it was so un-nerving...

... it's a wonder I finished the book. Not something I would recommend, though I expect parts of it will stick inside my head for a long time. Upon consideration, I am amazed I stayed until the end, as I kept turning it off, and walking away, unwilling to stay tuned in. A talking book found on the shelf at the library, read in little snippets on my way to work or running errands. So creepy I would stop listening thinking I am done with this, and then turn it back on to see what in the world would happen next.

If it was a movie I was viewing at home on a disc, I would not want to be watching after dark, and would be squished up on the couch into the smallest possible space, with a blanket over my head. If it was something on the big screen at the 'walk in', and I was foolish enough to pay for a ticket, I am certain I would have walked out and asked for a refund at the box office. Like I did when we went to see the first Jurassic Park movie my kids insisted they wanted to view because all their friends had been. When I realized we were all cowering behind the seats in front of us, terrified at the toothy aggressive reptiles, I said 'Come on, let's go', and got a refund for all three tickets. Pretty sure all three of us were to young to be exposed to such frightening fierce creatures.

This story was based in Maine, about a private detective hired to try to find out why a young man who had separated from the Army killed himself. The plot was very convoluted, with lots of characters, many of whom were ex-Army, with quite a few apparent suicides. The common thread was that they were all part of a platoon that was in the first Iraqi war, and gained access to the national museum, looting antiquities. Some of the items were smuggled into the US, originally intended to be sold with the funds going to help soldiers who were discharged with inadequate
support and disability payments.

There were characters in the book that seemed to be evil personified. It was amazingly creepy. You know how in the movies you can imagine bad things about to happen and want to say: 'Don't open that door!' or 'Don't go with that man!' or 'Don't go down the stairs!' You can look at what is going on and know really bad things are about to happen, but helpless to intervene with what is taking place on the screen. Tense and anxious beyond words knowing bad things lurk just around the bend, when the lights suddenly go out! OhMyGoodness!

The title of the book I would NOT recommend unless you want to stay up all night afraid to turn out the light: "The Whisperers" was written by John Connolly, published in 2010. Don't read it. I've read some that were returned to the library only just started, and some that never captured my attention enough to finish: meaning there was no review. But I have never said 'don't do it' before. Unless you want to scare your pants off: don't.