"FAVORITE"

If you have a teenage young lady in your family, this post is geared towards them. Or if you just want to read a pleasant, mystery with out gratuitous sex and graphic language, and one that keeps you turning pages, then this is the book for you. I am 71 and I enjoyed the stew out of it. Of course, my inner teen is alive and well.

Karen McQuestion is an e-book author and I have enjoyed several of her books. She has two adult books, plus she also writes young adult books. "A Scattered Life" which is adult reading, has been picked up for a movie option and is part of a give away at Free Book Friday. Sorry but I think today is your last day to sign up.


Right now Karen is having a book give away on her own blog for her two YA books. Just leave a comment here before Friday and you are entered. Yeah, that means you have to enter there today also. Gosh I am sorry I was so slow with the information on both giveaways.

Her books always hook me either in the first paragraph or the first chapter. She hooked me on “Favorite” with the following excerpt from her book that she posted on her blog.

"No one was in sight at the dry cleaners when I walked in, but I sensed movement in the back of the building. The loud head-banger music coming from the rear reminded me of the heavy metal thumping I’d heard so often from Jason’s room.

I tapped the bell twice. A girl came out, took my receipt without comment and pushed the button to turn the rotating rack of clothes. Her eyes were still on the receipt when she returned, hanger in hand. “Hey,” she said, as she hung the dress on the rod in front of me, “your last name is ‘Favorite.’ That’s kinda cool.”

I nodded. I’ve heard it all by now—I must be everybody’s favorite, maybe I’m nobody’s favorite, was I my mother’s favorite? That one always made me want to cry.

“And your first name starts with ‘A.’” Her head bobbed in approval. “A Favorite.” She said it slowly, as if trying out a foreign phrase. “Way cool.” She punched a few buttons on the register and ran the scanner over the tag. “Kind of like you’re going through life as a chosen one. Like in the Bible.”

Now that one I hadn’t heard before. “Yep, that’s me,” I said. “The chosen one.” A strand of hair had escaped my ponytail. I tucked it behind my ear before handing her a twenty-dollar bill. If I wanted to I could have kept the conversation going by telling her that my first initial “A” actually stood for ‘Angel,’ but I decided not to go there.

She rifled through the register drawer and gave me my change in one lump. She said “You have a good day now,” in a really happy way.

It wasn’t until I was out in my car that I looked at the wad of cash in my hand and realized she gave me the wrong amount. Math was not my best subject, but I knew if you paid someone with a twenty, and you got a twenty, a single and some quarters in return, something wasn’t adding up. My first thought was to just let it go. I sat for a moment, staring at the cash and thinking of the girl’s earnest face and her friendly voice, then sighed. I had to take the money back. I didn’t want her to get into trouble because of me.

I tossed my wallet on the front seat of the car and got out with car keys and money in hand, not even bothering to lock the door. The Honda was the only car in the lot and just twenty feet from the front of the store. I figured it would only take a minute.

I was almost to the curb separating the parking lot from the storefront sidewalk when I glanced up, startled to see a dark-haired man coming toward me. He didn’t appear menacing at first. Just big. At least a foot taller than me, he had the bulky look of someone who wrestled professionally. He stepped off the curb as I approached. I mumbled a hello, but he didn’t seem to notice.

The next part I remember as if I’m watching a movie and seeing it happen to someone else. I’m lost in my thoughts, money clutched in one hand, the car keys in the other, and I’m walking toward the dry cleaners as if pulled by a string. The spell was broken when my arm was grabbed from behind. Shocked, I turned toward the guy whose vice-grip had stopped me.

I blurted out, “What do you want?” and looked to see if there was anyone else around, but we were alone. When I first passed him I hadn’t noticed anything but his size. Now I saw that his forehead was slick with sweat, and his sunken brown eyes were so dark in color they looked like two big pupils. I thought maybe he’d mistaken me for someone else until he grunted three words, “Come with me.”

It all happened so fast—I’ve heard people use that expression before, but I never really knew what it meant until right at that moment. Because it did happen that fast. In an instant I thought of the girls you hear about in the news, the ones who were abducted and raped, and how they tell you never to go anywhere with an attacker, unless you want to end up dead.

“Let go.” I tried to scream the words, but they came out as a strangled cry. I pulled away from him, but he held fast. I always wondered how I’d react if I were attacked. Now I knew. I had assumed I’d scream loud enough to rile the dead, and would kick or punch his eyes, neck or groin, like they tell you to do, but I didn’t know it was going to be like this. I couldn't’t get away from him and I was afraid. Scary movies, roller coasters, nightmares—nothing compared to the heart-pounding terror I felt at that moment.

“You need to see something,” he said, his voice flat. “Come with me.”


That may seem rough for a young adult but you have to read the rest of the story. It is a wonderful mystery.



Karen's books, if you don't win one, are found at Amazon.com either in Kindle or paper back form. Trust me, the price is right. Like I said, I really enjoyed this book and am sure your teen will also. Perhaps I found it so refreshing as I had just put aside Dean Koontz's latest novel with queasy stomach, unable to finish it.



I normally enjoy his books but this one took violence and evil to a new level that was just not for me. I have never had a book frighten me but that one did. If that is your thing then don't miss "What the Night Knows". I can not recommend it but someone else might like it. Different tastes makes the world go round.



"Favorite" was next on my TBR list after Koontz and it helped to glue my head back on. Aaahh. It would make a great present for a teenage grandchild, niece, or child who loves to read or whom you wish would learn to.




Enjoy, I certainly did.



Karen stopped by with the following information about the giveaway.



"If any of your blog readers want to enter my drawing, they have until tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. And if anyone reviews books on their blog, feel free to contact me. I still have a few paperback advance copies for reviewers."

March 6th
Congratulations to merrilymarylee for winning one of Karen's books. I am so pleased one of my referrals won. Way to go marylee. Enjoy.