Friday, August 21, 2020

FFB: VANISHED, Mary McGarry Morris

Vanished by Mary McGarry Morris

I don't know if anyone saw this book as crime fiction on its publication. It certainly is noir and straight out of the Woodrell universe.
A laborer is lured into helping an attractive woman he sees o
n the road. He deserts his family and embarks on an odyssey with Dotty, who is a femme fatale of the highest order. She has kidnapped a baby and the three cobble out a life on the road over the course of the next five years. Their fate is further complicated when they run into an ex-con and his family, who come up with the idea of demanding ransom. This is one dark, often heart-breaking tale and amazingly Morris' first novel. Highly recommended. Her other novels aren't bad either.
 

14 comments:

Cullen Gallagher said...

Hi Patti, is anyone collecting FFB links anymore? I'd like to try and contribute now that I've got the blog up and running again.

Margot Kinberg said...

This is one I haven't heard of before, so it was interesting to see your post on it. That's what I love about FFB!

David Cranmer said...

Noir and Woodrell works for me.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Another author I knew nothing about other than her name. Nice review. Not for me, now.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Cullen-Todd did it for a while but seems to have stopped. Maybe you would like to do it? Most of the contributors are on the left side of my blog.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I cannot do it anymore because I suffer from vertigo and its too much heard turning.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

I thought about doing it after Todd stopped months ago, but did not want to step on toes. I do link Patti's FFB review as well as Aubrey Nye Hamilton's to my blog each week.

pattinase (abbott) said...

"Head turning"

TracyK said...

Patti, I will check out this author but sounds maybe a bit too dark for me (and especially right now).

I sympathize with your vertigo. I suffered from vertigo off and on from my early twenties through at least my forties and it still recurs now and then. At some points I would have it so bad I could not get out of bed for a couple of days. That was the reason I stopped driving at the age of 36, because of the head turning required in driving. I had tests done, no reason or resolution ever found. I have always had allergies and I suspect that is related.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Yes. Turning my head to the right has always been a problem. And now it turns out there is a anomaly in my brain, which I have to have checked out. Weird if all these disparate symptoms are related.

George said...

I've only had vertigo once when I had an ear infection. Very unpleasant sensation! Hope you can find an answer to your symptoms.!

Todd Mason said...

I think I'm finally regained enough equilibrium, if you'll pardon an almost-metaphor, to start weekly gathering again, perhaps with a late gather of this week's entries. Of course, I thought that before, only to get whapped upside the head (mostly metaphorically) with a whole new set of distractions, but barring the Even Bigger Flood, I think it's past time I got back up on the horse.

Todd Mason said...

Best of luck with the vertigo and possibly related brain anomaly...fun refuses to stop. Already have the appointments in place (and eat your chicken soup while it's still hot!).

Cullen Gallagher said...

Hi Patti, Todd, and Kevin,

I'm happy to fill in with collecting FFB on any day that you're not able to moving forward. Just shoot me an email and I can step in to help.

Happy to be back blogging again, missed it!

Best wishes to you all,
Cullen