When I opened the shipping package, I expected a book, but instead I found an unsealed police evidence bag. My heart skipped a beat as I turned it over in my hands and examined it carefully. There were several papers inside, and yes, a book too.
I emptied out the contents and found My SOUL To KEEP (Multnomah), by Melanie Wells, as well as the usual press release. I had to laugh at the ingenuity of the promotion. I stared at the book and wondered if it would live up to the suspense portrayed by its packaging. It did, and more!
My SOUL To KEEP releases today, February 5, 2008. I don’t know if the bookstores will stock it on their shelves inside an evidence bag, but it’s definitely one book all you suspense/thriller junkies won’t want to live without.
FROM THE BACK COVER
As nasty as I knew Peter Terry to be, I never expected him to start kidnapping kids. Much less a sweet, funny little boy with nothing to protect him but a few knock-kneed women, two rabbits, and a staple gun…
It’s psychology professor Dylan Foster’s favorite day of the academic year–graduation day. A day of pomp, circumstance, and celebration. And after all the mortar boards are thrown, Dylan and some of her best friends will gather around a strawberry cake to celebrate Christine Zocci’s sixth birthday. But the joyful summer afternoon goes south when a little boy is snatched from a neighborhood park, setting off a chain of events that seem to lead exactly nowhere.
Police are baffled, but Christine’s eerie connection with the kidnapped child sends Dylan on a chilling investigation of her own. Is the pasty, elusive stranger Peter Terry to blame? Exploding light bulbs, the deadly buzz of a Texas rattlesnake, and the vivid, disturbing dreams of a little girl are just pieces in a long trail of tantalizing clues leading Dylan in her dogged search for the truth.
AUTHOR BIO A native of the Texas panhandle, Wells is a licensed psychotherapist, business owner, musician and author of the critically-acclaimed Dylan Foster psychological thrillers.
She attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, on a musical scholarship as a violinist. After graduating with a degree in English, she went on to obtain graduate degrees in counseling psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas. She has taught at the graduate level of both universities.
Since 1992, Wells has been in private practice as a counselor. She is the founder and director of LifeWorks Counseling Associates, a collaborative community of therapists, in Dallas and is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Growing up in a musical family where one’s identity was determined by the art they portrayed, Wells was constantly surrounded by creativity. She began her literary career because she wanted to funnel this creativity and her everyday observations into a good book. She believes that the natural creative rhythm of music can be extended to the natural rhythm of the written word. Her own musical background and life experience as a psychologist has prolifically impacted her writing throughout the years.
Her debut psychological thriller, “When the Day of Evil Comes,” released in 2005 and sold more than 25,000 copies in the first six months. “The Soul Hunter,” her subsequent book, followed in 2006. Her newest book, “My Soul to Keep,” releases Feb. 5, 2008, from Multnomah Books, a division of Random House.
Wells currently lives and writes in Dallas.
ENDORSEMENTS
"My Soul to Keep, the third and best Dylan Foster thriller, again demonstrates Melanie Wells’s wit, intelligence, and knack for telling a swiftly paced, complex story. Through a wonderful network of plots and subplots–and the ruminations of the ever-complicated Dr. Foster–the novel reveals the helplessness and fierce love at the heart of parenting, as well as the way that each of us is responsible for children, our own and others. Wells takes kids seriously–their fears, their vulnerabilities, their spiritual wisdom and resiliency. Written with passion, a good dose of humor and, dare I say it, soul, this novel reminds us that we all, with grace and good fortune, bumble our way toward salvation.”
- K. L. Cook, author of Last Call and The Girl from Charnelle
“My Soul to Keep is a rich and meaningful story. Like water rising to a boil, its suspense sneaks up on you–before you know, you’re in the thick of a frightening drama. This is a story painful to witness, but a pleasure to read. Superbly crafted.”
- Robert Liparulo, author of Deadfall, Germ, and Comes a Horseman
“My Soul to Keep is a great example of gritty reality colliding with spiritual questions. Melanie Wells proves to be one of the most consistent writers around, threading mystery and supernatural intrigue around memorable characters. I’m a huge fan.”
- Eric Wilson, author of A Shred of Truth and the novelization of Facing the Giants
“My Soul to Keep is a marvelous book. Lyrical and moving, the story and characters will stay with you long after you turn the last page. I can’t wait for Melanie Wells’s next novel.”
- Harry Hunsicker, Shamus Award-nominated author of Crosshairs
“In My Soul to Keep, Melanie Wells delivers tightly-woven mystery and profound drama with nail-biting intensity and a light touch. The struggles and triumphs of the wry and delightfully-flawed Dylan Foster allow us a glimpse of God’s mercy at our worst and His best. My Soul to Keep is Melanie Wells’s best book yet and one not to be missed. I can’t wait for the next one.”
