Who was your childhood imaginary friend?
He or she was the pal you who got you in trouble and the one who caught the blame for all your mischief. He rode in the seat next to you. If you had a really good imagination, you made your Mom set a place at the table for her, or you warned Dad not to sit on your buddy.
In the new book "Island of Lost Girls" by Jennifer McMahon, everybody thought Peter Rabbit was a make-believe friend to little girls in town. But an abduction wasn't so imaginary.
Suzy knew she wasn't supposed to play in the car, but it really wasn't a car. It was a submarine or anything she wanted it to be. It was also fun, until the policemen came and found a body in the woodpile next to the old wreck.
Across town, Rhonda Farr was dealing with a mess. A few days before, Rhonda was gassing up at Pat's Mini Mart when she saw a big white rabbit snatch little Ernie Florucci from the back of Ernie's mother's car. Trudy Florucci blamed Rhonda for not saving Ernestine, but Rhonda had witnessed the abduction in a daze, remembering.
Years ago, Rhonda's best friends, Lizzy and Peter, lived next door. Every holiday was spent together because the kids' fathers had been best friends, too. Once, Peter and Lizzy's father, Daniel, dressed up as a huge white rabbit for Easter.
And then Daniel and Lizzy disappeared.
It happened at the end of the summer, the year Peter directed "Peter Pan." All the lake kids were in the play, Rhonda played Wendy and Peter wore a hand-made costume with felt leaves. The kids dug a trench behind the stage their fathers made for them. It was the perfect place to change costumes, and the place where Peter kissed Rhonda. He was 14, she was 11.
Daniel disappeared after that, and nothing was ever the same. Peter fell in love with Tock, Rhonda went to school, Lizzy was gone and now, so was Ernestine Florucci. Everybody thought Peter did it, but Rhonda knew better.
Peter was one of the good guys. Or was that just her imagination?
Three words best describe this book: Creepy, creepy and creepy.
"Island of Lost Girls" is one of those books that makes you squirm from about the fourth page, all the way to the end. Author Jennifer McMahon kept me up until 3 a.m. two nights running; first, because I couldn't put this book down, and second, because I couldn't put it out of my mind. One is never sure if Rhonda's recollections are true memories or something her brain concocted to protect her from herself, and you don't positively know if the other characters are nasty or just seem so because Rhonda has you believing they are.
Fans of suspense, mystery buffs, psychological-thriller readers, and lovers of unsettling novels will truly enjoy this book. "Island of Lost Girls" is a sure treat for any reader's imagination.
