Going That Extra Mile

Beantown best-sellers Chris Mooney and Dennis Lehane.

For me, one of the closing highlights to last October’s Bouchercon in San Francisco came when Rap Sheet editor J. (Jeff) Kingston Pierce passed me an advance reader’s copy of Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile, which was due out in the States in November. It provided great company for me during my long flight(s) back home to London. And it was a real treat to have the novel months before its UK publication.

It wasn’t until last week that Moonlight Mile was finally released in Britain, thanks to Little, Brown UK (which has taken over the reins from Lehane’s former British publisher, Transworld). There are already numerous reviews of Moonlight Mile available in the press on both sides of the Atlantic, many--if not most--of them celebrating the long-awaited return, in this story, of Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro (last seen in 1999’s Prayers for Rain). Moonlight Mile is a sequel to Lehane’s 1998 novel, Gone, Baby, Gone, which found Kenzie and Gennaro searching for an abducted 4-year-old girl, Amanda McCready. Amanda makes her own return in Moonlight Mile, though she’s now a dozen years older and no longer quite so helpless.

Lehane is scheduled to visit the UK this coming July to participate in the annual Theakstons Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Until then, he’s busy laboring over a new novel. However, in association with Moonlight Mile’s British release, Little, Brown managed to arrange an interview for me with Lehane. We talked about the film version of Shutter Island, his habit of writing on the “high wire,” his favorite Robert B. Parker novel, the work of Scottish thriller writer Alistair MacLean, and his next book, which will reintroduce another character we’ve seen before.

Ali Karim: Before this month’s excitement over the UK release of Moonlight Mile, you were busy with the U.S. release of the same novel. Can you tell us a little about the American reception both for this book and its returning characters, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro?

Dennis Lehane: Folks seem to dig it, and we’d had a long break from each other, so it was nice to hang out again. Amanda McCready [from Gone, Baby, Gone] just popped into my head. I’ve always idly wondered what happened to her, so that probably explains why she successfully lobbied for a comeback.

AK: Despite being a family man now, Patrick has not lost any of his “blue-collar” annoyance with the injustices he sees perpetrated around him on a too-frequent basis. Do you find it cathartic in some way to have Patrick provide social context to your fiction?

DL: Patrick has always been my way of looking at the world through a kind of modernized version of my father’s eyes. My father was working class; I’m the son of a working-class [man], but I’m no longer working class myself. It’s very important to me that Patrick remain working class.

AK: I know in your early work, you stated that you didn’t plot heavily. But did you not have to plot more extensively for Moonlight Mile?

DL: No, it was high wire all the way. I knew where Amanda was and why she was gone, but everything else was made up as I went. Probably shows too!

AK: Considering the success of big-screen versions of your work, including Gone Baby Gone, has there been any interest yet in filming Moonlight Mile?

DL: None that I’ve heard. The characters are 12 years older than their film versions, so Casey [Affleck] and Michelle [Monaghan] would probably have to spend a lot of time in the make-up chair. Plus, the film--as great as it was--was not a commercial success.

AK: Since we’re talking about films, let me ask: Are you at all interested in writing for the screen, after your work on the third season of the HBO-TV series The Wire? Especially as your name is now mentioned reverentially in Hollywood circles?

DL: I’ve written scripts. They just haven’t been produced yet. George Pelecanos and I just wrote one together for HBO that we’ve got high hopes for.

AK: Your 2003 novel, Shutter Island, is one of my all-time favorite gothic thrillers. Tell us your thoughts on that story’s transference to film.

DL: I thought it was terrific, made special when I visited the set and met with [director] Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Mark Ruffalo. I also met Max von Sydow; it’s a singular experience to shake the hand of The Exorcist himself, believe me. Too cool for words!

AK: And what did you think about the film’s ending, and the last line Teddy Daniels [DiCaprio] delivers, which perhaps made it more accessible for general movie-going audiences?

DL: It’s an interesting line. My concern was that it be clear that Mark Ruffalo’s character not hear it. As long as that was crystal clear, then I had no problem with the line. It’s an interesting way to go.

AK: And what did you make of Christian De Meter’s eerie graphic novel version of Shutter Island?

DL: Loved it. Gorgeous panels in there. Really well done ...

AK: Returning once more to the subject of detective fiction ... I think I speak for everyone associated with The Rap Sheet when I say we were all devastated by the death last January of Robert B. Parker. Listening to a radio interview you did at the time, I learned that you began reading Parker’s work at an early age. Which of his books would you say made the biggest impression on your young self?

DL: A good half-dozen of the books made huge impressions, and the sense of humor in those books had a watershed impact on me. But the one I loved most was probably Looking for Rachel Wallace [1980].

AK: During last fall’s Bouchercon in San Francisco, you arranged to have fellow Bostonian Chris Mooney read out your, er, F-bomb-filled “Appreciation of Lee Child” speech. Could you tell us why you enjoy the adventures of protagonist Jack Reacher, and why you think Child’s work has been so fondly embraced by readers?

DL: Because Lee does something that looks deceptively easy, but is actually near-impossible to pull off. I sure couldn’t do it. He creates a series super-hero and makes him interesting, book after book. And Lee writes pure suspense better than almost anyone alive.

AK: On the subject of Chris Mooney, why do you think his work is currently more popular in the UK than it is in his native USA?

DL: Beats me. I don’t engage in that kind of thinking. Chris’ publisher should probably figure it out. I love his work, though, so I wish it were different for him, but trying to figure the tastes of an entire country is a recipe for madness.

AK: I know one thing you share with Lee Child is that you both read a lot of Alistair MacLean thrillers in your youth. What was the appeal of Scotsman MacLean’s books to you, and which were your favorite novels among the many he wrote?

DL: Alistair MacLean would always set up his books with a basic foundation in which not a single thing you learned would turn out, in the end, to be true. After you read a few of his books, you’d start to look for the twists, but you could rarely see them coming. For a 12-year-old boy, this was heaven. Plus, a good half of his novels were set during World War II, which I’ve always been fascinated by. Where Eagles Dare is probably my favorite, though I love them all, and he wrote like 30 or 35 of them. Another I loved was called--if memory serves--South by Java Head.

AK: While at the last Bouchercon, I met up with your agent, Ann Rittenberg, and complemented her on her book, Your First Novel, which she wrote with Laura Whitcomb. I really enjoyed your introduction/preface to that work. Can you tell us how Ann reacted to your news that you wanted to take on a new Patrick and Angie novel after finishing your historical thriller, The Given Day?

DL: I told her when we were on a flight to Sweden together. She was very excited, but I’d also just told her my wife was pregnant and she was even more excited about that, which is sweet.

AK: I really enjoyed the political dimensions of The Given Day, which was set in Boston during the early 20th century. Were you surprised that not many readers picked up on the connections between the events in that book and the so-called War on Terror?

DL: I wasn’t surprised, no. Some books just take longer to connect on certain levels than others.

AK: The last time we met was back in 2009 at the Borders bookstore in Charing Cross Road, London. We discussed the worldwide economic crisis and its effects on publishing. Since then, Borders UK went bust and Borders U.S. has now sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. How do you view this situation?

DL: I think globalization is starting to reap what it sowed, which is a terrible result. The problem is that I just write and don’t know what to think. Maybe e-books will help, but I don’t know. It’s a troubling time for the industry.

AK: Finally, I have to ask: What are you working on presently?

DL: I’m working on several TV projects here and then my next novel, which involves one of the characters from The Given Day and the Prohibition era in the U.S.

New Mooney

Just before Christmas, I took the opportunity to spend some time with one of my favorite thriller writers, American Chris Mooney, who was in London to visit with his editor, Mari Evans, at publisher Michael Joseph/Penguin UK.

My first encounter with Mooney, who now lives just outside of Boston with his wife and their son, came during the 2003 Bouchercon in Las Vegas--a meeting that led quickly to a rather drunken evening spent at The Peppermill restaurant, together with Irish novelist Ken Bruen and San Francisco author, critic, and noir film expert Eddie Muller. Later, I conducted an interview with Mooney for Shots, and have since bumped into him several times at ThrillerFest in New York City. Just this last autumn, I managed to carve out some time with Mooney at Bouchercon in San Francisco.

It was good to see him again in London, particularly since I wasn’t then feeling under tremendous time constraints. We actually met early, before his publisher’s scheduled lunch, to have a few beers together at Covent Garden. We talked briefly about such subjects as conspiracy theories and the peculiar case of former MI5 agent David Shayler. He was amused to find me lowering my voice whenever anyone else came near--chalk it up to a bit of paranoia. Eventually, we wound our way into a discussion of Mooney’s latest thriller, The Soul Collectors.

