A review by lamentconfiguration
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I'm fascinated by this kind of abduction in particular (see also: the movie Room). I'm also fascinated by the process of the abductee's reintegration to normal life -- they are a new person who must step into the life of someone who is effectively dead, and the people closest to them often do not take well to that, no matter how hard they try to understand. They can't, and it frustrates them that they can't, and they express that frustration in ways that only further the distance between them and the revenant wearing the face of their loved one.

I didn't expect the mystery that starts to unfold at around the midway point of this book, but that added a delicious dimension as I tried to figure out who, exactly, was responsible. To know that this was not random -- this was premeditated, and by someone close to her -- has to be both agonising and freeing. Man, what a piece of fucking work that Lorraine is...

The scene with Gary and Annie in the motel room was unexpectedly one of the hottest things I'd ever read. I am not complaining and I will be thinking about it constantly for the next three weeks.