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Missing Mandy
Librarian Note: Alternate cover edition - ISBN 13: 9781465765413.
Danny arrives in Ankleton to get away from his past life and start anew. But there's no peace for him here. He is haunted by apparitions, nightmares and strange noises in the basement of his house. And what's with the smell of oranges? Would be ever be able to solve this mystery?
There is someone locked up in a dark room. The walls and floor are spattered with blood. The torture continues. Will the cry for help be heard by anyone? Will there be a way out of this hell?
Danny arrives in Ankleton to get away from his past life and start anew. But there's no peace for him here. He is haunted by apparitions, nightmares and strange noises in the basement of his house. And what's with the smell of oranges? Would be ever be able to solve this mystery?
There is someone locked up in a dark room. The walls and floor are spattered with blood. The torture continues. Will the cry for help be heard by anyone? Will there be a way out of this hell?
124 pages, ebook
First published January 5, 2012
6 people want to read
About the author
Shirley S. Simon
2 books18 followersShirley lives in Delhi, India, with her family. Her love for the mysterious and the supernatural grew early on as a child, listening about haunted houses, apparitions on lonely roads, and paranormal activities, supposedly true stories narrated by family and neighbors.
Those stories fueled a fascination for the unknown, one that she kept fed with a regular dose of ghosts, demons, the paranormal, and everything that goes bump in the night, thanks to a reading habit instilled by her parents.
Today, she reads across genres, including crime, thrillers, mysteries, paranormal, supernatural, and romance. Some of her favorites include Bram Stoker, Agatha Christie, Tami Hoag, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, L.J. Smith, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Thomas Harris, Elizabeth Haynes, and Rita Stradling, among others. She has a soft corner for indie authors, having come to love and admire their stories.
When she is not working, you will find Shirley either penning down her stories, reading books, or designing e-cards.
Writing stories is a newfound love she has come to cherish. Shirley wants to write mesmerizing stories that keep readers hooked and remain with them for a long time.
You can find her latest release—SINISTER TIES—at leading online retailers. She is currently revising MISSING MANDY, her previous work, and plans to release the revised edition by the end of this year.
Those stories fueled a fascination for the unknown, one that she kept fed with a regular dose of ghosts, demons, the paranormal, and everything that goes bump in the night, thanks to a reading habit instilled by her parents.
Today, she reads across genres, including crime, thrillers, mysteries, paranormal, supernatural, and romance. Some of her favorites include Bram Stoker, Agatha Christie, Tami Hoag, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, L.J. Smith, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Thomas Harris, Elizabeth Haynes, and Rita Stradling, among others. She has a soft corner for indie authors, having come to love and admire their stories.
When she is not working, you will find Shirley either penning down her stories, reading books, or designing e-cards.
Writing stories is a newfound love she has come to cherish. Shirley wants to write mesmerizing stories that keep readers hooked and remain with them for a long time.
You can find her latest release—SINISTER TIES—at leading online retailers. She is currently revising MISSING MANDY, her previous work, and plans to release the revised edition by the end of this year.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 3, 2012
Danny is an artist who moves to a very small town after a divorce. He's haunted by an apparition of a girl, a lovely girl, that he doesn't realize is more ghost than human...at first. Who is she? And how can he help her?
This is a relatively short book, and the concept is a good one. The mystery of the girl is one that the reader wants to hang on until the end to find out how it all ends, because all is not as it seems. While the plot was simple and straight-forward, I liked the characters and the setting.
The execution leaves a bit to be desired. For me, I found the dialogue stiff, formal, and unrealistic. There is a lot of description of mundane daily activity, especially in the first half of the book. It takes a long while to set up and get to the heart of the story.
The pacing was off. While the beginning moved too slow, the ending wrapped up too quickly! The whole climatic ending, which I could have enjoyed for pages and pages, was wrapped up in summary form, like a witness recalling events of a crime to the police.
The other issue I had with the book was the punctuation...especially the misplaced commas. Commas were placed where there shouldn't have been any, and missing where they were needed. It caused a little bit of re-reading sentences on my part to get the right inflections.
With some editing, this could be a very good story.
This is a relatively short book, and the concept is a good one. The mystery of the girl is one that the reader wants to hang on until the end to find out how it all ends, because all is not as it seems. While the plot was simple and straight-forward, I liked the characters and the setting.
The execution leaves a bit to be desired. For me, I found the dialogue stiff, formal, and unrealistic. There is a lot of description of mundane daily activity, especially in the first half of the book. It takes a long while to set up and get to the heart of the story.
The pacing was off. While the beginning moved too slow, the ending wrapped up too quickly! The whole climatic ending, which I could have enjoyed for pages and pages, was wrapped up in summary form, like a witness recalling events of a crime to the police.
