With not an iota of pretention, there's lots and lots of dialogue and the detailed character sketches that the author sets out to draw are thus justified. I felt for all the characters of the book-- good and evil-- which is proof enough of how much flesh the charcters do have here. The novel's prime insight is into the long-term effects of childhood sufferings and traumas and how different individuals are affected by it, come adulthood.

The problem with the book is, that this insight comes a bit too late (in the last 1/5th of the book) after a lot of meandering (In fact the slow build-up seems to be leading towards something para-normal, but it all climaxes in a psycho-social drama!) and when it finally does come, the pages seem rather too turgid with content. In fact, the dialogues in this last part get so lengthy and so so presumptive, that both the pace and the enjoyment factor dip to an all-time low.

Another gripe I have from the book is that the twists aren't as exhilarating as one would have liked and are too few and far between to even call this book a thriller (as the title claims to be) and the author does precious little to take his characters out of their stereotypical moulds once they are placed in it. So, the surprises aren't big or jolting, the action sequences are quite pedestrian and by the end of it, one feels having read a well-written screenplay of a daily soap than some creepy thriller. But as I said, its "well-written" and enjoyable enough for a one-time read. Koontz is not a bad author and I am sure he's written better, more thrilling stuff, but to me Whispers is rather too soft, too tepid to scare or to thrill.


Whispers aplenty but where are the screams?   September 14, 2004
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Granted, I was thoroughly mistaken into believing that this was a supernatural thriller (going by Koontz's reputation), but even being a psychological drama that this book finally becomes, it weaves a rather tame-and-lame yarn. However, its saved from being an absolute disaster by Koontz's thoroughly lively style of writing.

With not an iota of pretention, there's lots and lots of dialogue and the detailed character sketches that the author sets out to draw are thus justified. I felt for all the characters of the book-- good and evil-- which is proof enough of how much flesh the charcters do have here. The novel's prime insight is into the long-term effects of childhood sufferings and traumas and how different individuals are affected by it, come adulthood.

The problem with the book is, that this insight comes a bit too late (in the last 1/5th of the book) after a lot of meandering (In fact the slow build-up seems to be leading towards something para-normal, but it all climaxes in a psycho-social drama!) and when it finally does come, the pages seem rather too turgid with content. In fact, the dialogues in this last part get so lengthy and so so presumptive, that both the pace and the enjoyment factor dip to an all-time low.

Another gripe I have from the book is that the twists aren't as exhilarating as one would have liked and are too few and far between to even call this book a thriller (as the title claims to be) and the author does precious little to take his characters out of their stereotypical moulds once they are placed in it. So, the surprises aren't big or jolting, the action sequences are quite pedestrian and by the end of it, one feels having read a well-written screenplay of a daily soap than some creepy thriller. But as I said, its "well-written" and enjoyable enough for a one-time read. Koontz is not a bad author and I am sure he's written better, more thrilling stuff, but to me Whispers is rather too soft, too tepid to scare or to thrill.