Slow Dance in Purgatory

Purgatory, Book 1

By: Amy Harmon

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

The hallways are empty, the school day long over, the din of lockers and youthful laughter have dissolved into silence. It's as if the very walls are waiting. And then through the intercom a song starts to crackle, the soundtrack of a forgotten life. And the band begins to sing: "Lovely Maggie falls for Johnny, a boy no one else can see. Heartthrob Johnny, '50s bad boy, trapped for eternity. Lonely boy and lonely girl, unsolved mystery. Maggie and Johnny, only high school sweethearts, because Johnny can't ever leave. Do wop, Do wop . . . "

In 1958, a rumble goes down outside the brand-new high school in Honeyville, Texas. Chaos ensues, a life is lost, and Johnny Kinross disappears. But in 2010, someone finds him. Orphaned at the age of 10, 17-year-old Maggie O'Bannon finally finds a permanent home with her elderly aunt in a small Texas town. Working part-time as a school janitor, she becomes enmeshed in a 50-year-old tragedy where nothing is as it seems and the boy of her dreams might vanish when the bell rings.

This volatile and mismatched romance is doomed from its start, as Maggie struggles to hold on to yet another person she is destined to lose. Secret love and hushed affection are threatened by outside forces, resulting in a desperate race to keep a secret no one would understand. Deeply romantic, funny, and tender, Slow Dance in Purgatory captures the heartache of a love story where a happy ending might be decades too late.

©2012 Amy Harmon (P)2014 Tantor

Fun Time Travel

Such fun to be in & out of lives & decades of High School ... Plus true feelings of all those High School years....So Many ideas, feelings, actions, words run from decade to decade.....Always with just the right amount of mystery and questions - answerable or not......

Loved it!

Love Amy Harmon books! She never disappoints. So good! Gotta run listen to the sequel now! Can't wait!

a very satisfying love story

if you can make room in your imagination for a mythical twist to enjoy this love story

Great Story!

I thought this was a great story. I really enjoy the author. I would highly recommend.

Really good

Fast paced interesting suspense and romantic story! Writing style is great, you forget that you are reading. I loved characters and their heart breaking love story. It finished on a cliffhanger and I am relieved that there is book 2

Excellent book!!

Intriguing, thought provoking. No sex scenes, probably a teen book, just pure innocent love.
Beautiful!

Superb narration

This is the most talented narrator I have ever heard. Her range of voices is incredible! From the old man to the teenage protagonists to the very young teen boy whose voice cracks from the transition into puberty, she voiced them all with remarkable skill.

The enthralling story is just as excellent as the narrator. I felt like I was right there in the world inhabited by these characters. I had a sense of the school hallway stretching out ahead of me as I heard the music and suddenly saw Johnny standing there. I could hear Gus and Shad and envision them so clearly. I felt like all these characters really existed--including the minor ones. So thoroughly was I immersed in their lives that I became overwhelmed with emotion. It has been a long time since I was this deeply emotional over a story. I felt so much for everyone and all their tragic circumstances. Johnny and Maggie aren't the only star-crossed couple in this story. This book has such a bittersweet appeal, and all the charm and folly of days past is part of that. I loved the courtship in this story, which is something not found in modern books and is even missing from most historical romances that I've read. Johnny was the perfect combination of 1950's bad boy and swoon worthy romantic hero.

There was humor in the book too. This story made me laugh, made me cry, and made my heart swell with emotion. It was intriguing and atmospheric at times, sweet and lovely and romantic at others, funny and endearing, and tragic and heartbreaking. There was also a lot of cool ghostly type stuff. I'm so glad there's a sequel!

Teenage love story at its finest

The Story of Maggie and Johnny is one that’s been told a hundred times in a hundred different ways, but the author managed to bring the characters to life in the first few pages and leave us wanting to hear the rest of the story at the end. Absolutely love it!! Can’t wait to read book 2

loved it!

The last book I really loved was written by Amy Harmon. Did not realize when I picked out this book that it was by the same author until I looked it up by authors name to find the sequel to purchase. Plan to definitely look into all her other books now.

Wow this was crazy good!

It’s been a while since I found a book in the romance package that I didn’t want to “put down”. This was such a refreshing narrative and a very cute story! Also, Emily Woo Zeller is so talented. She made this all the more enjoyable. I could listen to her speak all day!