Our Daughter is Missing
Our Daughter is Missing by Darren O’Sullivan
If you like: Dual POV claustrophobic psychological thrillers
POV Protagonists:
Jo, the agoraphobic mom who can’t bring herself to leave the house
Faye, the rebellious 13-year-old daughter who decides to run away
Our Daughter is Missing is set in the UK, primarily in two tight spaces: The first is Jo and Faye’s home, and O’Sullivan gets mines a lot of tension as Jo feels powerless, stuck in her home while wanting her kidnapped daughter back. Jo is a great, flawed protagonist who makes poor initial choices regarding her rebellious daughter, like hiding a GPS tag in her backpack, which Faye later found - and was the final straw that led her to run away. Jo blames herself constantly, hating herself for the woman she’s become - while at the same time, fiercely loving her daughter and wishing more than anything her phobia wouldn’t hold her back.
Meanwhile, soon after she runs away, Faye is roughly kidnapped and shoved into a dark and dirty room (the second primary location) with just a mattress, a light, and a bucket to use the bathroom. Initially, she is given food by a mysterious man who increasingly becomes more sympathetic to her. But the man’s boss, a masked woman, despises Faye and becomes verbally and physically abusive toward her. But Faye isn’t just accepting her fate - and tries to escape several times, but her captors are wise to her plans, with awful consequences. I loved seeing Faye become bolder and more courageous as she tried to escape.
Jo’s chapters are told from First person, while Faye’s chapters are told in Third person. This actually worked for the story, as Jo’s feelings bubble to the surface immediately, while Faye keeps herself distant - perspective styles mirror the characters’ feelings.
Jo is married to Mark, Faye’s stepfather. Mark, in the early chapters, is the rock that Jo leans on when their world is destroyed after Faye runs away and is kidnapped at a train station. But even at the beginning, something felt off in that Mark seemed distant to Jo even as he was trying to support her and comfort her. I loved Mark, initially supportive with shades of gray as the story develops.
Jo and Mark are contacted by the kidnappers, and they demand a ransom of £250,000, or Faye will die. Mark insists strongly that they give in to the kidnappers’ demands, and Jo, only thinking of bringing her child home, agrees with Mark.
Jo also befriends another mom, Sandy, who is the mother of Faye’s best friend Mia. Jo feels angry and useless at herself for not even being able to step out of the house to help find Faye, and struggles when Mark leaves Jo alone in the house. Sandy felt like a new supportive friend who gave Jo comfort when she needed it the most.
DS Cahill is the police officer who comes to help once Jo and Mark know for sure that Faye is kidnapped, and she effectively straddles the line between the officer who wants Jo and Mark to remain positive, but increasingly turns frustrated as the couple decides to talk to the press and ask for ransom money. A fantastic and realistic supporting character.
Minor Critique: I am still not a fan of the focus on bodily functions for characters in stressful situations (see my reviews of She Rides Shotgun and Such Quiet Girls). It’s a personal preference, true, but I’d rather not read those depictions.
Overall Review: Written for adults, and set mostly in two tight spaces, I stayed up way too late finishing this page-turning thriller! 4 Stars out of 5
Trigger Warnings: child kidnapping, child abuse, child humiliation, profanity, violence (including violence against children), descriptions of bodily functions, including a female character having a period.