- Kathryn Mackel, author of Vanished
“One moment, My Soul to Keep will have you laughing out loud, and the next you’ll be under the covers with a flashlight, questioning unseen things, and hoping the ride never ends. Melanie Wells has one of the freshest, most uniquely readable voices in fiction. A few pages will have you hooked.” - Creston Mapes, author of Nobody
I emptied out the contents and found My SOUL To KEEP (Multnomah), by Melanie Wells, as well as the usual press release. I had to laugh at the ingenuity of the promotion. I stared at the book and wondered if it would live up to the suspense portrayed by its packaging. It did, and more!
My SOUL To KEEP releases today, February 5, 2008. I don’t know if the bookstores will stock it on their shelves inside an evidence bag, but it’s definitely one book all you suspense/thriller junkies won’t want to live without.
FROM THE BACK COVER
As nasty as I knew Peter Terry to be, I never expected him to start kidnapping kids. Much less a sweet, funny little boy with nothing to protect him but a few knock-kneed women, two rabbits, and a staple gun…
It’s psychology professor Dylan Foster’s favorite day of the academic year–graduation day. A day of pomp, circumstance, and celebration. And after all the mortar boards are thrown, Dylan and some of her best friends will gather around a strawberry cake to celebrate Christine Zocci’s sixth birthday. But the joyful summer afternoon goes south when a little boy is snatched from a neighborhood park, setting off a chain of events that seem to lead exactly nowhere.
Police are baffled, but Christine’s eerie connection with the kidnapped child sends Dylan on a chilling investigation of her own. Is the pasty, elusive stranger Peter Terry to blame? Exploding light bulbs, the deadly buzz of a Texas rattlesnake, and the vivid, disturbing dreams of a little girl are just pieces in a long trail of tantalizing clues leading Dylan in her dogged search for the truth.
AUTHOR BIO A native of the Texas panhandle, Wells is a licensed psychotherapist, business owner, musician and author of the critically-acclaimed Dylan Foster psychological thrillers.She attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, on a musical scholarship as a violinist. After graduating with a degree in English, she went on to obtain graduate degrees in counseling psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas. She has taught at the graduate level of both universities.
Since 1992, Wells has been in private practice as a counselor. She is the founder and director of LifeWorks Counseling Associates, a collaborative community of therapists, in Dallas and is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Growing up in a musical family where one’s identity was determined by the art they portrayed, Wells was constantly surrounded by creativity. She began her literary career because she wanted to funnel this creativity and her everyday observations into a good book. She believes that the natural creative rhythm of music can be extended to the natural rhythm of the written word. Her own musical background and life experience as a psychologist has prolifically impacted her writing throughout the years.
Her debut psychological thriller, “When the Day of Evil Comes,” released in 2005 and sold more than 25,000 copies in the first six months. “The Soul Hunter,” her subsequent book, followed in 2006. Her newest book, “My Soul to Keep,” releases Feb. 5, 2008, from Multnomah Books, a division of Random House.
Wells currently lives and writes in Dallas.
ENDORSEMENTS
"My Soul to Keep, the third and best Dylan Foster thriller, again demonstrates Melanie Wells’s wit, intelligence, and knack for telling a swiftly paced, complex story. Through a wonderful network of plots and subplots–and the ruminations of the ever-complicated Dr. Foster–the novel reveals the helplessness and fierce love at the heart of parenting, as well as the way that each of us is responsible for children, our own and others. Wells takes kids seriously–their fears, their vulnerabilities, their spiritual wisdom and resiliency. Written with passion, a good dose of humor and, dare I say it, soul, this novel reminds us that we all, with grace and good fortune, bumble our way toward salvation.”
- K. L. Cook, author of Last Call and The Girl from Charnelle
“My Soul to Keep is a rich and meaningful story. Like water rising to a boil, its suspense sneaks up on you–before you know, you’re in the thick of a frightening drama. This is a story painful to witness, but a pleasure to read. Superbly crafted.”
- Robert Liparulo, author of Deadfall, Germ, and Comes a Horseman
“My Soul to Keep is a great example of gritty reality colliding with spiritual questions. Melanie Wells proves to be one of the most consistent writers around, threading mystery and supernatural intrigue around memorable characters. I’m a huge fan.”
- Eric Wilson, author of A Shred of Truth and the novelization of Facing the Giants
“My Soul to Keep is a marvelous book. Lyrical and moving, the story and characters will stay with you long after you turn the last page. I can’t wait for Melanie Wells’s next novel.”
- Harry Hunsicker, Shamus Award-nominated author of Crosshairs
“In My Soul to Keep, Melanie Wells delivers tightly-woven mystery and profound drama with nail-biting intensity and a light touch. The struggles and triumphs of the wry and delightfully-flawed Dylan Foster allow us a glimpse of God’s mercy at our worst and His best. My Soul to Keep is Melanie Wells’s best book yet and one not to be missed. I can’t wait for the next one.”
- Kathryn Mackel, author of Vanished
“One moment, My Soul to Keep will have you laughing out loud, and the next you’ll be under the covers with a flashlight, questioning unseen things, and hoping the ride never ends. Melanie Wells has one of the freshest, most uniquely readable voices in fiction. A few pages will have you hooked.” - Creston Mapes, author of Nobody
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