The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano (Review #2)

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Imagine what it would be like growing up in the Witness Protection Program. By the nature of the program, there can be no contact with your previous life, no connections with extended family, former neighbors or friends, and every part of your new life is designed to keep you out of the limelight. That means growing up with no dreams of being a professional ballerina or college basketball player. There can be public demonstrating for or against causes or wars. You can do, say or become nothing that will draw attention to yourself or your family. But that isn’t the worst thing. Most readers would assume that the worst thing would be to be found. But not according to Cristofano’s character Melody Grace MacCartney. For her, the worst part is that her entire life is a lie.

Melody was just six years old the Sunday morning that she begged her parents to take her into the city for eggs at her favorite restaurant. Instead of having eggs, her family walked in on a mafia hit going down. Although they turned and ran, the federal agents found them and eventually the Melody’s parents agreed to testify. And then her family entered the program. When readers first meet Melody, she has been in the program twenty years and has moved eight times, start over with eight new names and fabricated backgrounds. She has left everything behind eight times and has changed her hair color so often she doesn’t even know what her natural color is.

And she is bored.

When she calls her contact in the program to report a supposedly suspicious phone call, she is once again on her way. Only this time something goes very wrong and instead of spending time in drab motel rooms while her new life is created, she ends up in the hands of her past-her real past. Jonathan Bovaro, the son of the mob boss her parents testified against manages to snatch her while she is in the custody of the federal marshall service. And then things really get interesting.

The Girl She Used to Be is just about impossible to put down. It’s really two different stories tied up in one. Melody really has no life-she has no idea who she really is and this bothers her more than the fear of being found. But then she is found by the very people she’s been hiding from for twenty years. How did Jonathan find her? And why didn’t he kill her instead of taking her? The author does a very good job of building the suspense as the book progresses and keeps readers guessing with surprising twists as the story unfolds.

Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines 16 CFR Part 255

<br /><font size=-1>