Search - Whistling in the Dark

This book brought a host of memories rushing back for me, and most of them were sweet and precious. This is a very vivid and powerful novel that reads like a memoir. I had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction, though the author did base many characters on people in her life (including her 10 year old self) as a child in 1959. Not only is this a wonderful book about two girls growing up in a less than secure and healthy time, but it is also a mystery that kept me guessing. I felt I knew the characters in this book as my own friends, and I was very disappointed to let them go at the end of the book. I was deeply touched by this book, and even though it has been nearly three days since I finished the book, I am loathe to start another because Sally and Troo are still living in my head and in my heart.

Author Lesley Kagen wrote this book at age 57, and though it is her first, I dearly hope it isn’t her last book. Her website is http://www.lesleykagen.com

This book is written through the eyes of 10 year old Sally who details the summer of 1959: one that would be like no other. Her sister Troo reminds me of mine so much, and I think made it more endearing. It reads like a memoir and captured me from the first chapter. The author actually based some of the details loosely on her own life. It very much reminds me of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, and it is not at all as dark as As The Crow Flies, by MacDonald, for those who have read those books. I do hope this author has more books planned. A great read & very highly recommended. 4.5/5

I loved this book. It took me back to the 50's. I was about the same age as the main character in the book st that time. I like the way she spoke as a 10 year old. It was very belivable. There was alot of suspense and a good ending too.

The Book is set in 1959. You have The O'Malley sister..Troo & Sally. Their sister Nell, their mom, and their bastard of a step father, Hall. Troo and Sally's mom has to enter the hospital to get a simple gall bladder operation and winds up spending most of the summer in the hospital due to all kinds of complications. Nell their older sister is supposed to be keeping an eye on the girls, but she is too preoccupied by her boyfriend to pay much attention to the girls. Hall, if he comes at all, is usually drunk and passed out. Otherwise he is normally shaked up with another woman across town. So pretty much Sally (10)& Troo (9) are on their own during a time when their seems to be a killer on the loose who likes to murder little girls. Sally is pretty much expecting that she or her sister will be next.

It's quite a predictable book (I had the killer figured out by the first 100 pages) , but all in all it's a rather cute story and a good read. The only complaint I had is that the story was being told through Sally, which is not the problem, but it did not seem to be told in a 10 year olds voice. She sounded a little bit older and so did her sister Troo. That is pretty much my only complaint.

This was the May 2012 pick in my online book club, The Reading Cove.

From the way it began, I thought I'd like it more than I did. The characters and the setting of the midwestern America 1959 was charming and very well established; enjoyed all the pop culture references! And Sally O'Malley was very precocious and endearing, and I enjoyed the many LOL moments; but by the middle, the nostalgia felt over-indulgent, and got in the way of the plot's progression. The pacing was too slow and I was losing interesting. Not to mention it's highly unlikely the children would be allowed to continue roaming the streets when the neighborhood's little girls are being murdered and molested!

Sally's POV wore thin, with a rambling day-to-day trot of observations and interactions with neighbors and friends. Her younger sister Troo was just plain annoying most of the book.

A boat load of secrets are revealed toward the end, but the biggest of these - the murderer/molester reveal - turned out to be a bit underwhelming.

In the end, it was just OK. I add the plus for nostalgia's sake...C+

Fairly well written. Interesting characters. A good,creepy story.