Whisper: Book 1 in the Whisper Series

This book is a decent take on the haunted/possessed house story. A young couple move into an old house with a dark atmosphere and an even darker atmosphere. The overall idea might be a familiar one but there enough twists to make it its own. I especially enjoyed the association with other members of the community, although I would have liked to see this aspect developed more.The book is very well written and does a good job of the mounting darkness and insanity. However there are a couple of points that detracted from this for me. The first, as already mentioned, is that the tale is for the most part a familiar one. It was easy to anticipate most of the plot before it evolved. Although there are some well placed moments in there which counter this.My other big issue was the two main characters - the husband and wife. They are a mercurial pair and some of the sudden changes in their behaviour seemed odd. They also make some of the common mistakes that characters in horror situations seem to make. I would also have liked to see a few of the secondary characters brought to life a bit more.Those two issues aside this is a solid horror read. It builds on atmosphere rather than gore - which is always appreciated. It's well paced and has some genuinely spooky moments. A worthy read if you're a fan of supernatural horror.

Whisper is one of the best ghost stories I have read in a while. It's hard to find a ghost story that is not just the same old story written in a different format and I was pleased to find that Whispers was not only original, but had both the paranormal and the more human side of horror.It's also the first in a long time to have creeped me out. I read it in the dark during a long night of high winds, curled up on the sofa while the wind whistled down the chimney. If you have read or are reading this book, you'll understand how much that added to the creepy atmosphere while reading.I enjoyed the switches between the different time periods, the snippets of back story which added to the growing tension of the main storyline, had me wanting to know more of the history of the house. The characters are believable and it's very easy to get drawn into the story and lost in their world. The tension builds at a nice pace and before you know it you find yourself listening for noises or checking the corners of the room.

I did enjoy the book but I have a few niggles. Except for the black slaves working on building Hope Houseit could have been set in England, complete with an English pub. Then I found out the author is English,so that explains it.I felt Donovan's change from being just a creepy "estate agent" into a sinister person was a bit strange.In a very small community, wouldn't the locals have suspected something?The story is that Steve and Melody buy an old house, against Steve's better judgement They gradually findit is haunted, as is their wood behind their house. The first and the last parts were fine, but I thought itwas a bit dragged out in the middle, especially with the letters between the original house builder, Jones andhis business partners. Also there is only so many times I want to read about the house creaking, the wind ragingand the trees swaying and whispering! I found I was skipping paragraphs to get to the action again.Also the ending, as others have said, was very predictable and I cannot believe any of the tormented houseowners before them didn't think of this obvious solution!I downloaded this for free and although it was an o.k. read, I wouldn't pay the full price for it. Sorry!

Firstly take a good look at that cover, beautiful, yet haunting; that sets the tone for this book.The first few chapters leap about in time a bit but they are distinct and easily followed, giving little hints and snippets of history and left me with expectations of the house and woods.There are only a few main characters, with no real periphery characters, but these have enough presence and real feeling to them to fill the story.As Steve and Melody move into Hope House with many plans for the future Steve starts to become plagued by nightmares and Michael Bray really manages to conjure some spine tingling moments.As the once perfect couple begin to withhold information, and ghostly events, from each other I began to feel the tension rise, especially when said spooks start to use text messaging!However much worse was yet to come. As they seek out other members of the small community for answers the plot thickens, just what is going on? Mr Bray continues to give little morsels of information and I felt like I had insider knowledge, therefore complicit in terrorising this couple. Far from being trite it felt spooky and gut tingly.The climax is enthralling and the fast rhythm set by Mr Bray left me with a chanting going on in my head.The chapter with the tap tap (you will HAVE to read it now!) nearly made me wet myself when the cooker timer went off at the same time as the conclusion, alone in the house is not the best time to have read this book.I have a few little niggles, which stop it short from being a firm favourite. There seemed to be some confusion over employee or slave. Time elapsing seemed a bit awry, especially when they had watches, which they had already looked at to note time. Finally my personal bugbear, commas and full stops in the wrong places! but only one spelling error.

On the face of it the premise for Whisper, a newly married couple escape the city rat-race for a house in the country that turns out to be haunted, is rather run-of-the-mill. However it is in the execution that the book raises above any lack of originality in the basic plot. Bray weaves a rich history of the house and its construction into his narrative, which coupled with a selection of well-developed characters and excellent pacing provides an engrossing and tense read. A sequel is on the way and it will be interesting to see what direction the author takes the story in.