WIN A COPY OF THIS STIRRING NOVEL!!!

September 10, 2009

Don't miss the opportunity to win a personalized copy of this thought-provoking novel. Award-winning author, Rachel Ann Nunes, is promoting the book's release with a blog tour and contest, and the prize is an autographed copy of Saving Madeline. To enter, simply read the review and leave a comment at the bottom. All responders will have their names and contact info turned into Rachel and the winner will be notified shortly after September 25th.

For more chances to win, check out Rachel's blog to see all the other blogs on her tour. Make comments on them as well and get more chances to win! Now read and enjoy!

SAVING MADELINE
By Rachel Ann Nunes

Saving Madeline is the newest release of award-winning author Rachel Ann Nunes, a gifted writer who has also gone the extra mile to mentor aspiring and budding authors. I had the privilege of meeting Rachel this spring at the LDStorymakers Writers' Conference, and she is as lovely and gracious as she is talented and prolific, (with twenty-nine published works to her credit). I was honored and delighted to have the opportunity to read and review her newest book. It's a delicious read. Enjoy!
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Saving Madeline is a thought-provoking must-read that satisfies on every level. Inspired by true events, Nunes’ fictional storyline pulls the reader into the complex world of the law and its ethics as four adults play protective tug-of-war over a child named Madeline.

The book opens with two diverse but equally captivating story lines. Exhausted and disillusioned public defender, Caitlin McLoughlin of Salt Lake City, Utah, is repulsed by the thought that her guilty, violent client will walk away from an attempted murder charge because of a lack of evidence—evidence she possesses but which she is legally obligated to withhold under attorney-client privilege. A few miles south, in a seedy section of Salt Lake City, laborer Parker Hathaway kidnaps a sleeping child—his daughter, Madeline—and hides her two hours away from the mother he claims is methamphetamine-addicted and endangering his child.

The devastated mother reports the child as missing, denying Parker’s accusations, and the police rush in to rescue Madeline. Caitlin is called in to represent Parker, merging the story lines and the ethical dilemmas of these two principals. But who is telling the truth, and who has Madeline’s best interest at heart? The mother? The father? The police? The law? And what circumstances, if any, warrant circumventing the law to achieve justice?

These are among the moral and ethical dilemmas Nunes raises in Saving Madeline, made ever more powerful through her complex character development and deft handling of the principals’ points-of-view. Caitlin and Parker are multi-faceted, written with an insightful blend of tenderness and grit. Battered by chance and by choice, we feel the thinness of their hope and we are immediately invested and biting our nails.


Saving Madeline is a smart, fast-paced read with multiple possibilities that kept this reader guessing the next move, only to be pleasantly surprised by Nunes’ unanticipated plot twists, and the consequent need to turn just one more page. It’s a triple threat—filled with plenty of suspense, romance, and drama—that dares to make you question your own ethics and ask yourself what you would do in similar circumstances.

The subterfuge Parker employs to hide Madeline and himself from the law is alluded to, though it would have been fascinating to witness the depths this father descended in his self-appointed quest to protect his child. Regardless, you will cheer, and likely cry when the truth is revealed, the toll is detailed, and Madeline’s true protector is vindicated.

Rachel Ann Nunes maintains the tension to the very last page-turn, and when the fictional drama ends, the education begins. Nunes includes some of the information that led her to write this gritty story, as well discussion questions and educational links for further study, making Saving Madeline not only an outstanding read that entertains, but one that enlightens as well.

Saving Madeline, published by Shadow Mountain Publishers, is scheduled for a mid-September release and will be available on Amazon, at Deseret Bookstores, and at the stores listed in the following link: http://www.ranunes.com/whereToBuy.php.