The Whisper Man

Author: Alex North

Genre: Mystery/thriller/horror & suspense

Publication date: August 20, 2019

*arc provided by Celadon/Macmillan and Goodreads. Opinions are all my own.

The Whisper man is a fantastic debut suspense novel.

Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake are reeling and trying to wade through the grief from the unexpected death of Tom’s wife Rebecca, AKA “The Family Glue.”

Tom thinks a fresh start is the best hope for healing, so they relocate to the village of Featherbank.

Unbeknownst to Tom, Featherbank has a trauma imprint of its own: a serial killer dubbed The Whisper Man (due to how he’d lure his young victims out by whispering at their windows at night,) terrorized the area 20 years ago until being captured and thankfully is still imprisoned.

Soon after settling, Tom learns that a young boy has gone missing in eerily similar circumstances. Then Jake starts behaving VERY strange. Even saying someone is whispering to him at night.

It’s the scenes between Tom and Jake that really shine in this book. This isn’t your average thriller. There’s a level of depth and complexity in the dynamic between a father and son desperately trying to connect that’s so human it’s heartbreaking. Jake is socially awkward and odd. Tom doesn’t understand, he gets frustrated. He’s not perfect. He wants to unscramble the signals. You can feel his emotional struggle and the guilt he feels.

For his part, Jake is the leading character in this story in my opinion. He adds this element of being so odd and behaving in ways that make you question what’s actually happening. Does he have a bigger part in the story? He has an almost supernatural vibe to him that makes you never quite know how to feel about him.

I’ve seen this advertised as “the stuff of nightmares,” or “terrorizing.”

I don’t think I’d go that far. There ARE some extremely creepy brief moments in there, and there’s almost a supernatural undertone thrown in, but I’d describe this as a REALLY GREAT psychological thriller.

It’s a five knives for me. 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

#TheWhisperMan #review #netgalley #goodreads #macmillan #edelweiss #bookreviews

This is what I will call “the book review that wasn’t … but still is.”

“A beautifully raw and poignant collection of poetry and prose, Pillow Thoughts III continues the series from poet Courtney Peppernell. Fix yourself a warm drink and settle into Peppernell’s words as she pens a tribute to her readers who are bravely continuing their journey from hurt to healing.”

I’d like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an advance e-copy, but bummer of all bummers!

I’m sorry to say that there was a feedback error with the formatting when I tried to download this, which is so disappointing because I was looking forward to diving into these poems so much!
There’s something about the way she writes that always seems to settle in just when I need it to in my life. I will definitely be picking this up anyways, she is one of my “auto-buy”
Poets along with Nikita Gill. I haven’t had a chance to buy any extras as preorders this Summer, but it’s on my list!!
Will be giving this stars on the good faith that I know something in there is guaranteed to hit me right in the feels!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out of 5 because I wanted to do halfway but why not tip it in her favor because I’m a fan. 👌

Pillow Thoughts III / 224 pgs.

Publication date: August 06, 2019

I’m not sure if it’s really clear or not, but… Shelby’s been through some shit, guys. [yeah, Shelby swears too. better get used to that one as well.]

I was SO damn excited when I set this blog up A YEAR AGO it almost makes me sad for my poor little self. I was so happy to have lifted myself off of that rock bottom  floor that I didn’t think there was anything that could bring me down again. 

All I have to say to that is pshhhhhh… that would be nice, wouldn’t it? that isn’t really how life works, though. So while I started this blog with a head full of goals and ambitions, my subconscious numbed out brain had a little PTSD-fueled surprise waiting for me to throw my world upside down.

All I can say is life has been a gauntlet of surprises this past year. Nothing like I thought it would be. And while I find myself quite critical about the slow progress I make, the comparison trap I get stuck in between who I was and who I am now, and how that girl in the first picture had so much more ahead of her and I failed her; I do have ONE thing that I am so proud of.

Through all of it, every up and down, I read. I read my ASS OFF this past year. I set those monthly goals and I hit them or surpassed them every damn month. I also challenged my comfort zones on Bookstagram. I set goals to rep for companies because I KNEW that sometimes having that accountability to someone would be the only thing that got me out of bed when times were hard.

And NOW? I’m ready to do what I’ve always wanted to do. Be a book reviewer. I want to establish myself in the community and be someone publishers would take seriously. I’ve wanted to do that since I was a little girl. I got married In High School and started a family. My kids are grown and it’s just me now. If I couldn’t make a career out of it, why not do the next best thing?

So, now begins my baby steps into learning the ins and outs of it all. Not gonna lie, my reviews are a little unpolished right now. I’ll get there, though.

I’ve been approved for TWO ARCS that are coming out in the Fall, there’s no turning back now! BUT, I wouldn’t turn down any tips, that’s for sure, lol!

Thank you for reading my debut novel titled “all about me, me, me.” From now on, it’ll be better. I promise!

Hey everyone,

I’m so excited to be starting this journey on here. I also have NO IDEA what I’m doing yet, so it may take me a little bit to get this thing going.

It seemed like a good idea at the time… famous last words, right??

Please bear with me… ACTUAL content coming soon!