Ancient Native American lore states that you should never whistle at night. Doing so risks attracting bad spirits and evil that attaches itself to you. Ghost hunter Henry Hotard is about to experience this firsthand in Nick Medina’s latest novel, THE WHISTLER.

Although this is technically a horror story, Medina has created perhaps the most personal and deeply complex character dealing with a disability --- in this case, the loss of half of his body and facing life in a wheelchair --- that I have ever encountered in fiction. Henry meets up with Rhett, a fellow quadriplegic, in a handful of scenes that become the most impactful in the novel. This puts the reader directly in the wheelchair with Henry, experiencing the mindset of guilt and loss right along with him.

"What impressed me the most about THE WHISTLER is how Nick Medina introduces Native American culture and ideas while not sounding preachy, making readers feel like they are eavesdropping on another world to which we are normally not privy."

Let’s talk about what got Henry to this point and the supernatural curse that might be behind it. Following a prologue that features a teenager named Jackie Cadow facing the whistling presence in her backyard at night while taking down laundry, we get to the dual-timeline narrative that drives THE WHISTLER. The first, which takes place in 2023, leads up to the supposed curse and Henry’s accident. In the present, the now wheelchair-bound Henry is being convinced by his girlfriend, Jade, and friend Toad to begin ghost hunting again.

Another recurring element in the story is the inclusion of passages from a 1986 work, The Boy with Two Faces, which finds a young man from the Takoda tribe being bodily cursed due to lying and the supernatural way he overcomes this permanent ailment. It is quite telling and prophetic based on Henry’s own tale.

Henry is being cared for by his grandparents, Pawpaw Mac and Mawmaw Tilly. It is not an easy job, but early on Henry is still way too angry and bitter to notice or appreciate the outside world and those who are caring for him. Jade is still bartending at their family bar in Leesville, Florida, the Blue Gator Grill, even though Henry no longer visits there. The first time Mac brings him to meet with Rhett, Henry is too self-absorbed to hear any of the messages that Rhett is passing on to him. This is the best relationship depicted in the novel, and their meetings get progressively better over time.

The ghost-hunting team has their last broadcast session at the most haunted place in the area, Jackie's house, where she and her family were found butchered. This also became known as the Whistler home due to the alleged presence of the whistling demon that haunted the land there. Henry, Jade and Toad are accompanied by Roddy, a local journalist seeking to do a piece on ghost hunting and the popularity of their podcast. Things would not end well for everyone involved, with Roddy losing his life and Henry suffering his life-changing accident. Medina deftly keeps the accident and its details under wraps until the end of the novel.

Henry realizes that the only way to make amends for any perceived wrongdoing, or to break the spell of the curse that may be on him, will involve the trio of ghost hunters returning to the Cadow house and looking to set things right. It is a harrowing experience for all involved.

What impressed me the most about THE WHISTLER is how Nick Medina introduces Native American culture and ideas while not sounding preachy, making readers feel like they are eavesdropping on another world to which we are normally not privy. He has done this over three novels, and it is indeed a formula that continues to work for him.