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The Missing
Gabriel and Hannah's daughter Christa is missing. Has she run away with her older boyfriend or has something worse happened to her? As Gabriel and Hannah wait for the police to find her, they're forced to confront the fissures in their marriage and who they've become as parents and individuals. With Gabriel's alcoholism and womanizing always lurking and Hannah's guilt over possibly pushing her daughter away taking a toll on her mental health, they must decide if they can be better people for each other...whether Christa comes home or not. From the Emmy-award-winning author of Upstate and Orphans, The Missing is a deeply psychological portrait of a marriage that is both full of pathos and frighteningly real.
272 pages, Paperback
Published March 27, 2024
5 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Ben Tanzer
40 books264 followersEmmy-award winner Ben Tanzer's acclaimed work includes the short story collection UPSTATE, the science fiction novel Orphans and the essay collections Lost in Space and Be Cool. His recent novel The Missing was released in March 2024 by 7.13 Books and was a Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year finalist in the category of Traditional Fiction and his new book After Hours: Scorsese, Grief and the Grammar of Cinema, which Kirkus Reviews calls "A heartfelt if overstuffed tribute to the author’s father and the ameliorative power of art," was released by Ig Publishing in May 2025. Ben is also the host of the long running podcast This Podcast Will Change Your Life and lives in Chicago with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 22, 2024
Stay tuned for my conversation with the terrific Tanzer and his latest, deeply searching novel on the lives of writers podcast!
April 4, 2024
This novel, like so much of Ben Tanzer's work, is a masterclass in what it means to be human: irrational, sensational, damaging and pained, and deeply loving of others at the same time.
And while the parental horror story of a child going missing is what starts the novel, the emotional unraveling that follows is gripping and real, so much so that I could only read the book in short bursts. It was so relatable, like watching a car accident in slow motion: devastating and yet, hopeful, because in the end, what else can you do?
And while the parental horror story of a child going missing is what starts the novel, the emotional unraveling that follows is gripping and real, so much so that I could only read the book in short bursts. It was so relatable, like watching a car accident in slow motion: devastating and yet, hopeful, because in the end, what else can you do?
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March 4, 2024It changed my life.
March 21, 2024
Ben Tanzer does it again in this propulsive novel that will be sure to keep you up at night.
April 29, 2024
Tanzer has blessed us with his keen, observant eye in this harsh exploration of the crumbling marriage and personal disintegration of a couple that finds themselves empty nesters, unexpectedly. Alternating between the voice of the husband and the voice of the wife, the reader is constantly reminded that love and hate share a porous border, that marriages are not made in heaven, and that nobody tells you how much everyday work marriage is, and the consequences of neglecting that work.
Tanzers writing is tight and coherent. The story, often told through flashbacks, unwinds at a good pace and ends satisfactorily, letting the reader know that although there is never really an ending, we are never totally free of our past, the chapter can end, sometimes happily, sometimes not, but aware that the future requires attention.
Tanzers writing is tight and coherent. The story, often told through flashbacks, unwinds at a good pace and ends satisfactorily, letting the reader know that although there is never really an ending, we are never totally free of our past, the chapter can end, sometimes happily, sometimes not, but aware that the future requires attention.
May 9, 2024
My first Tanzer novel was one to remember. While fictional, the lives of Hannah and Gabriel are incredibly real. Multiple avenues of anxiety, pain, and pleasure, linger with every chapter. Took multiple unexpected turns, but it all resolved very nicely in the end. Already passing it off to someone saying: Read this right now!
September 3, 2024
A daughter disappears, a failing marriage rapidly deteriorates, and two people struggle to understand what happened to them, and what they face in the years ahead of them. While somehow holding out hope.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2024
I loved how this was a novel written in what seemed like small flash pieces. The content matter kept me interested throughout and the style of writing was phenomenal.
March 8, 2024
Hannah has an argument with her 17-year-old daughter, Christa, and Christa then leaves home with her 19-year-old boyfriend, Josh. Hannah and her husband, Gabriel, have to face life without the person who made their lives complete. If Christa isn’t here, what keeps them together?
Christa’s absence leads them to repeat past errors. Both learn or relearn ways to be missing from their lives, even during ceaseless worry about Christa and doing all they can to find her.
