Into the Fire

Beneath the Grove by L.T. Ryan and C.R. Gray is Book 7 in A Maddie Castle Thriller.

Book 7 opens with Maddie accepting a case of a frantic mother wanting to find her adult missing daughter (Jasmine). It also picks up where Maddie left off emotionally in Field of Bones.

Maddie's boyfriend Bentley and her dad (Sam) hid some important things from her while trying to help find Bentley's kidnapped sister-in-law Daisy. Maddie finds it hard to forgive the depth of their deceit even though deep down she understands why they did it. She's refusing to talk to either of them, wondering if she can reconcile what they did.

Instead, after listening to the mother's, the brother's, and the ex-fiancé's details of the missing girl's life, Maddie decides to go undercover to the cult-sounding Willow Grove where Jasmine has landed. 

What she realizes once she's inside Willow Grove is it's a weird place for vulnerable individuals who need a sense of community where what they do has some sort of purpose and alliance. However, what funnels this sense of belonging and loyalty to their suspicious, condescending leader and his wife (with everyone making up their own names) are homemade/homegrown drugs. Jasmine, it seems, has bought into it all. 

Maddie plays her part well but is surprised by two major events before everything turns chaotic. There are discoveries, threats, a car chase, and a gruesome act that lands Jasmine in the hospital. When it's all said and done, there is hope for reconciliation for a family but disturbing and unresolved questions about the cult. 

There is a bit of a cliffhanger in this book as well, but it's more of an interesting possibility that is a result of the previous rescue of Daisy and the newfound freedom and opportunities in her life. 

(Profanity present.) 

Father, you know us all from the inside out. You give us grace, mercy, and every opportunity to turn to you. You allow it to be our choice. May each one know you, that any and all talents and gifts are from you. Bless these authors, Lord, as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.