It is time for the May book club review, organized by Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers.
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
The book is narrated by Annie O’Sullivan through her therapy sessions. Two narratives emerge and finally intertwine in the last sessions. The first narrative involves her capture and containment in a remote mountain cabin for a year with her abductor. The second is her path to overcoming her fears, rebuilding relationships, and untangling the mystery of why and how she was targeted by her captor. By focusing on Annie’s point of view, the book illustrates the raw pain and difficulties of surviving such trauma. Both the past and present meet in the final chapters, which are full of dramatic twists with a satisfying, yet horrific ending.
Overall the novel is very abrupt and raw. I thought it provided an accurate picture of the lingering psychological effects of abductions that is rarely seen. Throughout the novel Annie protests the invasive media attention she received from surviving the abduction, and deprecates the millions of people are entertained by her extremely painful experiences.
Annie is not an easy character to like; she is abrasive, scarred and bitter. But I was able to understand how much her capture had damaged her and admire her desire for survival.
The beginning of the book was very violent and abrupt as Annie describes her capture and first weeks in captivity. It was too explicit and gruesome for me to enjoy, and I skimmed through a lot of her first disturbing experiences. However, after the initial violence and sadism I was able to learn more about her captor and the childhood experiences that shaped him into the person he became.
The conclusion of the novel kept me totally engrossed in the book. The last chapters were a deluge of sudden discoveries about different characters and situations. As much as I enjoyed the entertainment of the conclusion, it also made me feel guilty for being as interested in her pain as the people who read the tabloid and news stories about her.
This book is not a beach read for sure, but it was a very intriguing and horrifying thriller.
I am looking for a good beach read for next weekend, any suggestions?
Now I need to do the Strong Core Challenge workout (from Monday…) organized by Kara Runs! It only takes 16 minutes, and will hopefully get my abs ready for the cruise in a couple weeks.
Recimplicity 