Book Review: The One I left Behind - Jennifer McMahon

The One I left Behind - Jennifer McMahon

The summer of 1985 changed Reggie's life. Thirteen, awkward, and without a father, she finds herself mixed up with her school's outcasts-Charlie, the local detective's son, and Tara, a goth kid who has a mental hold over Reggie and harbors a dark secret. That same summer a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother Vera-an ex-model with many "boyfriends" and a thirst for gin-the most, Vera's hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there's no body and Neptune disappears.

Now a successful architect who left her hometown behind after that horrific summer, Reggie doesn't trust anyone and lives with few attachments. But when she gets a call from a homeless shelter saying that her mother has been found alive, Reggie must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

This is the second book I have read by this author.  I've noticed two things, she seems to like little girls on the cover which kind of gives the reader a creepy feeling about what happens in the book.  Second she has a writing style that is unique.  She seems to like to switch back and forth between a childhood and present day, where something happened during the character's childhood.  This book is about a killer named Neptune and a character named Reggie.  We are sent to 1985 when Neptune first appeared and Vera, Reggie's mother was taken by Neptune but her body was never found.  Reggie is 13 years old and searches for clues as to where her mother is and who the killer is.  In the process something bad happens and her friendship with Charlie and Tara suffer.  Then we see Reggie in present day where she gets a call that her mother has been found alive.  Her world gets turned upside down especially with the return of Neptune.  I had a bad feeling about a character from the beginning and that feeling was justified by the end.  This was a book that I could not put down.

Book Review: Don't Breathe a Word - Jennifer McMahon

Don't Breathe a Word - Jennifer McMahon

On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn't fear the dark and doesn't have bad dreams--who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam's hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed--a promise that could destroy them all.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

First of all I LOVE the cover.  The child looking at you is kind of creepy.  I thought the beginning was a little confusing.  I love how the story alternates between Phoebe in the present and Lisa fifteen years ago.  As I read I couldn't wait to finish the chapter to find out what happens in the next chapter.  The story kept me guessing even after I read the whole book.  We are presented with things that make us believe that there really were fairies in this book and then we are presented with other things that just make us think otherwise.  I loved the character of Phoebe and how she was not perfect.  I wish I could have learned a little more about her though.