The Girl Who Lived: A Thrilling Suspense Novel Paperback – November 4, 2017

First off, don't trust the negative reviews at the top of the Amazon list. This is a wonderful book, plotted and written with great skill. It is a story of survivor's guilt. Faith Winters lost her father, her sister, her best friend and her best friend's mother (and later her best friend's sister) to an act of horrendous violence ten years ago. She is about to leave a mental institution and attempt to put her life back together. Of course, she can't really do that until she determines who actually killed her loved ones. The police claimed that her father killed them (and then committed suicide). Faith believes that there were two other men at the scene, one with a rat face. If she can find them (and avoid being killed by them first) she may be able to find some peace. Meanwhile she is hamstrung by her own addiction to alcohol and the necessity to check in with AA, a survivor's group and her parole officer. The detective in the original case appears to have been in love with her mother. Her mother has since remarried a high school flame who abandoned her in the past. The convener of her survivor's group has a checkered past and one of the young policemen in town was about to become engaged to her sister when her sister was murdered. In other words, Faith is entangled in a complex web filled with people who might be on her side or who might be the original perpetrators. Who can she trust?I have never seen a book subtitled "A Thrilling Suspense Novel," but this book is, indeed, a thrilling suspense novel. Some might call it a psychological thriller. The characters are all interesting and engaging and the plot is first-rate. The setting, unfortunately, is kept anonymous. We are probably somewhere in generic North America, in a place of small towns with prying eyes and nearby woods and lakes with cabins that hold dark secrets.The book is unputdownable and its heroine is memorable. This kind of book all comes down to the ending , an ending which could be deflating, outrageous, or prodigiously disappointing. It is actually very satisfying, though slightly improbable.The moment I finished it I ordered another book by Christopher Greyson.I have never seen a self-published novel with this many Amazon reviews. It is the real deal. Enjoy it.

Have you ever purchased a Kindle book simply because it was so easy to? Because you saw it in the $1.99 and up, list? Noticed that it had more than 1K five-star reviews and all you had to do was to click one single button, one single time? So you clicked?A woman once asked me what types of books I like to read. I told her the truth. That I love non-fiction. I love to feel, by the time that I've turned the very last page of a book, that I am a better person just for having read it. That I have understood something that was a mental tangle before I took on the reading journey. As time has passed, I find that I enjoy advanced books on Adveita Vedanta (nondualism), the most. Books by and about Sri Ramana Maharshi, Shankara, Ramakrishna, Baba Lokenath, Ramesh Balsekar and recently I've gotten really into Nisargadatta Maharaj.The woman that I'd been speaking to, perceived my book interests as dry as reading college math or science textbooks! "What do you read FOR FUN?" she persisted. She couldn't digest the fact that non-fiction is fun for me!For some strange reason, though, I recently felt in the mood for a good fiction novel. I hadn't read one since high school, and I wanted to see if I could still get lost in a capable author's mental creation. What sold me about this particular book, The Girl Who Lived, was it's description as a "Psychological Thriller." I love books that make you think, that make you wonder, that inspire you to connect the proverbial dots. To gather what you have already absorbed, and with it, try to figure out what is going on beyond what is clear thus far.It took me three sittings to finish this book. It didn't grip me by the ___, at first, but it did grip me enough to prevent me from moving onto another book. I purchased like four the other day, simply because they were on the $1.99 and up list!I was drawn in emotionally. I felt angry at the main protagonist for being such a f__k up, but also understood her, because she had been so traumatized. Her behavior and what was unfolding around her, kept me interested, and also rooting for her.It was towards the end, the last few chapters, where I simply could not put the book down. That is when I was gripped, really gripped! And very tightly so!I loved that so many unknowns had opened up. The culprit could be so many people! And I never, ever would have guessed who the terrorizing agent actually ended up being!The story put me on edge, gave me a good thrill, made me care, made me wonder, made me sympathize and identify, and in the end, gave me the satisfaction that I also yearned for.I couldn't give it a perfect score, though. And I really cannot articulate my reasons, as clearly and simply as I'd like to. It is like a meal that is good, that feeds you, that fills your belly and leaves you smiling, but you aren't exactly rubbing your belly like the Buddha, looking up at the sky and saying, "thank you! Now THAT was one of the best meals I've ever had!"It had something to do with the person that ended up being the mastermind behind the whole thing. It could definitely happen. I've seen stories similar to this one, in real life crime shows, but something about the way it was all laid out, wasn't smooth enough for me. It felt as if it was missing something. Some type of seasoning, if you will.Nonetheless, I would definitely recommend it. It did its job. It entertained me and held me to the very end. For the price, it was definitely a homerun purchase!Enjoy!

It took a little extra effort to keep going, but the plot and characters made me come back and finish. A good effort if it was an early thriller novel by the author.

The storyline was pretty good, but I did not like the main character. She was very frustrating. I like a story better when I like the main character. I feel some Parts were far fetched. But it was interesting.