Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Synopsis:

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. 

Still Missing interweaves the year Annie spent as the captive of a psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfold through sessions with her psychiatrist, with a second narrative following the events after her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

Chevy Stevens is one of my favorite newer authors. Her books twist and turn while moving at a good pace. The characters are deep and developed. Each story cuts deep in its own way.

Still Missing is no different. Although, I guess I should say it set the tone for the rest of her work. I read that it was her first novel. I’m just the one reading her works out of order.

Still missing follows an absolutely heartbreaking yet incredibly strong heroine as she works through being kidnapped, abused, raped, and just so many more awful things. It’s told through her perspective as she’s recounting the tale to her therapist in different sessions. That makes things interesting. So, you know she survives, but you don’t know how she escapes until it plays out in her retelling.

I found myself totally sucked in to the book and I needed to see how she got free. I think I was even more drawn in once she actually was free. The parts with her interacting with The Freak were so dark. It was hard to take them in large chunks.

Still Missing is a crazy story of determination, strong will, and survival. If you like suspense novels and can handle some triggering subjects, I would highly recommend.

5/5 Stars

Memorable quote: “Like I said, I should feel proud of my progress, and I am, but that just adds another layer of guilt. Healing feels a lot like leaving my daughter behind and I already did that once.”

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Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

Synopsis:

Eleven years ago, Lindsey Nash escaped into the night with her young daughter and left an abusive relationship. Her ex-husband, Andrew, was sent to jail and Lindsey started over with a new life.

Now, Lindsey is older and wiser, with her own business and a teenage daughter who needs her more than ever. When Andrew is finally released from prison, Lindsey believes she has cut all ties and left the past behind her. But she gets the sense that someone is watching her, tracking her every move. Her new boyfriend is threatened. Her home is invaded, and her daughter is shadowed. Lindsey is convinced it's her ex-husband, even though he claims he's a different person. But has he really changed? Is the one who wants her dead closer to home than she thought?

So, this is the second book of Stevens’ that I’ve read and I have loved them both. They both have really strong characters, and they happen to have many characters that are all well developed, even the smallest ones. Chevy Stevens knows what she is doing, and I am excited to follow her writing career as she keeps going.

Never Let You Go takes you on many twists and turns as it travels back in time and pops back to the present to tell the whole story. Lindsey has a troubled past and it follows her all through her life. When her ex husband shows up, everything goes to hell, and it’s a wild ride to the end.

Things keep happening, but you never know who is lying, who is telling the truth, and who is completely innocent. I must say that I didn’t guess the twist until it was revealed which was an awesome change of pace for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It has so much action, and some truly awful things are described in really good detail without being over the top.

Chevy Stevens is an author to keep an eye on!

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quote: “I make a second cup of coffee — the first is for sanity, the second is pure pleasure. . .”

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Those Girls by Chevy Stevens

Synopsis:

Life has never been easy for the three Campbell sisters. Jess, Courtney, and Dani live on a remote ranch in Western Canada where they work hard and try to stay out of the way of their father’s fists. One night, a fight gets out of hand and the sisters are forced to go on the run, only to get caught in an even worse nightmare when their truck breaks down in a small town. Events spiral out of control and a chance encounter with the wrong people leaves them in a horrific and desperate situation. They are left with no choice but to change their names and create new lives.

Eighteen years later, they are still trying to forget what happened that summer when one of the sisters goes missing and they are pulled back into their past.

This time there’s nowhere left to run.

As much of a thriller as it is a deep exploration of the bonds among sisters, THOSE GIRLS is an unforgettable portrait of desperation, loyalty, and evil.

As much of a thriller as it is a deep exploration of the bonds among sisters, THOSE GIRLS is an unforgettable portrait of desperation, loyalty, and evil.

Wow. My initial reaction to Those Girls is ‘Wow’. I feel like that is really all that you can say after reading a book that packs that many emotions into less than 500 pages.

Those Girls deals with a lot of heavy topics. It is hard to take a lot of it in at once because sometimes you just need a break to unpack your brain. We are talking about child abuse, alcoholism, drug use, rape, abduction . . . this book does not take you on a light ride as you travel through its pages. If you are able to handle reading about these topics, it is definitely worth it. If it is hard for you to deal with any or all of them, I would say it is best to skip this one. It is pretty graphic.

The writing is very gripping and really allows you to get sucked in. The book never runs flat, and it moves along at a pretty quick pace. That said, attention to detail is not sacrificed for the pace.

Jessica/Jamie – To me, she was the main character. You could argue that all three sisters together were the main characters, but moreso Jamie. Therefore, she was the deepest of the characters.

Courtney/Crystal – Man, she was frustrating at times, but she was also the most damaged. Sometimes the most frustrating characters are also the ones that you feel the worst for. You root for her until the end, but sometimes that isn’t enough.

Dani/Dallas – She played a good middle ground between the three sisters. It seemed fitting that the epilogue was written from her POV. The sisters were always looking to her for guidance, but we never really got to hear how she felt about anything until then.

Skylar – I was kind of surprised with her half of the novel. I didn’t think that it would jump ahead in time and examine what happened to them down the road and how the story played out. It was a pleasant surprise and definitely added a lot more to the story. She was a good character to get to know. I wasn’t sure how Jamie having a daughter would play out, but I am glad that it worked out okay.

Karen & Patrick – They were just angels. The girls met them once they got to Vancouver, and they changed their lives for the better.

Gavin & Brian – Scum of the Earth. The fact that there are people out there like them is truly terrifying.

Owen & Allen – Angels on the level of Karen and Patrick. I was glad to see Owen later in the novel too.

The investigation – Luckily, I have never been involved in a missing persons investigation. But, my goodness, could these cops have sat on their hands any more than they were? I understand that they need to follow their protocols, but they are a major reason that the ending of this book turned out the way that it did. I was so frustrating every time Jamie and Dallas talked to the cops, I just wanted to throw the book across the room.

The ending of this book is pretty tragic. It could have ended a lot worse, but that almost doesn’t bring any comfort. It was a good ending, just very tragic.

5/5 Stars

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