Sam Simoneaux is the floor-walker at a major retailer in New Orleans when a little girl is stolen from her parents. His failure to prevent the theft costs him his job and embroils him in the lives of the girl and her family. His search for Lily brings him face-to-face with all the forms loss can take in a life and reconnects him with a loss of his own that needs answers.

There is a flavor to this novel that is uniquely Southern. You can feel the rock of the Mississippi River, see the small towns that line her shores, catch the stench of the backwaters in which the least civilized of the people live, and feel the pull of family that is forged in blood. Characters that make minor appearances come on scene with so much wisdom and carrying such harrowing stories of their own that not one of them feels superfluous or unnecessary.

Along with confronting loss, Simoneaux must also confront revenge, the need for it and the uselessness of it.

It occurred to him that maybe he should have learned along the way that something like revenge did matter. But what use was it? Settling old scores right? Paying back a son of a bitch? He wasn’t trained to think that way. His uncle had told him many times that revenge didn’t help anybody and that the punishment for being a son of a bitch was being one.

All of which does not keep the heart and soul from screaming for some immediate and visible justice to be inflicted on someone who has himself inflicted a wound that cannot and will not ever heal. When we bleed do we not think the blood of our assailant would perhaps be the only way to ease the pain?

He felt sick for her, but terrible for himself as well, for the thin shoulder he cupped in his right hand might have been his own sister’s or brother’s, and then he was crushed by a deeper understanding of what he had lost back before he knew what loss was. He didn’t know such a feeling could come so late…

What makes Sam such a remarkable character for me is how much he cares, how willing he is to accept not only his own culpability but responsibility that should probably fall onto other shoulders. He is wise, with a sharp mind, but he acts from his heart; his heart always wins out. He is, in a word, unforgettable.

This book was recommended to me by my Goodreads friend, Kirk Smith. I wish I could tell him now how much I enjoyed it and how grateful I am for being introduced to this author, but Kirk was recently killed in an accident, so I will have to miss that opportunity to share this with him. It seems appropriate that this book would be about loss. I’m pretty sure the world is missing a very good man in Kirk Smith and that countless lives are diminished by his absence.
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Loved this book. It featured great characterisation and a refreshing change of setting for this reader. Highly recommended. ( )

The Missing. Tim Gautreaux. 2009. What a beautiful novel—Southern and Catholic! I have no idea why I ordered this book or how long I’ve had it, but once again, I am soooooooooooo sorry that I waited so long to read it. Sam Simoneaux was 6 months old when his family was murdered. Sam was saved because his father put him in the stove, and his uncle found him. This and his experiences in WWI left Sam confused and troubled about purpose and life. When he was working as a floor walker in a big department store in New Orleans, a young daughter of a couple of musicians from a river boat is stolen. Sam is blamed and fired. He is told that he can have his job back if he finds the girl. Sam gets a job on the river boat and the search begins. Eventually Sam not only finds the child, he also sees more ugliness and violence than he saw in the war and learns what his uncle tries to teach him, that those who do evil make their own hell. Gautreaux certainly knows Cajun Louisiana and life on a river boat. The book is violent and not for everyone, but it is also a story of love and redemption. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )