Product Description

Chained To Yesterday

When tragedy struck and Gracie Lang lost everything, her faith crumbled, and nothing but the drive for justice propelled her forward. But after two years of dead-end searching, the truth Gracie seeks is the very thing her stalker will stop at nothing to hide.

Forgiveness Unlocks the Future

An FBI agent in the Crimes Against Children Unit, Steven Kessler spends his days rescuing other people’s children and nights caring for his son. He’s through with God, embittered by his ex-wife who abandoned them both, and definitely doesn’t expect what’s coming next.

The Past Is the Key

A plot to kidnap a British ambassador’s daughter dangerously intersects Steven and Gracie’s worlds–a collision that demands a decision. But are they willing to pay the high ransom required to redeem dreams and reignite hope?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28401 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-17
• Released on: 2007-04-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781590527474
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
“Steeped in police intrigue and rich characters, Ransomed Dreams entertains, educates, and captivates. Amy Wallace is a fresh, vibrant voice in the Christian market.”
- Mark Mynheir, homicide detective and author of The Void.

“Ransomed Dreams had me hooked from the start and didn’t let go until the deeply satisfying ending.”
- Kristin Billerbeck, author of What a Girl Wants

About the Author
Amy Wallace is the author of Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises, a homeschool mom, and self-confessed chocoholic. She is a graduate of the Gwinnett County Citizens Police Academy and a contributing author of several books including God Answers Moms’ Prayers and Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Diabetes. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Gracie’s night overflowed with promise. Uncharacteristic Georgia snow glistened in the front yard, and a cozy fire warmed her living room. She hummed “Silent Night,” even though the memory of Christmas grew to the week-old mark. Cider sloshed in her hands as she dodged two-year-old Joshua to find her corner of the couch.

“Mommy, me like da fire truck.” Joshua circled the coffee table, making siren noises, as Jake, their golden retriever, beat a quick retreat to his new bed in the corner.

“Come here, little man.” Mark flopped down on the floor and tickled the toy away from Joshua.

Gracie smiled at the scene near her feet and caught Mark looking her over. He winked. They’d soon enjoy a private celebration of their seventh anniversary, complete with chocolate, a bubble bath, and massages–after the kiddos were tucked in bed at their grandparents’ house a short drive away.

Christmas tree lights twinkled, and candles filled the air with the aromas of vanilla and peppermint. Gracie listened for the oven’s beep, indicating her famous chocolate pound cake was finished, but heard nothing except Jake’s tail thumping against his pallet.

Elizabeth snuggled up with a book and her pink blanket in the rocking chair across the room. Gracie smiled. “You going to join us, sweetie?”

Her blond curls bounced as she hurried past her daddy’s extended hand. Elizabeth preferred books to tickles any day. “I readin’ the book you gaved me.” She hopped into Gracie’s lap. “See the princess? I wanna be like her when I growed up.”

“You already are a princess.” Mark rose to his knees and pretended to bow. Elizabeth rewarded him with little giggles before she disappeared into the book again.

Gracie set her empty mug down and poked at Mark’s long, muscular legs with her toes. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.

“Penny for your thoughts, beautiful.” He slipped up on the couch and drew her close.

“It’ll cost you more than that.”

“How ’bout a kiss or two?”

Mark’s kisses would buy him anything he wanted. It was a wonder they didn’t have more than two children. “I’ll tell you, and then we’ve got to run. Kisses come later.” Heat filled her cheeks at the memory of their almost seven years. Guess God knew two little ones were about all she could manage and retain some semblance of sanity. “I don’t want to keep my parents waiting, but we can hurry home after.”

“No kisses first?” Mark stuck out his bottom lip. His blond, blue-eyed, six-foot frame shrank into the back of the couch with arms folded over his chest. He looked adorable with a pout.

“Don’t start, mister. I’ll collect my payment later.”

His little-boy expression slid into a lazy grin. He planted a kiss on her forehead. “We’d better hustle then.”

“You gonna bing da chock-it, Mommy?” Joshua zoomed his fire truck across the table again.

The cake.

She hightailed it into the kitchen. The oven remained cold and dark. No aroma of baking cake. “I don’t believe it. I forgot to turn on the oven.”

