Breakaway

by Valentine Cardinale

Father Richard Bianchi is looking for a little peace and quiet in a rented house in New Jersey. He needs time to reflect on his future. Should he continue his ministry as a parish priest or get married? Two days after moving in, he meets Dana Dvorak, a sixteen-year-old with at least half a dozen issues. She's constantly quarreling with her dad and has little contact with her mom, who lives in Florida with her new family. The star of an all-boys hockey team, Dana is getting ready to play in a tournament that could change her life. Finally, there's Eddie Dvorak, Dana's dad. Deep down, he loves his daughter but doesn't think much of hockey and girls playing it. A Navy veteran, he yearns to be at sea and takes pride in his country but he's troubled by many of the actions of the government. The world comes crashing down on everyone one night when Eddie is mysteriously abducted from his home. At the center of a nail-biting drama that follows is Father Bianchi-Richie to his friends-now part of the investigative team.

240 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2017

About the author

Valentine Cardinale enjoyed a successful career as the editor of leading magazines in the advertising and pharmacy fields before deciding to write fiction. Breakaway is his fourth novel. Val lives in New Jersey, not far from the West Side neighborhood in New York City where he grew up.

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful story! It was interesting from the beginning when teenager Dana knocked on former priest Richie's door. She was looking for a bathroom since she couldn't get home yet, and Richie lived closest in the neighborhood. I was surprised a girl would go to a stranger's house like that, but it turned out fine, since the neighbor is a good guy. Dana is an athletic girl who loves to play hockey, and the parts of the book where she is playing and leading the team to victory is very cool. When the girl's dad, Eddie disappears one night, Dana relies on her neighbor and her grandfather to help her make it through. From there, the book is very suspenseful as Richie and Dana try to find out what happened to Eddie. It's a surprise to them when they find out he didn't just leave his daughter on her own to work out some issues, as it first appears. It's a mystery with some major twists and turns, and I had a hard time putting this one down. I recommend this book, which has some great characters and a compelling story line.

[LuAnn Rodriquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

BREAKAWAY by Valentine Cardinale was very good--a book about people's relationships in more than one setting, but primarily a small New Jersey town. The main character is a good man who is taking a leave of absence from the priesthood while he decides what direction his future will take, with several encouraging options opening up to him by the end of the story. I enjoyed the majority of the people I got to know in this book, a truth I have experienced those times in my life that I lived in a small town.

Hockey never having been an interest of mine, the teenage girl, Dana, who is a neighbor of the leave-of-absence priest, Richie, is a big part of this story and the play-by-play descriptions of the games she plays as the star of an all boys team are interesting and entertaining. Dana's father, Eddie, gets into a dangerous situation that adds suspense. The story has every element needed and draws you in without graphic sex but does still allow for romantic interest. I recommend this book highly!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

[Karen Haueisen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dana Dvorak certainly has plenty going on in her life, but there's always room for a well-meaning, not-quite-ex-priest with a penchant for solving family problems, and in this case, crimes. Written in a very matter-of-fact style, almost like Sgt. Friday from Dragnet, Breakaway delivers a confident young lady into a "boys" sport, with a big dose of can-do attitude. Her father makes a remarkable transition from just short of neglectful to father of the year, aided in large part by his kidnapping at the hands of some would-be terrorists. While the story derails on occasion to spit out an unnecessary number of statistics, overall, Cardinale writes a heartwarming story about the genuine good nature of people. Perhaps a little unnerving is the readiness with which Richard inserts himself into the Dvorak family drama and a counter-terrorism investigation, but at least he turns out to be one of the good guys.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. I felt the author did an amazing job with the storyline and plot. I was trying to figure out the mystery until the very end. I did not figure it out, which surprised me, but also delighted me.
Character development and backstory were well executed. The author provided unique characters which really set this story apart.
I devoured this book and couldn't stop reading it. Many times as I came to the end of a chapter I would think "just one more chapter."
Highly recommended read!