Virginia Knightly is a TV journalist and executive producer of the Evening Show for an un-named Washington DC TV station.
Flicking through press releases one morning her attention is caught by the word "Missing" in bold text with a short paragraph about a woman; Evelyn Carney, who walked out of a restaurant alone following dinner with her husband. Evelyn is thirty years old, ambitious and employed by a prestigious law firm; so why has she vanished without trace?
Virginia is struck by the thought that she has seen the face before and gradually remembers it was in a cutaway shot in a video clip. Something about the face captures Virginia's interest and sensing a story, she starts to investigate.
As Virginia's search for information starts to yield some results, she learns of the involvement of Criminal Investigations who aren't normally concerned with missing persons. Clearly this is being treated as more than an ordinary disappearance. During the course of her investigation, Virginia questions Evelyn's colleague Paige, her husband Peter and Assistant US Attorney Ian Chase (rumoured to be her lover). Virginia also tries to extract information from her former boyfriend, police Commander Michael Ledger.
The apparent motives for Evelyn's disappearance waver between personal, professional and political as the strands of the story go one way then another. Virginia fails to realise that the closer she gets to the truth the more that she places herself in danger.
The characters are well fleshed out and are likeable or not by turn; although a couple perhaps veer toward the stereotypical. The professional and personal relationships work well, displaying warmth, loyalty and the hard-nosed journalistic tendencies to today’s news-media.
This is a fast paced read, and an enjoyable one-sitting debut novel.
