Summary

In the “Prologue,” Jake’s father, who is later identified as Tom Kennedy, writes a letter to Jake promising to tell him the truth about what happened in Featherbank. He lists the things he will explain, including: “Mister Night. The boy in the floor. The butterflies. The little girl with the strange dress. / And the Whisper Man, of course” (1). He apologizes for lying and telling Jake there were no such things as monsters.

Part 1, Chapters 1 - 7 are set in July. In Chapter 1, six-year-old Neil Spencer was walking through the waste ground, unaware that he was being stalked by a child abductor. Neil was walking alone from his father’s house to his mother’s home. His parents were alcoholics who paid little attention to Neil. The abductor snuck up behind Neil and whispered his name.

In Chapter 2, Detective Inspector Pete Willis left...