Released late last year in Britain, but still not available from a U.S. publisher, The Soul Collectors is the fourth book (after 2009’s The Dead Room) to star detective Darby McCormick. Here’s the plot synopsis:

Ten years ago CSI Darby McCormick investigated a sinister child-abduction case. Today, the missing child is back from the dead and holding his family hostage. He makes only one demand. Bring me Darby McCormick ... Charlie Rizzo has his family at gunpoint and when Darby arrives to defuse the scene, she finds him horrifically mutilated, with a mask of human skin sewn in place over his own face. Within minutes, a group of men disguised as SWAT officers bursts in and releases deadly Sarin gas, killing the Rizzo family outright and leaving Darby herself barely alive. Where has Charlie Rizzo been held all these years? Who are The Twelve who have been executing this gruesome torture? And why are the FBI running scared in the face of this particular, chilling episode? Darby is facing the toughest case of her career ... and, as the body count rises, one that will bring her into great personal danger and leave her in fear of losing her mind, if not her soul. For the Soul Collectors are the monsters from your worst nightmares.

Editor Mari Evans had scheduled lunch at Hawksmoor, a restaurant famous for its range of steaks, where we were joined by literary critic and author Barry Forshaw. Considering that Mooney’s novels focus on the dark side of human nature,

complete with serial killers and prominent viscera, I thought it rather apt that we dined at a meat emporium. After congratulating Evans on the work Penguin has done to promote Mooney in the UK, which includes spreading around a video trailer for The Soul Collectors (embedded on the left), and as we surveyed our menus, I took out my tape recorder and began interrogating Mooney. We talked about his fondness for fiction by Dennis Lehane and Stephen King, Darby McCormick’s widespread appeal, his interest in e-readers, and his “F-bomb”-filled speech at Bouchercon.

Ali Karim: The Soul Collectors is the fourth novel featuring CSI specialist Darby McCormick, and she has become a very popular character in the genre. I would suggest that her appeal comes from her conflicting mix of vulnerability and strength. Would you agree?

Chris Mooney: I think that’s accurate. I didn’t want her to be as emotionally remote as another popular character I wrote about in Deviant Ways (2000) and The Secret Friend (2008), the former profiler wanted by the FBI, Malcolm Fletcher. What I find interesting about her is how she tries to rein in her emotions--and hide them--in the male-dominated world of law enforcement. I also wanted her to be as physically tough and aggressive as her male counterparts, which can make for an interesting paradox. What I think readers respond to, though, is the passion and, you might say, obsessive thinking and focus she brings to her job. Who wouldn’t want to have someone like Darby fighting for you?

AK: In The Soul Collectors we are introduced into a very dark world, and like many of your books it features physically (as well as mentally) scarred people. What is the attraction of the “dark side” to you as a novelist?

CM: I have this quote I always say to my wife: “You can really never know another person.” I firmly believe that. People have the face they wear around others, and the inner lives they keep hidden from everyone. I’ve always been fascinated with people’s inner lives. Villains have very interesting inner lives, because they don’t think the way we do. What makes serial killers, mass murders--any sort of villain, really--so interesting is that when they’re caught in real life, people are shocked, because these villains turn out to be the quiet next-door neighbor or the guy who works helping the poor down at the soup kitchen. They look and act just like the rest of us.

AK: Darby McCormick made her debut in The Missing (2007). Can you tell me where that character came from? And how has she developed over the course of her subsequent adventures, in The Secret Friend, The Dead Room, and now The Soul Collectors?

CM: She just appeared. That’s the honest-to-God truth. I always liked the name McCormick, and Darby was just an interesting and unusual name. When I started The Missing, all I knew was that I wanted it to be about these three girls with Darby McCormick as the central character. I had no idea how popular she’d become.

AK: Penguin UK has been quite supportive of your work. Tell us about the book video promotions they’ve used to introduce your novels.

CM: For my first book, they ran an international book trailer promotion where you had to create a movie-type trailer for The Missing. An up-and-coming filmmaker named Liam Garvo won with this beautifully shot trailer that was shown in movie theaters right during the week Spider-Man 3 opened. I’ve had a company produce trailers for all of my books, and Penguin uses them for promotion. They’ve been great to work with--a real asset in helping me reach more and more readers each year.

