Title:Before He Finds Her
Author:Michael Kardos
Narrator:Julia Whelan
Published:February 2015, HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books
Length:10 hours 30 minutes
Source:Personal copy via Audible
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 have 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 too fiercely.
***Short & Sweet Reviews are
short, quick reviews. These will mainly be used for series books where I
have already done full reviews on some of the earlier books or for
books that I feel will suffice with a quick review. These will not be
used for review requests or blog tours.
My thoughts:Every once in a while I take a chance with the Audible Deal of the Day and go in blind with the author…this was one of those times I did just that and luckily it turned out to be a good thing! I ended up really enjoying this story.
What I loved most about this book was how the author explored just how complex our relationships, and human nature, can be. This of course naturally lead to some in-depth character development. You really get into the heads of the main characters, feeling as if you are living through each and every situation right along with them. Having the story told from different perspectives allows information to be revealed slowly, bit by bit. It was almost like putting a puzzle together, one piece at a time.
There were quite a few twists and turns, though no more surprising than the ending – I thought I had it all figured out, but I didn’t see that coming! All in all, this was a great mystery and I am definitely looking forward to seeing what else Michael Kardos writes.
Audio thoughts:I’ve listened to Julia Whelan many times and just love her audio narrations. She makes stories come to life and this story was no exception. She gives each character their own unique voice and speaking style.