Hannah and Gabriel stumble through a faulty perception and exploration of what love and a relationship are. They each deal with loss, from their childhoods and parents before them, to their love for each other.
Told with understanding and humor, The Missing shows us what being human is.
While I cringed through their mistakes and their pain, I was still left with hope for Hannah and Gabriel and for all of us.
Christa’s absence leads them to repeat past errors. Both learn or relearn ways to be missing from their lives, even during ceaseless worry about Christa and doing all they can to find her.
Hannah and Gabriel stumble through a faulty perception and exploration of what love and a relationship are. They each deal with loss, from their childhoods and parents before them, to their love for each other.
Told with understanding and humor, The Missing shows us what being human is.
While I cringed through their mistakes and their pain, I was still left with hope for Hannah and Gabriel and for all of us.
June 8, 2024
When I attended a launch event for this book, I was fascinated to hear Ben Tanzer talk about the writing challenge he set for himself: explore a crisis in which the protagonists make decisions he NEVER would make. Tanzer was my publicist for my first two books, so I know is a good guy and a great dad. Therefore, I admire the creative leap required to get inside the heads of characters who keep taking wrong turns in their relationship.
The Missing is narrated in the alternating voices of parents whose teenage daughter has vanished--the beginning of each chapter echoing the ending of the previous one. Through this technique, Tanzer deftly weaves the characters' paths together even as their emotional trajectories are spinning apart. I spent a lot of time yelling "Nooooo!" as I read, but ended up applauding Tanzer's swell writing chops.
The Missing is narrated in the alternating voices of parents whose teenage daughter has vanished--the beginning of each chapter echoing the ending of the previous one. Through this technique, Tanzer deftly weaves the characters' paths together even as their emotional trajectories are spinning apart. I spent a lot of time yelling "Nooooo!" as I read, but ended up applauding Tanzer's swell writing chops.
January 20, 2025
The Missing by Ben Tanzer
Seventeen-year-old Christa runs away from home with her boyfriend after an argument with her mother. The narrative of the novel is what goes through the minds’ of her parents Hannah and Gabriel. Could they, should they have handled things differently with the girl? Was their toxic marriage a contributing factor in the girl’s decision to leave? They struggle with guilt and blame and are forced to look at their behaviors, reactions, mistakes and the times they were happy as a family. This is a deep dive into the thoughts and emotions of a couple who are facing the scariest scenario of their marriage. It’s thought provoking. Will Christa be found safe? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I recommend that you do.
D.W. Hogan author of Unbroken Bonds and contributing author in Feisty Deeds anthology
Seventeen-year-old Christa runs away from home with her boyfriend after an argument with her mother. The narrative of the novel is what goes through the minds’ of her parents Hannah and Gabriel. Could they, should they have handled things differently with the girl? Was their toxic marriage a contributing factor in the girl’s decision to leave? They struggle with guilt and blame and are forced to look at their behaviors, reactions, mistakes and the times they were happy as a family. This is a deep dive into the thoughts and emotions of a couple who are facing the scariest scenario of their marriage. It’s thought provoking. Will Christa be found safe? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I recommend that you do.
D.W. Hogan author of Unbroken Bonds and contributing author in Feisty Deeds anthology
September 27, 2024
After spending 260 pages with the most insufferable motherfuckers of all time, I completely understand why Christa ran away with a sleazy 19 year old because he sure as shit would have been better company than Hannah and Gabriel. By the end I just started skimming pages to see if Christa actually came back or if she was really just a figment or a dream or a surrogate for Hannah and Gabriel's severely toxic and abusive relationship.
Also, who edited this book? I found at least one error every chapter, and I'm not exaggerating. Between the numerous spelling and punctuation mistakes and how generally gross these characters were, I was completely taken out of what could have been an exploration of a difficult time in already difficult marriage. Do better. Seek therapy.
Also, who edited this book? I found at least one error every chapter, and I'm not exaggerating. Between the numerous spelling and punctuation mistakes and how generally gross these characters were, I was completely taken out of what could have been an exploration of a difficult time in already difficult marriage. Do better. Seek therapy.
March 18, 2024
LOVED IT! BLURBED IT!
