Chasing Amanda (Mystery / Suspense) (Melissa Foster Stand-Alone Women's Fiction Novels)

Let me begin by saying that writing a novel is a terrific achievement, and one that I have yet to make. My hat is off to anyone who can complete a novel.That said, here is my honest opinion of Melissa Foster's Chasing Amanda, a paranormal-mystery story which I finished reading yesterday afternoon.Characters: Melissa's characters are well-developed, multi-dimensional people, beginning with her protagonist Molly Tanner. Melissa brings them to life by describing what they look like, and gifting them with convincing dialogue and action.Even minor characters, like Harley Mott, an elderly good-old-boy who hangs out with his two buddies in front of the local country store, get some description -- "A burly farmer with slicked-backed graying hair, he had an imposing presence..."It's not a ton of description, because Harley isn't a main character. But it gives our imaginations something to envision. It adds texture and believability to the story's background.Plot: Our protagonist, Molly, an attractive, 38-year-old, auburn-haired Mom who stays fit through running, has taken it on herself to help find a missing local 7-year-old girl, Tracey Porter. Molly isn't a detective or a relation -- she's driven by guilt from a missed opportunity to stop another child abduction, years before, in another city.An undependable paranormal ability, "The Knowing," which appears to be something like psychometry, keeps Molly focused on her quest, even at the expense of her relationship with her skeptical, handsome husband, physician Cole Tanner.Settings: The story takes place mostly in Boyds, a real-life small town in rural Southeastern Maryland, not too far from the Virgina state line, and just North of Germantown, Md. A network of scary underground railroad tunnels and a spooky old Victorian house add some dark flavor to the autumnal setting.What I thought could've been done better: A little more description of Boyds would have helped anchor the story further in reality. I enjoyed the brief description of the Blue Fox bar and grill, a real location in nearby Winchester, Va., where Molly has a secret meeting with another character.Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, of course, are one of the top examples of how incorporating real places can enhance a story. When done well, the location can become as much of a character as any of the protagonists. Melissa certainly described the parts of her locale immediately important to the plot - the Blue Fox for instance.As a reader in Lawrence, Kan., however, I would have loved Melissa's overall perspective on and description of this little rural town. I think this was a missed opportunity.My other point may be more of a reflection on me as a reader, than on Melissa's writing, but I'll mention it anyway. The "Amanda" of the title refers to the abducted child in Molly's past. Molly actually saw the abduction in progress, but didn't recognize it for what it was. Only days later when the story hit the media did she put two and two together.Molly is understandably horribly traumatized by this. She and her family move to Boyds to try and make a fresh start. All good and credible -- where I ran into a small problem was in the story's beginning:"It had been eight years since Amanda's death, eight years since she'd escaped the painful memories of Philadelphia, and moved to the quiet community of Boyds, Maryland."And a few pages later:"Cole had stepped into the roles of both mother and father while Molly struggled to come to grips with the trauma that had befallen Amanda."The intensity of feeling Molly has for the disappeared and presumably dead Amanda was -- to me, anyway -- consistent with that of a mother for her lost daughter. I thought at first, and really for a good chunk of the book, that Amanda was Molly's daughter, though this was not the case.Maybe a line early on -- "Though not her daughter, Molly felt the pain of her loss keenly, nonetheless..." would help clarify things for readers like myself who are too ready to jump to unwarranted conclusions.Like I say, though, this is probably more of a reflection on me as a reader than on the story.What I thought was good: Got all day? Almost from the first line, I realized I was in the hands of a skilled, professional writer. The mechanics are near-flawless. Active voice, vivid verbs, sentences of varied lengths all permit us to stay under the story's spell.I already mentioned the good job Melissa did with her characters. What I didn't say was that Melissa seems to find something worthwhile or sympathetic in nearly all of them, good and bad. I've said it before: compassion is one mark of a great writer.Plot was well-structured and well fleshed-out with details of people, place and things. While Melissa didn't go as far with setting as I thought she might, what she did provide was more than enough to carry the tale.Melissa employs well the skillful misdirection of professional mystery writers, while providing all the clues you need. I will say that I had a strong, and as it turns out correct, suspicion of who abducted Tracey -- but not till I was 75 percent or so through the book."The Knowing" -- the near-debilitating flashes of psychic insight which hit Molly at inopportune times throughout the story -- is a truly spooky device. Might make a good title for a sequel.Melissa's action-packed ending is highly satisfying. She wraps up all the loose ends very neatly (maybe too neatly) in an epilogue at the book's end.Overall: So who writes a perfect story? I'd say Melissa is well on the way with "Chasing Amanda." I can heartily recommend it as a compelling, character-driven mystery with a paranormal edge. She gives you all the clues, and makes you (well me, anyway) feel throughout that the solution is tantalizingly close -- while keeping it just out of reach. Good job Melissa!

