A heart-pounding suspense thriller written by USA Today bestselling author, K.L. Middleton A missing child. A gifted psychic. A serial killer who preys on the innocent.
When a little girl named Faith goes missing near Two Harbors, Minnesota, psychic Carissa Jones offers to help locate her. Desperate to find the child, and with no real leads, the local authorities agree to pull her into the case.
This is book one in The Missing series. Each story will focus on Carissa Jones and her involvement in each case.
NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Kristen Middleton, is from the Midwest and not only enjoys writing, but connecting with her readers. Kristen also writes gritty biker books under the name Cassie Alexandra. She is also involved with raising money to help locate missing and exploited children, helping other authors succeed by sharing what she's learned in the self-publishing industry, and volunteering resources or her time whenever she can. "Besides having a passion for writing, I adore children, suspenseful movies, watching Shameless and The Walking Dead, traveling, Moscato wine, Chianti Grill, Savoy Pizza, and meeting new friends."
Kristen Middleton lives in Minnesota Favorite Quote (Henry Ford)
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."
Searching for Faith (Carissa Jones, #1) by Kristen Middleton is a great story about a serial killer and psychic trying to catch him. It follows the family of a adventure of one family and the action happening around the kidnapping of Chloe, who the kidnapper calls Faith. Full of great psychic stuff, family dynamic and interactions, and lots of action. Great story. Will look for the next in the series!
Faith is not who you might think she is, and I don't want to spoil the book by telling who she is. Let's just say that this series is a about Carissa who is a clairvoyant and she helps search for a child who she sees in visions and knows the child is going to be kidnapped.
I was happy that the kidnapper That being said, I can only imagine how a small young child might feel after being kidnapped by someone who had the mind of this girl's kidnapper.
I can't say much more without spoiling it but it was a pretty good, easy read.
Recommendation: I think it's a book worth reading if you like mystery, but I did feel that it was predictable and not written to the level of difficulty to my liking. I thought it was a bit too simplistic so I didn't make those emotional connections that I love to make with the characters. Some of the dialogue I felt was not realistic, but you might disagree.
It's incredibly adventurous yet It's Dark, Prodigious, Shocking, Stunning, Unbelievably fascinating. It's impeccable writing skills down to it's core! It's a suspenseful yet rocks you with disturbance to your very core! You are utterly terrified at times and on edge yet, screaming at the characters ~ Nook Books and More Blog
But, all in all its a wonderful read and will definitely keep you on your toes!
At every chilling turn your mind goes into overdrive with pure suspense and horror for this main character. Will she ever get her life back or will this keep pulling her into the abyss of the unknown? I don't won't to even talk about the girls! This grips your heart to its very core! You have to read! The synopsis says "A missing child. A gifted psychic." What more can you want in a gripping pschylogocal thriller? A serial killer who preys on the innocent.." well this really fits that book! Wow factor is phenomenal!
Kristen Middleton draws her characters to new heights and adventure that is yet again both fascinating and intriguing to say the least. I have delved lately in psychological thriller, suspense books but, this book pulled me into every twist and plot making my soul yearn for more. I will definitely read and suggest you should read anything this lady writes. It's a true talent.
The flow of the book and writing style is also phenomenal. It's beautifully writing and flows with ease that you don't get bored in any areas. You stayed glued to the pages until the very last. There are to many characters that it's really hard to touch on. The psychic that can't let it go until she finds who's doing this.
The deeply disturbed man with secrets. Lots of secrets. As you read you'll uncover the meaning of things and learn things that grips your heart.
The plot and twist just seem to come from no where with turns you'd never suspect. You will not be disappointed at all! If you like the intrigue of different and unreliability the author throws you then you'll love this. Often so many books seem to become and you can actually figure out what's going to happen. This is a problem with avid readers over time and you get sort of in a reading rut. This book gives you that freshness you need. Way to go Kristen!
I’m not sure if my rating of this book is related to my skepticism towards clairvoyance but I just found it so dull. I mean, it’s one thing to have quick glimpses of the future but there were so many details that she “saw�. IMO, the flashes would just arrive at such convenient moments that I find it something quite hard to believe in.
A couple things couldn’t have been more obvious had It been stated: Maddy and Paul’s affair; trying to persuade the reader to suspect Harolds� involvement although we clearly know of Ben; Ben following Maddy and Chloe to catch them off guard, and his attempt to seduce the former to approach the latter. I could probably state a couple loopholes if I cared to. Also disliked the fact that the author creates a thing between Alex and Carissa throughout the book and in the end it comes to nothing..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I loved the book. It kept me guessing from page 1. I thought I had it figured out and was way wrong. I do wish the ending had been different, I was left hanging.
