Donato Carrisi's debut thriller, The Whisperer, isn't for the faint of heart but it is most definitely for the connoisseur of fine fiction. A race to find the monster who has kidnapped and murdered five young girls, leaving only their arms behind, creates the foundation of the plot--then a new arm is discovered, but forensic evidence indicates the child is still alive. As the investigation proceeds, Carrisi probes the psyches of the sleuths--criminologist Goran Gavilia, missing person specialist Mila Vasquez, homicide investigator Sarah Rosa--each of whom harbors secrets that will waylay their efforts and build the novel's suspense. Carrisi carefully, effectively toggles the point of view between a limited third-person vantage point, an unknown first-person perspective and a series of prison reports; this alternating frame of reference catches the reader off-guard with well-crafted plot twists.
The translation of The Whisperer, though, is a bit awkward and inconsistent at times, and readers may be confused about the location of some scenes or find a stiffness in dialogue. These small details aside, The Whisperer is a hauntingly exciting, graphically thought-provoking psychological thriller--start this one early in the day, because you won't want to put it down and you won't want to turn out the lights. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts