Book Log #86: The Missing, by Sarah Langan
Nov. 4th, 2007 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperSarah Langan's The Missing is a sequel to the book of hers I read at the beginning of this year--in fact, the very first book I read for this year's Book Log, The Keeper. Like the first installment, The Missing is a very grim, very dark read, introducing several characters just long enough to let you get a feel for them before mowing them down in suitably gruesome fashion. This time around, though, the story's much grimmer--and even in the midst of so much destruction, hardly anyone achieves the same sort of spiritual resolution that you see happening in The Keeper. A couple of characters do achieve an escape of sorts, but given the circumstances of the ending, it's hard to see what sort of future they'll be having.
Which brings me to the overall flavor of this book. The Missing is essentially a zombie novel, though the word 'zombie' is never used. The word 'infected', on the other hand, is all over the place--as is the strong indication that the virus sweeping through Corpus Christi is breaking out to threaten the rest of the country and possibly the world. Part of me was vaguely disappointed to see this essentially being a zombie book, since that felt less original than The Keeper. On the other hand, Langan's strong characterization was still in evidence here, and I'm definitely intrigued by the question of whether there will be a third book to finish off what's clearly intended to be a series, and whether there will be a ray of hope for any of the survivors of the plague she's unleashed upon her world. Three and a half stars.
Which brings me to the overall flavor of this book. The Missing is essentially a zombie novel, though the word 'zombie' is never used. The word 'infected', on the other hand, is all over the place--as is the strong indication that the virus sweeping through Corpus Christi is breaking out to threaten the rest of the country and possibly the world. Part of me was vaguely disappointed to see this essentially being a zombie book, since that felt less original than The Keeper. On the other hand, Langan's strong characterization was still in evidence here, and I'm definitely intrigued by the question of whether there will be a third book to finish off what's clearly intended to be a series, and whether there will be a ray of hope for any of the survivors of the plague she's unleashed upon her world. Three and a half stars.