Traces of Kara, by Melissa Foster

Kara’s had a tough enough life already but she’s moving on. Separated from a husband she knows betrayed her, though all her friends and even her mother say she’s imagining it; struggling with a dead-end job because she put her dreams on hold to help the betraying husband; estranged from her mother because she doesn’t get on with her father-in-law; what more could go wrong? But just as everything might go right, the past catches up with her.

Roland’s had a tough life too, with cops watching his every move for all that he hasn’t put a single foot wrong in years—well, he’s never been caught putting a foot wrong anyway. Separated from the twin he loved, he dreams of one day finding her, and he has the technology and the tenacity to make his dream come true.

Dreams soon turn to nightmares in classic horror style—dark corridors, rolling thunder, scary secrets, saviors who insist on walking alone… Author Melissa Foster brings the world of a coal-fired power plant to vivid life as Kara goes about her everyday job. But suddenly a much more scary world is revealed. Kidnapped and powerless, she doesn’t even know why her attacker gives her a different name. And the slow reappearance of forgotten memories doesn’t improve her confidence. Just how many people have lied to her?

The paragraphs are sometimes choppy, reflecting the character’s conflicted and multi-directional thoughts. Repeated analysis of what’s real and why she’s here make the tension rise slowly, and rise it does. Meanwhile everyone does what everyone thinks is best, keeping secrets, telling lies, and laying the groundwork for tragedy.

In the end the question of who’s to blame matters less than the chance to build and rebuild relationships. We all make mistakes and nothing’s perfect. But moving on means moving together and the story draws its characters into a pleasing conclusion as troubled Kara steps forward, rewriting her plot.

Scary, haunting and haunted, Traces of Kara is a chilling suspense with great characters, great locations, and a made-for-TV plotline that’s sure to intrigue.

Disclosure: The author generously allowed me to read an e-ARC of this novel before it was released.