, but the author packs a lot in. The hunt for the serial killer is interesting, and there’s a supernatural vibe that makes Tom question his sanity throughout. But this story isn’t really about catching the Whisper Man, this is about a father’s relationship with his son and his reflections on his own relationship with his father. This, more than anything else in these 300 or so pages, will keep the readers engaged. Tom’s attempts to fight through his own grief while trying to improve his relationship with Jake feels very real. His relationship with his own father was poor, and he worries that he’ll never patch up the differences with his kid. As a father who has a great relationship with his son, but not so much with his father, I can still attest that these concerns are always hovering in the background. To read the struggles, even of a fictional character, feels very cathartic and enhanced my enjoyment of this book greatly. So, come for the suspense, but stay for the characters.

Verdict

A tale of the trials and tribulations of fatherhood.

• Format: Audiobook
• Obtained from: Library (support your public library people)
• Listening time: 9 hours 38 minutes
• Publisher: Macmillan audio
• ISBN: 9781250222503
• Narrator: Christopher Eccleston