Cemetery Girl

What cost does a bereaved father pay to learn the truth about his abducted daughter? David Bell's book, Cemetery Girl, explores the depth of emotion and mental anguish a four year absence of a man's only child can wreak on his own stability. 

Where had Caitlin Stuart gone when the twelve year old disappeared from walking the dog near a local cemetery? What had she endured, and why, after mysteriously reappearing four years later did she refuse to tell her father what happened? The intrigue and agonizing suspense of this compelling piece of fiction calls every man, or woman, to explore what's inner most in their minds when it comes to a missing child.  Caitlin wasn't happy about her homecoming. Abby Stuart had erected a monument to her missing daughter, in the very cemetery where she was last seen, ready to begin life without hope. Tom Stuart never gave up.  Did his estranged half-brother have anything to do with Caitlin's disappearance? Ready to do anything to learn the truth Tom Stuart became a haunted man on a mission. . .the ultimate sacrifice he was willing to make will give you pause for thought.

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Under the Dog Star

Do you love dogs? Would you, like Veterinarian Rachel Goddard, risk your own life to save abandoned and stolen pets? Under the Dog Star, fourth in the Rachel Goddard series, by Sandra Parshall, brings to the reader a combination of emotions-outrage, compassion, terror and, at times, hopelessness. A five-star cast of characters move across this book like a well-directed motion picture. Rachel, and the love of her life, Deputy Tom Bridger, are caught up in an all too familiar scenario of feral dogs, former pets that are 'dumped' in the countryside and form a pack for food and protection. Farmers are complaining, townspeople are gathering for mass slaughter. When prominent physician Gordon Hall is killed on his own lawn, by having his throat ripped out, the problems escalate. Was it a fatal attack by the dog pack? Or just one, highly trained, killer canine?

Suspicion of illegal dog fighting comes to the foreground as Rachel and her friends prepare a rescue haven for the dogs from the pack. Soon both she and Tom become targets of a methodical murderer. Gordon Hall's oldest son comes under scrutiny, as does his daughter and her boyfriend. The three adopted Hall children have secrets to tell-especially the beautiful, sad, little girl who Rachel tries to befriend. 

Parshall's journalist background is evident in her novels. Straight forward, fast paced, yet laced with a healthy dose of haunting prose. There is one particularly eerie, and unforgettable, scene of a crashed car in a ravine. Another tense and emotionally riveting portrayal of Rachel's compassion is depicted in a cave, rescuing a frightened, starving dog. 

Complicated plot, great characters, and lots of surprises are in store for the reader of Under the Dog Star.