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| Sophie McKenzie |
| Simon and Schuster |
| 1904442714 |
| Oct 2006 |
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| Fourteen year old Lauren is struggling to make an identity for herself, made more difficult by the knowledge that she was adopted as a small child. She soon becomes obsessed with learning more about the circumstances of her adoption and sets out to find her biological parents. Increasingly alienated from her adoptive family, hazy memories and hard evidence begin to emerge, suggesting that she may have been abducted from an American family and illegally adopted. Lauren is willing to risk everything to learn the truth.
Girl, Missing works best when read as a thriller/ suspense novel. It has an intriguing and unusual premise that was inspired by a real-life missing child case. However, I think that it also taps into one of the enduring archetypes of children’s literature, of the perilous quest that reveals secret identities and a hidden heritage/parentage. A stronger sense of place would have added another dimension to this story; more could have been made of Lauren’s journey from England to New England in search of her family. Lauren is not a particularly sympathetic character, but is probably more plausible because of this (some of the plot devices I found less plausible!). However, the descriptions of Lauren’s instinctive kindness towards her little sister were genuinely touching, and left me wanting more insight into her emotional development.
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Mystery/Thriller: November 2006 Archives
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| Catherine MacPhail |
| Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |
| 0747582688 |
| Sep 2006 |
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“I could recognise the places on these walls: a map of the British Isles, another of the Middle East, the countours of Australia. How could I remember that? Had I travelled to these places? Where had I learned about them? But nothing came. No matter how hard I concentrated, nothing came. Not even the sliver of a memory.” Urban, gritty and urgent in pace and tension, Catherine MacPhail’s first novel in her new ‘Nemesis’ series, “Into the Shadows” asks as many questions as it answers, it cranks up levels of uncertainty, danger and desperation cleverly interspering the power that knowledge brings with the powerlessness that accompanies ignorance in whichever of its many forms... Discovered in a lift with the victim of a murderous assault, things look bleak for Ram, who is unsure as to his identity, his past and, what with his current predicament of what his future might hold… Unsure what to believe about himself, Ram becomes wanted as a suspect in the murder investigation, with a man purporting to be his father attempting to make contact and the murder victim’s true killers planning a deadly assassination attempt against him, the chase is on and the clock is ticking. The net tightens around Ram in a manner that is excrutiatingly exciting. Much of the action takes place at nights upon the streets of Glasgow. This places bold, brilliant adventures against a black backdrop that makes a stunning visual impact upon the imagination. Heart-thumpingly paced adventure strands are skilfully interwoven with the tectonics of shifting self perception and self identity. Catherine MacPhail has crafted that rare thing, a gripping and urgent thriller with staggering depth, motivation and characterisation. Many questions are left wholly or else part unanswered in readiness for the second novel in the “Nemesis” series, which will be eagerly awaited…
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