Published by: Solstice Publishing
Available: Amazon and other bookstores
Book Summary:
Nine years ago, Molly Tanner witnessed a young girl’s abduction in the busy city of Philadelphia, shifting her occasional clairvoyance into overdrive. Two days later, the girl’s body was found, and Molly’s life fell apart. Consumed by guilt for not acting upon her visions, and on the brink of losing her family, Molly escaped the torturous reminders in the city, fleeing to the safety of the close-knit rural community of Boyds, Maryland.
Molly’s life is back on track, her son has begun college, and she and her husband have finally rekindled their relationship. Their fresh start is shattered when a seven-year-old girl disappears from a local park near Molly’s home. Unable to turn her back on another child and troubled by memories of the past, Molly sets out to find her, jeopardizing the marriage she’d fought so hard to hold together. While unearthing clues and struggling to decipher her visions, Molly discovers another side of Boyds, where the residents--and the land itself--hold potentially lethal secrets, and exposes another side of her husband, one that threatens to tear them apart.
Molly’s life is back on track, her son has begun college, and she and her husband have finally rekindled their relationship. Their fresh start is shattered when a seven-year-old girl disappears from a local park near Molly’s home. Unable to turn her back on another child and troubled by memories of the past, Molly sets out to find her, jeopardizing the marriage she’d fought so hard to hold together. While unearthing clues and struggling to decipher her visions, Molly discovers another side of Boyds, where the residents--and the land itself--hold potentially lethal secrets, and exposes another side of her husband, one that threatens to tear them apart.
A Little Bit About the Author:
"Melissa Foster is a wonderful connector of readers and books, a friend of authors, and a tireless advocate for women. She is the real deal." Author Jennie Shortridge
She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, and is currently collaborating in the film production of Megan’s Way. Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children, she's written a column featured in Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa is currently working on her next novel, and lives in Maryland with her family. Melissa's interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.
She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, and is currently collaborating in the film production of Megan’s Way. Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children, she's written a column featured in Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa is currently working on her next novel, and lives in Maryland with her family. Melissa's interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.
The Dame Reviews :
Without cracking open a page, I knew "Chasing Amanda" was going to be a great book. I had recently read Melissa Foster's "Megan's Way" and was so wrapped up in her writing style, that I knew she wouldn't disappoint. She didn't, in fact, I found it difficult to decide which book I loved more!
"Chasing Amanda" is a book about regret, redemption, "gifts", the balancing of family and doing what's right, and so much more. Melissa is a master storyteller who can lead us masterfully from the horrors of a child's abduction to the resolution of another's with the finesse of a writer whose work is far beyond her years. She will have you drawn in like a lamb and have your emotions twisting inside of you before you know what's hit you!
Characterization is key in this novel and it is achieved to such a fine point that each person is "living" and breathing in our minds. My favorite, of course, is Molly who has to live with seeing and not helping with a child's abduction. Molly's paranormal gift of "seeing and knowing" help her in her journey to understand many things, but it also makes some things in life more complex. As we are drawn into the complexities, and we're given different perspectives through the stories of different people that Melissa sets up, we struggle to sort out who the real villain is!
Ms Foster's ability to keep the ending a secret from the reader is a lot of the powerfulness of her novel. The suspense will kill you! In a good way... One of the fascinating elements of the novel is Molly's relationship to the small town she finds herself in. We can understand this small town mentality...the secretive ways that so many townspeople hold dear...and the barriers to newcomers they put up. To live with the resistance of these people lends a tension to the story that works.
Melissa is at the top of her game in writing this suspense thriller. It's great fun to read, engrossing and exciting with many characters that will grab you and claim your attention. The element of not knowing who the "bad guy" is until Molly finds out in the end, is wonderful because it keeps us working on the mystery.
There are lots of women mystery/suspense writers, not so many with the element of paranormal...and not so many who come close to writing as well as Melissa Foster. "Chasing Amanda" has already won several awards for best women's novel, suspense/thriller, paranormal. You better check it out, soon!
5 stars for a great book and an author with a great future!
Deborah/TheBookishDame
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for a review, without monetary compensation. My opinions are my honest ones and my own.
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