Among the Missing

At 2:32 in the morning, a Jaguar roars along a lonely road high in the California mountains. Behind the wheel sits a beautiful woman wearing only a skimpy, revealing nightgown. She’s left her husband behind. She’s after a different kind of man—someone as wild, daring, and passionate as herself. The man she wants is waiting for her…with wild plans of his own.The man waits patiently in the woods. When the woman stops to pick him up, he suggests they go to the Bend, where the river widens and there’s a soft, sandy beach. With the stars overhead and moonlight on the water, it’s an ideal place for love. But there will be no love tonight. In the morning a naked body will be found at the Bend—a body missing more than its clothes. And the man will be waiting for someone else.

From Publishers Weekly

The shocking discovery of a woman's body naked and headlessDalong the shores of the Silver River in Sierra County, Calif., sets off a series of interrelated events that will have readers guessing about the killer's identity until the final pages of this thriller. The small-town suspects are many, including the victim's husband, Professor Grant Parkington, who has a reputation for fooling around with his students; Bass Paxton, whoDalong with girlfriend Faye Everett (with whom Parkington once had an affair) found the body; and Merton LeRoy, a gay ex-convict who sells drugs and turns tricks inside a van parked down by the river. At the center of the investigation are Sheriff Rusty Hodges and his hotshot female deputy and daughter-in-law, Mary, nicknamed "Pac" because of her father's allegiance to football's Green Bay Packers. The murder occurs almost immediately, and Laymon (Bite, etc.) devotes the rest of his book to the search for the killer, rarely detouring from his primary aim except to throw in an occasional provocative story twist or a bit of gratuitous sex and gore. Outside of Hodges, few characters are worth rooting for, as all of them display despicable qualities. But such flaws make Laymon's one-track story more intriguing and more realistic. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lancashire Evening Post

“Featuring short, sharp chapters and quick dialogue, Among The Missing is a fast-paced tale and a real page-turner”

Hull Daily Mail

“[Among The Missing] is a well-written thriller which begins with a woman losing her head (literally) and ends with a very nifty twist.”

The Times

“Among The Missing is strikingly different. From the chilling opening…we are plunged into a disturbing world of twisted psychopathology.”

About the Author

Richard Laymon grew up in California and took a BA in English Literature from Willamette University, Oregon, and an MA from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian and a mystery magazine editor before working full-time as a writer. He is the author of more than 30 novels and 65 short stories, which have been published in Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cavalier. A Bram Stoker and Science Fiction Chronicle Award–winning author, his novels have been translated into fifteen languages. He died in February 2001.

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