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There is a monster sleeping deep inside of you, and The Whisper King is coming to wake it up…and rip it out!
My name is David Kinder. And this is my story… every goddamn bloodstained word of it.
About 25 years ago when I was six my parents died in a car crash. I was bounced around a few state homes until they finally settled me at Meripitt Hill, an orphanage just outside of Lansing, Michigan. It was there that the shadows started visiting me. Not normal shadows. These shadows moved on their own accord, and whispered strange, alien things to me. Scared the piss out of me.
Wasn’t until Donna Elizondo moved to Meripitt Hill that my life started to actually become bearable. She became my best friend. Taught me to love music and to dance. That kept the shadows away. That kept me safe.
That year we were an epic story of two. We danced. We laughed. Hell, I suspect I was falling in love with her, if kids could really know what love is.
But then she was taken away from me. Adopted.
That’s when the shadows returned for me. That’s when they took me to the Shadow Mountains to serve the Whisper King.
For 25 years I learned how to fight. How to kill. I even learned how to transform myself into a Cuthach…a monster. There were thousands of us being trained there. Thousands of us learning to reach deep inside and unleash the monsters in our guts.
When a spot opened in the Whisper King’s elite guard, the Silent Heart, I was chosen to fill it. But first I had to take one final test. A test that would determine once and for all if I was destined to be man or monster.
Summary
Characters – 3/5
Plot – 4/5
Style – 4/5
World building – 3/5
Overall – 3/5
Quote
“Cogar Rí had tortured her until music became something that burned. He beat it out of her. He starved it from her soul. He stretched and squeezed and scrubbed her until there was nothing inside her but hate.”
Review
An original and dark consideration of every child’s deepest fears, THE WHISPER KING is the story of a young boy plunged into the shadows and trained to become the ultimate weapon against humanity; a monster. Incredibly exciting and fast-paced, the unique style grabbed my attention from the first page and kept me hooked until the last.
The world of The Whisper King’s army is vivid and hellish. Wil’s rich style captures the background in full detail and grounds the characters in an environment that fits them perfectly. The origins of David’s new home are kept under wraps, but with a hint of mythology towards the end of the book I’m excited to see where the world building will go in future books.
The narrative of THE WHISPER KING is extremely fast paced and punchy, cutting to the significant moments in David’s life as both human and monster. David has a fantastic, raw voice that definitely doesn’t pull its punches – if you’re a fan of violence, cussing and straight-talking characters then this is absolutely the next Dark Fantasy read for you. His tone is almost conspiratorial; I can picture him telling his story in hushed tones in the corner of a darkened room. The reader quickly becomes his ally and partner in crime.
Occasionally the jumps between events meant I missed out several years of David’s instruction on battle, culture and education, and I would have enjoyed reading more of his personal journey as he trained to gain his Cuthach. Nevertheless, we come to understand David’s crude sense of humour and his origins very quickly.
David is a truthful character with such honest and uncompromising imperfections. He knows that he’s too impatient, risky and that his temper boils close to his surface, but we see his personality gradually grow to become much more measured, analytical and mature throughout the story. His inner circle is tight-knit and fiercely protective of one another, and it’s easy to see why they have gravitated to David. I would have loved to have seen more closely into each of their backgrounds before being kidnapped by the shadows, as it gives a real 3D sense of character.
In all, I thoroughly enjoyed following David through the shadows into the Whisper King’s kingdom. A fiery story with an equally explosive finale, I grew quite fond of David’s group of monsters and am definitely looking forward to finding out what’s next for each one.
I received THE WHISPER KING from BookBear in exchange for an honest review. My reviews always represent my own opinion.
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