Steve MosbyKirja-arvosteluja

This was an interesting story. I liked the alternating timelines; I love learning about the past crime as sinister things are happening in the present. I definitely was not expecting the ending.

I am looking forward to reading more of Alex North's books in the future.

Great thriller, with a slight supernatural aspect to it. Although I found it a tad predictable, it still kept my interest and kept me reading. I almost gave it 4 stars but the last chapter really got me and broke my heart a bit. I don’t want to give anything away but there was a lot of emotion packed into that last short chapter.

The people who have reviewed this book here have given it rave reviews, and I am left wondering if we read the same book because I thought it was a mess, particularly at the end. At times, I thought it had potential and there were enough creepy spots that it kept me reading. The way the mystery was resolved, though, was so out of left field that it made me annoyed that I did finish the book.

What a debut book! This was a BOTM selection and I'm so glad I chose it.

Tom and his 7 year old son, Jake, move to Featherbank to escape the sadness of their previous house after Tom's wife (Jake's mom) passes away suddenly. Several years earlier, a young boy was kidnapped in Featherbank by the Whisper Man, who whispers outside the home of the victim to lure them out. The Whisper Man is caught and in jail serving his sentence.

Shortly after Tom and Jake move there, another young boy is abducted. Did The Whisper Man have an accomplice or is this a copycat? Detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis are investigating the newest abduction but Pete is still haunted by an earlier case involving The Whisper Man because one of the boys' bodies has never been found.

And then Jake starts talking to an imaginary friend who tells him a poem about The Whisper Man and then Jake starts hearing whispering outside his window.....

There are few thrills in this "thriller" and little suspense in this "suspense" novel. As for horror ... North is apparently so afraid of offending his readers that he uses only the vaguest terms to describe the "grisly" and "horrific" crimes. People died. There was blood. (One does not wish for sado-porn, but, it's really difficult to work up much emotional reaction to "grisly".)

Basically, the story follows a young man who narrowly escaped an attack by a serial killer when he was in his teens. Decades later, it seems he is being targeted again, and his sister is attempting to locate him and get him out of harm's way. Meanwhile, a team of investigators attempts to solve the murder of an elderly philosophy professor. How these two events intertwine forms the meat of the plot.

North tells (but doesn't show) us that the male-female detective team has a working relationship built on complementary strengths and a cynical back-and-forth kind of one-upmanship, but it never gets off the ground.

None of the Big Reveals in the book should come as a surprise to any reader who's been paying attention.

Readers seeking true horror and suspense with a quirky relationship between investigators would be much better off turning to any of the Lincoln Rhyme novels.

Katie is haunted by a crime from her past. More than a decade earlier, she left her teenage brother, Chris, at home alone for the afternoon so she could spend time with her boyfriend. When she comes back, the police were everywhere. To her utter horror she learns that a man had tried to cut off Chris’s face Yes, you read that right.... I had to go back and read it again. We move ahead several years and find that Katie is now happily married to the same boyfriend that she had left Chris to meet, and they have a young daughter, 5-year-old Siena. More horror awaits our Katie as she now discovers that a man has been horribly murdered in a nearby mansion, and that Chris, who has now disappeared, is the number-one suspect. Katie investigates and discovers secrets and brutality that stretches back for decades. (From the book) “Something terrible and incomprehensible” lies ahead, Katie realizes. “Something that had always been coming for you, but which you wouldn’t even see until it swerved in out of nowhere and changed your world forever.' Those lines alone and the fact that Alex North wrote it, would have been enough to make me want to read this book. I don't think I have ever given an Alex North book less than 4 stars, usually they get a full 5, but sorry...this one is only going to get 3. While it certainly was an absolutely intriguing story, there was just so much going on...too much and all at the same time...so many twists and turns...so many characters...it simply became confusing, and I had trouble keeping up and had to make several "back trips" through the chapters to clarify what I had just read. I really love how this author's brain works and I will certainly read his next offering.

Interesting story did not see the twists coming, but at the same time this pulled on my heart stings.

