Book Review: The Missing by C. L. Taylor

The Missing

by C. L. Taylor

HarperCollins 

 Amazon 

 Barnes & Noble

 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 Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

It’s a PR trick to gain public sympathy. I read about it in a book I got out of the library, the one by the PR guru who was arrested for sex offences. Dirty bastard but he knew his stuff.

We all have secrets. Most are guilty, a few are wretched and some are too precious to share.

My Review:

The Missing was a riveting and enthralling read.  I could not put my kindle down and while I wanted to savor every perfectly chosen word, I also could not read fast enough.  This book was ingeniously crafted, maddeningly paced, dripping with intrigue, smartly written, and laced with compelling twists and turns.  I was taut with tension, my heart was frequently in my throat, everyone was suspect, and I went back and forth in wondering whether to pity or abhor this oddly fractured and barely functional family.  I want to read every word this skilled wordsmith has ever written and will ever put to paper. C.L. Taylor is diabolically talented and an evil genius.   I was provided with a review copy of this gripping book by HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours. 

Empress DJ

About C. L. Taylor

 

C. L. Taylor is  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.