Missing

by Don Helin

High-level election officials mysteriously disappear from key presidential election swing states. A nursing home franchise in Minnesota keeps patients prisoner, chained to their beds. Former General Frederick Farmington, a populist candidate with a radical protectionist agenda, inexplicably soars in the polls. Are the incidents connected? Colonel Zack Kelly and his specialized national security team suspect persons unknown within the president’s inner circle of aiding Farmington by attempting to tamper with the upcoming election. Zack’s partner on the task force, Rene Garcia, joins the campaign of Farmington. With the election only weeks away, she uncovers a plot to rig the election by hacking into state computer systems and using artificial intelligent to “cook the books.” Zack finds the roots of the conspiracy runs so deep they penetrate the lives of not only his team, but also his father, daughter, high-school classmates, and his first love of years ago. Racing against time, Zack has to dig deep and use all his skills and experience to rescue his colleagues from a band of vicious killers who will stop at nothing to seize presidential power. Not all of them will survive.

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 13, 2020

About the author

Don Helin had a career in the U.S. Army and he worked as a lobbyist for the chemical industry. He lives outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Nancy I · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard the author read the first few pages of this novel and became intrigued. Was glad a friend had a copy (autographed, no less) to lend me. Like another reviewer said, "good plot and characters, but a better editor would have made this a better read." To add to that that one major part of one of the story-lines was not tied up, specifically, people who were kidnapped . . . we were never told if they, or some of them perished in a fire, or what happened to the folks in the Minneapolis memory care center. I think Helin could have had just as good a story if he didn't try to have so many angles and did some additional development of others. For example, in the beginning, he made such a big deal of Tyson blaming Kelly for his wife's murder and that Kelly must have been the target, but then with just a few later minor appearances by Tyson, Tyson never acknowledges that Kelly had nothing to do with it and Tyson's wife's murder, which started most of the story, became an afterthought.

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

--Engrossing page-turner about election fraud--
MISSING is an intricately-potted story about election fraud, vicious politics, deceitful politicians, the FBI, CIA, NSA, and…love. Don Helin’s timely novel has imagined a national election in which one party is attempting to steal votes through an intricate computerized system that invades each state’s vote count. This is fiction, right? His protagonist, Zack Kelly is on his way to his high school reunion but instead is thrust into trying to solve the many crimes that have been and are being committed. Helin masterfully weaves an intricate web of interesting subplots that aren’t resolved until the last page of this engrossing page-turner. Highly recommended.

Missing

[David Freas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with my review of any Don Helin book, I will start by saying Don has been a friend for many years.
This is a terrific book written by a great writer.
There were however a few lapses in the story line that left questions unanswered. For one: What happened to the election officials who were kidnapped?
And this book had more production errors – wrong words, missed punctuation, etc. – than I recall seeing in earlier books.
Still, if you want to read a terrific thriller by an outstanding writer, pick up any Don Helin book. You won’t be disappointed.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Local writer so I gave it a try.Good plot and characters but a better editor would have made this a much better read.