We, the Missing

by Arwyn Sherman

People disappear all the time in Caroline's fading city. They go off in search of jobs, they follow predatory men, or their addictions swallow them whole. But in the last year, the number of missing has skyrocketed, and Caroline is terrified her unstable, addict mother will be next. Not wanting to lose her only parent, she sets out to find the reason, hoping if she knows what's going on, she can save her mother.

​

What she discovers are literal monsters: demons from another dimension and angels so long forgotten by God that some doubt they’re even real. She finds an ally in a new friend, Dani, but it ends up he isn't even human, and may be more involved in the missing than he'd like to admit. The closer Caroline gets to the heart of the disappearances, the more danger she finds herself in. The fight for her mother becomes a fight for her survival as she is thrust into a dangerous, supernatural world seemingly bent on making Caroline vanish forever.

Genres: Horror

Paperback

Expected publication May 1, 2026

About the author

Arwyn Sherman lives in the woods of Maine where they tend to their menagerie of animals and write fiction. Their work has appeared in anthologies, on a few stages, and is probably tucked away in a chapbook you forgot you bought at a late night poetry show.

Thanks for coming to my page and I'm happy you're here.


<3

Regarding reviews: I will occasionally review indie authors as a reader but do not use Goodreads to give general reviews. I have deleted the reviews I made when I was solely in this space as a reader, save the ones I did in exchange for ARCs.

Reviews

[Fanna]

heard this has "atheist angels" and now i'm undoubtedly intrigued.

[Madeline White · Rating 5 out of 5]

An achingly real story of addiction, anxiety, and helplessness, “We, The Missing” is a book that will stick with you long after you’ve read it. Caroline is a girl who desperately needs a hero, but has only herself - and she’s not very heroic. Still, she does her best, facing down angels and demons alike (and finding there’s not the amount of moral difference between the two that you might like). This book is grim, gritty, and bleak, but it’s also hopeful in the vulnerable, tenacious way of a flower growing in the crack of the sidewalk. It’s a story for the people whose stories aren’t usually told, and it’s a story that I feel privileged to get to read before the rest of the world. If you like books that make you laugh, cry, yell at the protagonist, and come away feeling like you’ve made a friend, then you should absolutely add “We, The Missing” to your TBR.

[Nova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while (too rarely, these days), I come across a story that has been allowed to steep in its setting and era long enough to truly absorb them. For the cohort of readers who came of age in the mid-to-late 2000s, We, the Missing will evoke a bittersweet nostalgia for the last gasps of a world that still felt bigger than our ability to access it, a world that could so easily swallow people forever, with no digital breadcrumbs left trailing behind them. Multiple times while reading, I had to lower the book and just swim in the emotional memories of being a teenager again at that time, of clinging to flawed people because the only alternative was to be alone.

There are no flat characters or archetypes here; Sherman paints with a subtle brush, rendering every character in three dimensions as products of both nature and nurture. This is not a story of good versus evil, with clear villains and heroes. This is a story about people clinging to who and what they have, even if it's not good for them. If you enjoy unflinching portrayals of life's trials and the tolls they take on the people subjected to them, then you will enjoy We, the Missing.

[Collie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, full confession. I got to read an early draft of this and I'm biased because I'm friends with the author (which is how I managed to bully them into giving me an early draft.) (Discord hath its privileges).

It's good.

I mean, it's really good.

It tackles poverty. Like, actual poverty. Like, I don't have a place to sleep so I'm gonna make nice to a shit-hole guy level poverty. It tackles addiction, and the addicts make the kind of horrible decisions that addicts make, not the usual 'we all have a nice talk at the end and someone joins a group and problem solved' stuff you see in a lot of books. This feels real, and it hurts, and you will walk away from this book with an absolute book hangover that will be hard to claw your way back from. It starts slowly, and builds to a relentless, unstoppable wave that will drown you. 100% recommend. Read this.

Also, fuck you Dani. Now and forever.

[Sam Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me get this out of the way, I loved this book! At its core, it’s about Caroline’s coming of age as an anxious teenager trying to navigate relationships with her mom, boys, and friends. It’s all wrapped up in a series of mysterious disappearances connected to drugs amidst a world of angels and demons. Sounds great, right?!

It’s one of my favorite kind of stories—a dark fantasy grounded in realism. The world building is believable. Sherman’s characters leap off the page, and we come to know Caroline with an intimacy that authors often struggle to achieve. Not in plot, but the gritty and grimy vibes of We, the Missing felt like The Crow x Constantine.

I’m impressed with Sherman’s writing style. It allowed the story to breathe, but didn’t compromise on the pacing.

Highly recommended!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.