Psychic Carissa Jones doesn’t understand why she was given this gift, but she used to help others. When a young girl is kidnapped during a vacation, Carissa tries to help police find her before time runs out.
This is a suspenseful story with various plot twists. I won’t reveal them, but they were shocking and added drama to the story.
The author does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat as you determine the kidnapper’s identity, and wonder if the police will reach her in time.
As for the characters, although it’s a short book, the author did well in establishing their history and their role in the story.
The book ended with a bit of a cliffhanger and promises there will be more to come of Carissa’s journey.
Kristen Middleton is a new author to me. I’m glad I found copy of Searching for Faith. This was twisty, mystery and conceding a lost child. I don’t like to read those types of books, but this was done in good taste and not too scary. This book is about Clarissa who is a young woman who is psychic and starts dreaming about a little girl being kidnapped. Finding every that has been taken and missing is her mission to find that child. This was a really good book. I’m going to check out some more of her series with Clarissa in them. Thank you Ms. Middleton for a great book😊.
Creepy A chilling read from the start. Had me hooked immediately. Carissa Jones is a very likable character, a little strange with her unusual gift but it worked really well. A great page turner that is full of suspense. Recommended.
The purpose of Thrifty Thursday is to read a book which was free (at some point).
Kindle freebie on August 25, 2017 (currently $2.99 at Amazon. It is in Kindle Unlimited so only in paperback for $8.99 at Barnes & Noble as of writing this post)
This was great for me in so many ways! It has my favorite paranormal thing. I usually say magic is my favorite but really it is the mind stuff - clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, etc. The main character is Carissa, who is a psychic. She helps to locate missing people and sometimes knows in advance when children will be kidnapped so she can intervene.
The overall plot was pretty good; I didn't guess the kidnapper until he was revealed. The other characters were not as well developed and a bit more stereotypical without the complexity or depth. Overall, Searching for Faith is not long, a quick, fun for me read. I loved the world building though since this was set in Minnesota and I lived there 35 years. So I enjoyed all the places and could easily picture them.
The next in the Missing seriesis Looking for Lainey, available October 17, 2017. I am so excited to continue with this series.
The book, "Searching for Faith", was a great read. I enjoy reading mystery with a bit of romance. I do have to admit that the affair between Paul and Maddy left me a little heartbroken, because I enjoy the happily ever after and with Chloe's parents deciding at the end to get a divorce didn't sound like a happily ever after to me. I understand and fully believe that Rachel deserves someone better than Paul, I just wish that there was never an affair to begin with. I wish the story gave a time lapse at the end where Rachel found a worthy man of her and got her true happily ever after. This isn't my type of romance, with the affair, because it wasn't the happy, fun type of love it just portrayed lust. The amount of colorful language that was presented wasn't a favorite of mine as well due to the negative feeling I am left with when I hear or read those words. Though other than the affair and the language presented in the book, I enjoyed reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In the art world there are beautifully detailed colourful paintings that draw you in and evoke thoughts and arouse emotions; and then there are hurried shallow sketches. This was a half-baked sketch. It was a story you'd find in an old magazine in your doctor's waiting room, one that you'd skim through and could not care less about finishing. Dull, flat cat-in-the-hat writing and a dull, flat story. Totally shallow, totally superficial, totally boring.
A fast read. Faith is a 7 year old girl who goes missing. Carissa seems to have some Physic powers that are not always wanted and she wants to tell people what she sees in this case to help them find Faith but no everyone is open to her powers.
I did find Carissa being in Martial Arts a little unbelievable but I was able to overlook it. The book had a great build up but the ending felt a little rushed. Overall an ok read.
I couldn't put this book down. I read it in one day. It kept my interest and kept me guessing. Although a sad topic and all too true in today's world, Middleton kept it civil while also enjoyable. I found Carissa very likeable and I love that she is real. I was hoping she would find a new love interest but you will have to read it to know if my wish came true or not. The plot twist was great and very unexpected. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger but again realistic. I love how Carissa does not say she can read minds or see the future in complete detail but more receives energies and feelings. The bad guy is also somewhat sympathetic but you still want him caught and punished. The family of the little girl is also very realistic in that they show how too often we get caught up in our own minds and forget those that are important to us and those that often cannot protect themselves.
Kristen Middleton Searching for Faith (Carissa Jones Mystery) 5⭐⭐⭐⭐�
Book Description: A heart-pounding suspense thriller written by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Kristen Middleton.
A missing child. A gifted psychic. A serial killer on the hunt.
