The Missings by Peg Brantley.
This novel has been difficult to define. I did enjoy the story and at times I even found myself intrigued by the investigation into “The Missings”. The plot line should have been engaging enough to hold my attention, but I found myself struggling to get through it all. It is only now that I sit at my computer that I feel I am able to explain my response.
There was no mystery. Every piece of information was made available to the reader, early on. We all know someone with repetitive story syndrome... Reading this book, was exactly like that, your listening to a story you’ve heard before, you know what’s going to happen and you try to stifle a yawn so as not to appear rude.
“The Missings” read like a rather long synopsis. A body has been found, chest cavity open, internal organs removed; The detectives decide there are two likely scenarios. Option one is quickly discounted, option two is the path they follow. The culprit is decided upon and found easily. All that remained for the author to outline was the gathering of the evidence. 100 pages of detail.
Ok, now that, made it sound worse than it was, and I don’t think it is quite fair. There was a lot involved, including some little diversions with individual characters along the way, that gave the story substance. In this instance not enough weight was given to the characters, their relationships and their motivations. I wanted to understand them, I needed to relate to them, their lives were so deep and complex. But I was just an onlooker listening to something akin to a news item. Distant, dry and impersonal.
My Rating
❀❀+
Disclaimer
I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.
The Summary
Aspen Falls, Colorado.
Secrets.
Secrets within a community.
Secrets within a family.
Detective Chase Waters finds himself working the most interesting case of his career—one that comes closer to home than he could ever imagine.
Are the mutilated bodies of young men and women the result of cult… or commerce?
The Author
A Colorado native, Peg Brantley is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters In Crime. She and her husband make their home southeast of Denver, and have shared it with the occasional pair of mallard ducks and their babies, snapping turtles, peacocks, assorted other birds, foxes, a deer named Cedric and a bichon named McKenzie.
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