Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Book can be purchased here:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38922
Synopsis: Whisper is the short story of a ships short existence, a Captains last mission, of a life of testing things for the navy. Captain Wiley Randolph is about to retire and has regrets of never settling down, finding a wife, or creating a family. The crew of the USS Whisper tries to get back to their rightful place in time after accidentally being sent into the past over 200 years while testing a device to make the ship invisible. Captain Wiley Randolph and his crew fight against time, a 200 year old frigate, a Japanese Zero, and a German Wolf Pack of submarines. He also finds something very special he didn’t even know he was looking for.
Review:
Whisper, for the most part, was a pretty decent read. I did enjoy a good deal of the book but not everything.
The book starts out rough. It takes a little while to get into the story. The language of how things work in the military and how to run a ship is hard to understand. For example, when Wiley says, “Hard to port, reverse port engines full, flank speed on starboard engines, steady ship up on 140.” I have no idea what any of that means! The author could have done a better job making sure his audience would understand what he is conveying through his characters and story since every reader doesn’t actually know about ships and how they function.
The dialogue read too harsh causing it to feel like an over dramatic play. It was just too hard to relate to. The descriptions throughout the novel were too generic, there needed to more vividness, better detail.
The concept of presented within the book– a new technology being created that can in a sense make people and objects invisible for a given set time and also transport an object or person to another time period–is pretty darn awesome! The author did a wonderful job of explaining how such a technology could be created and work effectively. He also did a good job of showing what happens when humanity puts too much trust in technology. Technology is often fickle and rarely works the way we think it will.
I did like the fact that the main character, Wiley, narrated the story. I like when the story is told through characters. The book becomes more personal and intimate in a sense. The problem in Whisper though, was the book kept getting confusing because it switched between the author narrating the story and then Wiley narrating, sometimes right in the middle of a paragraph! As a reader, that made enjoying the book difficult.
Wiley was a great lead character. He is a God-fearing man, who is loyal and determined and honest. He manages to keep his head straight even when chaos breaks out. You know you can trust him without a doubt. He’s the type of guy you would want in your corner.
There was a great deal of action through Whisper and as an action lover myself, I truly appreciated that aspect of the book. The suspense and tension throughout those scenes was well written.
Unless you enjoy reading stories centered around technology and the world of the military, Whisper may not be your cup of tea. But for those of you who are willing to approach with an open mind, you may find yourself actually liking Whisper.
With some editing and a good rewrite, Whisper has the potential to be a very good read.
You can find more info about the author Thomas Wilson at his blog:
http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/