"The Missing is a hold-your-breath story exploring the many layers of love in a life, in a marriage, in a family. Vices and regret frozen in thin ice, nostalgia comforts and chokes. Ben Tanzer has written a book like a cigarette—smoke blurring out and swirling around what it means to be married, what it means to be a parent, what it means to be human…sinking, sinking into the mystery of what’s truly missing. How and where to find it?”
"The Missing is a hold-your-breath story exploring the many layers of love in a life, in a marriage, in a family. Vices and regret frozen in thin ice, nostalgia comforts and chokes. Ben Tanzer has written a book like a cigarette—smoke blurring out and swirling around what it means to be married, what it means to be a parent, what it means to be human…sinking, sinking into the mystery of what’s truly missing. How and where to find it?”
June 22, 2024
From the outset, Tanzer grabs us. And keeps us on the edge of our seat. I cannot imagine the horror and heartache of losing a child; fear inevitably turns to blame and anger, which Tanzer captures with shrewd precision. I read this in less than 24 hours, so anxious I was to find out "what happened." This is a sensitive, honest and powerful portrayal of a marriage and family; it haunts me yet.
September 21, 2024
‘The Missing’ is powerful, engaging, and cutthroat. As Hannah and Gabriel come to terms with their teenage daughter’s absence, Tanzer surgically embeds the reader into their deepest thoughts and memories without mercy or censorship. Short chapters alternating between the torn couple’s individual perspectives give this novel a thumping pace. What ‘The Missing’ does so incredibly well is weave the parents' past experiences into the fabric of the present so they feel immediate and urgent, not hazy and nostalgic or functioning as over-simplified representations of regret.
Once settled in Hannah and Gabriel’s minds, we search for reason, relive traumatic moments, and imagine different futures in lockstep with them. We experience viscerally the suffering, regrets and life-defining moments of their ultimately flawed characters. At times the novel chimes with writer Ian McEwan’s work in its ability to juxtapose differing perspectives of the same moment such as in ‘On Chesil Beach’ or the relative experience of the passage of days, weeks and months in ‘A Child in Time’. These internalised perspectives in ‘The Missing’ therefore provide a profound and palpable experience of grief, sorrow and ways of coping (or not). The two voices are easy to follow but sometimes hard to listen to, especially as their confessional tone can hold up a jagged mirror to our own weaknesses that we may fail to have the courage to acknowledge.
As in his coming-of-age novel ‘Lucky Man’, Tanzer is adept at revealing just how much pain people experience as they grow but also their resilience to it. There is hope there, and despite the mistakes Hannah and Gabriel make you’d rather hug them than hate them. That is the skill of this novel as it forces you to connect, forgive and ultimately understand. ‘The Missing’ is in many ways theatrical due to the distinct and convincing voices of Hannah and Gabriel. One can easily imagine this working on stage as two performers delivering monologues side by side. But those two performers would truly need to be gifted to portray the many layers, complexities and conflicts of the protagonists.
A gripping and moving novel.
Once settled in Hannah and Gabriel’s minds, we search for reason, relive traumatic moments, and imagine different futures in lockstep with them. We experience viscerally the suffering, regrets and life-defining moments of their ultimately flawed characters. At times the novel chimes with writer Ian McEwan’s work in its ability to juxtapose differing perspectives of the same moment such as in ‘On Chesil Beach’ or the relative experience of the passage of days, weeks and months in ‘A Child in Time’. These internalised perspectives in ‘The Missing’ therefore provide a profound and palpable experience of grief, sorrow and ways of coping (or not). The two voices are easy to follow but sometimes hard to listen to, especially as their confessional tone can hold up a jagged mirror to our own weaknesses that we may fail to have the courage to acknowledge.
As in his coming-of-age novel ‘Lucky Man’, Tanzer is adept at revealing just how much pain people experience as they grow but also their resilience to it. There is hope there, and despite the mistakes Hannah and Gabriel make you’d rather hug them than hate them. That is the skill of this novel as it forces you to connect, forgive and ultimately understand. ‘The Missing’ is in many ways theatrical due to the distinct and convincing voices of Hannah and Gabriel. One can easily imagine this working on stage as two performers delivering monologues side by side. But those two performers would truly need to be gifted to portray the many layers, complexities and conflicts of the protagonists.
A gripping and moving novel.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews