Blurb for the back cover:
“Kept me interested in the story”

I went to the see Scott Heim read from his new book We Disappear without knowing much about him or his writings. I had been told that his first book Mysterious Skin was made in to a movie and a few of my acquaintances had recommended it to me. That was the second time I intentional went to an author reading without having read anything by them. The first time was when I waited two hours in line to meet Sue Grafton who gave me a puzzled looked when I asked her to sign a copy of T is for Trespass . She quickly figured out it was a gift for a family member. Mystery writers are smart. Beware.

But getting back to We Disappear , it is a story that is not entirely about death.

Scott, the protagonist not the author, travels back home to Kansas to take care of his mother Donna who is loosing a battle with cancer. Being home causes Scott to confront his drug problem as he tries to understand his mom’s obsession with missing children. Donna tells Scott that she was briefly kidnapped when she was younger and it was one of the happiest times of her childhood. She is desperately searching for the boy who was kidnapped along with her before she dies. Scott, unsure whether to believe his mom’s story or not, plays along. But going through withdrawals and contradicting stories don’t make things as simple as he would like.

I was told that this book was a “psychological thriller” which I would probably agree. We Disappear had a hint of mystery throughout it which kept me interested in the story. Again, this goes back to my previous theory that mystery writers are smart. I finished this book in a weekend and loved it. I’ll probably now try to get around to reading Scott’s, the author not the protagonist, other novels Mysterious Skin and In Awe at some point over the summer.

Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 12:07 pm.
Filed under: Book Review, Thoughts on Books.