Review: Beautifully written story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 21, 2012
The Bicentennial summer of 1976 found 14-year-old Tim O'Connor of Grantham, Massachusetts, working in one of the game arcades at Massasoit Beach.  His friends came around to see him and it was a typical teenage scene at the beach most days.  His friends called him Timmo.Tim's mother, a heavy drinker, was supposed to pick him up from work on a particular night and Tim waited for her after helping to close the game up. His co-workers had all gone home.  The next morning Tim's mother found him missing and he didn't show up at work, and his mother had not gone to pick him up the night before."The Boy Vanishes" by Jennifer Haigh is a haunting story that keeps the reader in the present as the police look for Tim and interview his family and friends with no luck and no leads.  No one saw anything or heard anything that night. Time passes and the two policemen who work the case wonder about the boy, one of them even letting us know that he's tired of the same things happening over and over for the thirty years that he has worked for the police department.  The two men are serious in their investigation into Tim's disappearance and exhaust all means of finding him.  Tim was never far from their minds.When Tim vanishes, his family and friends react in much different ways than the police and each other expect.  Just like the characters in the book who remained wondering what happened to their friend, I was in the story, too, emotionally with them, wondering myself what happened to Tim and hoping for some comfort for his friends and his mother.  I also wanted Tim back and was emotionally invested in his story.Jennifer Haigh has a gift for engaging the reader emotionally in her stories, caring about characters and in this one, understanding their motives for what they do.  After reading her book, "Faith" I knew I had found an author I liked.The ending wasn't what I expected, but I think any other wouldn't have worked with the rest of the story.  This Kindle Single is not easily forgotten.Highly recommended.