You can’t get tougher than this

I hope you find your way to A Matter of Chance by Julie Maloney. It is a beautiful, heart-rending tale of a daughter's kidnapping, and the vivid, intense, close-to-crazy experience inside Maddy, the mom's head. The whole time I imagined, "If it was me..." with all the anguish of never, never, never giving up hope for a vanished daughter. You can’t get tougher than a mother who doesn’t give up. Police detectives. Russian Mafia. New York streets. Exquisitely desperate. Beautifully told. Repost of review on goodreads. ( )

The best part of reading this wonderful book was that Julie Maloney came to our book club luncheon and we all talked for several hours about this book and how she made some of the decisions of what to include in this incredible story. The other reviews are very well done and I've already put my signed (!) copy in its safe place! You won't be sorry you read this book, you won't be able to put it down until you're finished! ( )

Maddy Stewart, a single mother, is on vacation at the Jersey shore with her eight-year-old daughter Vinni. While walking along the beach she spots her elderly neighbors while the husband is having a medical emergency. Maddy leaves her daughter with the wife to call for help. When she returns, both her daughter and the wife are gone.

Fixated on finding her daughter, Maddy starts her own investigation of her daughter’s disappearance. The local authorities won’t share their progress and she is warned repeatedly by the officers that she is hindering their progress. With every passing year, Maddie remains steadfast that her daughter is still alive.

A Matter Of Chance is a debut novel by Julie Maloney. What makes this book stand out are the realistic and varying emotions conveyed by a mother dealing with her loss while clinging to a shred of hope. I look forward to a sequel to this story. ( )

When Maddy's daughter disappears, She gets, of course, a little maniacal. Desperate to find her missing daughter, she does some crazy things. She's hell bent on a mission and I don't blame her. However, she does do a lot of dumb stuff, desperate in her search.

I found this to be a decent read. There were times when I felt that the story bogged down a little, but just as fast, the action would pick right back up.

In the end, I was glad that I got to read this book as I sped through it reading it all in one sitting.

Thanks to She Writes Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. ( )

Had the kidnapping of Vinni actually been planned? Were Rudy and Hilda watching and planning each time Maddy and Vinni were at the beach?

Maddy couldn't stop blaming herself for Vinni's disappearance. Why didn't she have her cell phone with her instead of having to run back to the house to call the ambulance for Rudy. Was his accident really an accident or had Hilda planned that on her own too?

We follow the police investigation as well as Maddy's own investigation and share Maddy's pain as she mourns the disappearance of her daughter. Maddy did annoy me a little when she did her own investigation that might have hindered the investigation. I am sure I would have done the same though.

There were not that many characters in the story, but you did get to know each character well. Ms. Maloney described each character in detail and will have you feeling as if you are sitting right there with them and experiencing what they are experiencing.

A MATTER OF CHANCE has beautiful, detailed writing and a smooth, pull-you-in story line. You won't want to stop reading because of the engaging situations.

Mystery fans as well as suspense fans will enjoy A MATTER OF CHANCE.

There are a few sensitive topics addressed, but this book is a marvelous, moving read that will fill you with terror as well as love. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the author in return for an honest review. ( )