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Among the Missing: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.01) - 388 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“Whenever an accident or natural disaster occurs from which bodies may never be recovered, there is always somebody for whom it becomes a chance to disappear. There is always somebody who, believing that vanishing from one life is the way to enter a better one, will choose to be presumed among the missing; somebody who would rather be thought dead than have to say ‘I’m leaving you.’”
A pregnant woman, believed killed in a bridge accident in the Scottish highlands, seizes her chance to disappear from her uncaring husband. Determined to safeguard her baby’s future and reinvent herself, she befriends illegal immigrant Silva, whose husband Stefan and daughter Anna, as she alone knows, have died in her place. As the bridge is rebuilt, the two women build a precarious existence in a makeshift home by the river. While Silva waits for Stefan and Anna’s return and the pregnant woman awaits the birth of her child, they are helped by the boatman, Ron, whose devotion to them masks his guilt for a past disaster for which he must atone.
Each of them having crossed some bridge in retreat from the world, each seeking an ever-elusive peace of mind and struggling with displacement and grief, together the three exiles conjure an unstable mix of trust and distrust, compounded by love and jealousy, both parental and sexual. With the discovery of Stefan’s and Anna’s bodies in the river, the tension in their uneasy triangle mounts inexorably and unbearably. With the birth of the new baby only days, then hours away, it finally breaks.
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"Among the Missing - Morag Joss. Another audiobook selection, again really glad I went this route. Book is written in 4-5 distinct character voices. While story begins in the middle of several lives, they begin to weave a complicated web from many angles that leaves you wishing the reader would just hurry up. While reflecting on the stories a favorite old hymn crept into my mind..... 'blessed be the ties that bind...." Stout tones of heather and river water with a cruel karma aftertaste."
— Megan (4 out of 5 stars)
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“A haunting, harrowing punch to the heart, Among the Missing is flat-out brilliant. About the secrets we keep, the lives we are desperate to live, and the chances we miss, it’s a psychological dazzler. Truly, one of my favorite books of this year—or any year.”
— Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You -
“Morag Joss is a writer who knows the old truth that genuine suspense comes not from car chases or gunplay, but from the clash of conflicting hearts. Her latest novel, Among the Missing, is evidence not of a rising talent, but of one already fully formed.”
— Thomas H. Cook, author of The Fate of Katherine Carr -
“This remarkable novel has an abundance of suspense at its core, put forth in beautiful prose that all but glows on the page…Like most thrillers with a literary bent, this one spends time with the thoughts and feelings of the characters. In lesser hands, this can be stultifying, especially if the people aren’t that interesting. But these two women have fascinating inner lives, and Joss details them in vivid, propulsive language.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“The harrowing collapse of a Scottish bridge links three lost souls as they lurch toward an even more horrifying finale…Joss builds the relationships among her sad trio slowly, through excruciatingly subtle modulations of tone. But the ending fully justifies every intimation of imminent doom.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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An NPR Best Book of the Year
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
Among the Missing Listener Reviews
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" This was a surprisingly good read. It's a story about having hope in the midst of tragedy and it affects the way people choose to live their lives.Each main character is given the opportunity to tell their story from their own point of view. That's what makes this book so engaging. "
— Tanya, 2/10/2014 -
" Reasonably well written, but the ending was fuzzy and open to interpretation -- hate that. Subject matter was bleak, and none of the protagonists were people I'd want to spend time with. "
— Karen, 2/1/2014 -
" Moody and dark with many odd twists and turns. This one makes a fine companion piece to her Half Broken Things. "
— Mary, 1/26/2014 -
" Joss has a killer premise here - it's essentially an inverted mystery, and smartly done. It's a fairly quiet book plot-wise and I sort of wish she'd gone in more of a thriller direction, but it's still quite good. "
— Jessica, 1/17/2014 -
" I listenend to this book - reallygood book to clean & iron by - loved it! "
— Kathy, 1/17/2014 -
" I enjoyed the book until the end, and the end left me in a place that I felt like the book wasn't worth reading. "
— Jennifer, 1/16/2014 -
" Loved this book--Try the audiobook the voices are fantastic. Two thumbs up!! "
— Michelle, 1/12/2014 -
" I have read - and enjoyed - other books by Morag Joss (Half-Broken Things; The Sara Selkirk mysteries). However, this was a dark, dreary, depressing novel. Good character development, but if I had known what it was like, I wouldn't have read it. "
— Judy, 1/8/2014 -
" Despite a slow revelation of the plot, the author presented a very interesting story of the how lives can intersect after a community tragedy. "
— Nicole, 12/20/2013 -
" I was enjoying this book and was very curious to see how everything would wrap up. I wasn't expecting to be handed a beautiful package explaining everything, but the book just sort of ended..., and I have no idea why Joss chose that path for this novel. It really took away from my whole experience. "
— Autumnjs, 11/12/2013 -
" Great book to listen to. The full cast reading helped define the characters. The ending left me as unsettled as the whole of the novel. "
— Becky, 11/8/2013 -
" I enjoyed the writing, the descriptions and the plot. I was just so unsatisfied with the last two chapters and the ending. "
— Kimberly, 3/25/2013 -
" not all all what I thought it would be -- obviously can't judge a book by its cover. "
— Evelyn, 3/9/2013 -
" so ticked!!!! Worst ending to a book EVER!!!! I'm still mad that I invested time into it!!! "
— Arminta, 1/30/2013 -
" You can read my thoughts here. (3.5/5) "
— Joy, 11/28/2012 -
" This was an amazing book. The ending is not what you would expect but it may line up for a sequel? "
— Kindall, 9/11/2012 -
" Really enjoyed it right up until the end. "
— Gail, 6/20/2012 -
" A bit disturbing, but clever and well-written... "
— Donna, 5/22/2012 -
" Very depressing novel. Had a hard time and kept waiting for it to draw me in but I just didn't like it. "
— Gloria, 1/2/2012 -
" This book was well written -- but it was depressing. And it really didn't seem to have an end to it either. "
— Wind, 9/19/2011 -
" truly creepy climax...I like psychological thrillers but for me this veered into an unexpectedly dark place. "
— Lynnwords, 7/15/2011 -
" I enjoyed this read. It was well written and had interesting story line. "
— Bonnie1750, 5/15/2011
About Morag Joss
Morag Joss grew up on the west coast of Scotland. Her first novel, Funeral Music, was nominated for a Dilys Award, and her fourth, Half Broken Things, won the CWA Silver Dagger Award and was adapted for UK national television. Her sixth novel, The Night Following, was nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Morag Joss lives in Hampshire, England.
About the Narrators
Robin Sachs (1951–2013), actor and narrator, was raised in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His audiobook narrations earned ten Earphones Awards. His acting credits include Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dynasty, Nowhere Man, Babylon 5, Diagnosis Murder, Galaxy Quest, Northfork, Ocean’s 11, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Megalodon.
Kate Reading, named an AudioFile Golden Voice, has recorded hundreds of audiobooks across many genres, over a thirty–year plus career and won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. Among other awards, she has been recognized as an AudioFile Magazine Voice of the Century, Narrator of the Year, Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and winner of an Publisher’s Weekly’s Listen-Up Award. She records at her home studio, Madison Productions, Inc., in Maryland.
Cassandra Campbell has won multiple Audie Awards, Earphones Awards, and the prestigious Odyssey Award for narration. She was been named a “Best Voice” by AudioFile magazine and in 2018 was inducted in Audible’s inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame.