Final Vows, Karen Kingsbury
Final Vows, Karen Kingsbury
18 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
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Final Vows
Murder, Madness, and Twisted Justice in California

Author: Karen Kingsbury

Narrator: Kate Zane

Unabridged: 12 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/25/2023


Synopsis

A New York Times bestselling author and former Los Angeles Times reporter chronicles the marriage between a Christian woman and an ex-con that ends in murder.

When Carol Montecalvo began writing to a man in prison through a program at her church, she considered it her Christian duty. But the letters soon became her lifeline, something she actually looked forward to sending and receiving. She fell in love with the man behind the letters and just before Dan was released, they wed in the prison chapel. Their marriage lasted nine years, until the fateful night when Dan stoically called 911 to report his wife's murder.

With a half-million dollar insurance policy riding on his wife's death, and a string of adulterous affairs in his past, Dan is the most obvious suspect. But is this former felon really guilty? Or could he actually be a grieving widower, in the wrong place at the wrong time?

In this powerful true crime account of the gruesome murder and sensational trial that followed, New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury weaves an emotional story that leaves listeners guessing until the final, harrowing conclusion.

About Karen Kingsbury

American author, Karen Kingsbury, is the country's bestselling, inspirational storyteller. She has over twenty-five million copies of her books in print. She knew she wanted to be a writer as soon as ten years old, falling for the Dr. Seuss at the age of 5. She was born in Fairfax, Virginia, but given her dad's computer programming job, the family of seven moved quite often. When Karen was 10, they moved to the San Fernando Valley of Southern California. Just thirty minutes from the beach, she spent hours sitting on the sand, reading her books, and dreaming of being a novelist.

Karen's journalism teacher placed her on the newspaper staff at Pierce College, and told her to never stop writing. She graduated from California State University at Northridge with a degree in journalism. She immediately began a job as a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times. She wrote mostly high school sports articles in the beginning, but later wrote for college and national professional sports. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Don. He was a handsome young man with an extraordinary love of Jesus Christ. Karen tells the story that he came to pick her up for their first date, with Bible in hand. It became what she considered annoying after three months, so she confronted him about it. Don left that day, but God would bring them back together. She unknowingly came to understand Don's thoughts about life as a Christian. They married and lived their married life as God would see fit. When she found out she was pregnant after six months of marriage, she did not know how she
would take care of a baby with such a busy work schedule. Don said that God would show them the way to write at home. Later, she submitted an article to People Magazine, and they thought the article would make a great book. Karen submitted a book proposal, a bidding war resulted, and she ended up with a book deal that paid her a little more than she already made in one whole year of work. She has been home writing books ever since.

Karen wrote four books in the crime genre, then decided to switch to books that glorified God. Her first novel in the new genre was ......Where Yesterday Lives. It was published in 1997, the same year their third child was born. Ever since her first novel, she wrote life-changing fiction. She said God puts a story on her heart and in her mind. Many of her books are under development with Hallmark Films and as major movies.

Karen and Don now live in Tennessee. She is an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001, they adopted three boys from Haiti, very quickly doubling their family. They are now empty nesters, living near their five adult children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by April on April 22, 2014

I found this recently and decided to read it because I enjoy Karen Kingsbury novels. As I understand it this was from the beginning of her writing career. It held my interest, but there needed to be an update on the case. I had to Google to find out he suspect died in prison without a re-trial or re......more

Goodreads review by Pooja on June 20, 2024

An ex-con claims that it was burglars who murdered his wife in front of him, and it may even be true. The police, on the other hand, are certain they've got their man. This is an engaging, fairly straightforward true crime read about the murder of Carol Montecalvo, but as the story stretches on it en......more

Goodreads review by Joanna on November 11, 2017

Just ok It was more like reading a documentary ban a suspense or mystery. It felt very stiff, exactly like reading a report of facts from a reporter with no bias or emotional connection. Love her other books but I’m glad she did not write more than 4 of these books.......more

Goodreads review by Sonnigirl on February 18, 2021

I actually really liked reading the book but the ending was very disappointing. But if it’s based on a true story you can’t really change that, lol!......more

Goodreads review by Jimmy on February 02, 2025

Naivety, every one of us has it towards aspects of life we don’t know about. This is a case where a good faithful Christian falls for a dirtbag in prison. At the end of the day her naivety would prove her death. This is a book which brings some reasonable doubt into it but I believe the ending is th......more