Carved in Darkness by Maegan Beaumont

Past horrors bleed into a present day nightmare

Fifteen years ago, a psychotic killer abducted seventeen year old Melissa Walker. For 83 days she was raped and tortured before being left for dead in a deserted church yard... But she was still alive.

Melissa begins a new life as homicide inspector, Sabrina Vaughn. With a new face and a new name, it's her job to hunt down murderers and it's a job she does very well.

When Michael O'Shea, a childhood acquaintance with a suspicious past, suddenly finds her, he brings to life the nightmare Sabrina has long since buried.

Believing that his sister was recently murdered by the same monster who attacked Sabrina, Michael is dead set on getting his revenge--using Sabrina as bait.

From the first page you are thrown into the nightmare that Melissa is dealing with.  Being captured and held for 83 days, tortured, abused and raped, she even had her eyelids sewn shut to protect the identity of her kidnapper.  With blood smeared all over her body, urinating in the same location she is being held, the smells invaded her system and never let her forget.  After an attack that left her for dead, the kidnapper dropped her off at a church believing she was gone but she survived by some miracle and started her life over again while the world she is leaving behind believes she is dead.  It is the only way to protect her since her kidnapper was never captured.

She moved to a new state with a new identity, her two siblings and best friend who helped her during her recovery and the PTSD. What you have today is a woman who kicks butt and is strong, but she is also that shattered young woman who is running from demons, which is sometimes dangerous while she is on her job.  She is now known as Sabrina Vaughn and with the law enforcement, is facing issues with some of the men who don’t see her as their equal and one man who she fears would give up his life to protect her.  On her jog one day she realizes that those feelings of being watched wasn’t just her paranoia, she sees Michael O’Shea.  He is a flash from her past life that she left behind. The only one who could have told him she was still alive is her grandma. 

Michael is struggling with his anger over his sister’s death.  Sabrina’s grandmother took him in and gave him a sense of family, she shows him that Melissa suffered the same treatment as his sister, but Melissa survived. He is sure it was the same person who tortured Melissa and if she had went to the police instead of pretending to be dead; his sister might be alive today.  Girls are being kidnapped and murdered on Oct 1, Melissa’s birthday. Although he is there to talk her into coming back and helping him find his sister’s killer, he is going to have to approach her in a way that is not threatening. 

She is resistant to his offer till she starts seeing a pattern of killings, what finally makes her mind up is when the threats start involving her family.  Once the mystery is solved, it left me rather confused but I was surprised.  The author gave us so many people to accuse, the drama and suspense was never limited. I would classify this book as a highly intense suspenseful thriller with a great writing style and characters that I could invest in.  I liked that she gave us so many twists and turns and in the end still blew us away with the ending.  It wasn’t one of those clean cut endings where people ride off in the sunset; it opened up a whole new can of questions and feelings for me as a reader.  I will be starting the next book Sacrificial Muse now and hope that I get my answers I am looking for about where Sabrina will end up now. 

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