The Missing

Seems like a long time since I have posted here...I got off to a rough start after my last post. Started 2 different books, and gave up on them. But I got The Missing by Tim Gautreaux from the library, and it was a stick-to-it! I had read his earlier book, The Clearing, and so I felt pretty good about trying it...and it was a good one.

The story is of Sam Simoneaux, whose family was murdered when he was an infant. He was raised by his aunt and uncle in a loving home, and never gave much thought to the fact that they were not his parents. When Sam grew up, he joined in the fight in WWI, and ended up saving a young child before he left France. He returned to the States, married, and became a floorwalker at a department store in New Orleans (where he was from). One day, a little girl, three years old, was kidnapped from the store and Sam was fired for not following proper protocol. He was told that if he found the child, he could have his job back.

The child, her brother and her parents were musician/entertainers on a boat that traveled up and down the Mississippi. Sam figured that someone had seen the child on one of the boat's stops and so, he got hired on the boat and became friends with the family. Most of the story is about the search for the little girl.

As Sam searches for the child and watches what the family is going through, he begins to question his own background and starts to ask questions about his family, their murder, and the murderers.

It is a good story and I liked how the story of the missing child played into his own deepest (and unknown) feelings. I like his writing style, and how he writes about the South, but I did feel that the book got a little bogged down at times. However, with perseverance, it was a good read.