Epigraph:
(Had I done to Dolly, perhaps, what Frank Lasalle, a fifty-year-old mechanic, had done to eleven-year-old Sally Horner in 1948?) 
* * * 
And the rest is rust and stardust. — Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Fictionalization of the true crime that loosely inspired Nabokov’s Lolita. In 1948, 11-year old Sally Horner accepted a dare by some classmates to steal a notebook from Woolworth’s. Her crime was witnessed by Frank Lasalle, an ex-con who was eating at the lunch counter. Lasalle, under of the guise of an FBI agent, kidnapped Sally telling her she had to appear before a judge for shoplifting. Sally, confused and afraid, wound up staying with Lasalle for two years while they traveled from New Jersey to California to avoid capture. Amazing story with some heartbreaking scenes that, thankfully, we’re not graphic, about the abuse, both physical and emotional, that Sally had to endure.

This book caught my attention with its eye-catching cover and interesting title - not what I expected at all! Tucked into Greenwood's beautiful, lyrical prose is a heart-breaking story of a little eleven-year-old girl, Sally Horner, who was kidnapped in Camden, New Jersey in 1948. Sally lives with her mother, who has a hard time getting around due to illness. Her father committed suicide several years earlier. Sally has a hard time making friends and in order to be initiated into a group she steals something from a department store and a man accosts her and says he's from the FBI and she must go with him.

I loved Greenwood's writing style and his characters were well developed. I really liked the character Ruth who met Sally at a trailer park. I read that this story was based on the true-to-life kidnapping of 11-year-old Florence “Sally” Horner in 1958. I recommend this book and even though it was tragic, I couldn't put it down until I had read to the very end.

Thanks. to T. Greenwood and St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy.

I was intrigued by the story premise and description.  I naively didn’t know that Lolita was, to some degree, inspired by a true event.  While I found the story disturbing and painful to read, the writing style left me wanting.  

Author T. Greenwood did give Florence Sally Horner a voice, but it is a flat one.  The story is told rather than painted.  One cannot help but empathize with the kidnapped girl or her parents, however, my empathy didn’t come from the writing just the situation.

Rust & Stardust is told primarily from Sally Horner’s perspective, however, chapters from her family and people she has met along the way are interspersed throughout the story.  Seeing how the family imploded with the loss of Sally was heartbreaking.

Overall, I was interested in the historical aspect of this story, but the writing style didn’t grab me.

I was unaware of the fact that this book was based on a true story which makes the premise all the more sad and disturbing but also compelling. It follows the true story of Sally Horner, who was abducted by an ex-con and taken from New Jersey to Texas and then ultimately California. The story was very richly described, following the different characters in Sally's family and all the people who were trying to help her along the way. 
The plots and ideas in the book were wonderfully planned out. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the rich backstories behind any kidnapping stories. The author brilliantly captured the feeling of terror that must lurk in the mind of anyone who has suffered this. 
This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked from the first page. Based on a true story, although a work of fiction, this book is a real page turner. It is a heart-wrenching and heart-racing novel! Told from various characters point of view (which is a style I love) this follows the abduction of Sally Horner. 
How was Frank LaSalle able to get her to go with him? What was life like during her abduction? Why didn’t the people who they interacted with those years follow their gut? How did her loved ones pick up the pieces? 
All those questions are answered. Greenwood is an amazing writer. She gave voice to each of those characters in such a perfect way that you really were able to understand them completely. 
I highly recommend!

I was elated at the opportunity to read this upcoming release from author, T. Greenwood. This was my was my first time reading anything written by this author. Rust & Stardust is a gripping tale loosely based on true actual events. With 368 pages of reading and the chapters being from each character's individual point of view throughout this novel, it will keep you reading until the very end. 

In 1948, at 11 years old, Sally Horner is kidnapped by a man named Frank LaSalle. He claimed to be an FBI agent but holds her against her will for almost two years. Sally gets caught stealing a notebook from Woolworth's department store. She did this on a dare by some popular school girls, so she can be apart of their group. She almost makes it out of the store when Frank LaSalle catches her in the act. He tells Sally, he works for the FBI and to avoid going to jail, she needs to come with him. Sally being so young and naïve little girl, does not want to go to prison. Sally convinces her mother Ella, that she has been invited on a summer vacation to the shore with her friend Vivi Peterson and her father. When in actuality, she is doing everything she can to hide her crime from her mother.

The author, takes us on the two year kidnapping journey with Sally and Frank in this novel. The two of them travel from one side of the states, crisscrossing to the other side of the country. She is a child, but still held captive like prisoner. They only move when people around them begin to get suspicious of this "single father" and his "daughter" relationship. Along the way, Sally meets people like Ruth and Sister Mary Katherine, who are kind to her, but who also suspects the truth. However, Frank always seems to be one step ahead and keeps them moving so he is not caught.  During these two years on the run, Frank LaSalle mentally, physically, and sexually abuses Sally. Sally is forced to change her name, to abide by his ridiculous rules, and then brainwashed into good behavior. The book does not get into nitty gritty glory detail about the sexual abuse she experienced as a child . Although, there is just enough to make the reader feel the same sadness and agony Sally was experiencing at that time. 

