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Chasing Amanda (2011)

by Melissa Foster

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
13211205,619 (3.36)5
WINNER: Readers' Favorite Award & Global eBook Award FINALIST: Two Additional Readers' Favorite Award Categories An emotional read that tests the strength of one's own ability to deal with a parent's worst nightmare. Nine years ago, Molly Tanner witnessed a young girl's abduction in the busy city of Philadelphia, shifting her occasional clairvoyance into overdrive. Two days later, the girl's body was found, and Molly's life fell apart. Consumed by guilt for not acting upon her visions, and on the brink of losing her family, Molly escaped the torturous reminders in the city, fleeing to the safety of the close-knit rural community of Boyds, Maryland. Molly's life is back on track, her son has begun college, and she and her husband have finally rekindled their relationship. Their fresh start is shattered when a seven-year-old girl disappears from a local park near Molly's home. Unable to turn her back on another child and troubled by memories of the past, Molly sets out to find her, jeopardizing the marriage she'd fought so hard to hold together. While unearthing clues and struggling to decipher her visions, Molly discovers another side of Boyds, where the residents--and the land itself--hold potentially lethal secrets, and exposes another side of her husband, one that threatens to tear them apart. **Looking for Melissa Foster's other bestsellers?** MEGAN'S WAY Amazon International Bestselling Kindle, Drama & Theater Currently optioned for film COME BACK TO ME Amazon International Bestselling Kindle, Literary Fiction… (more)
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Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
I have often witnessed a child having a tantrum leaving a store or in the parking lot of a store, Chucky Cheese's Pizza, the zoo and various other fun places. I'm sure you have too. I have also been the parent or grandparent trying to get the child out of there. So when I read this book my mind went into overdrive. I flashed back on many of those incidents. I was trying to determine how I knew it was a parent or relative, babysitter, etc. who was taking the child. The sad truth is I have no way of really knowing. That was brought slamming home when I read of Amanda's abduction being witnessed by Molly. Melissa Foster did an excellent job with this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good horror/mystery. Full review available on my blog at www.alasknbookcafe.com ( )
  Wulfwyn907 | Jan 30, 2022 |
Although there were plot twists that I didn't expect, I found this book rather slow moving. All loose ends were tied up at the end of the book which explained the secretive behaviours of almost all the characters in the book. ( )
  MelAnnC | Feb 28, 2016 |
Every time I picked this book up, I had trouble putting it down. Not a bad book at all. ( )
  askum | Jun 21, 2014 |
An interesting premise, but way too long. I found myself wanting to skip chapters just to get done with it. ( )
  busyreadin | Jun 2, 2013 |
A Confusing Muddle of a Mystery

Like so many other reviewers, I was lured into buying Chasing Amanda by Melissa Foster by the many 5-Star Amazon Reviews and low $.99 Kindle price. Actually, I don't believe there were as many 1-2 Star Reviews when I bought this book a few months back as there are now. But maybe I just never noticed them.

After finishing Chasing Amanda, I went back to read the reviews again, and I couldn't believe I'd read the same book as all those 4-5 Star Reviewers. How on earth did this book win the 2011 Reader's Favourite Award?

This novel needed more skilled writing and a good editor. I have numerous issues with the story, but the main ones are:

The plot was clumsy with too many over-detailed extraneous subplots thrown in as filler. I love a good mystery and to be kept guessing, but a reader shouldn't feel confused and uncertain after the mystery is revealed. In addition, I felt the "secrets" were actually a little boring and undramatic.

A quarter of the way through Chasing Amanda, I noticed the meandering plot contained a lot of repetition of the same scenarios, situations and internal/external dialogues. It began to seem pointless and tedious.

The voices of all the characters were written exactly the same, with no differentiation, from seven year-old Tracey, to teenaged Eric, to 40-somethings Molly and Cole and right on up to the "old" mid-50's Pastor Lett & Hannah.

I like paranormal fiction as well as mysteries but the "Knowing" of our obsessed protagonist, Molly, seemed more like hysteria.

Now, on to Molly.....in spite of her previous psychological trauma revolving around the Amanda situation and for all her good intentions, I would describe Molly as shallow, emotionally unstable, narcissistic, obstinate, reckless, irrational and unthinking. Not really a likeable character you can relate to, unless you like bi-polar protagonists. I don't think that's what the author had in mind.

Molly's behaviour is fuelled by her obsession and she suffers from huge emotional swings, which aren't believably written. She overreacts to her husband and the police doubting her unpredictable psychic powers, for which she offers perfunctory proof. Her unbelievably rash and dangerous actions would appear very suspicious to the police and she has no care about compromising the investigation into Tracey's abduction.

Other reviewers disliked her husband, Cole, and thought he wasn't supportive of her. In view of how often he tried to reason and reconcile with her, I really couldn't fault him for being protective of her and concerned for her safety. Their unrealistic relationship (as evidenced by their badly-written dialogue) seemed contrived to elicit sympathy for Molly. In fact, Molly was secretive, argumentative and stubborn and never took his advice or counsel when offered.

There are too many psychics, too many children held underground and too many secrets in this book. The plot, and especially the ending, is a mishmash of a bunch of ideas all thrown in together.

I was shocked at the 60% point with the introduction of ghosts to the story; by 80% I was skimming to get to the end (especially the religious passages); and when at the 95% point new characters and a new subplot are introduced I was speechless.

From now on, I vow to myself to read the reviews more closely and be more discriminating in my Kindle choices. Chasing Amanda was a disappointment for me and quite possibly one of the worst books I've read in a long while. ( )
  Zumbanista | Jan 29, 2012 |
Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
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WINNER: Readers' Favorite Award & Global eBook Award FINALIST: Two Additional Readers' Favorite Award Categories An emotional read that tests the strength of one's own ability to deal with a parent's worst nightmare. Nine years ago, Molly Tanner witnessed a young girl's abduction in the busy city of Philadelphia, shifting her occasional clairvoyance into overdrive. Two days later, the girl's body was found, and Molly's life fell apart. Consumed by guilt for not acting upon her visions, and on the brink of losing her family, Molly escaped the torturous reminders in the city, fleeing to the safety of the close-knit rural community of Boyds, Maryland. Molly's life is back on track, her son has begun college, and she and her husband have finally rekindled their relationship. Their fresh start is shattered when a seven-year-old girl disappears from a local park near Molly's home. Unable to turn her back on another child and troubled by memories of the past, Molly sets out to find her, jeopardizing the marriage she'd fought so hard to hold together. While unearthing clues and struggling to decipher her visions, Molly discovers another side of Boyds, where the residents--and the land itself--hold potentially lethal secrets, and exposes another side of her husband, one that threatens to tear them apart. **Looking for Melissa Foster's other bestsellers?** MEGAN'S WAY Amazon International Bestselling Kindle, Drama & Theater Currently optioned for film COME BACK TO ME Amazon International Bestselling Kindle, Literary Fiction

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