“It’s not going to be easy, and I need to start with an apology. Because over the years I’ve told you many times that there’s no such thing as monsters. I’m sorry that I lied.”


North writes really solid crime thrillers. Depictions of frustrating, but real human emotion and behavior creates a more complex connection with the protagonists. “Whisper Man” builds suspense with tangled, deposition like inner and outer voice structure: multiple perspectives telling the same story. Following that, North can slip a twist in like no other. Something so tangible, yet all the while elusive. Like that scene in the Office where Dwight is standing and all of a sudden Angela is there and Dwight yells “fuck!” Like most, if not all, suspense/thrillers, there is a gritty unpleasantness to the plot but North’s tact and brevity sets his work apart.

Subplots abooound. Lot goin’ on here. Which isn’t always a bad thing, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing here. But it definitely caused consistency problems for me. I took a look at a previous review I’d left for North’s “Angel Maker” and noticed a similar pattern: dude fuckin’ loves subplot(s). Where do they go? Doesn’t matter.

4/5 Looking forward to the next one I can grab from the library, didn’t know it was a series when I started but I’m not mad about it.