Meet Sara Winthrop – Heroine Of Sara’s Game
“A gripping read from start to finish”
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For a full review of the book, please scroll down. In the meantime, please welcome Sara Winthrop, the mother of three who went to hell and back in Sara’s Game.
As if your husband disappearing two years earlier wasn’t bad enough, one day all three of your children are kidnapped. Can you ever get back to a normal life after something like that? Do you now live in constant fear or has it put life’s everyday worries into perspective?
It’s certainly a challenge now, and you’re right, those everyday worries are magnified. I sort of live in this heightened, on-edge sense of normalcy, if that makes any sense. I read labels like a lawyer reads a contract. I’ve developed a slight case of OCD, at least with checking the alarms and deadbolts before I go to bed at night. It’s tough. You can allow a moment or a situation to define your life, but you can’t let it control your life.
You were very tough-minded during the “game”. You kept a level head and didn’t just collapse into a quivering wreck. Where did your resolve come from?
I’d like to think that any mother forced into the same type of scenario would do whatever it took to rescue her children. Don’t get me wrong, I had a few meltdowns along the way, but if you dig really deep, I believe most people can find strength within themselves that they didn’t know existed.
How do you think things would have turned out if you’d told Detective Johnson about the phone call at the school, rather than just doing as you were told and dashing out?
The thought has crossed my mind, believe me, but it’s hard to say, and I’m confident I chose the right path. What if I had said something to him and the consequences for disobeying actually came true? I doubt I’d be sitting here today, you know? The thing is, we live in a world of infinite choices and possibilities, and the best you can hope for is trusting in your judgment.
Before the “game”, what did you believe deep down had happened to your husband?
That’s another situation where you can cycle through a list of infinite scenarios. And it’s probably safe to say I went through a few million of them in the middle of so many sleepless nights, and hardly a single one of them made any sense, given what I knew at the time. I finally settled on the idea that maybe he’d gone for a run, fell into the Willamette, and drowned. I realize that’s farfetched, but it’s a whole lot more believable than the places your mind goes at three o’ clock in the morning. Like alien abduction (true story).
Do you have any good memories of your marriage to Brian or have they all been displaced?
Let me get back to you on that one.
What one thing do you wish you’d done differently during the “game”?
Oh, gosh, that’s a good question! I’m confident I made the right choices, but I also took some risks that probably put the four of us in greater danger. Although, who’s to say that those risks weren’t the unexpected reaction that tipped the game in my favor? If I had to pick one specific instance, I’d have to say I wouldn’t have spoken to the woman on the bridge. Knowing that I was being watched so closely, that complete and total lack of control, well, it nearly broke me.
Thanks, Sara. Good luck with trying to move forward and putting that horrifying day behind you.
If you would like to follow Sara Winthrop’s harrowing experience in “Sara’s Game”, you can read the first 10% for FREE via the “Look Inside” feature or BUY NOW on Amazon.
Sara’s Game Review
The plot
Two years ago, Sara’s husband left for the gym one morning … and never came back. Now, her three children have gone missing from their schools and a note under her windshield wiper asks: “Are you ready to play the game?”.
Sara’s Game is a thriller that follows Sara as she races against time to deal with any parent’s worst nightmare – the kidnapping of their children. She must complete the riddles and tests in the ‘game’ set by her tormentor to get them back. Of course, there are twists and turns to keep you guessing the baddie’s identity and why they have chosen to persecute Sara and her family.
The heroine
Sara is a capable businesswoman who juggles a successful career with being a single mum to her three kids since her husband disappeared. She is well liked and respected and ‘gets shit done’ as her boss put it. This attitude, along with her fierce motherly instinct, helped her dig in and make tough decisions as she was forced to play the worst ‘game’ of her life.
The cast of supporting characters
Teddy is Sara’s obnoxious coworker that you will love to hate. Sara only puts up with him as he is the boss’s son. He is spoiled, infantile and delights in pushing people too far. Are there any glimpses that he is not all bad? You will have to buy the book to find out!
Jonathan Johnson is the detective following on Sara’s heels as she plays the game. He may look like he ‘started shaving yesterday’ but has 5 years’ experience in Missing Persons. His journey is one of frustration from all sides as the 3 hour golden window following the kidnappings snaps firmly shut but he keeps digging – he is the detective you would want on your side if anything so horrific happened to you.
The ‘could not put it down’ parts
All of it, but as the final level reached its climax, I could feel the seconds counting down in my chest.
The craziest part
Level 1 of the game – Humiliation – what must have seemed at the time to be the longest 5 minutes of Sara’s life soon began to look like a walk in the park.
Where I was left wanting more
I would have liked to see a few more levels to the game – just so I could enjoy a good book for a bit longer!
It might also have been enlightening to learn more about the baddie as the story unfolded – not to give away who they were but just to see what they were up to and to learn what was going through their obviously crazy mind.
Why it was good
Sara’s Game was a gripping read from start to finish. Sara is a strong and well developed character. You were there with her all the way – through the frustrations, the pain of not knowing what was happening to her children and the determination to do whatever it took to get them back.
The harrowing tension is present from the start of the book as you wonder how on earth you would cope in a similar situation and the suspense builds as you cross more people off the ‘who dunnit?’ list. It is full of action and well written – the scenes playing out like a movie in your mind’s eye. It is a page turner right to the end where a satisfying epilogue gives you closure on the events of the day.
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