It’s the late 1970s, and Dominick Pindle is a teenager struggling to fit in and find some kind of meaning in his life. His father is a womanizer, his mom hopelessly devoted, his friends are sleazy. In this rundown Massachusetts town, how is a boy supposed to find himself? Enter Edie Kramer, his father’s mistress, who takes a shine to Dominick. When she confides that she’s pregnant with his father’s kid, Dominick is compelled to help her…both because he’s in love and also to punish his deserter of a father.
There’s an innocence to Boy Still Missing by John Searles, maybe because it’s set before cell phones and the internet. Dominick is a good kid without a decent role model, and every time he makes a wrong turn, it’s for the right reasons. When his plan to help Edie goes disastrously wrong, Dominick runs away from home, bent on revenge and aching to find himself and someone who might feel a true connection to him. Deeply affecting and beautifully written, this book is perfect for fans of Demon Copperhead and some of Stephen King’s more literary works.