Everyone in the quiet Jersey Shore town of Silver Bay knows the story: on a Sunday evening in September 1991, Ramsey Miller threw a blowout block party, then murdered his beautiful wife and three-year old daughter.But everyone is wrong, the daughter got away. Now she is nearly eighteen and tired of living in secrecy. Under the name Melanie Denison, she has spent the last fifteen years in small-town West Virginia as part of the Witness Protection Program. She has never been allowed to travel, go to a school dance, or even have internet at home. Precautions must be taken at every turn, because Ramsey Miller was never caught and might still be looking for his daughter. Yet despite strict house rules, Melanie has entered into a relationship with a young teacher at the local high school and is now ten weeks pregnant. She doesn't want her child to live in hiding as she has had to. Defying her guardians and taking matters into her own hands, Melanie returns to Silver Bay in hopes of doing what the authorities failed to do: find her father before he finds her. Weaving in Ramsey's story in the three days leading up to the brutal crime, Before He Finds Her is a stirring novel about love and faith and fear—and how the most important things can become terribly distorted when we cling to them fiercely.
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“There’s always a creep factor in psychological suspense novels, and it makes itself felt right at the outset of Michael Kardos’s Before He Finds Her, a well-crafted woman-in-peril narrative with an uncommon premise and an ending you don’t see coming a mile away.” — New York Times Book Review
“There’s always a creep factor in psychological suspense novels, and it makes itself felt right at the outset of Michael Kardos’s Before He Finds Her, a well-crafted woman-in-peril narrative with an uncommon premise and an ending you don’t see coming a mile away.”
“Read the first page and kiss the next twenty-four hours goodbye. Bravo!”
“Kardos delivers another outstanding crime thriller with this complex and moving account of a young woman trying to make sense of her past and craft a viable future . . . Sophisticated characterizations enhance the intricately constructed story line.”
“A compelling story about sad truths, loss, and resilience…should make fantastic fodder for book-group discussions.”
“An engrossing tale…[with] masterful storytelling…The characters show their humanity through Kardos’ vivid prose…First-class fiction about fear, love, and lies. Highly recommended.”
“Julia Whelan’s winsome voice and capable delivery take listeners into a puzzling crime thriller…giving in-depth portraits of the characters and their soul-searching.”
" The narration was great but the story moved slow and never really grabbed me. Ending was a dissapointment "
Michael Kardos is the author of the collection One Last Good Time. His stories have appeared in the Southern Review, Crazyhorse, and many other magazines and anthologies, and were notable stories in the 2009 and 2010 editions of Best American Short Stories. He lives in Starkville, Mississippi, and codirects the creative writing program at Mississippi State University.
Julia Whelan is a novelist, screenwriter, lifelong actor, and multiple award-winning audiobook narrator. She graduated with a degree in English and creative writing from Middlebury College and Oxford University. She is a former child actor who has appeared in multiple films and television shows.
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