AK: I see that you are now represented by UK literary agent Darley Anderson. What have been your experiences in working with his team?

CM: Darley Anderson represents the best thriller writers in the business--Lee Child, Martina Cole, John Connolly, you name it. I met with Darley, and what I loved about him instantly was his commercial instincts--what makes a book popular, what doesn’t. He’s very down to earth, and everyone on his team brings something unique to the table. I’ll tell you this: Every piece of advice given to me by Darley and/or anyone working with him, they’ve never been wrong.

AK: Your work is now available in many international editions. Why do you think your books, especially those starring Darby McCormick, have such appeal beyond the UK and the United States?

CM: I think Darby is someone every woman wants to be, and every man wants to be with. [Laughs] She’s physically and mentally strong. She’s tough. She doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She keeps her word and she’s intensely loyal. I made the mistake of comparing her looks to Angelina Jolie’s. What I was trying to do was give her the same sort of presence--not just in terms of being good-looking but her physicality. [She’s] a woman who can hold her own with anyone.

AK: Coming from Boston, I assume you’ve read Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile [the follow-up to Gone, Baby, Gone and one of January Magazine’s favorite books of 2010]. Would you care to share any of your thoughts about that novel?

CM: Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great to see [private investigators, and now husband and wife] Patrick [Kenzie] and Angie [Gennaro] again, see what’s going on in their lives after all these years. That’s all I’ll say, because I don’t want to give anything else away. If you’re a fan of the series, you won’t be disappointed.

AK: Speaking of Lehane, how did you feel being asked to read his “appreciation of Lee Child” at Bouchercon this last October? It was a tribute abundantly (and amusingly) replete with uses of the “F-word.”

CM: When Dennis found out I was going to read his speech honoring Lee, he purposely put in all those F-bombs. We’re both products of Irish Catholic households and schools, so we share a similar dark and twisted sense of humor. So it didn’t bother me at all. Dennis thought it would be hilarious--and it was, judging by the amount of laughing I heard, and the feedback I received afterwards.

AK: Since you’re a regular attendee at the International Thriller Writers’ [ITW] ThrillerFest in New York, and went to Bouchercon last year, can you cite the main differences between those two conventions?

CM: Bouchercon deals with every type of book that falls under the mystery label--the traditional mystery, thriller, the cozy, etc. ThrillerFest deals strictly with thrillers. I think the main difference is the authors each convention attracts. ThrillerFest gets the big thriller writers like James Patterson, Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, etc. Bouchercon gets the big mystery writers--Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, etc. That’s really about the only main difference. These writers I just mentioned go to both conventions, and more often that not you see the same fans at both.

AK: Your Web site includes a feature called “The Reading Room.” There you have the chance every month to give away one of your favorite books to somebody on your mailing list. Your picks are always interesting, and I was particularly delighted to see both Lehane’s Shutter Island and Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo among those you were dispensing. Would you care to let us know your thoughts on those two books, since they so often spilt readers into two camps: (a) those who loved them and (b) those who hated them?

CM: Shutter Island is an utterly amazing novel. The ending blew me away. Here’s the problem: If you figured out the ending--and you can, if you’re paying attention--then chances are you hated the book. I didn’t figure it out. I wasn’t looking to figure it out. When I pick up a book, I’m going along for the ride. I loved every line of Shutter Island. It was completely original; extremely well-written, as all of Dennis’s book are; and I loved the characters. But again, if you figured out the ending beforehand, then you probably didn’t like it.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was interesting, because it’s a book that, in my opinion, on the surface should have failed in the U.S. There are dozens and dozens of characters that pop in and out of the story. It’s extremely long. Sometimes the lines don’t translate that well. The story, however, is completely compelling, and everyone loves [protagonist] Lisabeth Salander. What I kept hearing is that once you get past, say, the first 100 pages, the book flies. And it does. It’s a page-turner.

AK: I enjoyed the essay you wrote about Stephen King’s 1987 novel, Misery, for last year’s fine collection, Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads, edited by David Morrell and Hank Wagner. Tell us, why does King’s work resonate so strongly with you?

CM: Stephen King is the reason I became I writer. My parents wouldn’t let me see the [1980] movie version of The Shining--and with good reason, since I must have been 10 or so at the time the movie came out. They let me take the book from the library, and to this day I remember lying in my bed at night, reading and being scared to death and not wanting the story to stop. I read it all in one night, and that was the moment I knew I wanted to be a writer.

