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Chasing Fate
When Kate's English teacher asks her to do an interview in lieu of the term paper she missed, Kate figures she'll interview the bum who sleeps on the bench in the cemetery. After all, who could be easier? The bum, however, tells a shocking story of his career in the Navy SEALs and his work as a sniper. Finally, he asks Kate to return a solid gold statue, which he stole many years ago, to its owner. Now, burdened with the incredible task as well as an alcoholic father, Kate must find the strength within herself to succeed.
202 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 20, 2013
Chasing Fate is YA Adventure with an elegantly orchestrated plot, a minimalist writing style, and a few surprises that keep you on the edge of your comfort zone.
December 11, 2013
Chasing Fate, by Maria Miller is one those books that you just can’t stop reading. Both a mystery and an action adventure, Chasing Fate gave me an exciting read right from the first page. The lead heroine, Kate, is near the end of her senior year in high school, a typical teenager, who can’t wait to finish school. Why? He father, though wealthy and a well-respected businessman, is also an alcoholic, frequently terrorizing Kate and his wife. As the story begins, coming home drunk again, he ripped up Kate’s final term paper for her English class, a paper worth seventy percent of her grade. Kate has never told anyone about her home situation, claiming this time she didn’t write the paper. Her teacher gives her one last chance. Interview someone.
Wanting nothing to do with her father’s friends, she rebels and interviews a homeless bum in the park, there in New Orleans. Expecting nothing much from the man, she hears an incredible story. He was a Navy SEAL and a sniper, who has murdered many. However, on his last assignment, he stole a golden idol from a cave in the jungles of Ecuador, before shooting his partner, who was also supposed to shoot him. Now, the bum is remorseful, haunted by his memories, and wants to return the idol and receive forgiveness. Knowing that he cannot do it, he gives the idol to Kate, begging her to return it to its rightful owners.
Unsure how much of this tale is true, Kate takes a drawing of the idol to a local professor, who wants that idol at any cost! Worse, her English paper was discovered by a CIA official, who had ordered the SEALs to hit their last targets in Ecuador, in an attempt to cover up a secret covert operation of his. Now both men are after the idol and the CIA man wants her eliminated as well.
Kate’s onetime boyfriend, Jeff, rescues her just as two hit men are about to kidnap the unsuspecting teen. Mystified by this, Kate decides to return the idol to the bum in the park, but finds the bum missing and the park filled with men digging holes looking for something. Now, the situation turns deadly serious. Kate and Jeff flee their homes, intending to first get away from these men and later to try to return the idol themselves.
The two lead characters, Kate and Jeff, are well-developed and seem to me to be very real teens. In my opinion, the description of life with an alcoholic father is realistically portrayed and accurate, making the story seem very believable from the first pages.
The minimalist writing style combined with fast-paced action keeps the reader constantly moving through the pages! Although targeting YA, this novel is well worth reading by anyone who likes mystery and action-adventure. I give it 5 stars!
Wanting nothing to do with her father’s friends, she rebels and interviews a homeless bum in the park, there in New Orleans. Expecting nothing much from the man, she hears an incredible story. He was a Navy SEAL and a sniper, who has murdered many. However, on his last assignment, he stole a golden idol from a cave in the jungles of Ecuador, before shooting his partner, who was also supposed to shoot him. Now, the bum is remorseful, haunted by his memories, and wants to return the idol and receive forgiveness. Knowing that he cannot do it, he gives the idol to Kate, begging her to return it to its rightful owners.
Unsure how much of this tale is true, Kate takes a drawing of the idol to a local professor, who wants that idol at any cost! Worse, her English paper was discovered by a CIA official, who had ordered the SEALs to hit their last targets in Ecuador, in an attempt to cover up a secret covert operation of his. Now both men are after the idol and the CIA man wants her eliminated as well.
Kate’s onetime boyfriend, Jeff, rescues her just as two hit men are about to kidnap the unsuspecting teen. Mystified by this, Kate decides to return the idol to the bum in the park, but finds the bum missing and the park filled with men digging holes looking for something. Now, the situation turns deadly serious. Kate and Jeff flee their homes, intending to first get away from these men and later to try to return the idol themselves.
The two lead characters, Kate and Jeff, are well-developed and seem to me to be very real teens. In my opinion, the description of life with an alcoholic father is realistically portrayed and accurate, making the story seem very believable from the first pages.
The minimalist writing style combined with fast-paced action keeps the reader constantly moving through the pages! Although targeting YA, this novel is well worth reading by anyone who likes mystery and action-adventure. I give it 5 stars!
June 22, 2013
Once in a while you find a book that you just can’t put down; Chasing Fate by Maria Miller is just such a book. It is full of adventure and action and will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire book.
The author did a great job of putting together a story that was exciting and full of intrigue. Even with all the twist and turns in the storyline it was easy to follow and keep up with. I found it easy to put myself into the story and follow along with the heroes and this always makes a book better for me.
I liked the way Maria Miller developed her characters. Her heroes were both strong yet vulnerable, which thought and acted like your everyday teenagers. I found it easy to identify with them and thought there was realness to them.
Chasing Fate by Maria Miller was an excellent YA mystery/adventure book and I highly recommend this book to all readers.
[Please note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.]
The author did a great job of putting together a story that was exciting and full of intrigue. Even with all the twist and turns in the storyline it was easy to follow and keep up with. I found it easy to put myself into the story and follow along with the heroes and this always makes a book better for me.
I liked the way Maria Miller developed her characters. Her heroes were both strong yet vulnerable, which thought and acted like your everyday teenagers. I found it easy to identify with them and thought there was realness to them.
Chasing Fate by Maria Miller was an excellent YA mystery/adventure book and I highly recommend this book to all readers.
[Please note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.]
December 9, 2013
I found this story to be something different in that the twists and turns kept me guessing - never knowing quite where it was leading.
On one level it's about a girl finding her way in life, trying to understand her parents, especially her father. She meets and talks to homeless Max, who brings interest and purpose into her life - here the tale taking an unexpected turn.
Kate is an interesting character with flaws enough to make her real, one who is constantly striving to find her way in the world and understand its complexities. We see the world through her eyes, and how everything is about how she feels and her struggles - until she meets Max and something changes.
I'm not quite sure how to categorise this story as it's a mixture of a growing up tale, mystery, adventure with some crime /underworld connections.
I do like this author's writing style and would say that this story is worth a look.
On one level it's about a girl finding her way in life, trying to understand her parents, especially her father. She meets and talks to homeless Max, who brings interest and purpose into her life - here the tale taking an unexpected turn.
Kate is an interesting character with flaws enough to make her real, one who is constantly striving to find her way in the world and understand its complexities. We see the world through her eyes, and how everything is about how she feels and her struggles - until she meets Max and something changes.
I'm not quite sure how to categorise this story as it's a mixture of a growing up tale, mystery, adventure with some crime /underworld connections.
I do like this author's writing style and would say that this story is worth a look.
November 29, 2013
Meh. It was interesting to start - Kate wasn't a very nice person but it all fit with who she was and what we knew of her. And I thought the initial message, that people can be more than they seem, was a really great message. But once Max got to the Ecuador part of his story and then we quickly kicked off into the "I've been searching for that Idol for ever!" and random death plots, this just got too ridiculous for me to enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews