Customer Reviews

My Soul to Keep (Dylan Foster Series #3)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Harsh, but true. I am now officially passing judgment on anyone who chooses not to read Melanie Well's "Day of Evil" series. There is simply no excuse. It's one of the best suspense/thriller series I've ever read, and for those of you who like "edgy" in CBA - look no further. Melanie somehow got away with all the things us fledgling authors want to write about but can't because we haven't made our name yet =) I love it, and I'm so proud of her!

I owe Melanie a lot (but would love her even if I didn't) She was my first interview on my first blog, when her book #1 came out (When the Day of Evil Comes) and her connections began a spiraly wonder web that got me started in a zillion author interviews, not to mention friendships, encouragement from various writers, and eventually a dream-come-true chat session with one of my favorite authors ever. Long story, but the bottom line is - Melanie rocks, and so do her books. Enough said!

Well, I'm a writer, there's really never ENOUGH said. But anyway...

To my understanding, these books in the series were Melanie's first attempt at writing. She had an idea and a name (that still makes me shiver! Read the book, you'll understand) and went with the story blooming in her head. She's a musician, writer, and pyschologist, with a heart of gold and some of the quickest wit I've ever come across, that shines through in her heroine, Dylan Foster. (who, now that I think about it, probably has a lot in common with Melanie herself! haha)

Here's the excerpt for her newest release "My Soul To Keep" :

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.

Me again - I've never been this impressed with a debut author, and now that Melanie's series has taken off, I hope she does more. In fact, I'm planning on emailing her now and begging her to make a #4 in the series. Even if its just for me =P

One word of advice - PLEASE read her books in order. Though they stand alone, its really best that way - you'll get so much more from them! They are truly amazing. This seris has taught me a lot as a fellow writer, about plot twists and threading small things throughout that eventually lead the reader to that cool "awe" factor, where they lower the book and go "oooohhhhhh" as everything clicks into place. Priceless =)

Keep 'em coming, Melanie! (and you - reader - click that order button!)

Psychology professor Dylan Foster is looking forward to her summer vacation and a well deserved break. Her own personal demon named Peter Terry has made her life a living nightmare and the pain he has caused her and those she loves is more than she can bear. Unfortunately for Dylan, Peter Terry is back and this time he has gone too far.

Dylan gathers with her closest friends at a park near her Dallas home to celebrate six year old Christine Zocci's birthday. As Christine and her friend Nicholas are playing, out of nowhere a man snatches the boy and disappears. Now Dylan suddenly finds herself in a race against time to locate Nicholas, despite warnings from the authorities to stay off the case. Armed only with her own faith and Christine's unique spiritual insight, Dylan fights her greatest struggle yet. As she gets closer to the truth, she is faced once again with the frightening reality that Peter Terry is indeed back.

Melanie Wells has continually proven herself to be a true master of suspense and My Soul to Keep is certainly no exception. Once again we are treated to a well balanced plot that unfurls at a just the right pace, never lagging or losing steam in any way. What I love most about Wells' writing is that you never know where the story is leading you. When you finally arrive it is not only unexpected, but well worth the wait. Dylan Foster is a strong, loveable character that will draw readers in with her humility, imperfections, and comical outlook on life. Dylan's personal spiritual struggles are relevant and her quest for truth is infectious and even inspiring. The excellent use of first person from Dylan's perspective adds another unique layer to an already rich story. Nowhere will you see the first person voice used more effectively.

My Soul to Keep is the third book in Well's Dylan Foster Series. Her hardcore fans will be pleased with some questions that are finally answered and the series mysteries that are brought to light. While this book can certainly be enjoyed without reading the previous novels (When the Day of Evil Comes and The Soul Hunter), I would highly recommend going back and starting from the beginning. You will certainly enjoy every moment of this series.

Melanie Wells simply gets better and better with each new installment, and it's a shame more people aren't noticing. All three of the books in this series are an absolute joyride that fans of suspense and mystery will love. If you are a fan of Melanie Wells than you already know what a treat you are in for with this one. For those who are late to the game, there is no better time to start than now.

My Soul to Keep by Melanie Wells is the third book in the Dylan Foster series. It's another suspense filled novel filled with demons and hauntings by Peter Terry. Dylan's good friend's son is kidnapped, and her goddaughter Christine seems to have a psychic connection with the boy. Dylan's sarcastic, cynical outlook both serves and hurts her as she hunts down the kidnapper and tries to find out what her personal demon Peter Terry is up to. This is not a book to pick up if you haven't read the rest of the series, so find When the Day of Evil Comes and start there. Dylan is all too human as she waxes and wanes in her relationship with God, always trying to push forward on her own strength rather than trust or rely on the Lord. Sometimes I wanted to strangle her as she rushed headlong into trouble, but the writing is always entertaining and impossible to put down. Wells has created a character that is relatable and enjoyable to read. The ending brings some resolution but leaves several storylines up in the air, so I can't wait for Dylan's next adventure.

Another slick thriller from Melanie Wells. I look forward to each Dylan Foster page-turner filled with quirky humor, interesting characters and solid plot lines.

Being from Dallas I love the details of the settings around SMU, Parkland and even the seedy Circle Inn.

Melanie is a great story teller and will keep you on the edge of your seat and coming back for more.

I hope to see more!

This book held my interest from the first chapter. In the first chapter a sweet little innocent boy is kidnapped and you don't know the outcome of what happened to the little book until the very end.

This book is the third in a series of book so I agree with a earlier reviewer who said it is best to read the books in order. I happened to find the second book at a thrift shop so I read that one first but I think I would have enjoyed the books more reading them in order.

This book is the last in the series and I have only one criticism. We are never informed if Dylan's stuggles with Peter Terry, the pasty demon are over. In the bible demons are hurded into pigs and then the pigs are directed into water by Jesus. I don't understand why Peter Terry could not be exorcised in some way so He wouldn't bother Dylan anymore.

I do hope that this author continues to write more books. Suspense is my favorite genre and I do hope she writes more of the same.

This book has a likable protagonist, and I really enjoyed the storyline about her relationship with her exboyfriend. The writing style was easy to read; the story about a kidnapped boy could really be a page turner.

My trouble is, I judged a book by its cover. They label this "A Novel of Suspense" on the front, and the back cover mentions a Peter Terry as "nasty" and a "pasty, elusive stranger." The blurb about the author notes that she is the author of two other books. But this jacket is NOT clear that this is a Christian novel based on the belief in angels and demons. In fact, the pasty stranger Peter Terry is a demon. It is not made clear on the cover that this is the third in a series. One Amazon review states that My Soul to Keep stands alone, and I suppose it does in that the start and finish are completed within the book covers, but all the characters and background have been laid out in the previous two books. I don't like to start in the middle of a series, and I have never enjoyed reading about demons. I'll take the responsibility for not reading the reviews before my purchase, but I do have issues with the book cover.

For what she was trying to do, the author has done a pretty good job, and despite my disappointment in the subject matter, I did enjoy the book somewhat. For those of you who fancy angels and demons I recommend this book. If you don't - skip this one.

It's bad enough that a demon named Peter Terry has been harassing Dylan by unleashing rodents in her home, threatening her career, and in general being a stinkin' nuisance. But now a child dear to Dylan's heart has been kidnapped and she will stop at nothing to find him and bring him back to his mother. Thankfully she has Christine Zocci, a spiritually aware six-year-old, on her side. Her dreams and memories will prove more valuable than anyone realizes.

Is Peter Terry to blame for the kidnapping? Or is there someone else who wants the child even more? Can Dylan find out before it's too late?

I reject the notion that some people are doomed to bad luck, but in the case of Dylan Foster, I may have to rethink my position. Actually, I just think God is trying and testing her (without her knowing it) and will not put Peter Terry back on his leash until she whittles down her list of Top Ten Terrible Traits.

As in her first two novels, When the Day of Evil Comes and Soul Hunter, Wells exhibits her familiar dry wit and ability to take irregular supernatural events and make them believable. One does not have to read her previous novels in order to understand and enjoy this one (although this reader advises it purely on the basis that they should not be missed). Wells does a superb job of interjecting just enough information for the new reader to follow along without bogging down those who have kept up with every novel.

My Soul to Keep is supernatural suspense at its height, and Wells does not get near the attention she deserves for such well-thought-out story. I highly recommend all three novels and hope there will be many more to come.

In My Soul to Keep, the third spiritual thriller featuring psychologist Dylan Foster, Melanie Wells brings her reluctant heroine full circle as Dylan is forced to confront her most complex battle yet against the demon Peter Terry. This time, Peter Terry's attacking the children in Dylan's life as Nicholas, the son of her friend Maria, is kidnapped. Six-year-old Christine, a child with astonishing spiritual acumen, witnesses the kidnapping and is emotionally traumatized. But her faith and spiritual depth may be the best link Dylan has to discovering the kidnapped child's whereabouts. On top of this tragedy, Dylan's personal life hits new lows as her distinct lack of "people skills" repeatedly threaten to drive away the small group of friends who put up with her in spite of her prickly demeanor.

