Friday, October 26, 2012
Whisper Cape
By: Regan Walsh   Reviewed by OFW editor: Katrina Monroe
Published: September 09, 2012


E-book description from Amazon:

WHISPER CAPE is a town of secrets and Addison MacKenna soon becomes tangled in a web of them. Plagued with nightmares of her father's sudden and brutal death, Addie struggles with her anguish and refuses to believe his demise was accidental. Fighting to shake off one of those devastating early morning nightmares, Addison finds it even harder to escape from the vision of a man lying on the side of the road--a man she may have just killed. When she frantically tries to locate him, he seemingly disappears, just the beginning of strange occurrences in her life. She also cannot ignore the weird sensations in her own body. Suddenly, the impossible seems possible, but is that a blessing or a curse? Believing that her continual and worsening nightmares are both the key to her own new abilities and the clue to her father's death, Addie knows she will not rest until she has the answers she craves. As she strives to cope with her new remarkable talents, someone else learns of her abilities--a disgruntled maniacal psychopath with his own agenda that involves eliminating Addie. The only one who can protect her, instruct her in the use of her powers and teach her how to destroy the murderous monster is the same man who makes Addie's heart race and her blood heat with passion. The same man she'd left for dead.
 
While the plot of Whisper Cape, a paranormal romance, has potential, it is overshadowed by the amateur mistakes that litter its pages.

The protagonist, which is arguably the most important element in any novel, is average. Addison MacKenna is an “every girl” – she works in a bar, has friends, etc. – and even with the onset of the supernatural element (SPOILER: she gets magic powers) she becomes little more than that. A good protagonist is completely and unapologetically themselves and is the sole mover and shaker of the plot. Addison is – in a word – a wuss. She requires the assistance of everyone around her to make it through each day. I will point out; however, that author Regan Walsh knew enough to let Addison kill the bad guy.

Point of view in this novel was all over the place, and needlessly so. We spend a good portion of the story in Addison’s head, but now and then we are with her love interest, the enemy, and some random friend named Darcy. Darcy’s turn in the limelight is not only pointless, it diminishes what little suspense Walsh is able to muster in the chapter prior to this point.

At several points during the reading of Whisper Cape, I found myself skimming over the dialogue. Not much important was said. Most conversations that occurred were trite and riddled with “hmm’s” and “mmm’s.” Followed by these alliterated moments of contemplation were cartoonish, eureka-like exclamations that made the characters look foolish. At one point, the protagonist and her love interest were discussing what she liked on her sandwich. It was irrelevant and did nothing for the scene. A good editor would’ve given it the axe.

As a matter of fact, it felt as though the entire novel was in terrible need of an editor’s red pen. Passive voice, scenes that contributed nothing to the story, and adverb/adjective overload all contributed to the incompleteness. But most of all, it seemed as though Walsh had no faith in her reader to deduce things for themselves. This story was told to me. I experienced none of it. This is a shame because the idea of it – the romance, the supernatural elements, their lives in peril because of them, the well-planned family dynamic – begs for something more.

Finally, the climax, what the entire story was supposed to build up to, was nothing more than a two page low-budget pyrotechnic.  Despite disliking the protagonist, I rooted for her nonetheless. But I felt that she got off too easy. They all did. I never felt that her life was in danger, and therefore didn’t care when the enemy was destroyed.

Whisper Cape
had the chance to be good, possibly great. But it is this reader’s belief that the manuscript was in need of one or two more deep edits.

Login/Register to leave a comment, or Login using or
Post Comments
No Comment Found.
    

 

Advertisement