Before He Finds Her by Michael Kardos

Mysterious Press, 384 pages, $25 (release date - 2/3/2015)

In many ways “Before He Finds Her” is a standard thriller. However, Michael Kardos has done a good job creating a young heroine who is resilient and determined, and that makes all the difference.

On a September night in 1991, Ramsey Miller killed his wife, took his young daughter and drowned her, and then disappeared.

Fifteen years later, seventeen-year-old Melanie Denison is grappling with the restrictions placed on her by her caregivers, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Kendra. Although she has a job and is attending community college part-time, she has been sheltered and frightened for as long as she can remember. Frightened because Melanie Denison is really Meg Miller, the daughter everyone thinks is dead, and for as long as she can remember she has believed that her father will find her and finally kill her, too.

When a significant event occurs in her life, it becomes imperative for Melanie/Meg to journey from West Virginia to her old home town of Silver Bay, New Jersey, to see if she can find her father, to finally deal with her fear.

Ramsey Miller’s story, up to that fateful September night, is told in a narrative that alternates with Melanie’s. He was a wild boy who tried to tame himself for the love of Melanie’s mother, Alison. He succeeded until something unexpected makes him reassess his life, what he has attained and what he is still lacking.