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Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Whisper Man in Books

Aug 31, 2019 (Updated Aug 31, 2019)

The Whisper Man

Alex North | 2019 | Crime, Thriller

7.6

(8 Ratings)

Book Rating

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

In The Whisper Man, recently widowed Tom Kennedy moves to Featherbank for a fresh start. What he does not realize is the town has a dark history and, as the old saying goes, history always repeats itself. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and killed people whom he lured out of their house by whispering at their windows at night. Kennedy quickly becomes too familiar with this because his son hears whispering at his window.

The Whisper Man is a dark, suspenseful thriller by Alex North. According to his bio, North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name. This is his first book published under Alex North. Betterreading.com sums up the mystery by saying "So, who is Alex North? Time will probably tell, but in the meantime, the biggest thriller of 2019 has been written by the Whisper Man himself."

The short chapters move the story at a fast pace. I had a hard time finding an appropriate place to stop reading because each chapter ended with me wanting more. There is a supernatural element but it is not the main focus.

I am looking forward to more by Alex North, whomever he is.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/30/19.

Kudos

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Blood Machines (2019) in Movies

Aug 15, 2020

Blood Machines is essentially a glorified music video for French synthwave outfit Carpenter Brut. That's not something that automatically de-credits the project of course, and sci-fi fans will undoubtedly get a kick out of it.

Aesthetically, Blood Machines looks pretty stunning. The entire 50 minute runtime is bursting with colour, and is visually impressive. The settings are truly otherworldly.
The screenplay and to a certain extent the plot, take a backseat. The dialogue is frequently silly (possibly intentional) and doesn't really offer much - I actually think it could have benefited from no dialogue at all - but the makers hope to distract from this with naked women adorning upside down crucifixes across their torsos. Nothing like a bit of nudity mixed with anti-religious symbolism to fill up the "edgy" quota after all.

I actually saw Carpenter Brut at Arctangent in 2019, completely unaware of who they were, and honestly had a great time. Their music is heavily inspired by 80s movies, and the visuals they use in their live performances reflect that. Here, their music adds to the experience of Blood Machines in spades, and a big part of why I enjoyed it.

If you have an hour to kill and like Sci-Fi, then I would encourage you to check out Blood Machines. It's not revolutionary but it's entertaining enough for what it's is.