Eerie Reading Experience
I wanted to love this as I love anything all spook and fast paced. I read the author's debut novel, The Whisper Man, a few years ago and thought it was a pretty good read. The Angel Maker once again shows off his unique storytelling ability but unfortunately, I didn't hit a nice reading groove until about 2/3 of the way into the book. The main issue is not all of the characters are clearly defined so I had a hard time keeping track of everyone. My interest level was high but it was a disjointed reading experience.

When Katie Shaw was a teenager something horrible happened to her brother, Chris. Feel free to check out the publisher synopsis if you want more details about the plot, but part of the appeal of the story for me going in blind was just watching everything unfold naturally. I will mention the action picks up with Katie as an adult and lots of different characters are followed throughout the story.

Normally, I'm a big fan of stories that bounce around between different characters but it didn't work well in this case. When certain characters aren't standing out in your mind it's like a snowball effect because then it becomes difficult to follow the backstory. I was intrigued by the content but it was also a jumbled mess. Thankfully, I had a bit of a lightbulb moment with about 1/3 of the story left to go and everything started to make more sense and it was a much more enjoyable ride to the finish.

As far as endings go, I'm just going to shrug my shoulders. Nothing horrible about it, but nothing knocked my socks off either. All and all I will be happily reading the next novel because I know the greatness that can be Alex North. For now all I can do is suggest that you click the link below to try your luck with this one.

Even though the execution was a bit off at times, it was a decent thriller. Knowing this author is capable of going in so many directions with a story is fun when you are a fan of this genre.

[b:The Whisper Man|41940236|The Whisper Man|Alex North|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541864083l/41940236._SY75_.jpg|63202631]
Do Not Read in Bed but Definitely Read it!
Thank you to NetGalley for my digital arc of this standout novel. I have never read a book that has given me the creeps while I enjoy it as much as this has. The story has such a scare and spook factor Alex North is a genius with words. The story surrounds Tom and his son Jake. In the tale
Tom and his young son Jake, move into a sleepy village in search of a new start after the death of Tom's wife. But Tom moves into a place called Featherbank and he moves there because his son picked out a strange house from the internet. Featherbank has a dark past where, fifteen years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys. The killer was finally caught and put behind bars. He is known locally as The Whisper Man. Shortly after Tom and Jake move in another boy goes missing and the whispers begin again. If you are thinking the original Whisper Man…. Frank Carter is the Whisper Man, incarcerated in prison, reveling in his notoriety and reputation, playing mind games with 56-year-old DI Pete Willis, the man who caught him. Despite the emotional cost, Pete has persevered through the years, visiting Carter in prison, in the hope of a clue to where the body of a victim, young Tony Smith, can be recovered so his grieving parents can at least achieve a small measure of peace. I loved that Tom is a struggling writer in this novel and that the fractured relationship with his seven-year-old son makes this even creeper. Tom’s wife Rebecca was the one that was close to Jake and while trying to navigate a new life in a new town just adds to the story.

While Alex North’s Goodreads page states that this is his debut novel his writing style will make fans quickly. Alex North's writing is addictive, hooking the reader immediately, with its themes of fathers and their challenging relationships with their sons, grief, and loss, amidst a background of a child killer running rampant in the town it is a perfect read. There are twists and turns and well-written characters that make this easily a one day read. Five Whispery Stars! I cannot wait to see what his 2020 project is going to be like.

