Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon

          This is a sad and kind of creepy book. It begins with someone in a rabbit suit abducting a little girl from a public parking lot in front of a witness. The abduction happens so quickly, and the child accompanies the rabbit so willingly, that Rhonda doesn’t even realize what she’s seen until the rabbit has driven off with the child.

          Now, suffering from the guilt of doing nothing to prevent the abduction that happened before her eyes, Rhonda throws herself into the hunt for the missing girl.

          But, this is not the first time a girl has gone missing from Rhonda’s world. Her best friend from birth left for high school one day and never came home.

          As Rhonda remembers her friend’s disappearance and works to find the girl taken by the rabbit, she discovers many things she missed as she was growing up. She did not pay enough attention. People hid things from her. She did not attempt to ferret out the answers to questions about her friends and family. During her personal search for the missing child and her reassessment of events leading up to her best friend’s disappearance, Rhonda discovers secrets and lies she never knew were there. And, she finds out disturbing things about people she knows, loves and trusted.

          Both missing girls are eventually found, but the ending is still dark and sad.

          This book is well written and held my interest throughout. The imagery used would be great for book clubs and classroom discussions. I cannot say, however, the book was entertaining. I’d love to read something by this author that is upbeat and has a happy ending. I bet it would become one of my favorites.