Whispers [Mass Market Paperback]

Dean Koontz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2006

For thirty-five years, Bruno Frye has lived in the shadow of the mother who made his heart beat with constant fear. And even though she died five years ago, the whispers still haunt him in the dark…enough to make him kill—and kill again…

Hilary Thomas is one of his intended victims. And she’s about to learn that even death can’t keep a bad man down…

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Pulls out all the stops…an incredible, terrifying tale.”— Publishers Weekly “Koontz is an expert at creating believable characters.”—The Detroit News and Free Press “One of our finest and most versatile suspense writers.”—The Macon Telegraph & News “Koontz’s gift is that he makes his monsters seem ‘realer,’ and he makes the characters who fight [them] as normal as anyone you’d meet on a street.”—Orlando Sentinel

About the Author

Dean Koontz was born in Everett, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Bedford. He won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition when he was twenty and has been writing ever since. Mr. Koontz's books are published in 38 languages. Worldwide sales total more than 175 million copies, a figure that currently increases at a rate of more than 350 million copies a year. Dean and his wife, Gerda, live in southern California.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (June 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042520992X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425209929
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #390,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When I was a senior in college, I won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and have been writing ever since. My first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where I was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. During my first day on the job, I discovered that the previous occupier of my position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and I was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. I wrote nights and weekends, which I continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, my wife, Gerda, made me an offer I couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of my writing career. Gerda and I, along with our dog, Trixie, live in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breakout Book for Koontz, September 9, 2001

By 

Brandon Massey (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whispers (Mass Market Paperback)

WHISPERS was a major breakthrough in Dean's career, and when you read the book, it's easy to see why. It's an excruciatingly suspenseful tale of a talented, yet troubled young screenwriter being stalked by a relentless psycho who has a rather unique background of his own (to put it lightly).

But that's merely the surface story here. Koontz explores the serious theme of how childhood experiences can exert a powerful--if almost invisible--influence on an adult's life. It's a distinctly Freudian theory, and it's interesting to note that in interviews several years after he published this book, Dean criticizes his views as naive and uninformed.

Nevertheless, whether you agree with the psychological theories or not, you can read and enjoy this book for what it is: a masterful example of the suspense tale executed by a truly brilliant author. I refer to this novel again and again as I publish my own suspense novels, for sheer inspiration!

Highly recommended!

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'S BAAAAACK...!!!, October 25, 2001

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Whispers (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a highly suspenseful book, written in clear, spare prose. It is an easy read and a definite page turner. It is a plot driven book, however, with little character development.

The plot itself is simple. A beautiful screenwriter, Hilary Thomas, is confronted in her own home by an intruder named Bruno Frye. It seems that Mr. Frye has been stalking Ms. Thomas in the belief that Ms. Thomas is his long deceased mother, Katherine, who has ostensibly come back from the dead in order to kill him. He feels that he must kill her, before she kills him.

Of course, Ms. Thomas has no clue as to why Frye has singled her out. She is aware only of his murderous intent, and she is afraid, very afraid. On Frye's first go around with Ms. Thomas, she survives. On the second go around, Frye does not. Thinking herself to be safe, as Frye has seemingly gone to his maker, she is shocked when he, yet again, confronts her with deadly intent.

Why this is happening and how, will certainly keep the reader turning the pages. Some of it is predictable, but it, nonetheless, makes for an absorbing, easy read. This is one of the author's better, early efforts. Readers who enjoy suspenseful novels will not be disappointed.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Koontz Novel, but Not His Best, September 5, 2006

By 

Thriller Lover (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Whispers (Mass Market Paperback)

Dean Koontz wrote WHISPERS in 1980, and was his first large success. I enjoyed this novel overall, because it is highly suspensful serial killer story (especially toward the second half of the book). It is also very well written and I liked most of the major characters.

Although enjoyable, WHISPERS isn't perfect. This is a very long book, almost twice as long as your average suspense novel. It tends to drag a bit at the beginning. There are also long dialogues between characters which seem more like disguised political commentary than real conversations.

This is also the most sexually explicit novel by Koontz that I have ever read; I would not recommmend this novel to people who don't care for those types of scenes. There is a relatively graphic rape scene toward the end of the book that seems pretty gratuitous to me --it doesn't really serve to push the plot forward.

This book, although very good, isn't nearly as great as Koontz' later stuff. If you want to begin reading Koontz, I would suggest starting with novels like WATCHERS, PHANTOMS, LIGHTNING, INTENSITY, or ODD THOMAS. Those are much better novels overall, and more representative of the great talent that Koontz possesses.