About The Missing
• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (November 7, 2017)
“The Missing has a delicious sense of foreboding from the first page, luring us into the heart of a family with terrible secrets and making us wait, with pounding hearts for the final, agonizing twist. Loved it.”—Fiona Barton, author of The Widow
A harrowing psychological thriller about a missing teenage boy whose mother must expose the secrets within their own family if she wants to find her son—perfect for fans of Reconstructing Amelia. You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them. Or do you…? When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire Wilkinson, blames herself. She’s not the only one. There isn’t a single member of Billy’s family that doesn’t feel guilty. But the Wilkinsons are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn’t until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface. Claire is sure of two things—that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance. A mother’s instinct is never wrong. Or is it…? Combining an unreliable narrator and fast-paced storytelling, The Missing is a chilling novel of psychological suspense that will thoroughly captivate and obsess readers.
My Thoughts: I'm a bit torn on this one. I didn't dislike it - in fact I found page turning and flew through the almost 500 pages incredibly quickly. When I picked it up I was pulled into the flow of the story very quickly and was supposed to be one chapter could easily be ten if I wasn't careful. The atmosphere oozed tension and I found the way the family was disintegrating complelling.
So why was I torn? While it was a fast read it wasn't one I couldn't wait to pick back up. It wasn't a book I found myself thinking about when I wasn't reading it. While I could sympathize with Claire I didn't especially like her and was never really able to connect to any of the other characters. I didn't find this to be a particularly bad read but I didn't feel that it was a particularly bad one either. If you enjoy unreliable narrators and dysfunctional families than I think you'd enjoy this but for me I think it's more of a Library read than a run out and buy read. Rating: 3 good not great stars
Purchase Links
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About C. L. Taylor
C. L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her books have sold more than a million copies and have been translated into twenty-one languages. She lives in Bristol, England, with her partner and son.
Find out more about C. L. at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Hmmmm ... 500 pages is LONG for a thriller. I like these kinds of books, but I prefer the REALLY good ones over the not so great ones. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this one wasn't great, and it does sound kinda long! I like a good psychological thriller but it's hard sometimes when you can't connect to the charcters at all. I like an unreliable narrator sometimes, that sense of can they be trusted? But yeah sounds like more of a library read.
ReplyDeleteI've definitely read books where I've felt the same way. For me, often I will not be able to put the book down, but most of the time I'm thinking "what the hell, this is ridiculous." But it does sound like this was worth it, even if it wasn't amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that sometimes we can read a book and enjoy it without LOVING it. I had the same experience recently - I'd expected to be thoroughly engrossed and while it wasn't bad - it certainly didn't blow me away... Hope you have better luck with the next one.
ReplyDeleteOkay so this one while alright really missed the boat for you!
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that jumped out of me was the # of pages - I wonder if it could have been fewer pages. Am I the only reader getting tired of unreliable narrators??
ReplyDeleteI recently read a different title by C.L. Taylor and had a good reading experience - page turners seem to be a theme with her books. The book I read - The Treatment - was a YA novel - and I was interesting in reading more of her adult fiction. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts on this book for the tour.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fat book and I guess with all the books I have lined up now, I will give this a skip based on your review.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried this author before. The premise of this one definitely sounds intense, and it sounds like it many ways it was. It's hard though when a book isn't particularly calling to you when you set it down though. Those can drag on in their own way, despite being page turners when you are reading them.
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