>

Still Missing  by Chevy Stevens
In her debut novel, Still Missing, Annie’s life is great: she has a handsome, attentive boyfriend; loyal friends; and a real-estate career on the upswing. Then, at an open house one sunny afternoon, a stranger with tousled blond hair and a pleasant manner kidnaps her, takes her to a remote cabin, rapes and enslaves her. It’s the beginning of her year-long ordeal.   Annie finally manages to escape. Afterward,  during sessions with her psychologist, Annie takes the reader back to her abduction and narrates how she struggled to survive during and after the horror.  Stevens’ dark, mesmerizing character study follows a twisted path from victim-hood toward self-empowerment.

In Chevy’s second novel, Never Knowing, the setup is tantalizing. Sara Gallagher has always known she was adopted, but she suddenly feels a sense of urgency about tracking down her birth parents. She is about to marry the love of her life and also because she is the mother of a six-year-old and would at least like to know her own medical history. Then Sara learns that her birth mother is the only surviving victim of the notorious Campsite Killer, who was never caught, and that the Campsite killer/rapist  is her father. When the news is leaked on the web, Sara’s life becomes surreal, especially after her birth father starts calling her.