cover image The Disappearance

The Disappearance

Efrem Sigel, . . Permanent, $28 (264pp) ISBN 978-1-57962-180-3

Sigel's powerful and elegantly crafted second novel (after The Kermanshah Transfer ) explores the impact of the disappearance of a boy shortly before his 14th birthday on his parents. Daniel Sandler is adored by Joshua and Nathalie, an upper middle-class couple who summer in a small rural Massachusetts community. One day, the Sandlers return to their summer home from a mundane errand to find Daniel gone. As the hours pass with no clues to Daniel's whereabouts, their despair and anxiety escalate geometrically, and hopes that their child will return unscathed evaporate. Despite the dogged efforts of local law enforcement, weeks and then months pass without progress in the investigation. The uncertainty takes its toll on Joshua and Nathalie, both as individuals and as a couple. The mystery's resolution is secondary to Sigel's subtle and probing look at the consequences of a tragedy. (Feb.)