The other issue I had with the book was the punctuation...especially the misplaced commas. Commas were placed where there shouldn't have been any, and missing where they were needed. It caused a little bit of re-reading sentences on my part to get the right inflections.
With some editing, this could be a very good story.
May 7, 2012
Danny Deveroux escapes from his former life, and his ex wife, to the small town of Ankleton. Focused on his art and rebuilding himself, he calls a small cottage on the lake home. Danny quickly makes friends with the kind family across the lake, and they fill him in on many of the people around town. But Danny hasn’t asked them about the mystery girl he often sees near his home.
His life in his peaceful home takes a turn towards the bizarre after she makes her first appearance. Danny starts hearing strange noises in the basement, to find no one and nothing out of place. Dreams so eerie he begins to question his decision to move here. And the inescapable, intermittent smell of oranges that sometimes has him sick to his stomach. As Danny starts to put the pieces together, he is shocked to learn the secrets of this small town.
Missing Mandy was a brilliant little story which kept my curiosity throughout. Simon mixed a dash supernatural with a sprinkle of mystery and suspense all into a pleasant package. I thought the story was on the short side; maybe a couple uninterrupted hours for the average reader. With some good character development, a thorough edit for grammar, I think Simon could polish this story to excellence. If she felt compelled to, she could turn this into a great little miniseries focusing on Mandy and her new found abilities.
Staff Reviewer - Staccato Publishing
3 1/2 Stars
His life in his peaceful home takes a turn towards the bizarre after she makes her first appearance. Danny starts hearing strange noises in the basement, to find no one and nothing out of place. Dreams so eerie he begins to question his decision to move here. And the inescapable, intermittent smell of oranges that sometimes has him sick to his stomach. As Danny starts to put the pieces together, he is shocked to learn the secrets of this small town.
Missing Mandy was a brilliant little story which kept my curiosity throughout. Simon mixed a dash supernatural with a sprinkle of mystery and suspense all into a pleasant package. I thought the story was on the short side; maybe a couple uninterrupted hours for the average reader. With some good character development, a thorough edit for grammar, I think Simon could polish this story to excellence. If she felt compelled to, she could turn this into a great little miniseries focusing on Mandy and her new found abilities.
Staff Reviewer - Staccato Publishing
3 1/2 Stars
March 3, 2013
Review of Missing Mandy
4 stars
“Missing Mandy” is a novel of suspense and romance, and is wildly mysterious and imaginatively original. At first I wasn’t even certain who the “Mandy” of the title would be, because the author lays background and endears us to the protagonist, Danny, a recently-divorced painter (henpecked by his long-suffering mother). To get away from Mother and to recuperate after the painful end of the marriage, Danny buys a cottage near the tiny village of Ankleton, and nearly immediately odd and even suspicious events occur. Danny has some horrible nightmares—the kind that catch a hold and linger on—and he is bombarded by the bizarre scent of oranges, where no oranges are. As he gets to meet neighbors around the nearby lake, and the villagers, he sees and soon meets a lovely young woman—who turns out to be Mandy. The problem is: Mandy has been missing for months, and Danny is the only one who can see her. Debut Author Shirley S. Simon works this suspenseful mystery out to a satisfying conclusion, leaving the story and characters to linger on in the reader’s mind.
4 stars
“Missing Mandy” is a novel of suspense and romance, and is wildly mysterious and imaginatively original. At first I wasn’t even certain who the “Mandy” of the title would be, because the author lays background and endears us to the protagonist, Danny, a recently-divorced painter (henpecked by his long-suffering mother). To get away from Mother and to recuperate after the painful end of the marriage, Danny buys a cottage near the tiny village of Ankleton, and nearly immediately odd and even suspicious events occur. Danny has some horrible nightmares—the kind that catch a hold and linger on—and he is bombarded by the bizarre scent of oranges, where no oranges are. As he gets to meet neighbors around the nearby lake, and the villagers, he sees and soon meets a lovely young woman—who turns out to be Mandy. The problem is: Mandy has been missing for months, and Danny is the only one who can see her. Debut Author Shirley S. Simon works this suspenseful mystery out to a satisfying conclusion, leaving the story and characters to linger on in the reader’s mind.
November 8, 2013
I enjoyed this 18 chapter book. Divorced Danny rented a place in the country. Mysterious things kept happening in his new home. Was the place haunted? Readers soon found out that Mandy has been missing.
There was some headhopping and some of the dialogue was kinda clunky…I wish some contractions could’ve been used or something.
