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    The Missing
    The Missing
    The Missing
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Missing

    Written by Tim Gautreaux

    Narrated by Henry Strozier

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In this spellbinder by critically acclaimed author Tim Gautreaux, Sam Simoneaux returns from World War I to rebuild his life. But when a girl is snatched from the New Orleans department store where he's working, he hops aboard a Mississippi steamboat to find her-and dredges up ghosts from his painful past. "An exceptional novel . fluent prose, accomplished storytelling, and strong characterizations in this paean to the indefatigability of the human spirit."-Booklist
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 26, 2009
    ISBN9781440718939
    The Missing
    Author

    Tim Gautreaux

    Tim Gautreaux was born and raised in south Louisiana. His fiction has appeared in Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Story, Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. He has taught creative writing for many years at Southern Louisiana University. He is the author of Same Place, Same Things.

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    Reviews for The Missing

    4/5

    75 ratings15 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Tim Gautreaux’s The Missing is written beautifully, full of evocative prose, and Southern dialect. He has an original story to tell set in the mid 1920’s on a riverboat that takes people on dance cruises, with the man character, Sam Simoneaux, working on the boat while at the same time looking for a stolen child in and round the ports where they dock. The basic themes of the book are of justice, revenge and redemption. Sam struggles with all of these, and in the end eventually finds redemption for his murdered family and the loss of his own son to illness, by confronting his family’s murderers.