This book left me a changed person! I have always been the cautious type: scared of my own shadow, yet strong in ways that people would not imagine, like hearing gunshots in my neighborhood and trying to run down a suspicious group of children in the road to demand answers. But this book plays and preys on my worst fears that when I am alone and vulnerable, unable to sleep in the dark, the question: Am I really safe? OH, BOY! Trying not to give any spoilers, but ghosts that reveal information, people with demons in their past, a flat out demon in real life, and a traumatized boy who ends up being a demon, too, provides a lot of thriller moments in this book. This is the first book I have ever read by Alex North. I now understand the fascination with his books. I think the disclaimer should be made if you are too fragile, sensitive, scared of the dark, you might either want to read this early in the day, small blocks of reading, or not at all. For people who LOVE to be scared to death and love constant drama, THIS IS YOUR BOOK! It has made me more sympathetic of the roles of detectives and private investigators who not only see nightmarish things in the line of duty but how much of sadness and burden it is when a crime is not quickly resolved. I know for a fact that I will never look at butterflies the same way again. And all the "whispering" in the story still freaks me out. It wasn't only The Whisper Man or schoolyard children repeating the Whisper Man chant that added to the suspense. This book had umpteen thriller moments. No matter where you stopped and started, the suspense kept on and on. I liked the way the loose ends of the story were all tied up in the end, but I have never read an ENDING that was yet another CLIMAX of the book! And it is overwhelming the many emotions I as the reader felt as disgust, fear, hate, the satisfaction that justice was served, but sometimes feeling guilty because if the past hadn't been so horrible, the present wouldn't have been so horrible. A special shoutout to the character that was fascinated with death, caught up in the storyline, but not really part of it. He was creepy! His obsession with death made my skin crawl! Alex North has a talent for weaving random images in the story that usually bring smiles to people, and turning them into something sinister, like art murals. I bet I could go back and re-read this book several times and see something in a different light, or pick up on something that was a clue that I had missed the first time. This book would be perfect for a book club, as I think most would WANT to talk about it after reading it. It provides interesting and provocative discussion. I have a few questions in my mind: Did Detective Pete really think that his own father hugged him in the end? Also, was The Whisper Man a pedophile, or possibly an abused boy who just cracked into abnormality? To me, those were the only 2 questions in the end that bothered me.

I could not put this book down. Most of the twists I didn’t see coming, but I love how everything fell into place. I really liked that all of the “supernatural” elements were rationally explained by the end. This is a great story of grief and horrible things it can lead people to do.

2.5 stars

Loved the short chapters, they were the perfect length!

This book was more murder mystery/thriller than the horror I was expecting.

This had good plot, and some fun tense moments, but the voices of the characters got muddled together for me, and I wasn't always sure who I was following. It's a good quick thriller though, with several different eras colliding as crimes are uncovered and repeated in present day.

A dark and atmospheric thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. The story follows Katie Shaw, a woman who is still haunted by the attempted murder of her brother, Chris, which happened decades ago. When a murder victim is discovered in her hometown, Katie is drawn into the investigation, and she soon realizes that the past is not as buried as she thought.

The novel is well-paced and keeps you guessing. Characters are complex and believable, and you'll find yourself rooting for Katie and her loved ones.

North does a masterful job of building suspense and tension, and the atmosphere of the novel is dark and atmospheric and it explores some interesting themes, such as the nature of evil, the power of family, and the resilience of the human spirit.

If you're looking for a dark, suspenseful, and thought-provoking thriller, I highly recommend it.

If you loved The Whisper Man than you are in for a real treat with this one!

Starting off in the past, Kate was meant to be looking after her younger, timid, brother Chris, but on a spur of the moment decision she let him make his way home from school on his own. It is that decision that still haunts the family years later.

Set in different time frames, this story starts with a murder and introduces us to a whole cast of characters, all fleshed out, all connected in a whole host of different ways, some self explanatory, others that take you further into this dark, suspenseful thriller to find out the connections.

With both likeable and despicable characters, scenes set in high definition and a storyline that sucks you in, it might not be the fastest paced book, but it is a creeper, slowing working its way beneath your skin and working its insidious plot into your brain!

For all fans of thrillers and suspenses this is going to be a book you really aren’t going to want to miss, it could even be put forward for the winner of thriller of the year 2023! That’s how good it is!

So good!
Kept me guessing, I was really racking my brain for who could have been behind this.
Loved it!!!

I want to give this book 5 stars just because of the last part of it, but I can’t because of the second part.

It was a great, intriguing story, but the middle dragged on. I kept getting distracted as I was reading. Definitely not enough to stop reading, but I found myself rereading pages because I was so distracted. However, it was a VERY good story and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a good thriller.

