Ouch---for the subject of this book!! It really is a rather...horrifying???...way to live???...even in a novel but definitely an unusual approach. Going back and forth between the two main characters involved...Julia and Ren...made for a page turner reading!! Definitely full of twists and turns and of course now I want to read her previous two books. ( )

“Shield the innocent. Kill the guilty. Defend the family.”

A story of manipulation, murder and a mother’s love, Before She Finds Me is a well crafted thriller from Heather Chavez.

After a shooting at a college campus leaves her daughter injured and her ex-husband’s new wife dead, Julia Bennett is desperate to make sense of the incident. Something about the sniper attack doesn’t seem random, and Julia, who lost her parents to senseless violence as a teen, is determined to protect her child at any cost.

Ren Petrovic is puzzled when she learns of her husband’s involvement in the college campus shooting. She and Nolan, both professional assassins, only accept assignments under strict conditions, but he’d not only taken this job without telling her, he seems to have made a fatal mistake. Heavily pregnant, Ren needs to figure out exactly what went wrong for the sake of her unborn child’s future.

The story opens with a burst of action, and the tension builds steadily as Julia and Ren attempt to find answers, unravelling the secrets and lies that threaten their family’s safety. Clever plotting provides intrigue with several red herrings and the twists enhance the momentum. The final scenes that pit the women against each other had me holding my breath.

Julia and Ren are complex, interesting characters, and their alternating viewpoints work well to tell this story. Though the women have a similar goals, they are opposing forces. Ren, as an assassin, seems likely to have an edge, but Julia’s fierce love for her daughter lends her a strength and focus that surprises even her. Both women engender sympathy for different reasons, and there’s a lot of grey so it’s not as easy as you might think to choose a side.

With its strong characterisation and original plot, Before She Finds Me is a gripping and exciting read. ( )

This was fantastic! The story opened in spectacular fashion hooking me right away and the intensity never let up. The story was very exciting and the mystery kept me guessing until the very end. Once I started this book, I did not want to put it down. I am so glad that I took a chance and gave this entertaining book a try.

This story is told from two very different points of view. Julia is a college professor who is getting her daughter, Cora, moved onto campus as the story opens. They are joined by Julia’s ex-husband and Cora’s father and his new wife. When someone starts shooting into the crowd of students and parents, Julia’s quick action most likely saves her daughter’s life. Ren is a trained assassin. She operates under a strict set of rules making sure those she kills are not the innocent. She’s not so sure that her husband is still following that set of rules. Both women are determined to figure out what really happened that day.

Megan Tusig does an amazing job with the narration of this book. It was always really clear which point of view she was reading and I thought that she was able to add just the right amount of emotion and excitement to her reading. I loved how she was able to bring this story to life which only added to my overall enjoyment of the book.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I thought that this book was very exciting and full of enough twists and turns to keep me hooked. I thought that the characters were incredibly well done and interesting. I would love to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Mulholland Books and Hachette Audio. ( )

Before She Finds Me by Heather Chavez is one of those books that it is not the cover that grabs me, though I do love female main characters, but this time it was the title. I know we will be having some hide and seek, predator and prey action. Everyone has a secret and some of them will pay the ultimate price…and I love it!

Julia is a mom and ex wife carrying heavy baggage from her tragic past, the secret haunting her. It has made her hypervigilant, noticing even the slightest thing that is amiss, her spidey senses on constant alert. Her and her daughter, Cora, have a ‘pun’ habit which I thought was a nice touch. 🙂 I love the twist that made them all targets, so, remember, make sure you hit what you are aiming for or it could come back and bite you…..

Ren and Nolan are assassins, married, and work together. Nolan gathers the information and Ren draws up the plans and maps. She is meticulous and, well, he’s getting sloppy, greedy, and I thought he could be their downfall. After all, it couldn’t be the woman. Nothing could possible go wrong…could it?

I love how the characters grew, developed more depth. The mystery of the shooting at the college goes way beyond anything I could have foreseen. I was curious from the beginning, but once the surprises started stacking up, the pace picked up and I didn’t want to stop until….

The ending was terrific and I kinda figured it out…who would be left standing, but how they would get there was a total surprise…and, oh so, fitting. There was a surprise victim or two, but, hey, fictional characters are disposable. HA HA HA HA HA I have found a new author to keep my eye on and I recommend any lover of suspense would enjoy this too.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Before She Finds Me by Heather Chavez.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com ( )

I received an advance copy of this book. Thank you

What an interesting spin on the usual thriller. It is told from two perspectives. One is Ren, the other is Julia. Ren is newly pregnant, and the daughter of an Assassin, who has grown up following that occupation, but she has chosen poison as her specialty, rather than guns. Her father taught her from a young age, and always emphasized that their missions be honorable and morally correct, their targets are bad people. Ren has married a fellow assassin, and when they carry out their missions, they plan them together and follow the same code. Until one time her husband Nolan, went solo on a mission.
Julia is a survivor with secrets of her own. When she was a teen, she lost her parents in a random shooting, then she was forced to live on the streets for several years before finding security and settling down. She is a mother of a daughter about to head to college.
It is check in day at college, with new students and parents together, wrapped up with their emotions, when suddenly there is gunfire. The shooting is over shortly, leaving one or two dead and one injured. One of the dead is Julia's ex husband's wife, Brie.
From here the story takes off...Was this a random shooting, or targeted? Was Brie the target? Why were so few shot? Who did this? Ren recognizes her husband's work but can't figure out why he'd do it on his own, without the two of them planning it.

Very suspenseful and a great read. ( )