For anyone interested, this is a review of Melissa's first novel which encompasses a huge learning curve. I reviewed it with that in mind. I have no doubt that she will grow as her career continues but her talent is obvious despite the presence of imperfection however that can be quantified.She gets four stars because I have no doubt she will continue to get better.In "Chasing Amanda," Melissa Foster creates a world of surprises, relentless emotion and uneasy terror that this fellow writer completely disappeared into at the onset. The conflicted nature of her chief protagonist, Molly, is evident immediately along with enough background material to set the reader's curiosity juices on edge. On page one we learn that Molly is a mother, that she'd made an emotional move from Philadelphia to a small town in Maryland due to the death of Amanda, that she is somewhat angst filled for reasons to be discovered, and that she is also very human as exhibited by her self-conscious thought process and her longing for the time when her son, Erik, was a youngster. In a succinct way the reader learns that this is a character with complex personality traits and we have just met her. That's as effective an act of setting the hook as can be accomplished. Other characters in the book are also imbued with their own equally intriguing qualities that are also well explained as the mystery unfolds.Particularly appealing to this reader was the novel's wording. Melissa Foster did what I strive to do when I write, and that is make the words flow effortlessly so that they don't get in the way of the story. Simply put, writers can sometimes forget that they are creating for an audience that wants more than anything to disappear into a good story and forget the world around them. I've been reminded by certain readers to remain unnamed both subtly and otherwise that no one cares about your "writer's" vocabulary if it doesn't fit the story and make it better. Melissa nailed it in "Chasing Amanda." My only complaint (this is a review and not my personal I admire Melissa party after all) was that I wanted more fleshing out of some of the scenes in the book, particularly towards the end where there was a slight feel of rushing. I realize this was probably due to editing which is a writer's bane. I know that word and page counts are a necessary evil but as a reader I don't ever care how long a story is if it's a great one, think Ken Follett and his thousand page manifests. Simply put, Melissa, you are a great story teller and I wanted more.In the area of developing character relationships is where Melissa shone most in my opinion. Molly and Cole's tension-filled interactions are the highlight in this area, but Pastor Lett and Rodney get equal care as do all the other personalities involved. All of whom are relevant and central to the plot which keeps the intrigue and suspense building percolating as the reader wonders how all of this will be tied together in the end. It's a very real and effective treatment of the tender subject of the personal loss and grief caused by child abductions in a world that is too often unfeelingly callous and unforgiving.Besides being an engaging, heartfelt tale, "Chasing Amanda" was embedded with enough twists and plot surprises to make the story unpredictable like real life which is the point. I won't give away too much by rehashing major events because I don't enjoy reviews that do that and take away the joy I get reading a particular work and discovering for myself. (There are enough reviews on Amazon and elsewhere that will give anyone looking more of an outline if that's what they want) What I will say to the potential reader out there is that Melissa Foster is a writer with imagination, skill and the ability to get inside her characters and shape a story. She's already a star and in my opinion will become an enormously larger one as her writing career progresses. I will be reading her other works as well so I can contrast them, but mainly to enjoy what she's created. Fabulous (first) work Melissa.

I really liked this story, definitely makes you stop and think. The characters were so real and I fell in love with them.

I cried tears for Molly plenty of times during this book especially when no one believed her. She stuck to her guns though and unraveled a load of stories and rescued the abducted little girl Tracey.

Great story, I kept wanting to rush ahead to find out what happened but i resisted the urge to cheat & was glad I did. Igot this book as freebie but would be more than happy to have paid for it.

An enjoyable mystery/suspense novel, which made a nice change from the chick lit I keep reading! I won't talk about the storyline, but once I had started it, I found it hard to put down.

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This book reminded me of the Broadchurch series on TV. would recommend to anyone who enjoyed that programme. Great read.