I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by Andrew Mayne before. I can testify, after reading his novel Mr. Whisper, that he knows how to tell a story. Fascinating premise, engaging characters, well-paced action.

Sloan McPherson, a (female) Florida investigator, tracks down the Marsh Man, a local swamp legend, a sort of Florida Bigfoot. She discovers not a monster, but a confused adult man. It turns out he disappeared as a teenager, many years ago in Oregon, but has no memory of his past life. Where has he been all this time, and how did he get to Florida?

Jessica Blackwood used to be an FBI agent; now she’s a reality TV star on a popular true crime program. Her partner (professional and romantic) is Theo Cray, a brilliant scientist on the high-functioning end of the autism scale. They note that one of this lost boy’s female schoolmates disappeared around the same time, but nobody ever linked the two cases. The two young people had little in common, but they both appear to have been fascinated by the same Jack London novel.

And now a boy in Washington state, who almost committed a mass shooting in his school, presents the same pattern.

If these cases are connected, it means someone has devoted massive resources to some kind of huge, clandestine mind-control experiment. Who could that be? And what will it take to stop them?

I was very impressed with Mr. Whisper. As I said, the book was highly enjoyable and professionally written (though I thought the climax a little forced).

Personally, I had some quibbles. For instance, a historically ignorant dig was taken at the Catholic Church. But what annoyed me most (though mildly) was the ratio of sexes. The main, active characters in this story are mostly female. The action roles which would have gone to men in the Good Old Days are now given to women (though Theo finally gets a chance to show his stuff at the end). I’m inclined to think the author had a movie or miniseries in mind, and was catering to the known preferences of today’s producers.

(If I understand author Mayne’s backlist, he did a previous series starring Theo Cray, though. I probably ought to check that out.)

To sum it up, Mr. Whisper is a very enjoyable, well-written thriller, edging into Sci-Fi. It didn’t make me a fan, but that’s due to my personal prejudices.

Only mild cautions for language and themes.