The Missing is yet another example of Shiloh Walker’s mastery as a spinner of interesting and engaging stories.  This is really a romantic suspense thriller with the paranormal element coming from the psychic visions that have plagued Taige all of her life. And as a thriller this book works very well.

Taige has a gift for seeing traumatic events that marks her as different and strange. Since childhood she has been isolated from others until as a teenager she meets Cullen. Over a period of years they fall in love. So far this sounds like a young adult romance, but from this point on the plot becomes progressively darker.  When Taige is unable to predict or prevent Cullen’s mother from being kidnapped, raped and murdered Cullen erupts in grief and anger. 

In a scene that is agonising in its honesty and ugliness Cullen rejects Taige, accuses her of having had the power to save his mother if she hadn’t resisted her gift and turns her away. This scene is central to all the elements that make this book work.  It’s clear, emotionally painful and yet presented in a way that is almost sparse in its description.  Shiloh Walker manages to avoid over-writing what happens and the story comes across more powerfully as a result.

A decade later and Cullen’s daughter is kidnapped. In despair he turns to Taige for help.  She’s no longer the teenager of his past, she’s now a civilian consultant with the FBI specialized in locating missing children. She’s driven to save as many children as she can, running on fumes and gaining solace in drink, the ocean and her dreams of Cullen whom she has never stopped loving.

A quarter of the book is spent introducing Taige and Cullen and up to the point of their breakup the story is poignant and heartrending – worthy of an Oprah top pick.  However once Cullen’s daughter is kidnapped the book changes into a dark thriller where the trauma of attacks by the child serial killer, and the grief for the families, takes centre stage. Trying to save Cullen’s daughter is only a step along the path to identifying the killer before even more children are killed.

With her well crafted plot, flawed but wonderful characters and a writing that is clear and intelligent Shiloh Walker takes us into a dark and frightening world. But at the same time she gives us the romance, forgiveness and love of Taige and Cullen as the beacon of light and the mystery of psychic gifts as the intriguing wonder of the unknown.