When a seven-year-old girl goes missing near Two Harbors, Minnesota, psychic Carissa Jones offers to help locate her. Desperate to find the child, and with no real leads, the local authorities agree to pull her into the case.
This is book one in The Carissa Jones series. Each story will focus on a different case. You can read them separately, or in order.
MY REVIEW : 📚📙📘📗📕📚 I started this book this afternoon and I finished it a few hours later. Thats how good it was. I could not put it down ! This is one of those books that keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can. The thought of having your child kidnapped is horrendously terrifying. Kristen Middleton weaves a story that is both believable and frightening. A story in which the reader will be on the edge of their seat and holding their breath. I promise You won't be disappointed if you buy this. The story line is exciting with many twists and turns !!! It has very good character development with all of the characters. Psychic Carissa Jones is even a great character and very likeable. I usually do not like storylines with the whole psychic thing in it, but i loved this one. I admit that I'm hooked and can't wait to read the next in the series! This was my first book by her and won't be my last!!!Recommend highly to lovers of mystery, suspense and psychological thrillers! Give her a try!!!! And for thoes who have kindles it is actually free right now. So what are you waiting for......... Go Get it 😄💝
Loved this story but not the all-too-frequent errors all the way through. Towards the end, it seemed to be almost every single page, which got extremely tiresome. I looked for the second in the series but that mentions the Russian Mafia and I'm not a fan of reading about mafias of any description. Organised crime stories bore me rigid so I'll pass on that one. On page 25 we had this line I just marked as 'huh ?'...."If she tried got in the way, he wasn't going to back away peacefully".....though I imagine it was probably a case of a missing word as that is my biggest gripe with this book. Lots and lots of sentences with words missing. "About grab a bite to eat", "kind divine intervention involved", "I would definitely like sit in"......etc.....these went on to and included page 202 !! Surely someone should've spotted them ?? She used precarious twice describing kids and I'm pretty sure she meant precocious, there were some missing commas and her use of apostrophes is also all over the place. Diner was used in place of dinner, then this phrase or similar was used 3 times so I'm not sure if it's the dialect or yet another missing word-"I'd bring her with".....and she also uses "no rock unturned" when it's usually no stone. This sentence was another peculiar one-"....the child might not be missing right in the first place"....it makes no sense again. A proper editing exercise should have been undertaken. For me, it meant the difference between 4* and 5*.
This is dull, poorly written and just NOT a very good book.
October 22, 2019
Verified Purchase
Format: Kindle Edition
SEARCHING FOR FAITH by Kristen Middleton, a rather uninspired story that could have been a lot better than it was. The premise was good. A psychic woman named Carissa has had a premonition about a child who will be kidnapped from a resort area. She goes there to save the child, who the kidnapper will eventually kill, if she isn't rescued first.
Her psychic abilities are interesting but just like everything else in the story, they aren't fully explored or even given much attention. There seems to have been very little effort to further develop the plot or make it more interesting. It may not be a lack if effort, it could be a lack of skill or technical know-how on the part of the author. Everything just scratches the surface. We never get to know anybody well enough to care about what happens to them. This is almost how an outline of a story would read, before you fleshed out the characters, and made the scene, the motivation and the dialogue realistic. Nothing here feels real, or even complete.
Carissa doesn't like telling people what she knows about their secrets, but she can't seem to help herself from telling them what is good for them. She's a bit of a busy-body, and for a psychic , she is very boring.
I really thought this story was shallow and not even a very good effort, by the author.
It’s been along time since I’ve listen to an audiobook that made me carry my phone around everywhere I went until it was over, but that’s what happen when I turned on searching for faith by Kristen Middleton. I thought the narrator did an awesome job she was so good and with The great riding it made for a perfect Saturday listen.
When a man loses his mind and thinks he sees his daughter Faith he’s compelled to get her back. After two or three falls grabs unfortunately ending in the child’s death he runs across Chloe. Away at a Destiination wedding her parents to try and keep a good ion her slip up just wants and she is gone. Lucky for the parents Clarissa had a dream that compelled her to go to the area and just happens to stay at the resort the wedding is party is staying. With Clarissa‘s visions and her daddy secrets it’s not going to be a good day for Chloe‘s mom but will it help them find Chloe. This book is so good I did not see that ending coming. I loved this book and can’t wait to listen to the next one looking for LANY. I only hope Kristen Middleton has plans to write more of these books. I also hope she continues to use this narrator.
Yet another [so called] thriller, where the person trying to solve the crime has 'Visions' or ESP in order to catch the serial abductor/killer. Having said that, it was relatively well written and is more of a long short story than a true novel. The fact that the title has the hash-tag #1 tells you that the story is left open at the end in order for there to be (presumably) a follow up. Therefore, you the reader, is left unsatisfied by the conclusion of the story - such as it is.
