What would you do if while laying in bed at night, tossing and turning, struggling to fall asleep, you hear whispers outside of your window? Whispered promises of comfort and safekeeping from whatever is going on within your home. These are what five young boys heard from their bedroom windows in Alex North’s 2019 thriller novel The Whisper Man. Taking place 20 years after the string of murders committed by the now imprisoned Whisper Man in the fictional, English town of Featherbank, writer, Tom, and his young son, Jake, are looking to make a fresh start after the untimely death of their wife and mother. When the sudden disappearance of another young boy begins to remind the town residents of the past atrocities committed in their own backyards.

This book had a somewhat slow start. I say somewhat because there would be instances of what appeared to be a normal story unfolding when suddenly the reader would be hit with an unsettling scene out of nowhere. Then the book would carry on as normal, leaving the reader guessing about what would happen next. These unsettling scenes were placed sporadically throughout the book, slowly increasing in regularity until the plot had its claws dug deep into the reader’s mind, unwilling to let go until the last page was turned. Overall, this book was very easy to get through in the way that you wanted to know what happened next. The story was told through many different perspectives, all seeming very separate but slowly intertwining until every perspective was of the same events taking place. I am not one to get disturbed easily so I didn’t find this book to be horrifying or disturbing. However, it was thrilling enough that I was excited to turn each page to see how the story progressed. There were so many interesting and unexpected twists that kept the reader guessing and entertained.

If you are looking for a book that will knock your socks off and leave you unable to fall asleep, you had better look elsewhere. Where this book does shine is in the unexpected plot twists that are hard to see coming. I would recommend this book to those who seek thrilling, mystery stories but not to the hardcore horror enthusiasts who are looking to lose sleep over a book. This is a somewhat quick and easy read if you are a dedicated reader, paired with the excitement scattered throughout the book with the plot really picking up towards the end, it is a hard novel to put down. But don’t blame me if you read this book and begin to hear whispering outside of your window at night…