Karen Kingsbury True Crime Novels


Book Description

Four chilling true crime novels by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author and former Los Angeles Times reporter. Final Vows: Murder, Madness, and Twisted Justice in California When Carol Montecalvo began writing to a man in prison named Dan through a program at her church, she considered it her Christian duty. She had no idea it would lead to love and marriage—and her murder . . . Deadly Pretender:The Double Life of David Miller When a man’s dream job and beautiful family weren’t enough for him, he pretended to be an attorney, then a CIA agent. And he secretly married another woman. He juggled it all quite well—until the day his two wives found out about each other . . . The Snake and the Spider:Abduction and Murder in Daytona Beach A dream Spring Break vacation for two innocent, young men became every parent’s worst nightmare when they met two cold-blooded killers . . . Missy’s Murder:Passion, Betrayal, and Murder in Southern California Teenager Missy Avila was lured into the woods, beaten, tortured, and drowned. Missy’s best friend, Karen Severson, publicly vowed to find the killer and even moved in with Missy’s family to help. Three years later, a surprise witness exposed the murderers as Missy’s two best friends—one of whom was Karen . . .




Missy's Murder


Book Description

From a New York Times–bestselling author and former Los Angeles Times reporter, two teens kill their friend, then befriend the girl’s family to avoid suspicion. On a beautiful October day in the San Fernando Valley, teenager Missy Avila was lured into the woods, beaten, tortured, and drowned. Missy’s best friend, Karen Severson, publicly vowed to find the killer and even moved in with Missy’s family to help. Three years later, a surprise witness exposed the murderers as Missy’s two best friends—one of whom was Karen. New York Times–bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers a story full of twists, turns, betrayals, and confessions. Missy’s Murder is a shocking tale of one of the most notorious murder trials of the eighties, and a startling debut novel from Kingsbury, who now has over twenty-five million books in print.




Just Once


Book Description

1941, Bloomington, Indiana. Irvel Ellis is too focused on her secret to take much notice in the war raging overseas. She's dating Sam but in love with his brother, Hank. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, their lives are turned upside down overnight, Sam is drafted; Hank wants to enlist, but Sam insists he stay home and take up the battle on the home front. While Sam fights in Europe, an undeniable chemistry builds between Irvel and Hank but neither would dare cross that line. When a devastating telegram comes, Hank enlists the next day and has just two weeks until he ships out. Years later, Hank and Irvel make a series of VHS tapes for her to play as she sinks into Alzheimer's, determined to keep some of her memories alive. - adapted from publisher info and perusal of book




Waiting for Morning


Book Description

“I’m afraid there’s been a car accident...” As Hannah Ryan waits for her family to return home from a camping trip, she realizes she has everything going for her—a husband other women admire, two charming teenage daughters, and a loving Christian home. As the sunny afternoon turns into twilight, her uneasiness grows along with the shadows. Then a car pulls into Hannah’s driveway, bringing two police officers...and devastating news that shatters her life forever. In the days that follow, Hannah struggles with unspeakable feelings of sorrow and rage—feelings that fuse into one chilling purpose for living: revenge against Brian Wesley, the drunk driver who has caused all her pain. In her fury, Hannah shuts the Lord out of her life. She’s determined not to forgive Wesley or the God who allowed this tragedy to happen. Can two caring people help Hannah rediscover her faith...before bitterness destroys her?




To the Moon and Back


Book Description

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a “heart tugging and emotional” story in the Baxter Family collection that will “touch readers deeply” (RT Book Reviews) featuring two people who lost their parents in the same national tragedy—two people desperate to find each other and the connection they shared for a single day…that changed everything. Brady Bradshaw was a child when the Oklahoma City bombing killed his mother. Every year, Brady visits the memorial site on the anniversary to remember her. Eleven years ago on that day, he met Jenna Phillips, who was also a child when her parents were killed in the attack. Brady and Jenna shared a deep heart connection and a single beautiful day together at the memorial. But after that, Brady never saw Jenna again. Every year when he returns, he leaves a note for her in hopes that he might find her again. This year, Ashley Baxter Blake and her sister Kari Baxter Taylor and their families take a spring break trip that includes a visit to the site to see the memorial’s famous Survivor Tree. While there, Ashley spots a young man, alone and troubled. That man is Brady Bradshaw. A chance moment leads Ashley to help Brady find Jenna, the girl he can’t forget. Ashley’s family is skeptical, but she pushes them to support her efforts to find the girl and bring them together. But will it work? Will her husband, Landon, understand her intentions? And is a shared heartache enough reason to fall in love? With To The Moon and Back “Kingsbury skillfully weaves a tale of divine love” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in an unlikely love story about healing, redemption, hope, and the belief that sometimes a new tomorrow can grow from the ashes of a shattered yesterday. “Kingsbury writes with seemingly effortless poetic elegance, capturing the tender, intimate moments of daily family life as well as heart-wrenching flashbacks to fatal tragedy. A moving story of survival, of faith, and of beauty from the ashes” (Booklist).




