The Whisperer's Game by Donato Carrisi

This is a complex murder mystery with a feel of the film The Matrix, where the boundaries between a virtual reality computer game and real life are blurred. There is also a touch of Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs. Quite a combination.

The story opens when a woman calls the police about an intruder in her isolated farmhouse, where she lives with her family and without any modern technology or electricity. By the time the police get there, the family has gone and the house is covered in blood. To assist in the case, the police ask for an ex-police officer, who worked in the missing persons department, to help with their investigation. Coincidentally, the former officer also lives in an isolated house with no technology. I'm not sure where this book is set, but it rains a lot.

The story moves at a great pace and there is a tension that runs throughout. The characters are all a bit bizarre and it is hard to work out who the 'goodies' are. Mainly told from the perspective of the ex-police officer but there are some sections that slip in from her colleague, his thoughts and actions, and then the point of view goes back to the main protagonist. Now and again, the story touches on the psychology of game players, murderers and a particular condition where empathy and emotion do not exist, but these are not discussed in any great depth.

A police procedural story in parts that looks at the human condition including grief, control and the concept of evil Artificial Intelligence. The tone is set when someone refers to a Buddhist community says, 'Those people are odd: they're vegetarians.'

An unusual and interesting read.

Published by Little, Brown Book UK on 7 July 2022.
Advanced review copy supplied by the publisher.