The Missing by Tim Gautreaux

The Missing

Tim Gautreaux

At times dramatic and tense, this compassionate story savours the sights and sounds of 1920's Louisiana. Honour, revenge and the need for redemption haunt Sam Simoneux as he is driven on through danger, in his quest to recover a lost child. Confrontational and harsh in part, the story reveals Sam's inner struggle as he searches for identity and ultimately makes choices that could mean life or death. Compelling and all consuming.

Extract
At the end of the day, he rode home on the rocking streetcar wondering what his wife would do if one day he were killed. He knew what emptiness his child would face if he were never in its life. And there are times when robbers don't get away, when a lucky shot knocks out their brains and then what void does that death cause, what unopened front door, what cold side of the bed, what raised and empty arms of a child uncrossed by shadow? Do people ever think of such things if they've never been forced to greet the phantom waiting in every room?
Parallels
  • American Rust by Philipp Meyer
  • The Last Ride by Thomas Eidson