book review: "Island of Lost Girls"...

... written by Jennifer McMahon, published in 2008. It took me a week to read, because it was on a set of six Cd's. If it had been a printed book, I would have been up all night trying to finish- it was that good, and hard to stop when I would get to my destination while driving.

I went to the library to find actual books and got a couple of talking books as well. There was something vaguely familiar about the blurb on the back of the case, and I wondered if it was one I had already read. After starting, I decided I had, but could not remember enough, so went ahead. As it turned out - pretty sure I failed to finish the story. What might have happened is that I got to a point that I knew things would end badly and could not make myself finish. Surprisingly I decided I would rather not knot than get any sense of closure with those fictional people I had so connected with.

The story is told from the point of view of one character named Rhonda, but continually moves back and forth in time, from her childhood with friends, to some of the same people as adults. There is a missing child from an abduction, done by someone in a rabbit costume. Rhonda reminisces about her younger days, spending time with a neighboring family that had two children about her age: Lizzy and Peter.  When they were in their early teens, Lizzy disappeared, as did her dad.

You gradually get a really bad feeling about the person in the rabbit costume, thinking this might be someone who has a history of doing evil. Not sure who this incognito person is, but over time it is easy to  make several assumptions as to who and why. The story often reverts to happy memories of childhood, when these three friends spent summers producing plays on a home-made stage in a wooded area between their homes. Recruiting neighboring children whose parents are vacationing in cabins at a near-by lake to fill out the parts of the supporting roles.

A really good tale. The sort of story that would make an excellent movie plot, with a cast of young people we would then see for years to come as they aged into adult roles. Recommended reading, whether you get a real printed book, or listen to the discs.