“No chocolate?” Elizabeth hugged her leg. “It’ll be okay.”

“Elizabeth’s right.” Mark picked up their pint-sized princess and tickled her tummy. “We’ll survive this one New Year’s Eve without the cake.”

“Hode me too, Daddy.” Joshua’s lobster claw hands snapping open and shut, begging to be picked up, made Gracie smile.

She checked the creamy brown batter and turned on the oven. “I really don’t want to waste all this good chocolate. Besides, it’s tradition. So why don’t you all head out, and I’ll bring the cake in time for dessert.” She rubbed Jake’s neck as he nudged closer to what he must have hoped would be dinner.

“I’d rather go without the cake than have you miss dinner.” Elizabeth and Joshua nodded.

“I’ll just straighten up around here a little and come over as soon as the oven beeps.” Gracie tickled Elizabeth’s side. “It won’t be too long.”

Mark hoisted their two kiddos higher on his hips. “Can we survive without Mommy for a few short minutes, my little man and little princess?”

They giggled.

“I’ll make sure everything is ready for when we get home.” Gracie wiggled her eyebrows.

That made Mark haul the kids out of the kitchen and toward the front door. He wrapped two squirming, laughing children into coats and hats as Jake danced around them, barking.

She adjusted the greenery on the banister. “I’ll see you soon.”

Mark hustled Elizabeth and Joshua through the kitchen again and out the door to the garage. He turned back toward her. “I’m thinking about a long night in front of the fire.”

She walked into his arms and adjusted his scarf. “You are the most wonderful husband in all the world, Mark Lang. I love you–to infinity and beyond.”

“Buzz Lightyear you are not, and I’m glad.” He wrapped his strong hands around hers and drew her close. When he placed a kiss on each one, she couldn’t stop the shiver that trailed up her spine.

Gracie stepped back. “But you’d better go before I decide not to let you out of my sight.”

“Come with us then. Turn off the oven and forget the cake.”

“Daddy, help peese!” Joshua’s voice came through the open door.

Gracie tilted her head to the side and put her hands on her hips.

Mark held up his palms in surrender. “I know. I know. I’m going and I’ll be careful. Don’t be too long, okay? I love you.”

She tipped her chin up and closed her eyes. His lips met hers and deepened the kiss while his arms lifted her off the ground.

With a playful nudge, she pulled back. “Soon.”

He set her down, slow and steady. His lingering smile sent a silent promise that warmed her from the inside out.

She couldn’t help but giggle when he turned up his jacket collar and winked.

She tossed him the keys and then flipped on the outside light as he buckled two little ones into their old blue minivan and closed the door. “Nice view,” she whispered.

Mark backed out of their driveway and into the white-dusted road.

One last wave and he was gone.

Gracie put books and all manner of toys back under the tree. They’d clean up later. Tonight was for fun. And romance.

Then she noticed a little pink teddy bear blanket flopping over the edge of Elizabeth’s tiny rocking chair. Elizabeth wouldn’t sleep without it.

The grandfather clock in the foyer showed that only three minutes had passed.

“If I know my girl, she’s probably asking for it now.” Gracie smiled. If she hurried, she’d catch up to Mark’s careful un-Atlanta-like driving. Cake or not, she’d rather be with her family.

Then it hit her. She could have her cake and her family too. She turned off the oven, loaded the still-cold cake into a carrier, and left Jake settled down for a long winter’s nap. She hustled into Mark’s restored Mustang–pink bear blanket and yummy chocolate in tow.

Within ten minutes, she spotted their van not too far off Highway 316. A few more turns and she’d have to slow down. The country landscape in the dark with snow falling wasn’t a good place to make up time.

Suddenly a fast-moving black truck flashed its brights.

Then everything blurred. Screeching tires. Crunching metal.
The truck plowed into the front of their minivan and sent it spinning off the road.

A scream filled the Mustang.

She slammed the brakes and swerved as the black monster barreled toward her. Look! Her mind willed her head to turn away from where the van had disappeared. She caught sight of a young man’s wild eyes as the truck sped past.

She pulled over to the shoulder and kicked open the door.
As she ran to the edge of the road, her pulse hammered against
her temples. The van’s engine made the solitary noise at the bottom
of a long, steep hill.

