One Mother’s Worst Nightmare Comes True in ‘The Missing’ [REVIEW]

When her son goes missing, one mother will stop at nothing to get to the truth in C.L. Taylor’s The Missing. (Photo by Adrien Leguay, Flickr)

When her teenage son disappears, one woman relies on her family to help her through the devastating crisis. But what can she do if she realizes that she may be relying on the wrong people for support? In fact, who can she turn to if she discovers that she can’t trust anyone at all? Find out in C.L. Taylor’s compelling psychological thriller, The Missing.

William Morrow

Billy Wilkinson is only 15 when he vanishes in the middle of the night. His mother, Claire, blames herself, but so does the rest of Billy’s family, not that they’ll admit to any of it. After all, the Wilkinson’s have become quite adept at keeping their secrets close to their vests over the years.

Caught in one of the most horrible and terrifying situations a mother can face, Claire is confident that she can depend on her friends and family for support during this ordeal. Surely, the person responsible for Billy’s disappearance can’t possibly be anyone she knows. Or can it? What if her maternal instincts are on the fritz? What if everyone she thinks she knows has already betrayed her and is hiding dark secrets of their own? It’s enough to drive a woman over the edge.

With The Missing, Taylor has deftly captured one woman’s personal angst with unflinching insight. Lost in every parent’s worst nightmare, we watch as Claire’s fears and suspicions spiral out of control, never quite knowing if she is on the right track in her search for her son or if she is simply losing her mind. Written in the grand tradition of thriller writers like Shirley Jackson and Mary Higgins Clark, this is the kind of mind-bending story that keeps readers constantly perplexed as they try to figure out who is at fault. As a result, The Missing proves to be one of those stories that burrows under our skin as it begs the question: just how well do I know the people who inhabit my life? This one will have you white-knuckling the pages. Enjoy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

C.L. Taylor
(Photo by Jim Ross)

C.L. Taylor is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Before I Wake (published in the UK as The Accident) and The Lie. More than a million copies of her books have been sold and her work has been translated into 21 languages.

Since she started writing fiction in 2005, her short stories have won several awards and have been published by a variety of literary and women’s magazines. Taylor was voted one of the Bestselling Fiction Debut Authors of 2014 in The Bookseller (UK).

Taylor lives in Bristol, England, with her partner and son. Visit her home on the Web at CLTaylorAuthor.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

THE MISSING
By C.L. Taylor
480 pgs. William Morrow. $15.99

You may purchase The Missing at one of these fine online retailers: HarperCollins, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

The Missing is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.

The Missing Giveaway

Want to win a copy of The Missing for your personal library? Simply complete the form below and click submit to enter. Giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Contest ends December 5, 2017.