Missing Persons (Alan Gregory)

by Stephen White

2006

Status

Available

Publication

Berkley (2006), Edition: Reprint, 528 pages

Description

The stakes have just been raised for psychologist Alan Gregory: His friend and fellow therapist Hannah Grant has died at the office, mysteriously and suddenly. The police are baffled, leaving another apparent homicide unsolved in Boulder, Colorado. Only Alan has the means to decipher Hannah's clues, a quest that will take him to Las Vegas and lead him to question the integrity of those closest to him. The clock is ticking as Alan tracks one of Hannah's most elusive patients; has she been kidnapped, or is she a runaway? The answers to both cases may be locked in the mind of a patient he has been treating for a schizoid personality disorder. In a maze of dilemmas that could cost him his career, or his life, Alan takes a bold risk that will have listeners racing to the stunning conclusion of Missing Persons.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member BeckyJG

Stephen White writes a nice, middle-of-the-road thriller. Scary, but not too scary. Decently written, if not inspired. His hero, Alan Gregory, is a nice, middle-of-the-road psychologist living in Boulder, Colorado with his nice prosecutor wife, their adorable daughter, and two fabulous dogs.

Dr

Gregory, in addition to his private practice, is a consultant to the Boulder Police Department, and--as is so often the case with amateur sleuths--seems to find more than his share of dead bodies. Missing Persons opens with the discovery of a dead body--that of Gregory's colleague, psychiatrist Hannah Grant. The search to determine the cause of her death is closely linked to another search, for a missing teen age girl, a girl who is the same age as Jonbenet Ramsey--or, as she's rather coyly referred to throughout the novel, "the little beauty queen" or "the other girl"--would have been had she lived.

Shit happens. There are crazy people, a jaunt to Vegas, and, as usual, Alan Gregory spends an inordinate amount of time explaining confidentiality and how important it is to the doctor patient relationship and then dithering about whether it would be appropriate to betray it in this particular case.

I've always rather looked forward to Stephen White's novels, as they go down easily and leave no unpleasant aftertaste. And so, when I found this one as I was test-driving my new libary card, I picked it up, read a few pages and, since they rang no bells in my memory, checked it out. Now, here's how middle-of-the-road Mr White's work is: it wasn't until the climax of the novel--literally, until the perpetrator was unveiled--that I realized I had read this one already. Unpleasant aftertaste? This left no taste whatsover!

I'm rethinking my fondness for Stephen White at the moment. Reading time is short enough that I think long and hard before rereading something truly meaningful, so to spend two days rereading something that made so little impression I can't even remember reading it...well, I think I need to switch from white to wheat.

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LibraryThing member sdp459

Any Alan Gregory book by White is a fantastic read. Exciting, easy to follow and keeps you on the edge of your chair waiting to see wht happens next.

LibraryThing member bellmorejer

The story had me engaged throughout, the plot kept building and building and I couldn't wait to read what happend in the end. However the ending was very anti-climatic. I was disappointed in this book.

LibraryThing member sringle1202

I was pretty pleased with this book. Had never read anything by Stephen White, but I was not disappointed. A story of murder and kidnapping in Boulder, Colorado. I love books that don't end how you are expecting and this was one of those books. I can't wait to read more by this author.

LibraryThing member Carl_Alves

In Missing Persons, Dr. Alan Gregory is investigating a missing persons case, hence the title. Meanwhile, a woman is killed in his colleague's office. Later, this same colleague goes missing. All of this makes for a convoluted story that is at times hard to follow. Gregory is continually conflicted

about disclosing patient information as he tries to help find the girl and his colleague. The book failed to hold my interest in its entirety. As the story progressed, I found it to be continually harder to follow, and I also found myself not trying very hard to follow it. I've read other novels by Stephen White, and I don't find him to be an effective or engaging story teller. I would pass on this novel.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity

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LibraryThing member Preston.Kringle

Missing Persons grabs you with several mysteries at once, and though at times chapters seem to be out of place it is a good read. It however has an ending that ties everything together nicely, which doesn’t seem to follow the rest of the flow of the book.

LibraryThing member dara85

I have read several books by Stephen White and this is one of best. I really enjoyed it.

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