Throwback Thursday: Still Missing (Chevy Stevens) #tbt

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme created by book blogger extraordinaire, Renee at It’s Book Talk. She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favourites and read books that have already been published.   I have been using this as an excuse to be able to dive into my TBR pile and try and get caught up on all my poor, lost books on my shelves!

Today, I’ll be bringing you Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.

When I first discovered the work of Chevy Stevens, I was constantly being told by basically everyone that I HAD to read Still Missing (an abduction thriller which happened to be her debut!). The general consensus was that it was her BEST work; needless to say, I was incredibly excited!

The novel opens with Annie O’Sullivan, a real estate agent, as she is abducted during one of her open houses. She spends the next year of her life as the captive of a psychopath in a remote cabin in rural British Columbia. Following the events of her escape, Annie, through sessions with her psychiatrist, reveals her experiences, her struggles and her will to survive.

Initially, I really loved the narrative style. Told through sessions with her therapist, the narrative style is relaxed and raw as Annie struggles with her feelings, her relationships and the memories of what happened to her during her captivity. I felt like this was a really original voice; in fact, I have never read a novel narrated in this manner and that was a welcome change.

For the first 40% of the novel, I was completely hooked. Stevens did a brilliant job at expressing the brutality of Annie’s abduction and the horrors she faced throughout her captivity. I could not turn the pages quick enough. However, after this point, I felt like the novel became extremely redundant. I felt like I was rereading chapters because things felt so similar and I began to lose interest. I did love the twist near the end involving her abduction but I even started to feel like that was drawn out for longer than necessary.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but it was not my favourite by Stevens. Perhaps it is because I have read so many other abduction thrillers that I needed some more “razzle dazzle” to keep myself engrossed? I don’t know. Regardless, I feel like it is a fair enough story, but I would recommend Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk over this novel if you want a completely engrossing abduction thriller.