Of the three novels in the series, this book is the least successful as a standalone, so I have to stress reading the books in order (the first, When the Day of Evil Comes (Dylan Foster Series #1), and then its sequel, The Soul Hunter (Dylan Foster Series #2)). However, not working as well as a standalone novel in this case should only serve as incentive to read the entire series. Wells has hit her stride and the canvas on which she paints Dylan's story has become increasingly rich and complex with each successive outing. I would have liked to have seen more insight into Maria's response to her son's kidnapping - Wells gives us more of Liz's perspective (Christine's mother) as the worried parent of a hospitalized child. I think it would have made for an even more compelling read if a bit more attention had been devoted to Maria's viewpoint in the middle section of the novel. (I could also do with a little less product placement - you can only name so many name-brand cleaning products without having Dylan's cleaning obsession cross over from quirky to annoying and distract from the narrative.) However, the bottom line is that this is Dylan's story, and having her most vulnerable friends - young children - attacked sends Dylan reeling. Her episodes of spiritual and self-examination are not only insightful but brutally honest.

At the time of this review, My Soul to Keep is the final Dylan Foster novel. With this series, Melanie Wells has introduced an unforgettable heroine - a sassy, irreverent, smart aleck who's thoroughly relatable, modern, and genuine. Wells has brought the spiritual realm into the forefront of her characters' everyday lives, driving home the reality of spiritual warfare in a real and compelling way. She has a knack for building suspense and terror out of everyday circumstances and situations which makes her novels chilling and compulsively readable in a way that's reminiscent of the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Each novel in this series comes highly recommended.

Melanie Wells captures her readers from the get go with Dylan Foster, a likeable heroine who knows she is not perfect, a well crafted plot featuring a kidnapped child at the center of the doings, and compelling villains with creepy powers.
At a picnic, Nicholas, the son of Dylan's friend, is kidnapped by a man in an old car or van. Plot twists are added by references to Peter Terry, a menacing figure from Dylan's past, the sound of rattlesnakes in Dylan's home, and troubling hard to understand visions by the heroine and her young friend, Christine.
Even the pet bunnies get involved in this case, at one point saving someone's life, not a common occurrence for rabbits.
As the perfect antidote to the terror of the kidnapping and frightening events, fear for the captive boy, and Christine under attack, readers are treated to Dylan's thoughts, including "God has to smack me with his ruler on my desk to get my attention."
The heroine is a compulsive sink cleaner, not one of my compulsions! When she hears the sound of a rattlesnake under her kitchen sink, she thinks "The sad truth is, if I paid as much attention to my soul as I do my sink, I would probably be a whole lot better off. My sink is pristine. My soul could use a can of comet and some elbow grease."
I find Dylan's humor sweet and profound, and worried about her as she tried to rescue the boy, protect herself and loved ones and defeat her tormentor and find that snake.
This is an ideal thriller with a good dash of humor added in to season it, and now I plan to read the other two Dylan Foster novels, the first one being "When the Day of Evil Comes." Creepy title, yes?

Melanie Wells grabbed me with the unique voice and kept me riveted as she drove me through a story that couldn't possibly end well. A primarily first-person dive into broken hearts, love lost and never found, hope, healing and horror, a plunge that kept me turning pages until the satisfying end.

I've not read her previous works so this was my first visit into Dylan Foster's head and Peter Terry's bizarre antics.

The subject matter is tough. An abducted child and another child traumatized, more sensitive readers may not be able to handle some of the intensity though there is a surprising and clean resolution.

Wells covers some obscure teaching on guardian angels in an engaging manner. Once again, a warning, those who don't do speculative fiction with Biblical stretching might want to pass, as well as those readers who struggle with characters who are working toward holiness but haven't progressed to looking like they've attained it. So what I'm saying is, her characters are as real as those you might go to church or work with, you know, the ones will all the warts and issues. I'm not even going to mention that I may see something of Wells' characters in my own mirror.

When I wasn't struggling with the horror of child abduction and clues with dead ends, I found myself cheering Dylan on in her secondary battle, the one with faith.