The Missing: A Novel [Paperback]

Thomas Eidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2003

The year is 1886 and old Samuel Jones, broken in body and soul, has ridden hard to reach his daughter’s remote New Mexico ranch—ridden hard so that he can die there. But Maggie Baldwin, grown and with children of her own, wants nothing to do with this man who abandoned her and her mother thirty years earlier to live with the Indians. Nothing, that is, until renegade Apaches shoot Maggie’s husband and kidnap her oldest daughter. Then she has no choice but to ride with the dying father she detests in a desperate attempt to rescue her child before the girl disappears forever into the vast twilight land of old Mexico.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Excellent...The Western may fade from time to time, but there is something too compelling about the story of the West...for it to die.”
—The Dallas Morning News

“Mysterious, vast, dangerous, beautiful. Like the West itself... the book at the close will break your heart.”
—Time Out London

From the Inside Flap

The year is 1886 and old Samuel Jones, broken in body and soul, has ridden hard to reach his daughter?s remote New Mexico ranch?ridden hard so that he can die there. But Maggie Baldwin, grown and with children of her own, wants nothing to do with this man who abandoned her and her mother thirty years earlier to live with the Indians. Nothing, that is, until renegade Apaches shoot Maggie?s husband and kidnap her oldest daughter. Then she has no choice but to ride with the dying father she detests in a desperate attempt to rescue her child before the girl disappears forever into the vast twilight land of old Mexico.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 299 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (November 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812972384
• ISBN-13: 978-0812972382
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #782,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great contemporary Western!, January 7, 2004

By 

J. Remington "John Remington" (Adams, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Missing: A Novel (Paperback)

Formerly titled THE LAST RIDE, author Thomas Eidson mixes the concepts of Grace, Justice, Hope, Pennance and Family with the age old Western genre elements of Wilderness, Violence, Horses, Savagery and Strength and creates a great contemporary Western.

The characters of Samuel Jones and his daughter Maggie and grandaughters Lily and Dot are destined to become classic figures in the Western pantheon. They are flawed to be sure, but endowed with healthy portions of intelligence, resolve and spiritual endownment. Eidson brilliantly creates strong women characters, deftly able to bridge the femine nurturing instinct with the warrior spirit- perhaps his greatest achievement with this book. He also uses his narrative to explore, challenge the concept of, and define the notion of "Family"- both extended and nuclear.

THE LAST RIDE (now called THE MISSING), ventures into the bloody, eerie and mythical territory of Carmac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. It is not a book for the faint of heart or weak of heart.

On a personal note, I really value Eidson's willingness to confront the issues of Christian values as well as Native American spiritualism and finding the common ground between them. It is rare to find literary characters so invovled with an active Faith.

A most worthy read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this compelling read, November 22, 2003

By 

John Bowes (Oxford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Missing: A Novel (Paperback)

Previously titled The Last Ride, this is the basis for the new Ron Howard film. The novel of family, a search for faith and courage, is a page turner that will stay with you. Grab it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A western, yet not an old western, March 28, 2004

By 

Stephen Sherlock "shersteve" (Franklin, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Missing: A Novel (Paperback)

Originally published as The Last Ride, this was made into a movie with this new title. A "western", yet not an "old western". This novel examines a father-daughter relationship with the setting in the uncivilized West. It carefully examines the overall role of women in the West; carefully because of the subtlety of how it accomplishes this. Maggie is a heroine for all time. The novel also builds an understanding of the native Indian cultural ways for the reader. Enjoy!