The Dead Whisper On
by T.L. Hines
Published by Bethany House
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Reviewed by Diane Keyes
Filled with shadows, spooks and dark, sinister landscapes, The Dead Whisper On by T. L. Hines is a scary book—and I make it a point not to read scary books. I made an exception for this one.
The Dead Whisper On is really very good. I know that, because when I picked it up the other morning (of course I read it in broad daylight as my mama didn’t raise no fool), I didn’t, couldn’t put it down again until I’d finished the last page. I’d intended just to check it out, but the author hooked me with the first sentence-”A dead man spoke to her from the shadows.”
The primary character, a young woman named Canada MacHugh, is a sad and sorrowful garbage collector, both in job and pysche. Scarred from an upbringing full of pain and alcoholism, Canada is lost and lonely, missing her dead father. Already a victim, she’s ready for something different—and she gets it.
Tightly written and well paced, T. L. Hines is a gifted writer and surely on the way to a brilliant career. The Dead Whisper On is so visually haunting I feel like I saw the movie instead of read the book.
However, I do have one criticism, it may be too tightly written. I think that Hines, in an effort to keep things clipping along, left out some background that would make the story more credible.
I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t sight specifics but why does the good guy seem just as evil as the bad guys? Why did Canada meet up with the bad, good guy so early on? What’s the war about? Oh, I get that it’s the battle between hope and despair, love and fear, but I think it would be better and even scarier with more depth and detail.
Still in all, if it was any scarier I might not have read it.
Armchair Interviews says: Unique in that this is a “faith thriller.”