Adult Book of the Month
The Whisperer – Donato Carrisi
Translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside
Published by Abacus in 2011
The Whisperer begins with two startling discoveries which are interlinked
throughout the book. The first is a letter from the Director of a prison
to the District Attorney informing him of the “strange case of one
of the inmates”. Prisoner RK-357/9 has refused to supply any personal
information and was arrested wandering at night – alone and naked.
His fingerprints are not matched with any criminal activity, either recent
or cold case. He has one particular trait – he is constantly removing
any evidence that could be used to track his identity by fastidiously
cleaning everything he comes into contact with.
The second discovery is that of six severed arms buried in a forest clearing
- belonging to missing young girls. The novel intricately interweaves
the two strands which culminates in an ending that leaves one guessing
to the very end.
This debut novel has become a record breaking bestseller and multiple literary prize winner since first published in Italy in 2009 and then in Great Britain in 2010.
‘Gruesome and gripping ….. a taut psychological thriller’ The Times
‘Gripping, multi-layered and difficult to put down, this is a top class literary thriller’ Choice
'Gripping from the off, The Whisperer plays all sorts of games with the reader, but, crucially, doesn't let you down when it comes to the pay-off' Evening Herald
Donato Carrisi was born in 1973 and studied law and criminology.
Since 1999 he has been working as a TV screenwriter. He lives in Rome
