Missing

by C.T. Jorgensen

For five years, Karin Preston kept her daughter a secret. Not even the father knew she existed. Then, for one night, Karin leaves her child with a sitter. The next morning, no one answers the door. Desperate, Karin breaks in. The house is empty and dusty. Detective Casey Jansen says the house has been vacant for years. He sees no evidence of a child, only a hysterical young woman possibly imagining one. But Karin knows once the police discover who she really is, she will be held for endless questioning and her child will be lost forever. Just as the kidnappers planned. To save her child, Karin must elude the persistent Detective Jansen and untangle the truth behind a terrible crime.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

360 pages, Hardcover

First published November 13, 2013

About the author

aka Christine T. Jorgensen

Reviews

[Bonnie Ramthun · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly suspenseful mystery that won't let you go.

Missing is about a kidnapped young girl named Haley Preston. Her mother, Karin, lives a secluded life in Colorado, hiding because of a secret she doesn't want to share. Her circumstances make the search for her abducted daughter a desperate and difficult affair. The police regard her with suspicion and doubt her story. A mysterious net of conspiracy and deceits surround Karin and block her at every turn, but her determination to find her daughter and the abductors make this a fascinating and thrilling read.

The story begins with Joe Canan, an oil rig engineer, in Caracas, Venezuela. He is searching for a missing friend (the theme is woven through the novel in subtle touches) and instead discovers an old friend from the States, who sends him on a mission to find the girl he left behind and the daughter he didn't know he fathered. Meanwhile Karin, his former girlfriend, is on the run from the police and seeking clues to her missing daughter's whereabouts.

When Joe and Karin meet and join forces to find their child, the rapid pace of the story picks up into a roller-coaster ride of car chases, murder, conspiracy, romance, and a secret so terrible that it made me gasp out loud when I read it. Don't miss "Missing." I highly recommend it.

[Bruce Most · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if your daughter were abducted—but nobody, including the police and the child’s father, believes your daughter even exists? That’s the clever premise of Jorgensen’s psychological thriller. And the nightmare only gets worse for her main character, Karin, when her secret past is exposed. This taut, emotionally wrenching tale of how we can’t escape our past kept me turning the pages. Bruce Most's latest mystery is Murder on the Tracks.

[Mackay]

An unusual mystery that keeps twisting and turning, and toward the end, makes you keep turning the page. Unusual because the detective isn't on-stage all the time--it's really more concerned with the victims, but also gives insights and dimension to the "bad guys," whose agendas are fully realized and believable, however warped. Jorgensen is a great storyteller.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few too many twists...