While this book gave me a literal nightmare about someone trying to break into a large house and kidnap me, this story just didn't fully live up to the hype. I loved the idea of the killer and I felt that the actual events solely surrounding The Whisper Man, trying to figure out how this was happening, and the events that related to the current killer were interesting! The strained father/son relationship, family death, and Karen and her dates were so boring to me. The inner monologue of a parent nervous to leave their child at home to "put themselves back out there" no matter the circumstances is just boring to me. The ending of the book was impeccable though and what really made me not think that it was just an OK read. I feel like the novel wouldn't have fallen short if the details unrelated to The Whisper Man were more sparse or just not included at all. North's writing style doesn't include anything characteristically unique but, I am interested to read another work by him to see if I enjoy them more without the unnecessary details or if this is just a trademark of his LOL. If you're looking for a niche genre such as cold cases return or unhealthy father/son relationships plus murder then this will do!