Talking To The Dead: Whispers From the Dead by Joan Lowery Nixon tells the story of a 16 soon to be 17 year old girl, Sarah. Sarah goes swimming at a lake with her friends and almost ends up dead. After her near death experience she starts to hear voices, voices no one else hears. She’s the only one who seems to be able to sense the horror. Soon after, her father gets a new job in Houston forcing them to move. The minute she steps through the door of her family’s new house she is smothered by a cold mist and hears a heartbreaking, desperate ‘ayudame’. Sarah feels compelled to find out what this voice wants from her after seeing the blood splattered walls of what seems to be a murder. If only Sarah knew what you do now: Rule #1: Know Your Surroundings.When talking to the dead, make sure you have something solid to lean on if you get wrapped up in a so called vision. “...light streamed through the window next to the front door to yellow walls, spreading its glow across a spindly, antique table I’d never seen before. On it, lying on its side, was an miliar crystal vase of early spring sweet peas, spilled and dripping onto white marblelike tiles...as I moved closer to the railing, bent over, and looked straight down. Directly below me, under the brown-red splattered walls, lay a pool of blood.” Rule #2: Know Who Your Friends Are.You’re going to have a tough road ahead of you, and many challenges will be thrown your way. But what else would you expect? You are after all talking to the dead. To some you are not mentally stable, but to others you are intriguing. It is important to keep a sense of self when going through the experience, but remember you must be able to pull out of the nightmare or your life could be put at risk.Rule #3: Confront Your Fears.You're never going to get anything done if you don’t do anything. You can not be afraid of the voices, they can’t hurt you. It’s only a voice in your head. You don’t know what you’ll learn from them unless you overcome your fear of the voices. You are the only one holding yourself back from the truth.Rule #4: This Isn’t Over.It’s doesn’t until you understand what the voice has been trying to tell you. In this case, there’s more to the story than the police suspected; and when you try and tell them you seemed either absolutely crazy, or just plain wacko trying to tell a police officer that they did their job wrong. You just have to figure everything out for yourself. Get proof, have evidence then go to the police, just don’t get yourself killed.Rule #5: Breath Over Death.“...I pulled my hand away and dived deep, enjoying the pale green water as it slid around my body. A school of minnows silver-streaked across my path, leaving speckles of reflected light in their wake. I was alone in a beautiful, silent world that belonged to me, until my lungs ached for air and I flip-flopped, shooting up toward the surface of the water...he slammed against me, driving me downward through the icy water of the lake into a tangle of vines that twisted around my ankles. My head was a fireball of pain, and my lungs burned with such agony, I thought they’d explode as I struggled desperately to get free.” Rule #6: Love yourself before falling for someone else.Remember reality comes before your fantasies. Keep your mind clear so you don’t see someone for someone they aren't. They may be well disguised under a mask or with dyed hair but they will always be the person they were before; a cold-hearted killer. Rule #7: If You Can’t Beat Them, Turn Them In.Accept help from the police, family, or friends before allowing your pride to overcome you. Not every problem can be solved alone. Knowing too much can make you a target. Strength comes from alliances. The ending you wish for comes at a price, be prepared to make compromises.
Whispers From The DeadtWhispers From The Dead by Joan Lowery Nixon is about a teenage girl named Sarah. Sarah had a near death experience which makes her able to communicate with the dead. She starts to figure that out in some parts of the beginning of the book, but it all comes to play when she moves into her new house in Houston. When she first stepped into her new house she knew something wasn’t right. She started to feel like she wasn’t alone and one night she heard an anonymous spirit say “Ayudame!” which is “Help me” in Spanish. At first she is quite frightened by this voice that is contacting her, but when the events keep occuring she knows that whatever is going on isn’t normal. She decides to look into the history of the house and when she did she learned that there was a murder that took place in her new house. Sarah decides to help the spirit and solve the unsolved murder case. The story takes you through her journey in solving this mystery and who is contacting her, asking her for help. In the end you’ll most likely be in for a surprise as well.t I enjoyed reading Whispers From The Dead. When I was assigned this book, I felt like I wouldn’t be interested in it, but I was 100% wrong. I don’t usually read stories that involve murders and mysteries, but this book had me hooked from beginning to end and I couldn’t put it down. Whispers From The Dead is not a very long book, so it’s fairly easy to finish in a decent amount of time, so if you’re looking for an easy read that is suspenseful and interesting, pick this book up It’s great to read if you are into murder mystery stories because this one is definitely one of my favorites. Although the story was a bit slow, it was all worth it in the end, for the ending was probably the highlight of the novel and was a major plot twist which left me with my mouth hanging open. If you like reading horror, mystery, or murder stories, then this is without a doubt the book for you.
What do You think about Whispers From The Dead (1991)?
I think if I would of read this book at a young age I would have probably given it 5 stars but as an adult I found it too predictable. I figured out the ending a quarter of the way through the book. Nonetheless, I thought it was still an enjoyable read and written well. It's about a girl named Sarah who nearly drowned. Because of that near death experience she has become more sensitive to spirits. When her family moves to Houston, the house they move in immediately feels wrong to Sarah. It's not long before a ghost there contacts her and asks her for help. Sarah starts to do some detective work but there is someone out there that wants to keep the secrets hidden. Now her life might depend on discovering the truth.Definitely would recommend this book to the younger crowd. Maybe 12-15 years of age.
—Melissa Bennett
While this historically has been one of my all-time favorite Nixon titles, in reading it with a critical eye, I'm noticing some flaws that prevent me from giving it the full five-star rating. I read this with relish when it was first published and have read it nearly once a year ever since. I love the story and consider it, along with A Deadly Game of Magic as her best suspenseful books. In terms of storyline and plot, it's fabulous. In terms of writing quality, however, not so much. This time around, I noticed how fake most of the conversations sounded, and how "firmly dated in the 60's with the odd modern twist" the teens acted. They ride bikes, they drink "soft drinks," but one asks for a beer. The title character wants, specifically "a Spanish-English phrasebook" which conveniently has the words she wants (not a dictionary, which is what most people would ask for). Little things like that bothered me this time around and while it is still a great story which can be studied for its great pacing and storyline, the way it was told was unrealistic, and that's what prevents me from awarding one of my all-time favorites a 5-star rating.
—Nicole
Title: Whispers from the DeadAuthor: Joan Lowery NixonSeries: N/ARating: ★★★★★Summary: Only Sarah senses the horror. The minute she steps through the doorway of her family's new home, Sarah feels a smothering cold mist, and hears the echo of a scream and a heartbreaking whisper in Spanish, "Help me!" Sarah feels compelled to find out who is trying to reach her. But can she uncover the mysteries of the past before terror strikes again?Review: The best from Nixon all tied up in this book's binding. I absolutely loved it! The twists, the turns. It's fantasy and mystery mixed into one!Things I Loved: The whole story was so original and interesting. There was mystery, murder, romance, twists and turns, a cute guy, a near-death experience, and a ghost. Pure awesome.Things I Hated: N/A
—luhvBOOKS
