The Missing

Six months ago, fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night.  The rest of his family are still trying, and failing, to deal with his disappearance – parents Mark and Claire, Billy’s nineteen-year-old brother Jake, as well as Jake’s girlfriend Kira, who lives with the family.

The book is told from Claire’s point of view.  As she watches her family falling apart around her, she grows more and more desperate to find out what happened to Billy.  But everyone in the Wilkinson family is hiding secrets, and the more Claire investigates, the more secrets she uncovers.  Will she ever discover what happened to Billy?  And will the truth, tear her family apart forever?

Having read the preceding work by this author; I know that she is skilful in weaving a taut psychological thriller, and this book is no exception.  Most of C.L. Taylor’s novels seem to involve a grieving mother, desperate to find out what happened to her child, and the writing is always emotionally powerful.  Claire is a proud mother and loves both of her sons, but the further she digs the more she learns that there are aspects of her son’s natures, that she’s not particularly proud of.  It’s a hard lesson for Claire to learn that her children are flawed human beings; and not the angels she perceived them to be. This is of one key the aspects of the novel that makes the narrative so engrossing, and so engaging.

If you’ve read any of C.L. Taylor’s earlier works then this one will definitely live up to your expectations. If you haven’t, then strap yourself in for the ride; because you’re in for a treat, and very late night.