The Department

Faber’s crackling debut centers on a philosophy professor who gets entangled in the case of a missing student. When Neil Weber was six years old, he watched a woman drown without trying to help save her. The trauma of that episode informed his decision to study human behavior; it also compels him to intervene when his campus is roiled by the disappearance of student Lucia Vanotti. Weber has a fuzzy memory of offering Vanotti a cigarette once, and, despite having no authorized role in the investigation, he reaches out to her family and friends for details about her disappearance. His actions arouse suspicion from the police, which Weber ignores, until his inquiry leads him to fear that one of his best friends might be involved. Faber alternates between Weber’s present-day narration and Vanotti’s perspective, including flashbacks to her childhood and a chronicle of the year before she vanished, keeping even careful readers off-balance throughout. Nuanced characterizations and the author’s gift for evoking the rhythms of campus life are sure to delight fans of Peter Swanson. Readers will be eager to see what Faber does next. Agent: Savannah Brooks, KT Literary. (Feb.)