The Whistler by Nick Medina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up**
The Whistler follows our MC, Henry, a young man who is grappling with his new reality of being confined to a wheelchair after being paralyzed in a horrific accident.
Before his accident, Henry was happy. He was a talented musician, had a beautiful girlfriend, Jade, who he had a great, active relationship with, and his ghost hunting channel was actually gaining some traction.
Post-accident, Henry has to move in with his grandparents, relying on them for even the simplest tasks. His relationship with Jade, as well as with his best friend, is estranged. He feels useless, hopeless and emasculated.
His grandparents, Jade, everyone is trying to talk him up, telling him he can still live and have a good life, but they just don’t understand how he feels. Henry feels so alone.
Oh, and he’s also being haunted…
As the being haunting him gets continuously closer and more bold, Henry realizes he needs to confront his past, and the events that caused his injury, if he is to have any hope of banishing it for good. He can’t do it alone, so Henry is forced to open up to those around him that he’s been shutting out.
The Whistler took me completely by surprise. Not because of how incredible it is, but because of its connection to Indian Burial Ground, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
I’m such a Nick Medina fan. I love the quality and richness of his storytelling. The tone of his stories, they take me through every different emotion and leave me simultaneously gutted and inspired. This story is an absolute roller coaster ride of feelings.
The Prologue, which doesn’t follow Henry, but is related to the events that caused his injury, was terrifying. I read it home alone in the dark, and I was genuinely creeped out.
From that moment on, I was gripped by the story, that’s mainly told through Henry’s past and present perspective. I loved the depths that Medina went with this character.
Seeing the difference in Henry between his past, happier, times and his present, post-injury, was very jarring. It made him feel so incredibly real, as everything happening to him, and the journey he was on emotionally, it was raw and messy. I felt that representation was done with great care.
The haunting elements were so well-imagined. Medina created some stellar horror imagery on page. I loved how the never whistle at night lore was woven through as well.
In fact, the first time I read Medina’s work was in the Indigenous Dark Fiction anthology, Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, which was where I learned of that belief. I was excited when I saw that Medina had written a full novel incorporating that lore.
As mentioned above, this story is related to Indian Burial Ground. It’s not a sequel, or anything, and of course can be read as a standalone, however, I do feel it will have the greatest impact for those people who have already read IBG.
Overall, I was so impressed by this. It’s such a gripping, mysterious, haunting, and well-rounded story.
I would definitely recommend this Horror readers, or readers of Indigenous Fiction in general. Also, anyone who read and enjoyed Indian Burial Ground, you have to check this out.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can’t wait for whatever Medina writes next!