Book Review for Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan

 

Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan

Published:  June 23, 2026 by Minotaur Books

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Taken from Goodreads:  Allison Brennan delivers a pulse-pounding thriller about one family fighting for their land against both human enemies and Mother Nature.

After the sudden death of her husband, Ellen McKenna is doing everything she can to keep her Texas farm afloat. She and her family hope to expand their operation, but times are tough and making ends meet is more expensive than she imagined, much less trying to grow. Many of their neighbors in Cooke County have thrown in the towel and agreed to sell their farms to a local businessman, but despite similar pressure, Ellen refuses to let her dreams die.

On top of the usual hardships, a series of recent storms has left the region partly flooded, and as the heavy rain begins again one morning, all the members of the McKenna family jump into action to protect their land and animals. Ellen’s oldest son discovers an injured dog—and the dog leads him to a man barely clinging to life, the apparent victim of a brutal home invasion. Then, Ellen’s younger kids go to check on a nearby neighbor and walk into a threat none of them saw coming.

Before anyone can figure out what’s really going on in their idyllic rural valley, the storm picks up again in intensity, and the McKenna kids find themselves in over their heads with no way to call for help. To protect her farm--and her family—Ellen must face down all the forces trying to tear them apart.

Allison Brennan's talent for twisty, tense pacing combines with a deeply drawn family drama and the unforgiving power of nature in this compelling standalone thriller.

My Thoughts: Wow!  Allison Brennan wrote a book that I could not put down.   I felt it was a little less thriller than other Allison Brennan books, but I still could not stop reading.   There was more drama, more family drama than her other books. 

From the very beginning I was entertained and invested in the safety of all those involved on these farms and ranches.   It felt like everything was working against Ellen and her family.   The weather was a huge threat with the flooding and downpours.   Add in the people who wanted what Ellen would not give up and were willing to go to any length to force her hand and it almost felt like a losing battle.   I love how strong and true to her values Ellen stays.   She teaches that to her children and lets them know that it is okay not to give in.

Whisper Creek is a book that I’d recommend to a family drama or suspense reader. 

Thank you Minotaur Books for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Meet the Author (taken from her website):   New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year.

Born and raised in Northern California, Allison dropped out of college after two years and puttered around trying to figure out what to do with her life (bartender, campaign manager, graphic designer, administrative assistant, waitress—she tried a lot of things while also writing stories in her free time). She ended up working as a consultant in the California State Legislature for 13 years before taking a huge leap of faith and quitting in 2005 after she sold her first book. The Prey came out in January of 2006 and won the Borders Books “Bestselling Debut Author” of the year. September 2025 marked the publication of her 50th book.

After writing 12 romantic thrillers and a supernatural trilogy, Allison began her long-running Lucy Kincaid series which is currently at 17 books and 6 novellas. Remember the first sentence about being bored? Allison knows if she’s bored writing, her readers will be bored reading, so she also wrote five cold case mysteries featuring Maxine Revere, an investigative reporter, and then put Lucy on hiatus to write thrillers about Kara Quinn & Matt Costa. Make It Out Alive, book 7 in the Quinn & Costa series, came out in January of 2026. One Last Warning will release in January, 2027.

And just to keep things interesting, she wrote two books about former US Marshal Regan Merritt, and started an Arizona-based mystery series about a family of private investigators (Angelhart Investigations). When she gets a good idea she wants to explore, she also writes standalone novels. North of Nowhere is a thriller set in a blizzard in Montana, and Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds is a romantic mystery set in the Caribbean. Whisper Creek is her newest standalone out June 23, set in rural Texas during a storm.

Allison continues to hit bestseller lists, though she is still waiting for the elusive New York Times hardcover list. Someday, she thinks with eternal optimism! She has also been nominated for best romantic suspense five times (RWA), won the Daphne du Maurier award twice, the RT Reviewers Choice award twice, and was nominated for the Thriller award by International Thriller Writers for Cold Snap. She’s also thrilled that the narrator of her Angelhart series, Hillary Huber, won an Audie for You’ll Never Find Me.

Allison loves research, and while sometimes she gets things wrong, she strives for accuracy and authenticity in her books. (However, entertaining readers will always come first.) To that end, she has gone through the FBI Citizens Academy where they let her blow something up, toured Quantico, visited the morgue, viewed an autopsy, participated in FBI SWAT training scenarios (as a victim and a bad girl!), and been on several police ride alongs. She even went on a “field trip” the Folsom State Prison where the assistant warden explained—seriously—that we needed to take care not to be taken hostage because they don’t negotiate with prisoners. Her exact words may have been something like, “If we won’t negotiate for our corrections officers, we certainly aren’t going to negotiate for a bunch of writers.”

In 2019, after Brennan #3 graduated from high school, Allison and her family moved to Arizona with their assorted pets (though they had to leave the chickens behind with a former neighbor). Now an (almost) empty nester, she and her husband of 30+ years thoroughly enjoy their grandson and (no pressure) any future grandchildren their kids grant them.

Allison is active on Facebook, X, and Instagram, so if you want to keep up with what she’s doing, what she’s reading, and what she’s writing, those are the places to follow. Check out her blog at Murder She Writes which she tries to write at least once a week, but usually it’s once a quarter. She responds to all email personally, so give her a couple days if you reach out.

For fun Allison reads (surprise!), watches baseball and classic movies, hikes, and enjoys her swimming pool when the weather turns hot.