Not by Sight - by Kathy Herman

Five years ago, Micah Cummings and his daughter Riley Jo disappeared without a trace, and leaving behind only questions.  Had Micah chosen Riley Jo over his other sons and daughter to run away with and start a new life?  Had they gotten lost in the woods that Micah knew like the back of his hands?  Or had something darker and more sinister happened to them?  The biggest question, of course, is: are they alive or not?  Abby, Riley Jo's now 16-year-old sister, holds onto faith that they are still alive.  She tells her family she has seen a little girl who looks just like Riley Jo would now, but her mother and older brother refuse to give in to the hope that Abby tries to bring them, writing it off just like the other times Abby has thought she saw her sister.  However, Abby won't let this one go, and when she begins to receive threatening phone calls telling her to stop looking for the girl, she feels the need to figure out what's going on, because even if this little girl isn't her sister, she may still be in danger.

The fears and what ifs in this book felt very real - what would I do if somebody I loved disappeared without reason?  Would I hold on to hope, contrary to what everyone around me was telling me?  Would I see their faces everywhere I turned?  It was so easy to see the story from both sides - Abby holding onto faith that God would bring her father and little sister back to her alive, and Kate - so afraid to hope, yet unable to truly grieve after so much time without answers.  Abby's journey of faith, as she encourages her little brother Jesse to believe, was captured so completely in her explanation to Jesse of why she loves the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: "I love that story too.  What's also amazing is that they told the king they would trust God even if He didn't save them.  I'd love to have that kind of faith.  I don't yet."  The Christians in this book had to deal with real-world struggles - could they continue to believe even if it felt like God wasn't answering their prayers?

I give this book 3.5 stars.  It was well-written, and I could feel the characters' fears, hopes, and struggles.  It's the first in a series, and I look forward to following along with this family!

You can find Not by Sight HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.