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momotan's review against another edition
4.0
Premessa numero uno: come probabilmente potrete intuire, questo non è il mio genere. Gialli, thriller… più che altro li leggo quando non ho altro sottomano. O se me ne hanno parlato bene al punto da farmi venire il desiderio di provarli.
Premessa numero due: stante la numero uno, questo libro l’avevo regalato a mia madre. Prendendolo a un euro con un’offerta su IBS.
E dopo mesi mi sono ritrovato senza libri da leggere. Murakami finito, il pacco ibs finito… gli unici libri ancora vergini sono capitoli “avanzati” di saghe, per leggere i quali aspetto di trovare i volumi precedenti.
Quindi mi sono buttato su Carrisi.
E ne sono rimasto favorevolmente stupito.
Il ritmo è bello alto, senza tempi morti o quasi. La scrittura è scorrevolissima, va giù come acqua. La storia è abbastanza interessante da tenere incollati al libro, complice anche lo stile del’autore.
Ha delle pecche, certo. I personaggi sono abbastanza piatti malgrado il tentativo di dare a ognuno una particolarità caratteriale. E la protagonista sembra un po’ troppo super. Inoltre la non ambientazione: poche descrizioni, quasi nesun nome di località. Che fa pensare a un non volersi complicare la vita cercando di documentarsi su qualche località ben precisa.
A parte l’ambientazione e qualche pecca dei personaggi, comunque, è un buon libro. Qualche colpo di scena è telefonato, avendolo previsto io che sono “nuovo” del genere, ma i colpi di scena finali sono francamente inaspettati.
Ma di cosa parla il libro?
La protagonista è Mila, una poliziotta solitaria che è specializzata nel ritrovare i bambini scomparsi. Il suo aiuto viene richiesto da una task force impegnata nella caccia a un serial killer che ha già rapito e ucciso cinque bambine. Ora però hanno scoperto che una sesta bambina è ancora viva e in mano sua…
La task force è composta da un criminologo -l’unico civile-, un’informatica, un agente speciale e un esperto di interrogatori. I cinque cercheranno di capire il disegno di questo incomprensibile serial killer, che pare sempre un passo avanti a loro e che li guida alla scoperta di orrori che non avrebbero mai ipotizzato…
Premessa numero due: stante la numero uno, questo libro l’avevo regalato a mia madre. Prendendolo a un euro con un’offerta su IBS.
E dopo mesi mi sono ritrovato senza libri da leggere. Murakami finito, il pacco ibs finito… gli unici libri ancora vergini sono capitoli “avanzati” di saghe, per leggere i quali aspetto di trovare i volumi precedenti.
Quindi mi sono buttato su Carrisi.
E ne sono rimasto favorevolmente stupito.
Il ritmo è bello alto, senza tempi morti o quasi. La scrittura è scorrevolissima, va giù come acqua. La storia è abbastanza interessante da tenere incollati al libro, complice anche lo stile del’autore.
Ha delle pecche, certo. I personaggi sono abbastanza piatti malgrado il tentativo di dare a ognuno una particolarità caratteriale. E la protagonista sembra un po’ troppo super. Inoltre la non ambientazione: poche descrizioni, quasi nesun nome di località. Che fa pensare a un non volersi complicare la vita cercando di documentarsi su qualche località ben precisa.
A parte l’ambientazione e qualche pecca dei personaggi, comunque, è un buon libro. Qualche colpo di scena è telefonato, avendolo previsto io che sono “nuovo” del genere, ma i colpi di scena finali sono francamente inaspettati.
Ma di cosa parla il libro?
La protagonista è Mila, una poliziotta solitaria che è specializzata nel ritrovare i bambini scomparsi. Il suo aiuto viene richiesto da una task force impegnata nella caccia a un serial killer che ha già rapito e ucciso cinque bambine. Ora però hanno scoperto che una sesta bambina è ancora viva e in mano sua…
La task force è composta da un criminologo -l’unico civile-, un’informatica, un agente speciale e un esperto di interrogatori. I cinque cercheranno di capire il disegno di questo incomprensibile serial killer, che pare sempre un passo avanti a loro e che li guida alla scoperta di orrori che non avrebbero mai ipotizzato…
ygraine00's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, just... Wow. Book hangover!
Apart from the billionaire's "endotracheal tube" --- it's actually a "tracheostomy tube" and not an endotracheal tube --- i have no complaints. It's like a CSI special edition!
Apart from the billionaire's "endotracheal tube" --- it's actually a "tracheostomy tube" and not an endotracheal tube --- i have no complaints. It's like a CSI special edition!
milax9's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
thaonguyen61295's review against another edition
5.0
Đây là 1 trong những cuốn trinh thám 5 sao hiếm hoi trong list của mình tính đến hiện tại
Twist cứ gọi là đùng đùng
Đọc không nghỉ 1 ngày 1 đêm không sót chữ nào
Nhưng có nhiều đoạn hơi khó hiểu
Twist cứ gọi là đùng đùng
Đọc không nghỉ 1 ngày 1 đêm không sót chữ nào
Nhưng có nhiều đoạn hơi khó hiểu
kchisholm's review against another edition
2.0
You sometimes just have to wonder about the bravery of the people who select the blurbs for the front of books. THE WHISPERER, debut book by Italian author Donato Carrisi, comes with the attribution "The most eagerly awaited thriller in the world? It is written by an unknown Italian' Il Giornale". Now I'll be honest, this blurb really threw me, it seems to set high expectations, particularly for a debut novel.
The central thread of the book is the story of the discovery of six severed arms in a forest clearing without bodies, but identified by forensics as belonging to girls aged between eight and thirteen. There are five girls in that age group reported missing, but with no bodies identifying the victims isn't quick, and there are no clues about the owner of the sixth arm.
A close-knit team of investigators with Criminologist Goran Gavila as the central point is assigned the case. An experienced investigator, Gavila is naturally inclined towards being rebellious, but he has his working methods and he and his team and comfortable with each other. Mila Vasquez is a young female police officer with a difficult past, who is equally rebellious, boyish, prickly, unable to relate to others, but with an eerie ability to locate missing people. She's bought into Gavila's team for this case. They are able to work together well, his team aren't so easy for Mila to get on with.
The investigating team have a difficult task, as the bodies slowly starting to appear, they are looking for a serial killer, and the sixth victim - not reported missing and very possibly still alive. The killer seems to be leaving macabre clues with each discovery of a new body, and the team must move quickly and deftly to have a chance of keeping her alive.
I came away from THE WHISPERER really unsure about how I feel about the book. On the one hand it's an interesting, complex plot with some twists at the end that came as a big surprise. On the other hand there's yet another damaged investigator; a frisson of romance between the two central characters, a team that doesn't handle the imposition of an outsider well; a cast of characters with secrets. Combine all of that with yet another serial killer targeting children and there's a real sense of been there / done that if you read a lot of crime fiction. Of course it's unreasonable to assume that any book is going to be completely unique, and there are elements here that have a freshness about them. The pairing of a cop and a scientific investigator was well done - creating a different dynamic between the two central characters, shown up particularly by the cop versus cop tensions between Mila and the team. Also THE WHISPERER used the stagey, calculating way that the killer used his victims to play games with the investigating team in a chilling and uncomfortably realistic manner.
I think my greatest sense of disappointment in THE WHISPERER is that there was no particular sense of a place or a culture in which the killings are occurring. The location wasn't obvious, the book could have been set anywhere, so I never quite got a complete sense of reality, it somehow seemed to dissipate the threat. The damaged central investigator line also didn't quite work - it was almost too predictable, as was the romantic entanglement, and the rest of the team's antagonism. The antagonism seemed too broad brush, and whilst there is some attempt at explanation, some justification if you like, it was hard to move past the tension for tension's sake feeling.
Having said all of that, it's a good plot, with some cleverly done twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing, and will engage. The way the characters secrets are revealed works in the main, although some readers may agree that some of the elements are a tad unbelievable, even for fiction. Overall I came away conflicted, not sure enough to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but certainly not able to say that I didn't like it at all. But that's not so surprising with a debut book so I'd definitely read another by this author.
The central thread of the book is the story of the discovery of six severed arms in a forest clearing without bodies, but identified by forensics as belonging to girls aged between eight and thirteen. There are five girls in that age group reported missing, but with no bodies identifying the victims isn't quick, and there are no clues about the owner of the sixth arm.
