“I meant to get so much done on the day I picked up John Searles’s Boy Still Missing. Instead, my ‘things to do’ list blew away, the clock face blurred, and I read—hungrily, compulsively, worried sick for a troubled young character about whom I cared deeply.”
—Wally Lamb, author of I Know This Much Is True and She’s Come Undone
“A lively thriller with a big heart.”
—Esquire
“Captivating. . . . A vivid blue-collar coming-of-age story. . . . Like Russell Banks, Searles combines a rapid and intricate plot with major social concerns.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A taut, well-nuanced portrait of a troubled kid caught in a whirlwind of circumstance. . . . Searles builds suspense and excitement with surprising turns of plot.”
—Booklist
“An involving, sometimes haunting, and completely satisfying novel.”
—Baltimore Sun
“Boy Still Missing is a moving, intelligent, and gripping debut. I cared profoundly about John Searles’s characters, despite their very human mistakes, and began to miss them soon after I had reached the final page of this fine book.”
—Chris Bohjalian, author of Midwives and Trans-sister Radio
“Boy Still Missing takes us to a small, hardscrabble town like the one where Searles grew up, and by bringing to life the primal emotions of a character shattered by a needless death, it conveys a message of hope: People can find peace by standing up for what they deeply believe in.”
—New York Daily News
“The dust jacket says thriller, and, certainly, there are parts that make the heart beat faster. But what thriller is so tender and bittersweet as to prompt tears as well? Searles writes even more beautifully than he plots. . . . Save [Boy Still Missing] for a cloudy or a rainy day when you can curl up alone to laugh and cry in your favorite chair. The payoff is worth it.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Boy Still Missing is a powerful and poignant tale of adolescent angst that places Searles alongside Ethan Canin and Michael Chabon among the top young novelists of our time.”
—Providence Journal
“Compulsively readable. . . . Searles renders the characters and the rural New England setting with accuracy and affection. These are clearly people and places he knows well. His ability to make their plights and their choices both believable and heartbreaking is a testament to this first-time author’s extraordinary skills. . . . An unqualified success. The reader will leave Boy Still Missing disturbed by, and thoughtful about, the turbulent times in Dominick Pindle’s life and in the life of our nation.”
—BookPage
“Totally gripping.”
—Jane
“A sensual debut novel. . . . Builds up roller-coaster speed, careening to a dramatic, poignant finale.”
—Glamour
“Hypnotic.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“A gritty, sometimes heartbreaking coming-of-age novel. . . . Proof that a child of tragic parents can indeed break the cycle of misfortune.”
—Redbook
“Boy Still Missing is a compulsively readable novel that slyly opens the door on the consequences of poor judgment. Combining pathos, tragedy, and love, Searles suggests that fate can indeed herald peace of mind, despite our persistent efforts to find it on our own. Boy Still Missing announces the arrival of a major new voice on the stage of American literature and introduces an unforgettable new hero in Dominick, the troubled teen who may just be destined to stand alongside such legendary forebearers as Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn.”
—Barnes&Noble.com
“[A] vivid first novel. . . . You’ll root for Dominick as he weathers tough times and finds solace in love.”
—Seventeen
“This is a wonderful debut. The voice is fresh and honest, the mix of tragedy and hope a bit reminiscent of John Irving’s The World According to Garp. . . . Dominick Pindle is a believable, complex, and sympathetic character, and Boy Still Missing is a coming-of-age story that cannot miss at touching the reader deeply.”
—Deadly Pleasures magazine
“Totally captivating.”
—YM
“Engrossing and deeply felt. . . . [The novel] has the heart of an insider finding his way in, for Searles is coming in to the world as surely as his hero Dominick.”
—Seattle Weekly
“Written with the bristling energy of a detective thriller and the poetic insight of a memoir.”
—Norwich Bulletin
“A stunning debut novel. . . . Beautifully written, Boy Still Missing is replete with striking descriptions, analogies, and metaphors. The dialogue is superb. The best news is that Boy Still Missing is a page-turning, captivating story.”
—The Tennessean
“Boy Still Missing manages the mean feat of combining the page-turning pull of a thriller with the beautifully drawn characters and situations one expects from a more literary work.”
—Connecticut Post
“John Searles’s debut novel will keep readers riveted as it masterfully tells the story of Dominick Pindle’s unusual coming-of-age. . . . Searles does a fine job of depicting the consequences of human frailty, as well as the unpredictable strength of the human heart.”
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“To say Boy Still Missing is a good book doesn’t do it justice. The story is fascinating, riveting, and full of twists and turns. This is a full-speed page-turner.”
—Massachusetts Daily News
“Before you start reading John Searles’s Boy Still Missing, bid your family and friends au revoir. John Searles is such a masterful storyteller and his hero Dominick is so cocky and so tender there will be inevitable comparisons to J. D. Salinger. Boy Still Missing is essentially a small-town saga but with big American themes all pouring from the author’s great compassionate heart.”
—Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes and ’Tis