Review: Chasing Amanda by Melissa Foster

Title: Chasing Amanda

Author: Melissa Foster

Genre/Age: Suspense, adult

Publication: 2011

Source: For review

Summary: Nine years ago, Molly witnessed a kidnapping, and the child was later killed. She couldn't deal with the pain and guilt, so she and her family uprooted out to the country. Now, a 7 year old girl, Tracey, has gone missing. Meanwhile, Molly, who has psychic abilities, which she calls The Knowing, continues to have visions and feelings about the missing girl. Molly believes if she can find Tracey, she will alleviate her guilt and pain. She gets heavily involved in the case, and into some danger. The real question is, will she find her before it's too late?

In alternating chapters, we also see from Tracey's viewpoint, who is hidden underground, with her captor, a character we know. Just as desperate as Molly is to find her, we are desperate to find out why she was stolen and why her captor believes it was justifiable.

My Thoughts: I really love reading books about missing people, kidnappings, and disappearances. One of my favorites in this category is The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. Although it is a very sad topic, it is fascinating too and I find myself captivated by these kinds of stories. Chasing Amanda was an interesting story about kidnapping, made even more interesting by the fact that we see Tracey, the abducted child, and hear her point of view while she is missing. I've rarely come across missing persons stories like this, and really thought this was a cool concept, rather than having the abduction shrouded in complete mystery... but don't be mistaken! There still is plenty of mystery surrounding it, in that we know who kidnapped her, but are left wondering why they did it. The kidnapper states repeatedly that they saved Tracey, and were doing what they had to do. Since we knew where Tracey was, I wasn't on the edge of my seat with the suspense, but I still really enjoyed it. I also liked the psychic visions that Molly had, giving the book a touch of the supernatural but in a very realistic setting.

The story is quite interesting and I think it could be even better with some excellent editing. On numerous occasions, I would come across a sentence that really should have been two, as there were two different statements separated only by a comma (Example: "Molly put on her jogging clothes, the familiarity of them felt like an old friend..." p. 201). Because I am a stickler for grammar, this detracted slightly from my reading experience, but I don't think it would bother everyone.

All in all, I think this is a good read for those who like suspense and some supernatural too!

My Rating: 3.5/5