Whispers from the Dead

Written by Joan Lowery Nixon

Narrated by Julie Dretzin

The first time 16-year-old Sarah walks into her new home, she is overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. Something terrible has happened here. When an icy presence whispers a desperate plea for help, Sarah investigates. Sarah first began sensing spirits after her near death experience. She had hoped to leave the hauntings behind and start over in this new town. But now she has learned that someone was murdered in this house, and the murderer went unpunished. Maybe her new friends can help her make sense of the disturbing visions and the relentless whispers that plague her. As the phantom pleas become more frantic, so does Sarah-especially since she realizes that her own life depends on solving the murder of this insistent ghost. Narrator Julie Dretzin does a remarkable job of plugging the listener into the horror of this story from an Edgar Award-winning author. Adrenaline levels rise as the story rushes inexorably to an ominous conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470356675

Joan Lowery Nixon

Joan Lowery Nixon (1927–2003) was a renowned author of children’s literature, best known for series like the Orphan Train Adventures and Casebusters. Born in Los Angeles, she began dictating poems to her mother before she could read. At the University of Southern California, Nixon majored in journalism, but took a job teaching the first grade upon graduating. In 1949, she and her husband moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and in 1964 she published her first novel, The Mystery of Hurricane Castle.   Nixon became a fan of mystery fiction when she was a child, and many of her most popular series incorporate elements of sleuthing. She won four Edgar Awards for best young adult mysteries, including prizes for her novels The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore (1979) and The Name of the Game Was Murder (1993). In addition to writing more than 140 young adult novels, Nixon also co-wrote several geology texts with her scientist husband.      

Reviews for Whispers from the Dead

[mutantpudding · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Felt like reading some ghost stories and came across this stinker. Ghost story part not bad but mystery part enraging because of how obvious it was and because of how brain blistering stupid the protagonist was! Love interest despicable from the start (he is friends with an accused rapist and it's totally glossed over) and is just generally garbage. Protagonist is oblivious to this and to the murder mystery. There was also some random racism and fatphobia thrown in for good measure.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After a near-death experience, 16-year-old Sarah starts to feel a presence following her. Things only intensify when she moves into a new home and her parents learn a murder occurred there years before. Now Sarah is haunted by the spirit of a woman warning of her danger and asking for Sarah's help.

This book was originally written in the late 1980s and it has that style of so many teen books written then -- the language feels nothing like the way teenagers speak and in fact has a more childlike narration style (but not content). The characters are completely one-note and the big reveal is so completely obvious from very early on in the text.

That all being said, however, Nixon does write a compelling story and I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for that reveal and all the smaller ones along the way. It is incredibly readable and moves at a quick pace. This book is perfect for folks like me who like a slightly spooky thriller but don't want a full-on horror novel.

[simply00complex · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not one of the best from the author. It started off strong with the main character describing a near death experience and afterwards she became sensitive to the afterlife, hearing a ghost in her house. But the story quickly fizzled after that and became very boring and predictable.