Some writers are just good at this. Somehow they seem to naturally write interesting characters— enough info to make you care but without diverting from the story or feeling contrived. good…. Balance maybe.
I searched for other books by him but this seems to be it so far.
For all its cliches, it still carries you along rooting for the characters and wanting to know what happens next.
I would say the narrator was too sedate for this type of book, but it actually fits with the silence/ruined voice/he’s a ghost idea.