***SPOILERS INCLUDED***: I enjoyed the book, and knowing that it's based on real cases brought me into the story in a more personal manner. I thought the pace was great, and I liked the character development. This book made me feel like I was a fly on the wall, and that's how a good crime mystery should make you feel. My biggest criticism would have to be the ending, because it felt a little too neatly wrapped up. I also felt frustrated that Sammy and his sister, after everything, do something positive in saving the documents or at least telling the police what they know.

Finally, decent crime novel. Quite good actually. Based on real life kidnappings that several decades ago all but spelled out a certain shift in zeitgeist, the disappearance of a time of (at least perceived) innocence, when people were decent and children were safe. Set in Des Moines in the 80s, it has all the nostalgia of Stranger Things coupled with all the evils of stranger danger. Young boys are disappearing, paperboys, the community is terrified, the neighborhood will never be the same, because people finally realize that they can never really know their neighbors. The investigation is handled by a cop, for whom it’s all much too personal. So he starts unravelling, while still on active duty. But there are other perspectives too, crucially from one of the boys and his family. This might be a debut and for a debut especially, the author did a great job of recreating the time and place, her 80s are right on the money as is the small town vibe and the increasingly spiraling claustrophobic narratives of some of the leads, especially Officer Goodkind and Sammy. It isn’t really a mystery suspense thriller, it’s actually so nice to have something different, this one is more along the lines of a crime drama, there’s some suspense, but that aspect is very, very easy to figure out, it isn’t really a thriller either. It’s more about crime and its ramifications of the community and the way such things have the power to change popular mentality. The fact that the story is based on real life kidnappings only makes it all the more poignant and tragic. It’s also very compelling, the narratives draw you in, you care about the characters, there’s an emotional investment. Yeah, I wish it was less predictable, but then again maybe it wasn’t meant to be a suspense novel. Or maybe Officer Goodkind just wasn’t that great of an investigator, being too wrapped up in his own trauma. All in all, though, a pretty good story, a cautionary tale, if you will, because you never know people from monsters by casual impressions. I enjoyed reading this. Thanks Netgalley.

The Monsters We Make by Kali White.
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Publishing date - 9th June 2020
Publisher - Crooked Lane Books
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It's August 1984, and paperboy Christopher Stewart has gone missing.
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Hours later, twelve-year-old Sammy Cox hurries home from his own paper route, red-faced and out of breath, hiding a terrible secret.
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Crystal, Sammy's seventeen-year-old sister, is worried by the disappearance but she also sees opportunity: the Stewart case has echoes of an earlier unsolved disappearance of another boy, one town over. Crystal senses the makings of an award-winning essay, one that could win her a scholarship—and a ticket out of their small Iowa town.
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Officer Dale Goodkind can't believe his bad luck: another town and another paperboy kidnapping. But this time he vows that it won't go unsolved. As the abductions set in motion an unpredictable chain of violent, devastating events touching each life in unexpected ways, Dale is forced to face his own demons.
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Told through interwoven perspectives—and based on the real-life Des Moines Register paperboy kidnappings in the early 1980's—The Monsters We Make deftly explores the effects of one crime exposing another and the secrets people keep hidden from friends, families, and sometimes, even themselves.
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It's wasn't until the end of the book whilst I was reading the acknowledgements that I realised that this was based on true events and it made the story all that more haunting.
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I really enjoyed the characters, especially those of Crystal and Dale. Crystal reminds me of Nancy Drew and it was refreshing to see how working in the police force can lead to a breakdown of a strong character. Too often authors portray investigating officers as macho alpha males and the nuances of Dale’s character, while saddening, made for a great read.
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I really enjoyed this book but the ’garage scene’ could have been done earlier in the book as it would have been great to see how those involved were emotionally affected and linked this with the disappearances. However, maybe the point was you cut-off one head and two more grow back.
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You should definitely give this book a read!

What an intense story. Right from the beginning there is that sense of danger for the young boys of Des Moines. The author is very clever in that nothing is laid out for the reader, and yet we are not left wondering what is happening. I particularly loved Crystal's story. I thought her character's thoughts and actions were perfectly and realistically portrayed and she was very relateable. The tension was well maintained thoughout the book and was even a little creepy.

Where I felt the story fell a bit short was in the way Crystal and Sammy seemed to be handle an extremely traumatic incident a little too well. That felt a little unreal in an otherwise extremely realistic story. Having said that, it was still a fantastic read!

It was the 1980’s, a time before the internet and cell phones and DNA. In other words it was a criminal’s heyday. The events in this story are based on real cases in Des Moines, cases where paperboys were kidnapped. Crystal Cox is a high school senior and wants to leave her small town; when Christopher Stewart disappears from his paper route, she believes that the story could be good enough to win her a college scholarship. Told through different voices, this is a story of a middle America gripped by fear in a more “innocent” time