Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

My goodness! This book had me captivated from the moment I began reading it. I laughed, I cried, I felt sick with rage. This book has going through waves of emotions. After the first chapter it had me asking all of these questions about what happened to the character. I mean, obviously you can tell from the title that it has something to do with an abduction, but you can feel the in-depth detail that the author put into the main character’s mental health. Chevy Stevens delves into topics that other authors just dance around.

Annie O'Sullivan was a successful realtor on Victoria Island when she was abducted by a man at the end of a house viewing and held captive for a year in an isolated mountain cabin. Up to that point she was content with her life. Her sister and father died in a car crash when she was young, and while she and her mother had never got along, she had a good job, owned her own house, and had a caring boyfriend. But after being held captive for a year, she is unable to trust anyone, lives in fear and is wary of anyone getting too near. Eventually she decides she needs help from a therapist while gradually tells her the story of her year in captivity.

Although badly damaged psychologically by her abduction, Annie comes across as a strong character determined to get back on her feet and start living a normal life again. Her mother is a seemingly self-centered woman who acts cold and resentful towards Annie, and has made it difficult to establish a relationship with her daughter. I quite enjoyed how the plot unraveled. It delved into sexual abuse, domestic violence, trauma, and a bit of Stockholm syndrome; I am also glad Stevens did not shy away from the hard to read topics. The reader can often feel Annie’s struggle as she hates the man who abducted her but needs him for survival, a need that turns to attachment. This was an excellent debut novel and I'm happy to discover a large back catalog of Ms Stevens thrillers waiting for me to read.

8/10