Saving Grace

About the book

“I’m the only one who knows what happened to those girls…”

In this gripping suspense debut, the first female sheriff of a small Ozark village investigates a disappearance that echoes the crimes that shattered her town decades before.

For twenty-four years, Mary Grace Dobbs has been searching for salvation. Orphaned at eleven, she was forced to go live with her Bible salesman uncle, wheelchair-bound aunt, and a cousin who tortured and killed small animals. At school, a bully made her life a nightmare. Everything changed when a newcomer to town became her only best friend, and changed a second time when that friend and another classmate vanished two months later, never to be seen again.

Today, Mary Grace is the first female sheriff of her Arkansas town, a position that doesn’t sit well with some of the locals. Keeping order and her demons at bay becomes an impossible task when the Black drifter suspected in the earlier disappearances returns to Repentance... and another sixth grader vanishes.

With old prejudices and new secrets spilling out into the open, the modern world soon illuminates the village’s darkest corners. The case becomes even more fraught as a cult of white supremacists brings its gospel of hate to Repentance and violence explodes, claiming more lives. Racing to find the missing girl while fearing for the safety of her own sixth-grade daughter, Mary Grace must confront an unspeakable truth-and face a decision no parent should ever have to make.

Set in the remote Ozark hills, where the secrets run as deep as the hollows, Saving Grace blends elements of To Kill a Mockingbird with twisty, edge-of-your-seat psychological suspense. This startling debut novel introduces a captivating protagonist whose concept of good and evil can shape a young girl-then and now.

Praise for this book:

"This is a riveting thriller that captures you on the first page and never lets you go. Debbie Babitt masterfully uses voice and spare, evocative prose to create a spellbinding story. Warning: Once you start this book, you won't want to stop." - William Bernhardt

"Saving Grace is a big, southern gothic thriller packed with secrets. The characters jumped off the page, drawing me in until it was impossible to put down. Original, dark, and staggering." - Samantha Downing

"Saving Grace introduces us to a town of harrowing secrets -- and to its sheriff, Mary Grace Dobbs, who doesn't even know that the worst of these secrets are hers. An ingenious, multi-generational plot reaches a terrifying crescendo you won't easily forget." - Joseph Finder

"Fasten your seat belts! SAVING GRACE is the scariest literary ride of the year. Debbie Babitt's debut novel is nothing short of breathtaking and the ending will blow your socks off." - John Lescroart