Book Review: The Missings

By Dani Greer, Chief Red Pencil

When I first heard about Peg Brantley’s new novel, The Missings, I wanted to know the Gore Meter Rating. Most of you know my weak heart can’t handle much more than a good cozy mystery when it comes to spine-tingling reads. It turns out the first chapter was about as gory as it got. The thrill level was definitely alive and well in this fast-paced novel though. But what thrilled me most of all is something we don’t see all that often in a plot-driven read: great character development.

All of us feel fear, but I recently read in Psychology Today that we are born with only a few, such as fear of falling and fear of starvation. That means humans have acquired a lot of other fears through learned behavior. Some of the most common ones include fear of insects; fear of water or fire; fear of public speaking; fear of rejection; fear of nuclear war; fear of success or failure.

In The Missings, Brantley plays on common fears many of us have experienced and they include:

• Harm to our children – every parent’s worst nightmare

• Deportation – an issue in many ethnic communities

• Fear of the police or other authorities – could happen to any of us

• Fear of death – another common one

• Fear of losing a loved one – physically or emotionally, this book tackles both

• Fear of retribution

• Fear of falling in love

• Fear of embarrassment

• Fear of groups – especially if we don’t understand what they represent

Brantley explores these fears and more, as she artfully weaves the perceived and real threats in and through the fundamental theme of the mystery. I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll just post the book synopsis here which will give you plenty of clues:

Aspen Falls, Colorado.
Secrets.
Secrets within a community.
Secrets within a family.

Detective Chase Waters finds himself working the most interesting case of his career—one that comes closer to home than he could ever imagine.

Are the mutilated bodies of young men and women the result of cult… or commerce?

Fire up your Kindles, kids, and download a copy of the book by clicking here!

Here’s some information about the author:

A Colorado native, Peg Brantley is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime. She and her husband make their home southeast of Denver, and have shared it with the occasional pair of mallard ducks and their babies, snapping turtles, peacocks, assorted other birds, foxes, a deer named Cedric and a Bichon named McKenzie.

You can connect on Facebook and on Twitter, and here's the link to her website.

Have any questions for Peg? Here’s one for starters. Where in heck is Aspen Falls, Colorado, Peg? And is there a sequel to this book? I'm intrigued with that love story you've started and want to read more about the two characters involved!