Cristofano artfully explores the meaning of identity and home, heroes and villains, in this story of a woman who loses herself, then finds herself again in the most unlikely place.—Elizabeth Arnold, bestselling author of “Promise the Moon.”

When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed an act of violence so brutal that it changed their lives forever. The federal government lured them into the Witness Protection Program with the promise of safety and they went happily. But the program took Melody's name, her home, her innocence, and ultimately her family. Now, twenty years later and still on the run, she's been May Adams, Karen Smith, Anne Johnson, and countless others. But the one person she longs to be is Melody Grace McCartney. So when the feds spirit her off to begin yet another new life in yet another new town, she's stunned when a man accosts her and calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the Mafioso sent to hunt her down, knows her, the real her and it's a thrill Melody can't resist. Feeling safer in the hands of the mob than the Justice Department, Melody knows she's just a pawn in the government's war against the Bovaro family. But can she trust her life and her identity to this vicious stranger whose acts of violence are legendary?

Review
“There's no hiding the fact that THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE is a brilliant debut by a magnificent new novelist.” —Will Clarke, LORD VISHNU'S LOVE HANDLES and THE WORTHY

David Cristofano has earned degrees in Government & Politics and Computer Science from the University of Maryland at College Park and has worked for different branches of the Federal Government for over a decade.