A close-knit team of investigators with Criminologist Goran Gavila as the central point is assigned the case. An experienced investigator, Gavila is naturally inclined towards being rebellious, but he has his working methods and he and his team and comfortable with each other. Mila Vasquez is a young female police officer with a difficult past, who is equally rebellious, boyish, prickly, unable to relate to others, but with an eerie ability to locate missing people. She's bought into Gavila's team for this case. They are able to work together well, his team aren't so easy for Mila to get on with.
The investigating team have a difficult task, as the bodies slowly starting to appear, they are looking for a serial killer, and the sixth victim - not reported missing and very possibly still alive. The killer seems to be leaving macabre clues with each discovery of a new body, and the team must move quickly and deftly to have a chance of keeping her alive.
I came away from THE WHISPERER really unsure about how I feel about the book. On the one hand it's an interesting, complex plot with some twists at the end that came as a big surprise. On the other hand there's yet another damaged investigator; a frisson of romance between the two central characters, a team that doesn't handle the imposition of an outsider well; a cast of characters with secrets. Combine all of that with yet another serial killer targeting children and there's a real sense of been there / done that if you read a lot of crime fiction. Of course it's unreasonable to assume that any book is going to be completely unique, and there are elements here that have a freshness about them. The pairing of a cop and a scientific investigator was well done - creating a different dynamic between the two central characters, shown up particularly by the cop versus cop tensions between Mila and the team. Also THE WHISPERER used the stagey, calculating way that the killer used his victims to play games with the investigating team in a chilling and uncomfortably realistic manner.
I think my greatest sense of disappointment in THE WHISPERER is that there was no particular sense of a place or a culture in which the killings are occurring. The location wasn't obvious, the book could have been set anywhere, so I never quite got a complete sense of reality, it somehow seemed to dissipate the threat. The damaged central investigator line also didn't quite work - it was almost too predictable, as was the romantic entanglement, and the rest of the team's antagonism. The antagonism seemed too broad brush, and whilst there is some attempt at explanation, some justification if you like, it was hard to move past the tension for tension's sake feeling.
Having said all of that, it's a good plot, with some cleverly done twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing, and will engage. The way the characters secrets are revealed works in the main, although some readers may agree that some of the elements are a tad unbelievable, even for fiction. Overall I came away conflicted, not sure enough to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but certainly not able to say that I didn't like it at all. But that's not so surprising with a debut book so I'd definitely read another by this author.
shania1305's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Très bonne écriture. Facile à lire et le suspense continue jusqu’à la fin. Plot twist hyper bien amené. Seul chose qui peut être dérangeant est que toutes les scène de meurtre sont décrite +++.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Car accident
shadesoflam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
becjmurphy's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first book I've read in ages that I couldn't put down for the need to know what happened.
domino911's review against another edition
4.0
Strange one this. Despite being a fan of all things Italian, and despite The Whisperer apparently being hugely successful in Europe, I was unaware of both this book and the author until a friend's recommendation. It is advertised as a 'literary' thriller which sometimes means no plot, but it kept me intrigued to the end. There is a labyrinthine plot involving multiple abductions, and murders, and a team of suitably damaged experts attempting to solve the crimes which appear to be the work of a fiendishly clever serial killer. I felt it was not always plausible and the language is at times, not exactly stilted, but a little cold, a little 'off'. Whether this is the Carrisi's style or a result of the translation, I don't know but it adds a sense of strangeness to the novel which is accentuated by the lack of a sense of place; it is hard to determine where the action is taking place. Carrisi is Italian but the book does not feel Italian, nor do the characters have Italian names. If anything, it feels Scandinavian.
I set this aside to read on a trip to Rome, which is perhaps where my slight unease comes from - but it is not necessarily a bad thing. I will pick up another Carrisi, perhaps the one with Rome in the title - that should be Italian, right?
I set this aside to read on a trip to Rome, which is perhaps where my slight unease comes from - but it is not necessarily a bad thing. I will pick up another Carrisi, perhaps the one with Rome in the title - that should be Italian, right?
ombraluce's review against another edition
3.0
Evidentemente una opera prima, che racconta una storia di omicidi seriali. La scrittura è buona, e i casi interessanti, i personaggi abbastanza ben costruiti, però alla fine del libro restano un po' troppe pistole cariche che l'autore si è dimenticato di far sparare, troppi spunti irrisolti insomma, e troppi vicoli ciechi della narrazione.