What makes King unique is his voice and how visual he writes. He’s like those guys I met growing up, those great neighborhood storytellers who knew every inch of the city and its history and would put their arm around you and say, “Listen to this.” And within a few short lines you’re hooked, completely and utterly hooked. [King] really is the greatest storyteller of our time. Misery is one of my favorites, an absolute masterpiece. When I was asked if I’d be willing to write a tribute to the novel, I jumped on it. I haven’t met a writer yet who hasn’t been influenced by Stephen King’s work. David Foster Wallace taught Carrie [1974] to his class. I could go on and on about what makes King so special, but suffice to say, he’s a complete original. When I sit down to write, I’m always thinking about a thriller like Misery, [Thomas Harris’] Red Dragon, or Shutter Island--books that are hugely entertaining, and yet there’s a lot of substance to them in terms of themes and character development. King is the ideal writer--hugely entertaining and yet a very good writer. I’m always trying to hit that target.

AK: Following on the subject of the ITW, I should say that I enjoyed your story, “Falling,” in that organization’s 2007 anthology, Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, especially as it featured your protagonist Malcolm Fletcher. Can you us a little about why Fletcher, who first appeared in Deviant Ways, continues to haunt your work?

CM: For a reason I’m not sure I fully understand, Fletcher seems to resonate with everyone. He’s a very strong character--I tend to think of him as Hannibal Lecter with a badge. Fletcher is a former profiler who’s on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. He goes places and does things that no normal or sane person would do. I wrote about him in the second Darby McCormick book, The Secret Friend, and discovered that I really enjoyed being around him--so much that I decided to write a new series featuring him. I just handed in a draft of the first Malcolm Fletcher book, called The Shadow, to my agent and publisher.

AK: I also really loved Remembering Sarah, your Edgar Award-nominated novel from 2004. What did that Edgar nod mean to you?

CM: Dennis Lehane told me this great line about being a writer. He called it “fear management.” As a writer, you’re constantly battling fear: Am I good enough? Can I write? Is this book any good? Is it going to work? Will people enjoy it? It’s an endless loop. The nomination helped manage this fear. It validated a feeling that I can, in fact, write and tell a compelling story. On another level, it was a turning point from beginning writer to a professional writer.

AK: What’s your opinion on the growing field of electronic books?

CM: It really comes down to the consumer. People either accept and then adopt a new technology or they don’t. E-readers have been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until the Kindle came along [beginning in 2007] that the e-reader officially exploded. It’s a great device. Now we all have to wait and see how much the e-reader book market grows--and I think it will over time. My local Barnes & Noble is really pushing its Nook. You walk into the store now and the front half is dedicated to the Nook. If the e-reader becomes a dominant force, then the size of bookstores will decrease dramatically, I think.

AK: Do have an electronic reading device, or are you clinging to paper?

CM: I have a Kindle. It really is a game-changing device in terms of e-reader: portable, lightweight, and easy to read. I tend to use a Kindle when I travel. Instead of taking, say, five or six paperbacks with me on vacation, I’ll take a Kindle. But I still prefer paper. It’s nice to see the entire page, and I like marking a place in a book to see how much more I have to read. I like taking notes and underlying paragraphs and lines. You can’t do that on a Kindle.

I think there’s a place for both, but again, it really comes down to the consumer. The romance market, for example, is booming on the e-book front, because readers can buy these books and read them privately--meaning, when they’re on a train, they’re not holding up a book featuring a cover [image] of Fabio or another male model that’s advertising what they’re reading. With e-readers, you can read whatever you want in complete anonymity. That’s a big appeal for a lot of people.

AK: Finally, I have to ask what you’re working on currently. Are we going to see a Darby McCormick #5, or maybe some sort of standalone? Or perhaps there’s more to be heard from Malcolm Fletcher?

CM: I’m about to start some revisions on the new Malcolm Fletcher book, The Shadow. Then it’s off to Darby book #5. I’m trying to write two books a year now--a Darby book and a Fletcher book. When I started out, my first three books were standalones, and I was getting exhausted trying to reinvent the wheel every time I sat down to write. I love doing a series, and that’s what my readers expect from me now.

(Author photograph by Vin Catania.)

