Still Missing

This was a quick, easy, if predictable read. I liked the style of writing, I liked the main character and I like this author. I wouldn't mind reading more from her.

Wow. I totally forgot I read this book until I saw the goodreads ad for the paperback version. I think I blocked it out because it was actually very disturbing and I have a friend who is a real estate agent.

This is the second book by Chevy Stevens that I have read, the first being Always Watching. As with Always Watching, Still Missing is a psychological thriller/mystery novel that (to me anyways) feels similar to Jonathan Kellerman.

In Still Missing, Annie O'Sullivan tells the story of her abduction, escape and her struggle to put her life back together after coming home. The story jumps between her present day struggle to cope with the psychological damage done to her and her year long captivity with a man she only ever refers to as The Freak.

I enjoyed the fast pace of this book. It was exciting and there were almost no parts that dragged by. Annie was a decent character. I found her struggle after she returned home to be more difficult to read about than the struggle during her captivity, brutal though it was. Having the story take place after the abduction was a unique twist that I did appreciate. I enjoyed how Stevens portrayed Annie's mother. I didn't like her but there was something very realistic about how pathetic she was.

What I really didn't enjoy was that this book is set up so that each chapter is a session with her psychiatrist. It's supposed to be Annie telling her story TO her psychiatrist. This really fell flat for me. It felt like a gimmick and I felt like the book didn't need it. It didn't benefit from it. For one thing, the style of writing didn't come off as realistic for a conversation. I HATED that Annie addressed her psychiatrist as “Doc”. It just felt very...lame. I think this book would have been so much better if it was just Annie's story told from her point of view WITHOUT using the sessions. And for anyone who has read Always Watching, the psychiatrist Annie is talking to is supposed to be Dr. Nadine Lavoie, correct? That was the impression I got.

So who would I recommend Still Missing to? Well, anyone who enjoys a kind of trashy, fast paced mystery novel. It's not a book you'll have to put a lot of deep thought or time into but it is enjoyable. Having ready two of Chevy Stevens' books I'll probably pick up another. They're nothing fantastic but hey, they're fun.

Oh yah, one last thing. I HATED the name of Annie's baby (very last sentence of the book). Reading it was like getting hit in the face with a frying pan.