Review by Heather K. (VivaLaVole)
“Still Missing” is a harrowing novel of abduction and reclamation that will leave you breathless as you race through its pages.
This is the first line: “You know, Doc, you’re not the first shrink I’ve seen since I got back.” From that fistful of defiant words I was hooked. Of course, I’d read the book jacket, so I had a clue about what was to come … but Stevens (and this is her debut!) is a masterful and inventive writer, and her Annie O’Sullivan is a brilliantly rendered character, a complex, raging maelstrom of emotions.
And Annie has a lot to say to the right person, in this case a silent, grandmotherly therapist. As the novel unfolds via sessions with her therapist; Annie is trying (and mostly failing) to come to terms with her abduction and subsequent year-long imprisonment. Yet she still has enough moxie to realize she doesn’t want to live her life as she has been since she “got back.” Her actions are still dictated by her captor despite her return to civilization, and her fears and paranoia threaten to leave her emotionally crippled forever if she cannot find out why she was abducted in the first place.
It’s difficult to write a review of a suspense novel because one doesn’t want to give too much away. Obviously Annie’s normal life (bickering with her mother, spending time with her good-natured boyfriend, Sean) will never be the same after her ordeal. But it’s a testament to Stevens’ deft handling of her characters, and well-plotted story, that make this novel such a thrill-ride.
I’ve never been abducted (oh, thank goodness!) and hope never to be, but I could still relate to Annie completely. The author immerses you into Annie’s life with The Freak, her dependence upon him, her helplessness and rage, her crushing fear and encroaching hopelessness. But what shines through everything she endures — during her imprisonment and the aftermath — is Annie’s intelligence, courage, and determination. And lest you think this is some dreary, depressing read let me assure you it is not.
This is an intense, brutal, gasp-out-loud kind of novel; I enjoyed it immensely and absolutely recommend it. The author, Chevy Stevens, is a shrewd and canny writer, and I can’t wait to read her next book (yep, already have it wish-listed!).
