Audio Book Review: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Annie O'Sullivan is a successful Realtor, and at 32 years old, feels she has her life under control for the most part. Her life isn't perfect, but she has a good business with new prospects, a beautiful home and a boyfriend who puts up with her hectic schedule and long hours of work. Her family life is not without it's issues: her relationship with her mother and step-father could be better, but time heals all wounds, right?

And then everything changed in an instant.  Annie was hosting an Open House for one of her listings and after a slow day, one last potential buyer pulled in the driveway.  Annie put on her best smile and greeted him at the door.  His name was David and he had one of her fliers in his hands. But he wasn't there to look at the house.  Before Annie knew what was happening, she had been grabbed, forced into his van and taken away from everything she knew - and no one knew she was missing.

She is groggy, confused and has no idea where she is. How long will it be before her boyfriend realizes she won't be making their dinner plans later that evening? Will he think she's just working late again? What is this man planning to do with her? How long will it take her family to realize she's missing?  And how will she survive?

My Thoughts:


When I first began listening to this audio, I thought it was going to be a frightening read - one that I wouldn't read at night, but I soon realized it wasn't frightening in that sense, but in a whole other sense. It unfathomable what she endures at the hands of this man she's never seen before, yet he seems to know about her life. The story takes off rather quickly with the abduction and a rhythm falls into place.  Each chapter begins with Annie at her therapist's office after the ordeal is over.  An ordeal that lasted en entire year. So, the question isn't Did she survive? The question becomes How did she survive being held captive for an entire year by a psychopath?

Each chapter begins with Annie opening up about certain aspects of her abduction. In each session, her tone starts out hard, almost flippant, and sarcastic but as she continues talking, her voice becomes softer and wistful, like it belongs to someone else. Like a movie she's watching in her mind. You can hear the changes happen and feel the feeling of utter amazement in her voice that this terrible thing actually happened to her.

Angela Dawe does a great job narrating this tragic story. You can hear the many emotions in her voice as she describes the day to day events of that year and how she struggles to fight her way back to a life she thought would always be there. I liked the way Chevy Stevens alternates the story between the abduction and her life after her release. It is a very effective writing style and makes for good storytelling.

The ending of the story has a shocking twist that I wasn't expecting.  It is a disturbing twist but in this crazy world we live in, it is completely believable, albeit harshly stunning. Overall, I was happy with the book and enjoyed it, though it was tough listening at times.  It is a very well told story that I'm glad I took the time to listen to.

STILL MISSING
Author:  Chevy Stevens
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: July 2010
Length: 9 Hr 6 Min
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Source: Audible.com