Before He Finds Her by Michael Kardos

Mysterious Press, 2015

ISBN-13: 978-0802123190

Available: Hardcover, Paperback, Audible, and Kindle edition
Before He Finds Her is a interesting concept for a thriller.  Melanie is a survivor whose mother was murdered by her father. He was never caught, and the world believes she was also with her mother. Living under a new name, and with a new life, Melanie has grown up knowing her past. She has tried hard to protect her secrets, and protecting her secrets has become a part of her life.

Now eighteen, Melanie decides she wants justice, and since the authorities never did their job, why not her?

I thought this was a neat concept and had great potential as a thriller.  My most serious problem with this book was that it takes 100 pages to get to the story. There are some flashbacks and interesting plotting going on, but it took a long time for me to get invested. While I have enjoyed books that took that long to get into the story, the problem here is that the characters and setting were flat along the way. I didn’t find Melanie as interesting as a character with her tragic and intense life should be. There were some interesting conflicts in the father, but I also didn’t find him as scary as I thought he needed to be.

Once the pacing picks up, the story is more interesting, but by that point I was struggling to force interest.

All that being said, I think this book should be in library collections. It has a interesting concept, and if it holds readers’ interest, it’s a well-done story.

Reviewed by David Agranoff