Me, the Missing, and the Dead

by Jenny Valentine

An amazine first novel by Valentine, Me, the Missing and the Dead, has a clever plot, well-developed, dynamic characters, and a surprise ending. What more could you want? Here's the story: Peter Swain, the father of our narrator, Lucas, disappeared without a trace five years ago. His wife and three children don't know if he's alive or dead. They just know he never came home one day. Lucas feels like he's the only one who cares, who is trying to keep his father's memory alive. In a seemingly unrelated event, Lucas wanders into a cab company early one morning to catch a cab home, and notices an urn sitting up on a shelf. It contains the ashes of Violet Park, and she and her urn were left in a cab five years ago and never claimed. For some reason, that makes Lucas really sad, and he is determined to take possession of Violet's ashes and sprinkle them in a nice place. He just can't rest until he's done it; it seems that Violet is calling to him. With the help of his grandmother, Lucas claims the ashes and begins doing research on Violet Park. She was a noted pianist, in several movies, and craziest of all, she had known his dad. Lucas begins to wonder if there is a connection between Violet's death and his father's disappearance. On this year's Tayshas list, Me, the Missing, and the Dead is a great novel about seeking the truth and learning when to let go. Highly recommended.

--reviewed by Dail Sams