Synopses & Reviews
On the day she was abducted, Annie OSullivan, a thirty-two-year-old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as shes about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.
Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin—which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist—is the second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over.
Still Missing is a shocking, visceral, brutal, and beautifully crafted novel about surviving the unsurvivable—and living to bear witness.
Review
"Still Missing runs deeper than the chills it delivers..." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"This debut novel has the power to shock and awe with its explosively frightening premise about a woman who is kidnapped by a stranger and held against her will for more than year. Chevy Stevens is sure to rock lovers of the thriller genre." USA Today
Review
"Heart pounding... Stevens pulls out all the stops in this cat-and-mouse battle between a brilliant psychopath and his tenacious victim....Still Missing is the not-to-be-missed thriller of the year." Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Love You More
Synopsis
On the day she was abducted, Annie O'Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals — sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.
Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin — which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist—is the second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over.
Still Missing is a shocking, visceral, brutal, and beautifully crafted novel about surviving the unsurvivable — and living to bear witness.
About the Author
Chevy Stevens is the author of Never Knowing. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a realtor. When she held open houses, she had a lot of time waiting by herself between potential buyers, and Stevens would spend this time scaring herself with all the things that could happen to her. The most terrifying scenario she thought up became the story behind Still Missing. Stevens grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island, and she still calls the island home. When shes not writing, shes hiking with her husband and her dog in the local mountains.
Reading Group Guide
1. How would you describe Annie's character...especially those qualities that enable her to survive her ordeal at the hands of The Freak? How well might you have fared?2. At some point during captivity, Annie begins to almost like The Freak. She goes to far as to admit that "sometimes he's kinda sweet." Although identifying with a captor is a known phenomenon—referred to as the "Stockholm Syndrome" in psychiatric parlance—how do those feelings develop in Annie?3. Are the early parts of the novel, the sex scenes, too lurid for your taste—do you consider them sensational. Or are they an integral part of the plot, necessary for us to grasp Annie's tormented state?4. Is "The Freak" a good name for Annie's abductor? What would you have called him? Describe him.5. Chevy Stevens has written her book as a flashback, the present peering back into the past. We know at the outset, therefore, that Annie escapes her ordeal. Why might the author have structured her book in such a way?6. David-The-Freak tells Annie that she is perfectly safe with him. There's a degree of ironic truth in his statement. How so? (Consider what happens when she escapes to freedom.)7. Describe what Annie finds once she returns home—starting with her mother and the accident that took her father's and sibling's lives. Then there's the old boyfriend, Luke, as well as her best friend.8. What prompts Annie to realize that her captivity was intentionally set-up by someone in her old life?9. What is the significance of the title, "Still Missing"?10. In all, does this book deliver? Were you held in suspense? Or did you find it predictable? Was the ending satisfying? Courtesy Molly Lundquist from LitLovers.com - Resources for Book Clubs & Readers