Boy Still Missing (P.S.) [Kindle Edition]

John Searles (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"If only I could have stopped the most important person in my life from dying... alone." This much-anticipated first novel from Searles (book editor at Cosmopolitan) is a vivid blue-collar coming-of-age story with more than the usual supply of plot twists: abductions, abortion, adoption, alcoholism, media frenzies and extramarital affairs contribute first vim, then tragedy, to the 16th year in the life of Dominick Pindle. Searles's tale opens in 1971, in a "desolate, middle-of-nowhere" New England town, where narrator Dominick and his determinedly sunny mother spend Saturday nights trawling bars in search of his wayward father. When Dominick spots his dad's truck outside sexy divorc‚e Edie Kramer's house, it's the start of a fateful relationship. Edie is pregnant by Dominick's father, who's no longer seeing her; hurting for money, Edie convinces Dominick to steal his mother's hidden cash and give it to her. But Dominick's mom is also secretly pregnant (by the town sheriff). Without the money she had salted away, she can't afford a safe illegal abortion and bleeds to death in a motel room after trying to terminate her pregnancy herself. The next day, Dominick leaves for New York City in search of facts about his mother and his mysterious half-brother. After a number of hairpin turns, intrigue and reconciliations, the book's climactic section finds Dominick and his new girlfriend Jeanny holed up in a motel room with Edie's baby in a desperate attempt to get the media to investigate his mother's death. Like Russell Banks, Searles combines a rapid and intricate plot with major social concerns. Some readers will find Searles heavy-handed in his depiction of the pre-Roe politics of abortion; many more, though, will find his story of hard choices, bleak times and unwilling kidnappers captivating indeed.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In his first novel, an overly complicated coming-of-age story, Searles, the senior books editor at Cosmopolitan, has studded his plot with all the issues the market might be expected to bear: adultery, abortion, abduction, adoption, and alcoholism. In 1971, 15-year-old Dominick Pindle and his mother search the bars of their working-class Massachusetts town for Dominick's father, whose drinking and womanizing are legendary. When Dominick falls in love with his father's sexy (and pregnant) girlfriend, Edie, he steals the money his mother has been saving to buy a house in order to help Edie out. Meanwhile, Dominick's mother, who is also pregnant, dies alone in a motel room while trying to give herself an abortion. Dominick becomes determined to track down Edie (who has moved to New York) and also to discover the truth about his mother's past. The book ends as it begins, in a flurry of unconvincing events, with Dominick; his girlfriend, Jenny; and Edie's baby daughter Sophie locked in a motel room, trying to get the media to investigate his mother's death. Perfectly appropriate for larger fiction collections in public libraries but nothing special.
- Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 367 KB
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0014Y09IO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #346,385 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Don't Let It Happen To You", October 18, 2001

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boy Still Missing (Hardcover)

If you haven't read this book yet, you don't know what you're missing. Don't let it happen to you. If you're an avid book reader, like myself, you know you'll find maybe one book out of ten that really is special, and this book has got to be one of my favorite so far this year. It's beautifully written and a pleasure to read. John Searles is a real wordsmith. I was familiar with Searles writing from other publications, like Out, and other magazines, so I was very excited when he new debut novel was published. I wasn't disappointed. Here is a story that will keep you up at night till you're on the last page.

The story takes place in 1971. It tells the story of Dominick Pindle, a fifteen-year- old boy, who lives in Holedo, Massachusetts with his parents, who seem like a normal couple but really hold a lot of personal secrets. Dominick's father tends to drink a lot. Often Dominick and his mother must find him and drag him out of bars. His father has a mistress named Edie, who Dominick meets one night while searching for his father, and Dominick himself begins an affair with her. Dominick ends of loaning her lots of money that belongs to his mother, causing even more problems. Dominick finds out his mother was saving the money for an abortion of her own. She was having an affair, too, with Town Sheriff Roget. Dominick's mother not being able to afford a safe illegal abortion ends of bleeding to death in a motel room trying to terminate the pregnancy herself, with someone else's help. Who helps her, then deserts her is a real surprise. It turns out that Edie, the father's mistress, is pregnant, too, and the baby belongs to Dominick's father. There are so many plot twists in this story it's more than enough to fill two books. As the plot moves along very rapidly with more and more twists, we find Dominick with his new girlfriend, Jeanny, holed up in the same motel room his mother died in, with Edie's baby, who is Dominick's sister. There they are surrounded by the police, in a stand-off, that continues with more plot twists till the book comes to it's powerful conclusion. What a story!

Once in a while you find a new author that's really exciting and a powerful writer. John Searles is just that and more. I've got a strong feeling this will become a movie someday soon. I certainly look forward to reading and reviewing John's next book. Bravo!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read!, February 21, 2001

By 

Christine (CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boy Still Missing (Hardcover)

This book was fantastic. I wasn't able to put it down until I finished it. I immediately cared about the characters and couldn't wait to find out what happened to them. The wording was highly descriptive without being verbose and the storyline was absolutely captivating. The unanticipated twists and turns kept me reading and reading. John Searles has done a great job with his first published novel! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a great story.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss This Book, January 16, 2005

By 

Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boy Still Missing: A Novel (Paperback)

John Searles in his debut book, Boy Still Missing, tells the coming of age tale of a young man which will haunt readers long after they close this book. From a line which ended the prologue, "I wish I could have stopped the most important person in my life from dying, " to the closing line, "And a part of me who will always be a boy still missing the childhood he left too quickly behind," readers will be glued to the story of Dominck Pindle.

Dominick Pindle may appear to be a normal and average 15 year old but his life is anything but normal. Many is the night that he accompanies his mother and her friend while they go looking for Dominick's father in local bars. But then one night trailing his father to a woman's home will set Dominick, his mother, father and this woman on a course which can only lead to tragedy. With a rather eccentric and unhappy mother who is hiding secrets to his philandering father and missing money, we sit on the edge of pour seats as Dominick's world is about to fall apart. And we as readers have a front row seat to how Dominck deals with the cards life handed him and a young woman who may very well save him.

Not in a very long time have I found a young male character as engaging and as sorrowful as Dominick Pindle. I am sure that some readers will compare him to other male teenage protagonists, perhaps even Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. But to me Dominck is a most unique young man whom we get to know and root for as we get closer to the end of this book.

I found this to be a well written book with wonderfully portrayed characters and a captivating theme. I do look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.