Review: The ripple effects of a young boy's disappearance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 1, 2012
On the surface, "The Boy Vanishes" is a simple story of 14-year-old Tim O'Connor's disappearance one night in 1976 after closing down the booth he worked in at Funland, on Massasoit Beach, the summer fun place for lower- and middle-class Boston. His drunken mom hadn't missed him until the next morning. With no clues to his disappearance and no witnesses who could help them, the local police were stymied, but they continued their investigation for months before giving up.Meanwhile, life in the small town of Grantham, Massachusetts, went on. But strangely, it wasn't the same without Tim there. As little influence as the young Tim apparently had on the town while he was there, his disappearance and its aftermath rippled through the town and affected everyone he knew in ways no one could have predicted. Author Jennifer Haigh's storytelling was so skillful that she pulled me right in, thinking at first that the story was a missing person search, probably evolving into a murder mystery, only to gradually realize that it was something else entirely.The flashback ending was perfect, giving a degree of closure, but also leaving the outcome to the reader's imagination."The Boy Vanishes" is a great showcase for Ms. Haigh's talent.