The Missing One

Description

'A gripping page-turner' Sunday Times 'Beautifully written and compelling' Sabine Durrant 'Satisfyingly creepy' Sunday Mirror AN UNFORGETTABLE DEBUT THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MAGPIE LANE The loss of her mother has left Kali McKenzie with too many unanswered questions. But while clearing out Elena's art studio, she finds a drawer packed with postcard each bearing an identical one-line message from a Canadian gallery owner called Susannah Gillespie: thinking of you. Who is this woman and what does she know about Elena's hidden past? Desperate to find out, Kali travels with her toddler, Finn, to Susannah's isolated home on a remote British Columbian island, a place of killer whales and storms. But as bad weather closes in, Kali quickly realises she has made a big mistake. The enigmatic Susannah refuses to talk about the past, and as Kali struggles to piece together what happened back in the 1970s, Susannah's behaviour grows more and more erratic. Most worrying of all, Susannah is becoming increasingly preoccupied with little Finn . . . PRAISE FOR LUCY ATKINS 'Wonderfully skilled' Sarah Perry 'Sly, witty and gripping' Naomi Alderman 'Wholly beguiling' Mick Herron 'Highly intelligent' Sarah Vaughan 'Beguiling, brilliantly creepy' Claire Fuller **Enjoyed The Missing One? Read the word-of-mouth lockdown hit, Magpie Lane, now**

Lucy Atkins is an award-winning author and journalist. She is a book critic for the Sunday Times and the Guardian, teaches on Oxford University's Creative Writing Master's degree and has judged the Costa Book Awards. She has written for publications including the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph, the Times Literary Supplement and many UK magazines. Her third novel, The Night Visitor, has been optioned for television. Her most recent novel, Magpie Lane, was chosen as a book of the year by BBC Radio 4's Open Book, the Guardian, the Telegraph and Good Housekeeping magazine.

Horribly, horribly compulsive. Brilliant * Fiona Barton, author of The Widow * A gripping page-turner * The Sunday Times * Taut, tense, and beautifully written. I held my breath between chapters and didn't sleep until I reached the end * Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go * A complex, creepy and insidious novel * The Guardian on The Night Visitor * The rich characterisation makes for an alarmingly plausible riches-to-rags tale * Sunday Times on The Night Visitor * Elegant, clever, beautifully written. Lucy Atkins is, quite frankly, a genius * Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep * Thrillingly creepy and darkly funny, The Night Visitor set me racing through the chapters with its brilliant plotting and characters that crackle off the page. A cannot tear yourself away novel * Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat * Addictive . . . a pace so relentless that you'll want to inhale this novel in one uninterrupted sitting * Sunday Times on The Other Child * This atmospheric, propulsive novel creeps up on you like footsteps in the dead of night... a tingling layer of gothic suspense * Metro on The Night Visitor * One of the most vivid, memorable and menacing characters I've ever read...Dark, tense and menacing, I was quickly drawn into the story and couldn't put it down. Readers who enjoyed Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller will adore it * CL Taylor, author of The Lie * Wonderfully dark and intriguing. In Vivian, Atkins has created a fascinating and sinister character who will stay with you long after you've finished the book. Highly recommended * Linda Green, author of While My Eyes Were Closed * Such a sophisticated, layered read, I absolutely revelled in it. A wonderful, wonderful book. The plotting is superb but the real triumph is the characterisation. The moment I finished, I wanted to read it all over again * Clare Mackintosh on The Night Visitor * I absolutely loved this novel. The Other Child is seriously gripping, seriously scary and seriously brilliant * Clare Kendal, author of The Book of You * Atmospheric and packed with suspense, kept me on edge from start to finish * Woman & Home Magazine on The Other Child * Sinister, suspenseful and a great sense of place. It races along, as a family history is unpicked Fabulously dark * Woman & Home on The Night Visitor * Sinister, utterly compulsive...will keep your pulse racing until its dramatic denouement * Red Magazine on The Night Visitor * Truly unnerving. Atkins perfectly captures the vulnerability that comes with moving overseas, away from friends and support networks, and uses it expertly in this compelling novel. Not just one-more-page gripping but perceptive and beautifully written * Lucie Whitehouse on The Other Child * An elegantly written page-turner which pulled me in from the start and held its grip until the final page * Renee Knight, author of Disclaimer * An absolute cracker...Fantastic! * Sunday Mirror on The Night Visitor * It's wonderfully creepy, in that clever way that is tied in with character, as much as plot and setting. And the beetle metaphor is just ingenious * Sabine Durrant, author of Lie With Me * The tension is immediate and unrelenting; the sense of unease palpable. Deceptive on every level, this is a gripping, Rendellesque read * Mick Herron, author of Spook Street * Enjoyably creepy * Sunday Express on The Night Visitor * Utterly gripping * Literary Review on The Night Visitor * The last book I read in one sitting like this was Louise Doughty's Apple Tree Yard. Like Louise, Lucy Atkins is brilliant at ramping up the tension so that there's not a chance of relief until the end * Polly Samson * Brilliantly believable...you will relish every page * The People on The Night Visitor * This is an enthralling, creepy and endlessly twisty story about secrets, lies and the destructive power of ambition. We galloped to the climax. Five stars * Heat on The Night Visitor * I read this book in one sitting. A tense psychological thriller which explores authenticity, fame, and lies and the depths you might sink to in order to protect your reputation. A page-turner that keeps you gripped from the very first page * Psychologies on The Night Visitor * It put me in mind of Misery, and Rebecca. Splendidly tense, creepy and enjoyable * Sarah Hilary, author of Quieter Than Killing * Characters so real you could reach out and touch them. Absorbing, exciting and full of rich detail - snap this one up! * Lucie Whitehouse, author of Keep You Close * Beautifully crafted, unsettling and utterly unputdownable, The Night Visitor explores what happens when we take someone else's story and make it our own * Nuala Ellwood, author of My Sister's Bones * Crackles with undercurrents of mistrust and menace. Tense, atmospheric and beautifully written, this unnerving tale of ambition and revenge held me captive until the last page. Brilliant * Amanda Jennings, author of In Her Wake * Clever, multilayered and morally murky. I read it with a delicious sense of dread * Tammy Cohen, author of When She Was Bad * Elegantly written with a rollercoaster of twists and turns, The Night Visitor has creepy echoes of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal. I read it in two sittings * Elizabeth Heathcote, author of Undertow * The Night Visitor is an addictive and intricately plotted page-turner. I devoured it and I loved it * Hannah Beckermann, author and journalist * Thrilling...the sort of book you think about even when not reading, and stay up far later than you should to finish. Atkins is a master of suspense; she creates characters that you feel like you've met, and situations you never want to be in. Completely wonderful * Dr Suzannah Lipscomb, historian, author and TV presenter * It's clever, complex and compelling and grips right up to that completely unexpected twist. A chilling psychological thriller with beetles! * Fanny Blake on The Night Visitor *