Before He Finds Her

New
Paperback
2016
$16.53

From critically acclaimed author Michael Kardos, Before He Finds Her is a stirring, suspenseful novel about love and faith and fear, as a young woman searches for the father who committed a terrible crime over a decade ago.
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 brutally murdered his beautiful wife and three-year-old daughter. But everyone is wrong. The daughter got away. 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 access to the Internet at home. Precautions must be taken at every turn, because Ramsey Miller was never caught and might still be on the hunt for his daughter. Despite strict house rules, Melanie has started a secretive relationship and is ten weeks pregnant. She doesn't want her child to grow up 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.

Synopsis

From critically acclaimed author Michael Kardos, Before He Finds Her is a stirring, suspenseful novel about love and faith and fear, as a young woman searches for the father who committed a terrible crime over a decade ago.

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 brutally murdered his beautiful wife and three-year-old daughter. But everyone is wrong. The daughter got away. 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 access to the Internet at home. Precautions must be taken at every turn, because Ramsey Miller was never caught and might still be on the hunt for his daughter. Despite strict house rules, Melanie has started a secretive relationship and is ten weeks pregnant. She doesn't want her child to grow up 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.

$16.53

Quantity

3 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
Published: 25 Feb 2016
ISBN 10: 0802124704
ISBN 13: 9780802124708

Media Reviews

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. --New York Times Book Review

Suspenseful, fast-paced and why they invented the term 'nail-biter.' --Huffington Post, 10 Must-read Books for Spring

Before He Finds Her is that rare thing, a novel as human as it is suspenseful, as patient as it is thrilling, as genuine as it is surprising. With strong, compelling prose, Michael Kardos paints a tale of fear and redemption, of anguish and hopefulness, of subtle corruption and good intentions gone awry. In doing so, he maps the human heart in all its complex glory. --Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of Don't Look Back

Brilliant. Before He Finds Her is one of the most innovative and compelling thrillers to come along in recent years. Read the first page and kiss the next 24 hours goodbye. Bravo! --Jeffery Deaver, internationally bestselling author of The Skin Collector

Utterly compelling, innovative and packed with beautifully drawn characters, Michael Kardos' second thriller propels him into the front rank of contemporary American thriller writers. --Independent (Ireland)

Even the most astute readers may be surprised by Kardos's satisfyingly twisted plot. --Strand Magazine

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. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Terrific . . . a white-knuckle thriller that burns with urgency . . . It's a book that pulses with energy and truth, one that will stay with me for a long time. --Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)

Brimming with a page-turning plot, depth of character, and gutsy, raw writing . . . Kardos tells a distinctly American story: of a young man's rebellious, unpredictable nature, and of an embattled girl who must eventually work to peel back the distraught layers of her own complicated past. --Curled Up With A Good Book

An engrossing tale. . . . First-class fiction about fear, love and lies. Highly recommended. --Kirkus Reviews

It's the clever ways in which the truth is revealed--gradually, tantalizingly, through the actions of characters we thought were dead--that the book generates its considerable appeal. --Toronto Star

A gripping literary thriller. --Dispatch (Columbus, MS)

Kardos peels back layers and makes revelations, page by page . . . Before He Finds Her proves that a work of suspense need not be gory, bloody, or pushed by threats of explosion--the power of the past and the tenderness of the unfolding present make this a very unusual page-turner. --Kingdom Books

Author Bio

Michael Kardos is the Pushcart Prize-winning author of the novel The Three-Day Affair and the story collection One Last Good Time. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he currently lives in Starkville, Mississippi, where he codirects the creative writing program at Mississippi State University.