Island of Lost Girls: A Novel (Paperback)

by Jennifer Mcmahon (Author)
Key Phrases: rabbit suit, Laura Lee, Peter Pan, Rabbit Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of McMahon's haunting second novel (after Promise Not to Tell), recent college grad Rhonda Farr witnesses a child abduction in front of a convenience store in Pike's Crossing, Vt. Ernestine Ernie Florucci willingly leaves her mother's car because her six-foot-tall abductor is wearing a rabbit suit. Rhonda remembers her best friend Lizzy's father entertaining her and Lizzy in a rabbit costume in 1993, and vanishing soon after. Three years later, Lizzy disappeared en route to high school. Guilt over her inability to stop Ernie's abduction spurs Rhonda to join the search for the girl. She recalls the summer that Lizzy's older brother, Peter, had them all perform Peter Pan, which was a great success, but there were dark secrets beneath the makeshift stage. McMahon expertly shifts between pivotal events in the past and present-day action, building tension to a resolution both poignant and shattering. (May)
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From Booklist
As in her assured debut novel, Promise Not to Tell (2007), McMahon offers a moving if bittersweet portrait of childhood. When a person dressed up in a rabbit costume abducts a little girl out of her car, the lone witness, Rhonda, is too stunned to act. As the small rural town mobilizes a search for the missing child, Rhonda, reeling with guilt, is reminded of another girl who went missing—her closest friend from childhood, Lizzy. Joyful memories of their youth spent putting on plays and exploring the woods alternate with darker moments: losing the love of her life, Lizzy’s brother, Peter, and the year an increasingly disheveled and moody Lizzy stopped talking to her or anyone else. Past and present merge as Rhonda closes in on the costumed abductor and also on the dark family secrets that tore their perfect childhood apart. McMahon spends a good deal of time setting the stage; however, once the pieces of the intricate plot are in place, readers will be hooked on both the mystery element and the coming-of-age aspects of this atmospheric novel. --Joanne Wilkinson

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (April 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061445886
• ISBN-13: 978-0061445880
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,221 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic follow-up, April 27, 2008

By	Annie - See all my reviews

I loved Promise Not to Tell, so I 've been looking forward to this book ever since I heard it was coming out. At the same time, I was a little worried about a letdown, that it wouldn't live up to the first book. No worries! Island of Lost Girls does not disappoint! If anything, I liked it even more.

Like Promise Not to Tell, it takes place in Vermont, and is about a woman who has to revisit her past when she's involved in a crime in the present. This time, the woman is Rhonda, a recent college graduate still hung up on her childhood sweetheart, Peter (who's married and has an adorable daughter), and the crime is a very weird abduction that Rhonda is the only witness to. She gets involved in the investigation, and starts thinking back to mysteries of her own childhood, when she, Peter, his sister Lizzy, and a feisty girl named Tock were inseparable.

Once again, McMahon does an incredible job building suspense and keeping you guessing, while also creating believable, moving characters and relationships in an almost gothic atmosphere. She explores notions of bad choices, evil, and forgiveness in a heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful way. I can't wait for the next book!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jennifer McMahon is a Genius!, May 2, 2008

By	MRose "smaurie" (Springfield, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I was not aware that this book had come out and when I saw it at Borders I immediately scooped it up. After being thoroughly entranced with Ms. McMahon's previous effort "Promise Not to Tell", I knew I would love this book as well. She has such a knack for fluid story telling, extremely well fleshed out characters and an uncanny ability of being able to draw you in from word one. Her subject matter is disturbing but that's life as we know it. This is a little slip of a book, only 255 pages but it is jam packed with suspense, atmosphere and plot twists that are sometimes slowly revealed and sometimes thrown right in your face. Had I the time I would have devoured this book in one sitting. I will again be waiting eagerly for the next Jennifer McMahon. Do not miss this author.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5-star read full of suspense and heartbreak, April 25, 2008

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Rhonda Farr is 23 and on her way to a job interview. Rhonda is sitting in her car outside Pat's Mini Mart in Pike's Crossing, waiting to fill her car up with gas. Trudy Florucci pulls up and runs inside the Mini Mart, leaving the motor running and Ernie, her little girl in the car. A gold-colored VW pulls into Pat's Mini Mart, driven by a large white rabbit. Before Rhonda can get over her shock at seeing a rabbit driving the VW, Ernie has jumped out of her mother's car and rode off with the rabbit. Rhonda is guilt ridden because the child has disappeared, and she took no action whatsoever to try and stop the abduction.

Pat, the owner of Pat's Mini Mart, has set up a "Find Ernie Headquarters." Rhonda is one of the volunteers. The disappearance of Ernie has caused Rhonda to take a trip back to her childhood and memories of Peter, Lizzy and Tock, her childhood friends. The group built a stage and produced Peter Pan. Rhonda's family and the families of her friends gathered for social activities. Thinking of these times reminds Rhonda of many mysteries in the past. The disappearance of Peter's father, as well as that of his sister Lizzy, is a memory Rhonda dwells on.

Island of Lost Girls is a book full of suspense and heartbreak. It is also a peek into the wonderful imagination of children and their private little world. The ending is shocking, sad and happy, too. I would highly recommend this book.

Armchair Interviews agrees.