The Dark Side of Mooney

New England novelist Chris Mooney debuted in 2000 with the violent thriller Deviant Ways, and followed that a year later with World Without End. But the real treat was his third novel, the Edgar Award-nominated Remembering Sarah, which made January Magazine’s favorite books of 2004 list. Now, Mooney (shown at left with yours truly) is back with a wonderfully dark serial-killer opus called The Missing, which was just released in the States and is due out in Britain next month.

I first bumped into Mooney at Bouchercon 2003 in Las Vegas--a meeting that led quickly to a rather drunken evening spent at The Peppermill in company with Irish writer Ken Bruen and novelist (now San Francisco Chronicle books critic) Eddie Muller. (See proof here.) Later, I conducted an interview with Mooney for Shots, which cast some light onto this interesting writer and the genesis of the deeply disturbing Remembering Sarah. Here’s an excerpt from that exchange:

Ali Karim: Remembering Sarah is a real departure in terms of subject matter and style, but I believe it was a story that predates your two earlier thrillers. Would you care to tell us about it?

Chris Mooney: Funny you should mention that. Remembering Sarah was the first book I wanted to write--I knew how it started, I knew the characters’ names, how it would end, all of it. But given the book’s emotional scope, I knew at the time that I didn’t have the talent to pull it off the way I wanted to. That, along with the fact that I had this character, Malcolm Fletcher, sort of drawing me into his circle, I went ahead and wrote what became Deviant Ways. I’m glad I waited, because I’m really happy with the way Remembering Sarah turned out. I learned a lot writing that one, and the early response on it has been real encouraging.

AK: I really enjoyed Remembering Sarah, but, being a father myself, it was a hard read at times. But I also noticed that Dennis Lehane, Harlan Coben, and John Connolly have heaped praise on the book. How tough was it to write?

CM: There’s no way to write a story about a missing child without it being emotionally draining on both you and the reader. It was hard to put myself in [protagonist] Mike Sullivan’s shoes every day for almost two years, and there were certainly times when I felt like walking away from it. A lot of my energy went into making sure the book wasn’t exploitative in any way, but an honest account of how this father who made a big mistake goes about his life trying to find a way to redeem himself. That’s the tough part of the book because, as a parent myself, we’ve all been in that place where you turn your head for just a second and your child falls down and almost splits their head open on the edge of a glass coffee table or something. The other tough part is dealing with this idea of hope--how long do you hang on to hope? When do you give it up, and can you give it up? Because the second Mike gives up hope, his daughter’s gone. That’s what I think makes the book interesting and, at the same time, makes it tough to read. You connect with Mike because he’s real, he’s like a guy you know or a close friend, and he made some of the same mistakes you’ve probably made as a parent. He’s a good guy and you’re just on his side from day one, rooting for him.

* * *

Then, last month, I attended Penguin UK’s crime-fiction dinner in London, and who should appear but Chris Mooney. We managed to carve out some time for a beer together and to catch up. Mooney let me know more about The Missing, which Penguin seems to be pushing hard in the UK, if this link is any indication. I’m very pleased to see Mooney’s work making a splash again in Britain.

So, what is The Missing all about?

Well, it’s a terrifying serial-killer yarn that features a hunt across time and across the United States, as searches are made for a score of women who have been abducted and whose names have gone onto the FBI’s missing persons list.

The key with Mooney is how he brings characterization into play as a plot device. Enter a young teenager named Darby McCormick and her two friends Melanie and Stacey, all of whom witness what they believe to be a murder in the woods. But the killer also sees them. A hunt ensures, and Darby becomes traumatized by seeing what happens to her friends after the killer tracks them down. However, she survives (and the reasons for her survival are only revealed in the book’s sucker-punch ending).

Darby goes on to become an FBI investigator. Then a case lands on her desk that has the familiar hallmarks of the one that so traumatized her in childhood. Abductions continue, but nothing seems to link the missing women, and there is a lack of clues; but Darby thinks there must be a link to her own past. Red herrings abound, with a white supremacist being favored as the abductor. Darby, though, thinks this case could involve a number of other connected killers--people with fractured pasts, people with disassociated minds, people who lurk amidst the blackness of psychosis. This portion of the novel sent real chills through my body, as did the banality of evil Mooney portrays in this bullet-train thriller.

The Missing is a way-above-average addition to the already overstocked subgenre of serial-killer novels. Let’s hope that its appearance provokes Penguin to finally issue Remembering Sarah in the UK, too. Both show Chris Mooney to be a don’t-miss writer.