There is also an understated, but never the less strongly influential, undercurrent of feminism with all the men either being suspects or of 'dodgy' characters, where as, the women are all 'holier than thou' and been hurt either physically or emotionally. Whether intentionally or not, this undercurrent became SO annoying that the story loses any credibility that it may have strived to attain in the early chapters. Maybe, I'm the wrong gender in order to appreciate this story? If there is a sequel, I for one, won't go near it!!
Only a partially satisfying ending. I was drawn to this book because it was highlighted by Book Bub, was a thriller, had good reviews, and was free. I don’t normally read books with children as the victims.
Searching for Faith is a good story steadily revealing a lot about each character as it built up to the main conflict. As the story progressed I developed interest in the plot and hope that Chloe would be spared. The chapters moved swiftly, but ended without a fully satisfying resolution. I believe that was done with the likelihood some characters will meet up again in a future book in the series.
**Spoiler** Ben’s character and flaws were mostly believable up to the point he decided to start taking his meds again after not taking them in quite some time. I just couldn’t believe that after his success in kidnapping Chloe he would then decide to take his meds. In my opinion, it’s not likely while he’s in a euphoric state he would think about or take his meds after going so long without them. (Not a big deal for most people, but it interrupted my concentration on the story.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
As a mother anything to do with hurting a child is hard to read... I know mainly because stuff like this happens all the time and there also are clairvoyant people out there who are always too late.
I first was very suspicious of Alex. There was something off about him.
I thought it was pretty good up until the end..
There was literally no reason why she couldn't shoot Ben in the leg or shoot him in the head so he couldn't kill any more little girls...
it was as if she wanted him to get away.. I thought that was dumb.. also how and why would she go to the woods alone knowing he would be there with the little girl... just so she could kick him in the face??? that was ridiculous... where were the cops and backup that she had at the resort...?? so dumb and confusing..
So of course there is a second book to explain the stupidity and of course something much bigger is happening when of course it shouldn't have been an sequel ...
Only a continuous to Carissa's saga..
anyway.. Overall .. 3 Stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This one had me overthinking full-time. To avoid this: killer never uses another name. Just his own. Don't be like me, don't overthink. Although, to be honest, I'd have loved to be the killer. It was not to be. Overall, love the writing style, love that psychic is not a proper detective, but honestly just a woman with insights trying to help, love the actually more or less fleshed out characters and I liked being surprised by unsuspected puzzle pieces coming together. Loose threads were all cleared up, you can read it as a standalone. It wasn't perfect though. I wasn't happy with the killers identity or how much time was invested in him. But then I loved the POV from the killer and I really did enjoy this book. So even if it's not the best mystery by far I ever read (way too blunt or way too subtil to actually work, I'm afraid), the rest is good enough for me. Recommended!
This is the first book of this author that I've read and I really enjoyed it. Believing in the spirit world myself, I was interested and hooked immediately.
Without going into too much of the storyline Clarissa is brought in to help search for a missing child, who has been kidnapped by a mentally ill man who believes her to be his daughter. With the help from the FBI and spirit world, Clarise helps in the search.
I liked all the characters of the book with the expecting of the bad guy, although I can understand why he is the way he is.
The author writes well and makes the story easy to follow.
Really good read and I'm now looking forward to reading more from this author.
The book was psychopathically good.. Myself not a very big fan of supernatural powers like the woman.. but yet it made me wonder if.. if it really does happen.. The book had me really captured in its story though and i could feel the chills.. what is to happen next feel all over my body.. Some parts i felt went sort of vacant.. the story was on but it just wasnt good enough and was misfit in it.. And the psychology the story portrayed actually exists in the reality and surely it made me feel... careful world... u could be the next target!!! And it was a good book afterall and sure you should read it.. But dont if you have a small daughter like Faith.. of 7 years.. and be sure you dont have dark secrets that you share with people.. they may actually read your mind..
When a 7-year old child goes missing, psychic and clairvoyant Carissa Jones offers the local authorities to help, which is reluctantly accepted, as she seems to be able to provide the only leads in this case. Great plot, great characters, and a great narration style make this fast-paced story something I was reluctant to put away when real life interrupted. The twists and turns the story took were just brilliant - depending on what visions Carissa had. The interesting point was that the reader knew what was going on more or less (except for the identity of the criminal), and could see where the searchers went into the wrong direction, or followed the wrong trail, which only increased the tension. This is the first book in a series I am certainly getting addicted to.