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A girl in witness protection hunts for her fugitive father in this thriller with “an ending you don’t see coming” (The New York Times Book Review).
Everyone in the quiet Jersey Shore town of Silver Bay knows the story. One day in the early 1990s, 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. Under another name, 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 get onto the internet at home. Precautions must be taken at every turn, because Ramsey Miller was never caught and might still be looking for his daughter.
But now she has a pressing reason to defy her guardians and take matters into her own hands. Returning to Silver Bay, she hopes to do what the authorities have failed to do: find her father before he finds her . . .
“A compelling story about sad truths, loss, and resilience . . . should make fantastic fodder for book-group discussions.” —Booklist
“[An] outstanding crime thriller.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Read the first page and kiss the next 24 hours goodbye.” —Jeffery Deaver
“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
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.