Blood flows in Mooney’s ‘The Missing’

  When Chris Mooney’s “Deviant Ways” was published back in 2000, I considered it one of the best novels written about serial killers. For me, it was equal to anything that Thomas Harris or James Patterson had written up to that date. The book was fast paced with edge-of-your-seat suspense and filled with intriguing characters. It was a winner in every sense of the word.
  Well, Mooney’s newest novel, “The Missing,” also deals with a serial killer. This time it’s the Traveler, a killer who’s moved around the United States during the past two decades, leaving a multitude of missing women behind.  In 1984, while strangling a woman to death in the woods around Belham, Mass., the Traveler is unexpectedly seen by three teenage girls. He later tracks down the teenagers and kills two of them, but the third one (Darby McCormick) barely manages to escape his vengeful wrath.
  That incident haunts Darby for the rest of her life and is one of the primary reasons she becomes a crime scene investigator for the Boston Police Department. Darby is working hard and enjoying her life. That is until she’s assigned to work a new case that involves a teenage girl being forcibly taken from her home by an unknown killer. While working the crime scene, Darby finds an emaciated woman hiding beneath the porch of the victim’s house and soon discovers that the killer has done this many times before.
  What Darby doesn’t realize is that the Traveler is back in town and that he has his eyes dead set on her. This is a man who doesn’t like to leave behind unfinished business, even if it happened more than 20 years ago. If he has his way, Darby’s going to be paying a very special visit to his unique torture chamber so that they can play a little catch-up, and won’t she be surprised when she realizes who the Traveler really is!  Like “Deviant Ways,” this novel is extremely fast-paced and filled with an array of interesting characters. What prevents “The Missing” from actually achieving the previous book’s sheer brilliance is the fact that it all seems too familiar. I found this book reminding me of John Connolly’s “Every Dead Thing,” Thomas Harris’ “Silence of the Lambs,” and James Patterson’s “Kiss the Girls” and “Pop Goes the Weasel.” That, however, doesn’t mean that “The Missing” isn’t a good read. It is. I got caught up in the story after just a few pages and read the novel in one day, which is now extremely fast for me and my bad eyes.
  Darby McCormick is a fantastic character who is smart, beautiful, aggressive and self-motivated. She’s the type of person who won’t stop until the case is solved and doesn’t have a problem with shooting a bad guy. Mooney has a way of creating great lead characters in all of his novels. “The Missing” is no exception. In fact, I see this book as a great movie with maybe Ashley Judd playing the lead role. This would be an ideal novel for the screen.
  Also, the word is that Mooney is bringing Darby back for a sequel in 2008 with Malcolm Fletcher from “Deviant Ways” crossing paths with her. That’s a book I can’t wait to read! I’ve wanted to find out more about Fletcher since I read “Deviant Ways” seven years ago.
  If you’re looking for something to hold you on an airplane trip or at the beach this summer, then “The Missing” is the book to buy. The chapters are short and the story is loaded with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing till the last page.
  Be sure to check out “Deviant Ways” and “Remembering Sarah.” Then you’ll understand why Mooney is on his way to becoming a household name with people who love novels filled with heart-pounding action and gripping suspense. This is an author who doesn’t mind letting the blood flow!