Lost Angel

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: All I need to see on a novel is the name Marilyn Wallace, and my hand reaches out for the book to buy it. Suspense novels are a dime a dozen, but beautifully written ones are rare and to be savored. Her early detective novels are also excellent, and unusual for the high quality of the writing. I highly recommend all of her work.

Rating:
Summary: thrilling and informative and wonderful!
Review: This book would have knocked my socks off regardless, it was so suspenseful and well-written. But it was also so informative. The mother of a kidnapped child has been writing a thesis on the era of witchcraft trials, and this adds great richness and to the fast-paced plot. Wallace really captures emotions and setting. Her writing is pitch-perfect. I cannot recommend this one highly enough!

Rating:
Summary: Lost "Structure"
Review: Valerie Vincent is a single-mother, doing the best she can. While working in Long Island as a companion to a wealthy blind woman who's confined to a wheelchair, Valerie sees her 18-month-old daughter's face on the news. The police, referring to the child as "Baby Jane Doe," found the child at the home of the babysitter, a close family-friend of Valerie, who was brutally murdered. When Valerie arrives at the police station to claim her child, she learns that her daughter was released to another woman who claimed to be the child's mother. The search is on. Valerie suspects that her ex-in-laws, Martha and Lucas Starr, may have something to do with her daughter's kidnapping. The Starrs are wacko - members of an organization called D.A.S.H. (Deliverance And Safe Haven). They think Valerie is some kind of devil-worshiper. The mission of D.A.S.H. is to "rescue" children who are being subject to abuse and satanic rituals by adults. Valerie sets out to risk her life for her child and infiltrates the group known as D.A.S.H. to find her daughter. Only the truth is more shocking than she had imagined.

While the premise of this book was good, the writing style left me frustrated and impatient. It took a lot of patience for me to recall what I'd read if I went too fast. The vocabulary and sentence structure just didn't flow smoothly enough for me. Other than that, not a bad story.