Someone Like You


Book Description

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Science raises questions only love can answer in this moving and thought-provoking novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “heart-tugging and emotional” (Romantic Times Book Reviews) life-changing fiction. One frozen embryo. Two families with life-long secrets. And a guy who never planned to fall in love again. Maddie Baxter West is shaken to the core when she finds out everything she believed about her life was a lie. Her parents had always planned to tell her the truth about her past: that she was adopted as an embryo. But somehow the right moment never happened. Then a total stranger confronts Maddie with the truth and tells her something else that rocks her world—Maddie had a sister she never knew about. Betrayed, angry, and confused, Maddie leaves her new job and fiancé, rejects her family’s requests for forgiveness, and moves to Portland to find out who she really is. Dawson Gage’s life was destroyed when London Quinn, his best friend and the only girl he ever loved, is killed. In the hospital waiting room, London’s mother reveals that London might have had a sibling. The frozen embryo she and her husband donated decades ago. When Dawson finds Maddie and brings her to Portland, the Quinns—her biological parents—welcome her into their lives and hearts. Maddie is comforted by the Quinns’ love and intrigued by their memories of London, who was so much like her. Is this the family and the life she was really meant to have? Now it will take the love of Dawson Gage to help Maddie know who she is...and to help her find her way home.




Missy's Murder


Book Description




Forgiveness


Book Description

Whether giving or receiving, forgiveness is the key toward true healing and blessing. God says there are no limits to forgiveness toward others or ourselves. And when Matthew West set out on a journey asking people to share their true life stories, Renée shared about how she chose to forgive the drunk driver who hit and killed her daughter. This remarkable story and others like it bring peace and healing to the one needing and the ones giving forgiveness. Fifty powerful stories share forgiveness through divorce, betrayal, addiction, abandonment, death, and more. Each story ties into the promises of God’s faithfulness and healing, and ends with the story of God’s ultimate forgiveness through the message of salvation.




The Girl in the Leaves


Book Description

The shocking true crime story of one of the most bizarre mass murders ever recorded—and the girl who escaped with her life. In the fall of 2010, in the all-American town of Apple Valley, Ohio, four people disappeared without a trace: Stephanie Sprang; her friend, Tina Maynard; and Tina’s two children, thirteen-year-old Sarah and eleven-year-old Kody. Investigators began scouring the area, yet despite an extensive search, no signs of the missing people were discovered. On the fourth day of the search, evidence trickled in about neighborhood “weirdo” Matthew Hoffman. A police SWAT team raided his home and found an extremely disturbing sight: every square inch of the place was filled with leaves and a terrified Sarah Maynard was bound up in the middle of it like some sort of perverted autumn tableau. But there was no trace of the others. Then came Hoffman’s confession to an unspeakable crime that went beyond murder and defied all reason. His tale of evil would make Sarah’s survival and rescue all the more astonishing—a compelling tribute to a young girl’s resilience and courage and to her fierce determination to reclaim her life in the wake of unimaginable trauma.




The Lost Love Collection


Book Description

Sometimes hope for the future is found in the ashes of yesterday. EVEN NOW A young woman seeking answers to her heart’s deepest questions. A man and woman driven apart by lies and years of separation…who have never forgotten each other. With hallmark tenderness and power, Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of lives, losses, love, and faith—and the miracle of resurrection. EVER AFTER 2007 Christian Book of the Year Two couples torn apart – one by war between countries, and one by a war within. In this moving sequel to Even Now, Emily Anderson, now twenty, meets the man who changes everything for her: Army reservist Justin Baker. Their tender relationship, founded on a mutual faith in God and nurtured by their trust and love for each other, proves to be a shining inspiration to everyone they know, especially Emily’s reunited birth parents. But Lauren and Shane still struggle to move past their opposing beliefs about war, politics, and faith. When tragedy strikes, can they set aside their opposing views so that love—God’s love—might win, no matter how great the odds?