Missing People
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
From a “perceptive writer whose work makes us painfully aware of our human follies and acknowledges our lovely humanity” (Audrey Niffenegger, bestselling author of The Time Traveler’s Wife) comes suspenseful novel about a missing girl whose disappearance rocks her community.
Six years after the traumatic disappearance of Etta Messenger, it's clear that none of the members of her middle-class family have finished mourning. Gaping emotional wounds have been poorly addressed. Etta's mother, Meg, anxious to find closure and make what she can of the rest of her life, has organized a memorial service to mark the painful anniversary. Newton, Etta's erstwhile high school sweetheart, a disabled Afghanistan veteran with anger issues, uses the impending anniversary as a convenient excuse to spin out of control. Charlie, Etta's earnest blue-collar father, takes stock of his life and is reminded how he failed to protect his daughter. Her younger brother, Townes, who was the last of them to see Etta and is convinced his emotional outburst drove his sister away, has his fragile hermetic cocoon threatened by the heightened emotions of the day.
On the day of the memorial, a snowstorm threatens the city, and a chance observation on a commuter train entangles Townes in a dangerous situation that recall the events surrounding Etta's loss. The characters are shaken from their mournful routines by an unrelenting chain of events, including Newton's arrest, Townes' dangerous heroics, Charlie's recognition of his own shortcomings, and Meg's shocking discovery. The action moves from the seemingly serene suburbs to the heart of a dangerous Chicago neighborhood.
Will this ensemble of damaged characters pull themselves together in time, or will new stresses rip their tattered lives to shreds...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Chicago, this acute psychological study from Graham (Good for Nothing) examines the devastating impact that the inexplicable disappearance of 17-year-old Etta Messenger has on her parents, Meg and Charlie; her brother, Townes; and her boyfriend, Newton Parker. Six years have passed, and Etta remains missing. Time has not been kind to those who cared for her. Meg and Charlie are divorced, both having absorbed the loss in their own way. The diffident Townes, who still lives with his mother, struggles with feelings of guilt and seeks guidance in Taoist teachings. Parker, who enlisted in the Army right after Etta disappeared, lost a leg in Afghanistan and now leads a life fueled by anger, alcohol, and drugs. Meg plans a memorial for Etta, and Townes decides to try to thwart an attempted abduction of a girl who reminds him of Etta. Readers expecting a conventional murder mystery may be disappointed, but this disquieting novel does provide some catharsis for its characters.