Kali Vanbaale

Two paper boys have gone missing in the last 2 years. No sign, no trace; just gone. Officer Dale Goodkind catches both cases but having a personal childhood trauma could hamper his ability to unravel this mystery.
Ms. White weaves a very important horror that is visited on too many children. Trusting strangers should not be as dangerous as it actually is. She brings each characters' personal insecurities and flaws to the forefront without making them look weak or far fetched. I found myself getting through the book in two days, desperate to find out how it would end.… (meer)

Inspired by real life events, Kali White has written a remarkable book complete with dark themes and places where danger often hides in plain sight. The main characters, the missing paperboys, along with Dale, Sammy, Crystal and Tina all have problems of their own. Each has difficult decisions to make which will have far reaching consequences, but the question lingers throughout the story of will they make the right ones? As the story develops the reader quickly becomes drawn into this exquisitely layered novel that is based on an all too real event that rocked this community. If you like true crime stories you will find that without a doubt this is a read that will linger with you long after the last page is turned.… (meer)

I had a growing ache in the pit of my stomach every time I turned a page. This story is every parents worst nightmare. A child missing. No leads. No clues. Then another child. The cycle continues. Evil lurking right under your nose. This story preyed on every fear not only for a parent but for a child. It’s really eye opening at just how easy it is for a child to be manipulated by an adult. I found myself scrambling to pinpoint the guilty party and just when I thought I had it figured out I turned out I was just as wrong as everyone else.

What a gripping read.… (meer)

The Monsters We Make by Kali White is a recommended family drama set in the 1980's following the disappearances of two paperboys from Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1982 a paperboy goes missing and is never found. Two years later in August 1984, paperboy Christopher Stewart goes missing from his morning paper route. Twelve-year-old Sammy Cox, who has a paper route, runs home, afraid of someone but he is keeping this a secret. His sister Crystal, seventeen, is concerned about the missing boys but also sees it as an opportunity to write a great college entrance essay that could win her a scholarship, so she begins looking into it. Officer Dale Goodkind has just moved to this part of Des Moines and now there is another paperboy who is missing and he is put on this case too. Dale, who is clinically depressed, may not be up to the task.

This novel is fiction, but is based on the real-life Des Moines Register paperboy kidnappings in the early 1980's. The novel follows Dale, Crystal and Sammy as the investigation continues and potential suspects enter the story. As the investigation unfolds through the point-of-view these three characters, you will care about what happens to them, especially Crystal and Sammy. There is some good coverage of what a pedophile/predator says and does to control victims and manipulate them.

Touchstones of the 80's are well-integrated into the narrative setting the time and place of the setting. All the people in the 80s weren't quite as naive or unsuspecting as White depicts, however, especially in a city, which Des Moines is and was back then. Sure, some were, but some were also quite aware of stranger danger. The plot does slow down in the middle and the ending occurs rather abruptly. The novel is also very predictable. Additionally, Officer Goodkind's personal problems and struggles do detract from the story and the investigation.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/06/the-monsters-we-make.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3379617379… (meer)