Great story with elements of mystery and intrigue. The synopsis I read eluded to this story having a paranormal or fantasy probability. Spoiler: it does not. If you are looking for that in a book, then this isn't for you. A great mystery, then yes.

definitely not my normal read......found it very difficult to get through

Gleich bei ihrer ersten Begegnung mit Charlie Crabtee ist Paul von ihm fasziniert. Sie werden Freunde. Doch dann wird Crabtree wegen Mordes gesucht, aber er ist spurlos verschwunden.
Paul kehrt nach fünfundzwanzig Jahren in seine Heimatstadt zurück, da ihn die Pflegerin seiner Mutter informiert hat, dass die Mutter im Sterben liegt. Während er an ihrem Bett sitzt, reagiert sie plötzlich sehr merkwürdig und behauptet, dass etwas im Haus ist. Sie redet von roten Händen – überall. Später in ihrem Haus findet Paul alte Notizhefte und dann auf dem Dachboden überall rote Handabdrücke. Er hat die Vergangenheit hinter sich lassen wollen, doch sie ist ständig präsent und Paul muss sich ihr stellen.
Detective Amanda Beck bekommt es mit einem brutalen Mordfall zu tun, bei der Jugendliche ihren Freund ermordet haben. Ihre Ermittlungen führen sie auf eine True-Crime-Website, die Erschreckendes aufzeigen.
Ich habe das vorige Buch des Autors Alex North „Der Kinderflüsterer“ nicht gelesen, war aber gespannt auf dieses Buch. Leider hat mich dieser Roman nicht gefesselt. Die Perspektiven und Zeiten wechseln ständig, so dass man beim Lesen aufpassen muss. Von Anfang an herrscht eine sehr düstere und beklemmende Grundstimmung. Mir aber fehlte die angekündigte nervenzerreißende Spannung.
Die Charaktere sind interessant beschrieben. Charlie bringt seine Freunde dazu, ihre Träume aufzuschreiben. Sie sollen soweit kommen, dass sie bestimmen, was sie träumen werden. Amanda Beck ist eine junge Frau, die mit den schrecklichen Bildern, die ihr Job mit sich bringt, nur schwer fertig wird.
Ich habe mich zuvor noch nicht mit lusziden Träumen beschäftigt und fand das Thema interessant, aber in dieser Geschichte einfach nur schauerlich.
Schade, dass mich dieser Roman nicht so packen konnte, wie ich das erwartet hatte. Trotzdem ist das Buch ganz interessant.½

Creepy thriller involving child kidnapping that perhaps could spread decades.

Another frightening book by Alex North. His first, The Whisper Man, scared me yet I had to read his newest one! Definitely only read this during daylight hours, never at night! It's about two brothers, whose father is a notorious serial killer who seems to know the future, and what happens to them after their father is caught. So much going on, this book certainly held my interest until I finished it!½

Multiple timelines and characters converge in this well-built thriller. Many reviews characterize it as a horror novel, but I see it as a thriller a little on the far-end of the creepy spectrum.

Some readers have said they found it confusing. I didn't, though I was careful to pay attention because I had read reviews ahead of time.

Sometimes the citizen detective trope is tired and hard to believe, but in this one I found it plausible because there was a history of estrangement, and the MC thought her brother could be in danger and wanted to protect him, rather than just stalking a killer for the fun of it.

I liked the mystery elements and the generational aspect of it.

At the end, I had a couple unanswered questions, but nothing that was so crucial to the plot that it was unforgivable.

I liked that there is a lot that is left open to the interpretation of the reader. Some readers see almost a supernatural element in this book that I did not. It's cool when two people can enjoy something and also perceive it very differently.

I will be looking for other books by this author.

The sons of a serial killer grapple with his legacy in this action-packed thriller. One wishes to emulate him, while one lives his life trying to banish his father’s legacy.

When Katie’s brother Chris disappears, she’s not sure how worried to be. Chris has a habit of vanishing when he’s using, but their mother swears he was clean. Chris is soon implicated in a murder that seems tied to a mysterious childhood incident. Soon, Katie finds herself swept into a dangerous world trying to save her brother.

Meanwhile, two police officers begin digging into the tangled web behind the elderly, wealthy murder victim.

It’s quite a puzzle to figure out all the ways the characters fit into each others’ lives and the grudges they bear against each other. It all ties together nicely in the end, though.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy of this book.

An easily-read thriller with a solid premise. After a one-two punch of cornball twists at its midpoint it ultimately finishes weaker than it started.½