The abrupt disappearance of young Daisy Chance haunts the small town of Defiance, Texas. Fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper searches for answers in this gritty and compelling story of love and sorrow, revealing God's hand of redemption in impossible situations. Lyrical fiction from a bright new literary talent.

Hated this book!  

I did not care for this book at all. Every character in it is a caricature -- no subtlety, everyone is an exaggeration or extreme. Very tiresome. The story takes forever to resolve and in the end it is never really resolved. I forced myself to finish the book just to see how it ends, and the author leaves you hanging. I don't care if other books in the series contain some of the answers, I will not be reading them. This book is a complete waste of time.

Must-read first book of a must-read series  

I had to read this. It's the first book in Mary E. DeMuth's Defiance Texas trilogy, and I've already read and reviewed books two and three. It's a tribute to the author's excellent writing and characterization that I was so eager to read the beginning even though I already knew the conclusion of the story's mystery.

Daisy Chain introduces Daisy Marie Chance, whose disappearance haunts the trilogy. She's seen through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Jed, almost the boy-next-door--her best friend and the person she dreams of marrying one day. The novel tells the tale of Jed's coming-of-age as he deals with his guilt when Daisy's absence and his father's fierce presence are all that fill his life.

Having failed to protect his friend, Jed turns his efforts to protecting sister and mother and everyone he meets. He wants to please God and his Dad. He wants to make up for whatever he's done wrong. And he wants to solve the mystery all on his own.

The author has a very natural way with matters of faith and character. Her "bad guys" insist on being good sometimes, and her "good guys" on being bad. Her preachers preach truth and mistruth, faith and folly equally. And Jed tries to find his way through words while their weight and that of his sorrow bear him down. The most surprising people are gently wise, and when the final revelations are made, Jed proves himself ready to stand, still wobbly, still unsure, but definitely growing up and stepping forth. Goodbyes are hard to say. At the end of the book, for all that I knew the rest of the tale, it was hard to say goodbye as a reader too.

I know how Jed will continue. I know how his mother and his friend's mother will be tied to each other in pain and love and hope. I know what happened, and knowing makes me delight in the sudden sight of clues that the author has scattered in my path. Knowing the facts is nothing like the same as knowing the people, and the author makes me know them as neighbors and friends.

I love this series. If you haven't read it yet, start here or end here. Either will delight. And I love this book.

Captivating story line and characters  

I got this book when it was free for the Kindle since it was of the genre I usually like to read.
The story is captivating from the very beginning. The author has developed characters that immediately draw you into the story. The story of a young girl, Daisy, gone missing, and the subsequent guilt of her young friend, Jed, grabs your attention quickly, and the book becomes a real page-turner.
This is the first book in a triology, so the ending leaves you wanting more. I took the bait, and bought the second book, A Slow Burn, and I have found myself just as engrossed in the continuing story. I'm sure I will buy the third book due out May 11.
I do usually enjoy reading Christian books. However, some authors can go overboard and seem to try too hard to make it a Christian book, and every other sentence is a scripture, etc., until the book looses it's story line and becomes unnatural. However, this author has balanced the message she's trying to relate with the story line very well. You don't feel like you're being preached to, as it all comes very naturally to the characters. This kind of book is rewarding to read, and leaves you thinking, but not feeling "preached at".
I have thoroughly enjoyed both books, and look forward to the final third book.

Sad book, disappointing ending  

Daisy Chain deals with many of the negative emotions that teens face, but in a very grisly and sad format without a definite ending. Is this real life? Yes. Is this something I want to read about? Not unless I were living through many of the same things, such as disappearance of a friend and an abusive home life. Without giving away too much of the ending, there are a lot of loose ends left hanging.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is a well written book but not my cup of tea. I don't like getting sad for the sake of getting sad.