Reading Rust & Stardust, you will experience not only Sally's sadness but, her mother Ella's heartache of living without her child. You will feel the agony of not being able to do anything to find Sally from her other family members, sister Susan and her husband Al. The author does a great job with telling a tale that will connect with her readers and make them feel everything these characters feel from beginning to end. 

I received an advanced digital copy to read thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Gallery.

You can see more of my review here: http://sherevelationblog.com/reviews-conversation/rust-stardust

This is a fictional story based on a real life kidnapping. It is an emotional journey and not an easy read due to the subject matter. I wouldn’t call this book chilling but it has a major creep factor by the name of Mr. Warner, convicted child molester. Greenwood is adept at balancing the abuse of young Sally Horner by Mr. Warner with Sally’s strength and resilience. My heart went out to her and to the devastated family she leaves behind who share their own stories and search for Sally in dedicated chapters.

One negative that niggled me was the extreme nativity of this 11-year old girl. It seemed far-fetched. Believing lie after lie of her tormenter and when given numerous opportunities to escape or open up to kind people she meets who suspect something is wrong, Sally chooses to remain silent…for years. Perhaps in the 1940’s children were more naive at that age.

I found myself feeling angry with Sally’s mother through most of the book. How could a mother turn her daughter over to a man she’d never met before at a train station and not be calling the cops every single day if she needed to in order to keep the search alive.

*Will post review on multiple sites once published.

Rust & Stardust was a really good read for me geographically - I grew up in Jersey. My childhood was spent in Florence (my grandma lived there). I've been to Camden and Atlantic City. Not in the 40s, granted, but still, I've been there. So the whole time I was reading about Sally and her family, I had their geography in my head.

Otherwise, the book was good. It drew me in and kept me interested and engaged. I was upset by the ending but, because it was based on a true story, I understand why the author did it. Honestly I can't wait to research the real case. 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4, and I can't wait to read more by this author.

The idea of this book was amazing but it fell completely flat. I know it was based on true events but what mother allows her daughter to go on a month long journey with the father of a girl her daughter goes to school with??! One she’s never met?!?! Unbelievable. Incredibly boring, flat, and the author adds no emotion for the reader to be connected to the characters.

I really loved this book! The story telling for this heartbreaking book was fantastic.  The subject is difficult but I think Greenwood did a fantastic job.   

Highly recommend

Even though it is set in 1948 the story of little "sally" will change the way you view your world and the unknown people around you.  This is not a book of rainbows but rather of the darkness of man and the unyielding human sprit.  Read it,

Before I start this review, I have a confession to make. 

I've never read Lolita, and I only have a vague idea of what it was about. (Old guy molests young girl?)

As much as I love reading, and think myself pretty prolific, I've just never really been one for the classics. The number of must reads that I've never read is pretty high. 

So, how did I end up reading a book about the true story that may have inspired Lolita?

The cover.

Y'all do that, too, right? You just have to read a book because the cover is so striking? Okay, good. I thought so.

Man, I'm glad I'm a sucker for pretty covers, because this book is five stars all day.

I posted a review earlier in the day, did some laundry, had some dinner, and then read this entire book. I couldn't wait to tell you about it, so here I am, instead of in bed like a normal person.

Don't let the up until now lightheartedness of this review fool you. Rust & Stardust is heartbreaking. It is based in truth, but many of the characters and plot points are fictionalized. There's no way to know much of what happened, and this is a novel, not a true crime book. 

One criticism that I saw in a review was that some of the fictionalized scenarios were preposterous and that much of the writing was dry and journalistic, taking away from the authenticity. 

I could not disagree more. I feel like the dry telling of much of the story made it feel more real to me, and did a good job of placing the story in time. I felt like I was reading a story that took place in 1950's America, during a starker, bleaker period of time. 

The character work is brilliant, and it was refreshing to have a standout strong, loving male character, Al, at the center of the story, despite the rest of the men being weak, cruel, or hapless. 

I enjoyed that the story was told from so many different points of view. It gave the story more depth and richness. 

As I said earlier, Rust & Stardust is five out of five star novel, no qualifications needed. It hits the shelves August 7, 2018.

I received an ARC of this novel from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a difficult book to review, because I don’t really want to say that I enjoyed it, but it was definitely a book I had trouble putting down, and that I raced through. 

It is based on the true story of an 11 year old girl who was kidnapped and raped by an man in his 50s.  He travels across country with her for more than two years, stopping for extended periods in a few locations, and then moving on when he believes he may be caught.

But, what this story is really about is how both the girl herself, and the people around her are effected by the situation—how people can choose to overlook things that are seemingly obvious, how an experience can be twisted to mean something different in different peoples minds, and how you can never count on exterior appearances to reflect the truth. I also think, in a strange way, this book left me with a sense of faith in the ultimate goodness of many people, even as so many acts of cruelty or indifference on the part of many others led to the tragedy of this girl’s life. 

I appreciated that this book was not overly graphic about the sexual abuse that was at the heart of the relationship between the girl and her abductor. I did not need any particular detail to evoke the horror of what she suffered. 

I received an advanced reading copy from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. Thanks!

To read the real-life story of 11 year old Sally Horner who was kidnapped by ex-con Frank LaSalle from a Woolworth's store in New Jersey in 1948, and to realize that it inspired Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, one of the most prominent and talked about literary works of the 20th century, is heart-breaking and infuriating. 
T. Greenwood's narrative is so raw, the descriptions so vivid, and the scenes so crushing that one can't help but admire her even though every one of her words on the page is like ripping apart skin and bone.
Greenwood takes the reader through Sally's horrendous ordeal, her mother's mental and emotional dissolve while showing us that there are still good people in the world who are willing to help those who cannot possibly help themselves. The novel is a difficult one, but not for that less of a brilliant work of historical and biographical fiction.

Well. This book. Wow. I didn’t realize it was based on a true story until the end and it was like an extra gut punch. I cried my way through most of this book. It was beautifully written. The author brought this story to life through these different point of views. I highly recommend this book if you can stomach difficult subject matters.

Rust & Stardust is based on the 1948 kidnapping of 11 yr. old Sally Horner by Frank LaSalle. This story was heartbreaking for me to read as my youngest daughter is 11 yrs. old. Even knowing that this was a work of fiction I couldn't read about Sally's years with her captor and not feel it emotionally. It gutted me, imagining what horrors this girl must have endured at the hands of this vile pedophile. 

In T. Greenwood's work of historical fiction we are given her imagined renderings of the years Sally spent on the road with her captor. The events were fictional dramatizations, the relationships constructions of her imagination - this is not true crime & it never claims to be. I enjoyed the little bits of hope Greenwood sprinkled into the book with the people that helped Sally along the way - Lena, Ruth & Sister Mary Katherine. It was beyond frustrating to read how LaSalle always seemed to keep a step ahead of the law. I kept asking myself, how can no one see there is something wrong between them? Yet, this really happened and he truly did get away with it for 2 years. So as implausible as some of the scenarios might have seemed - reality is sometimes just as farfetched isn't it? 

The book is told via various characters' point of views. We see first hand not only what Sally endures but also the devastation that her kidnapping causes her family. I found the book to be captivating and I spent quite a bit of time googling the real kidnapping so that I could relate what I was reading to what actually occurred. I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing as it made the book seem all the more real. I was having trouble holding it together at various points while reading. 

While the book was heart wrenching and disturbing at times it was also undeniably moving. I was invested in Sally and wanted nothing more than to be able to save her myself. Even knowing the eventual outcome from my online research on the case, I couldn't put the book down - I had to finish it and see it through. That pin & red ribbon on the cover - it isn't just meant to be eye catching. Once you read the book, you will see it is a meaningful symbol. It broke my heart! A captivating read that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Rust and Stardust is a novel that will wring your heart out.  Taking place in New Jersey in 1948 - 1952, we follow the life of 11 year old Sally Horner.  Sally is that girl we all were, at some point.  Very naive, no self-assurance, no real friends, no sense of worth. No life experience, no ability to hide her thoughts, no skill at deception.  And Mr. Warner knows just how to take advantage of all those no's.  Sally is just the gal he's been looking for.  

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, T. Greenwood, and St. Martins Press in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Little Sally Horner just wants friends, real girl friends.  So she approaches the group of gals she has her eye on, asks if she can join their group.  She has to steal something from the local convenience store to join. Poor Sally gets caught snatching a composition book by a man who told her she was with the FBI and her life will never be the same again.  While this book was devastating in it's own right,it just wasn't as dark and twisty as I was expecting it to be.  I really liked that it was based off a true crime kidnapping and the two years she was held captive.  The Multiple POV's showed you what others were going through while she was gone which didn't necessarily add to the story because you mostly just got to go through their motions of guilt for what happened.

I don’t even know what to say about this. What a heart breaking, beautifully written story that had me holding my breath most of the way through. The book was loosely based on the kidnapping of Sally Horner by a rapist in 1948 as he held her captive for 21 months and they moved across the country eluding the police. This was so disturbing, yet I couldn’t stop reading. I would highly recommend this to most people, yet not everyone might want to read a book like this because it is so disturbing and not a pleasant read.  A truly deserving August LibraryReads title!

Florence Sally Horner. This is a name I will never forget. This novel is based on true events and follows through-out two horrific years. The ups and downs of Ella, Susan and Al broke my heart and I wanted to step inside this book and give them all a hug! The story, from beginning to end, pulls you in from page one and you’ll find it hard to put this one down. Thank you NetGalley.com, St. Martin’s Press and the talented T. Greenwood.