I liked the concept that Mandy could reach out to Danny, that he was the only one who could see her. My favorite scenes were: 1) when Mandy first realized that Danny was interacting with her 2) the Howard family causing a ruckus in the town square 3) all the events after Roger, Danny’s best friend, visited
As a reader, I loved trying to figure out the clues to Mandy’s disappearance. Follow the orange smell…I also loved that Danny could feel an eerie presence in his home, especially when objects started moving on their own. It was a nice twist of who had Mandy all along, and also if she was alive or dead. It was a pleasant surprise because I guessed right on one thing but not the other. I need to brush up on my detective skills LOL.
I RECOMMEND this book to read.
There was some headhopping and some of the dialogue was kinda clunky…I wish some contractions could’ve been used or something.
I liked the concept that Mandy could reach out to Danny, that he was the only one who could see her. My favorite scenes were: 1) when Mandy first realized that Danny was interacting with her 2) the Howard family causing a ruckus in the town square 3) all the events after Roger, Danny’s best friend, visited
As a reader, I loved trying to figure out the clues to Mandy’s disappearance. Follow the orange smell…I also loved that Danny could feel an eerie presence in his home, especially when objects started moving on their own. It was a nice twist of who had Mandy all along, and also if she was alive or dead. It was a pleasant surprise because I guessed right on one thing but not the other. I need to brush up on my detective skills LOL.
I RECOMMEND this book to read.
March 12, 2013
Danny got a divorce and moved to Ankleton in a beautiful cottage with a view of the lake. it didnt take long for him to have a girl visitor when he approached her she ran. the second time he met her and she stayed and told him her name was Mandy. What Danny didnt know was she was being held and was shackled in someones warehouse and she appeared when she closed her eyes . Read this amazing short story to sind out if Danny rushes to her rescue or is he to late to find her. This is the authors first novel and she did excellent with it.
February 25, 2013
Missing Mandy
By Shirley S. Simon
Danny is moving on from a failed marriage and strained relationship with his mother. Feeling a desperate need for change, Danny finds for sale a quaint cottage situated on the bank of a lake in the small community of Ankleton. Feeling this is surely the answer to his prayers for peace and solitude, he promptly packs up the pieces and moves to his new home. It doesn't take long for Danny to meet new people and make friends, he quickly settles in feeling comfortable and content.
Danny finds an few annoying complaints relatively soon after he has settled in; such as a scent of oranges which can be mild or quite overpowering and inevitably he wakes to find mess and crumbs in the kitchen every morning from some rodents that have taken up residence in his cottage. While you don't hear any more about the rodents once the exterminator visits the scent of oranges linger throughout the story. Vivid dreams also seem to plague Danny from time to time.
The book was a easy read, though I found the pace to fast at the 3/4 mark. The ending was too abrupt, it seemed very rushed. I would have liked to enjoy the intrigue that the writer had been building surrounding Mandy for a bit longer. Grammar issues throughout, I found myself going back a sentence or two to get the inflection correct. A little rough around the edges still. With some polish this story has some real potential. I liked the characters and wouldn't mind learning more about them....what happens next.
Overall I enjoyed the book and would imagine that with a bit more fleshing out in places; with more attention to grammar and dialect this story has great potential. This was a good Sunday afternoon read!
*This book was a gift from the author in exchange for a honest review.
By Shirley S. Simon
Danny is moving on from a failed marriage and strained relationship with his mother. Feeling a desperate need for change, Danny finds for sale a quaint cottage situated on the bank of a lake in the small community of Ankleton. Feeling this is surely the answer to his prayers for peace and solitude, he promptly packs up the pieces and moves to his new home. It doesn't take long for Danny to meet new people and make friends, he quickly settles in feeling comfortable and content.
Danny finds an few annoying complaints relatively soon after he has settled in; such as a scent of oranges which can be mild or quite overpowering and inevitably he wakes to find mess and crumbs in the kitchen every morning from some rodents that have taken up residence in his cottage. While you don't hear any more about the rodents once the exterminator visits the scent of oranges linger throughout the story. Vivid dreams also seem to plague Danny from time to time.
The book was a easy read, though I found the pace to fast at the 3/4 mark. The ending was too abrupt, it seemed very rushed. I would have liked to enjoy the intrigue that the writer had been building surrounding Mandy for a bit longer. Grammar issues throughout, I found myself going back a sentence or two to get the inflection correct. A little rough around the edges still. With some polish this story has some real potential. I liked the characters and wouldn't mind learning more about them....what happens next.
Overall I enjoyed the book and would imagine that with a bit more fleshing out in places; with more attention to grammar and dialect this story has great potential. This was a good Sunday afternoon read!
*This book was a gift from the author in exchange for a honest review.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews