Missing Persons » (Unabridged)

Writers often use elements of their own personalities to craft their most-enduring characters, and Stephen White has certain done so in creating fellow-clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory. However, White s electrifying series of crime thrillers aren t likely to be mistaken for autobiographies anytime soon.

The stakes have just been raised for psychologist Alan Gregory: His friend and fellow therapist Hannah Grant has died at the office, mysteriously and suddenly. The police are baffled, leaving another apparent homicide unsolved in Boulder, Colorado. Only Alan has the means to decipher Hannah’s clues, a quest that will take him to Las Vegas and lead him to question the integrity of those closest to him.

The clock is ticking as Alan tracks one of Hannah’s most elusive patients; has she been kidnapped, or is she a runaway? The answers to both cases may be locked in the mind of a patient he has been treating for a schizoid personality disorder. In a maze of dilemmas that could cost him his career, or his life, Alan takes a bold risk that will have listeners racing to the stunning conclusion of Missing Persons.

Library Journal

Truth and fiction blur a bit in White's latest novel featuring psychologist Alan Gregory when 14-year-old Mallory Miller goes missing from her Boulder, CO, home on Christmas, eight years to the day after a six-year-old girl (JonBenet Ramsey, unnamed here) was kidnapped from the same neighborhood. Soon others go missing, revealing connections to Mallory and her family, including possibly the untimely death of Hannah Grant, a colleague and close friend of Alan's partner, Diane. Doctor-client privilege is a staple in this series, but it has never proven more complicated than here. Rest assured, Alan's integrity remains intact, his wife's MS is no worse, daughter Grace is developing delightfully, and detective Sam Purdy is divorced and slimmed down. With an emphasis on mental illness, this installment is sadder and a little less suspenseful than others in the series, but the pleasure is in seeing these well-developed characters in action again. That alone makes this essential. [See Prepub, LJ 11/1/04.]-Michele Leber, Arlington, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.