“Mark! My babies!”

Police. Ambulance. Phone.

She ran back to the car and fumbled through her purse. Phone shaking in her frozen hands, she called for help.

“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”

“Car accident. My family is trapped at the bottom of a hill. Off Highway 316. Past Harbins Road. I need to go help them.”

“Ma’am, if you could stay on the line–”

She dropped the phone and ran back to the tire-streaked pavement where the van had disappeared. “Oh, Lord, please let them get here fast.”

She fell to the ground and started to slide down into the ravine. Cold seeped into her coat as she pushed heavy branches out of her path, slowing the descent.

Minutes later, sirens split her desperate prayers. The once-quiet scene filled with red and blue lights, voices yelling. Police cars and fire trucks. Men in uniform pulling her back up to the road. Back to Mark’s car. Away from her family.

“Ma’am.”

Gracie spun around at the slight touch to her elbow.

“Did you see the accident?” An older police officer stood with his notepad and pen motioning toward the hill where firefighters swarmed.

“Yes, they’re my…”

“Can you describe in as much detail as possible what you saw?”

Gracie blinked and turned back to the hill. &#...

Customer Reviews

Fast Paced Suspense
Gracie Lang was driving behind her family when they were killed in a terrible accident. She's run from the memory ever since. Now she's determined to bring the hit and run killer to justice. It's a cold case. The police don't give her much encouragment, but she has to try.

FBI Agent, Stephen Kessler's wife walked out on him when their son was just a baby. He's an agent with the Crimes Against Children Unit, and spends his working hours trying to rescue other people's children and his nights being a single father to his son James.

Then both Gracie and Steven are caught in a battle with an unknown, mutual enemy. They struggle to learn the name of the person determined to destroy them before he can strike again. Amy Walace knows her stuff. Ransomed Dreams is a fast paced story of danger and intrigue seasoned with romance.

Buckle your seat belt and hang on....
Amy Wallace takes you on a wild ride in her new book Ransomed Dreams. It held my attention from page one to the closing of the book!!!!

The story centers around Gracie Lang, who experiences what a person might call their worst nightmear ... watching her family killed right in front of her.

As Gracie tries to heal she moves to a different place and begins working as a teacher at a special school. It's at this special school she meets the father of one of her students. FBI agent Steven Kessler works in the Crimes Against Children Unit and struggles with many heart issues, such as, how could God let terrible things happen to children as well as resentment toward an ex-wife who walked out on him and their infant son several years earlier and guilt for the times he didn't solve a case in time which resulted in a victim rather than a victory.

As Gracie continues to seek justice for her family's death and Steven tries to solve a major case, their paths come dangereously close.

This story is their journey through some very painful issues. Steven and Gracie felt very real. They were not saints but very much struggled with things you and I struggle with. Their feelings and emotions were completely realistic.

The secondary characters were ones you want to know better. Clint and Sara were a great couple. Clint makes a great partner and best friend for Steven.

I highly recommend this page turning novel. It will be a tough wait for book two (Clint and Sara's Story)... due out April 2008.

[...].

Get the book...you won't be sorry. Thanks Amy! Great work!

Heart-healing
"Her quest to see him pay, the anger that still simmered below the surface, gave her more strength than crumpling in her sadness...She wasn't ready to give that up." (p. 256)

When people face tragedy, they look for someone to blame. Gracie Lang didn't have to look far, because she witnessed the hit and run that changed her life. Now she's obsessed with finding the man who took everything from her. She rebuilds parts of her life, but her heart is far from healed. Her path keeps crossing with FBI agent Steve Kessler who has his own past horrors to deal with.

Their struggle toward wholeness is set against a tense kidnap and murder plot.

Ransomed Dreams grabbed me by the throat in the first few pages, and kept me entertained with a complex interweaving plot. I was especially impressed with the authentic feel of the FBI interactions.

But beyond the external storyline, Ransomed Dreams also whispered themes of healing and hope. The characters wrestle with honest questions and face the limits of their own attempts to deal with pain. The author's core focus of "heart healing" is portrayed with compassion and power. A great story that challenges the reader to let go of bitterness.