      The reason I didn’t give this book a higher rating is because it is not a book that I will remember for long. The characters and the story will not stay with me, although I think I may remember that it was well written, but little else. His characters do not resonate and in the end will be quickly forgotten.
    • 4/5
      Sam Simoneaux has returned from France, where a life changing experience during WWI has him eagerly longing for the normalcy of his job as a department store floorwalker in New Orleans. His wife also longs for his return where they both face their new life together without the child they lost to a viral infection. But much to their great disappointment, quite a different life is in store for them when Sam fails to prevent a kidnapping from taking place under his watch at the store. The bad publicity prompts the store’s owner to fire Sam for allowing the abduction to take place and Sam soon finds himself working on a Mississippi riverboat, along with the child’s parents. He took this job hoping to get a lead on the child’s whereabouts, return her to her parents and, ultimately, be able to return to his floor walking job. Along the way, Sam discovers the truth about the loss of his own family, when he was an infant. Two mysteries for the price of one! What could be better.Although it took some time to get sucked into the suspense and mystery of the narrative, this book turned out to be a terrific stand alone mystery and I was glad to read one that is not ultimately a part of a series. Gautreaux builds suspense and evokes a time and place that no longer exists in this country. The music on the riverboat calls to mind a simpler time, it’s during Prohibition after all, and the characters we meet during the voyage really do make the sting of a horrific crime easier to take. And it doesn’t take Gautreaux long before he relieves the reader that the child is safe and being held by a couple of bunglers and you know that this will come out fine. It’s not about that anyway. It’s more a novel about love and family, human travail, history and hope, and the idea that revenge can take many forms and isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. All this with the backdrop of a Mississippi riverboat. You’ll swear you can hear the honky tonk piano and the sax wailing in the style of the twenties. Simply beautiful.”(Sam) barely had time to sew his vest buttons back on before climbing the bandstand and catching the downbeat from the drummer. The first tune was ‘Japanese Sandman,’ jacked up in tempo, and he felt he was an eighth beat behind everyone else, playing uphill into the alto sax and clarinet duel in the middle. Several young Vicksburg couples began dancing badly, tripping, kicking shins on their turns, and Sam hung on. The next tune was a waltz, and then he got on top of the following foxtrot and stayed there. As the dance deck heated up, sweat began to sting his eyes; then the boat pulled out and the breeze came through, fluttering the bleached tablecloths. Between tunes he watched the floor, looked at faces, tried to read minds, studied the men lurking against the white-enameled stanchions, hoping to see…someone whose face showed inexplicable guilt or longing.” (Page 109) If you liked The Sisters Brothers you may find this southern version to your liking too. Quirkiness without the violence. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Indie Pick. A child goes missing and his brother looks for him along the MIssissippi River
    • 5/5
      Sam "Lucky" Simoneaux has only been recently been released from the U.S. Army after returning from WWI. His life epitomizes his nickname since the war ended the moment he debarked the transport ship into France. Upon his return to the United States, he marries and employed for two years as a floorwalker with a New Orleans department store. However, while on duty one day, a 3-year-old is abducted within the store from her family. Accused by the owner of not following protocol in securing the store, Sam is fired but is promised re-employment if he finds the girl. Determined to find the girl, he obtains employment on a riverboat, which provides excursions with gambling, music and dance up the Mississippi River. Sam hopes that this venue might enable him to better search for the girl and return her to her grieving parents.Although this novel is essentially about Sam's life on a riverboat while searching for the girl, it also provides an opportunity for Sam to reconcile his the fact that he was orphaned as a baby when his entire family was murdered by a mountain clan. Should he seek revenge or let the event go?The two threads were seamlessly intertwined without problem. The author clearly portrays life on the river with the fellow employees on the riverboat, characters that Sam meets, and the towns visited. The story captured my attention as I accompanied Sam up and down the river with the paddle wheel beating the water.
    • 4/5
      An excellent book by this “southern lit” writer. While a bit “wordy” he paints quite a descriptive picture of life and times along the Mississippi early in the 20th century. The story revolves a round loss, hardship, crime, vengeance, and justice.
    • 4/5
      I first read Tim Gautreaux's short fiction and was more than impressed. "Good for the Soul" may be one of the best I've read. Short story writers don't always write great novels, but Gautreaux is an exception. "The Missing" is an outstanding novel. The characters, setting, dialogue, plot--they all click. Definitely worth reading.
    • 4/5
      As always Gautreaux's writing is amazing.
    • 5/5
      I love his writing style, this book had me from the beginning to the very last page.
    • 4/5
      Story of a security guard in New Orleans that enables a kidnapping and feels guilty. Goes to work on ariver boat to solve the kidnapping, but also to solve the mystery of his murdered family.
    • 5/5
      One of the best novels I read in 2010: this novel is both a mystery and a lovingly told story about the deep south. Shades of Cormac McCarthy, Harper Lee and Truman Capote (The Tree Harp, for example.) You fall in love with the characters and the setting, you get a little choked up at the end, you're sorry it ends.
    • 5/5
      It's New Orleans, shortly after WWI. Sam Simoneaux returns from the war, not seeing any action but experiencing the horrific aftermath of the conflict. He wants to settle down to a peaceful life and takes a job as a floor walker in a department store. However, a little girl is abducted from the store while he is on duty and he loses his job.Having lost a child to sickness, he is anguished by the girl's parent's grief. He accepts a job on a steamboat providing entertainment along the Mississippi waters. He thinks he will be able to search for the missing child in the towns along the shores of the river.As Sam's search continues, the author's rich description of life along the Mississippi draws the readers interest and imagination. We observe the hard working men and women drawn to the boat by the sounds of the calliope.Sam is an excellent character. He is haunted by letting the girl be taken from the store while he was on duty and his compassion, bravery and determination to find the child are excellent traits.The Mississippi is also a character as the reader experiences the life of the people along the shores. We see the lawlessness and experience the excitement the musical steamboat brings to the farmers, saw millers and hillbillies along the river's edge.The story reminds me of "Cold Mountain" another novel of a time after a great war, in that case, the Civil War. As Sam is searching throught the towns and longing to return to his love and a life of peace, so does Inman in "Cold Mountain."The plot tells of a time and place in history, rich with folklore and life of the past. It provides a vivid picture of the music, prejeduice and difficulites of the times.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful, beautiful prose. This writer is one of my favorite "re-reads".
    • 5/5
      Loved it and can't wait to continue to read on in this series!
    • 5/5
      I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.This is the second book in the “Season’s of Grace” series. Grace Byler is dealing with so much in her life. Her mother mysteriously left and didn’t tell anyone why. Something had been bothering her for quite some time. Grace is trying to help her father and around the house. Then there is Heather, a young English woman who finally confides in Grace. He lost her adoptive mom to cancer and now she has cancer. Her father wants her to take chemo like her mother, but she prefers to try naturopathy. She learns she was adopted from an Amish family and would like to find more. Grace’s father is a quiet man and confused with his wife’s behavior. Their bishop is threatening to shun her if she doesn’t return soon. One thing Grace’s father is pretty sure of is that his in-laws know something about why Lettie left, but won’t speak of it. Grace breaks up with Henry and finds she suddenly has the attention of another young man named Yonnie. There is even a problem with this situation. Her best friends has eyes for Yonnie and is upset with Grace.In my opinion Grace was aptly named. She handles all of these situations with grace. Nothing is resolved by the end of the book, yet you get a pretty good idea where this is heading and what some of the outcomes will be. Beverly Lewis has once again done an excellent job of creating a situation that will capture you and hold you until the end of the series. I definitely recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      In this middle installment of the Seasons of Grace trilogy, Grace decides to end her somewhat tentative engagement to Henry and concentrate her efforts to finding her runaway mother. With her father’s reluctant approval, Grace puts together the clues to her mother’s whereabouts. Grace has an almost sisterly connection to Heather, an Englisher seeking a homeopathic cure to her cancer. These two young women, each burdened with an almost overwhelming problem, bond together to help each other. This well performed audio version by Rachel Botchan only adds to Beverly Lewis’s compelling story.