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The Absence of Screams

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Eleven years ago, Marcus lost everything. His daughter was kidnapped and his wife was murdered. Now, he spends his days pretending to be paralyzed and touring the country, raising money for missing children. He hopes that if he helps enough people find their missing child, someday he will find his own.

Just as he's about to give up hope, he finds one of the kidnappers. He attacks her, but she refuses to give him back his daughter. In his rage, he kills her, but not before she signals an accomplice. For the second time, Marcus watches his daughter disappear into the night.

With no one to trust and sinking in deepening quicksand of lies and deception, Marcus will need to risk everything if he's going to unravel the mystery of his daughter's disappearance.

Even if that means losing his life.

With a riveting plot that will keep you guessing until the last page, The Absence of Screams is a must-read for Thriller fans.

432 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2017

677 people are currently reading
327 people want to read

About the author

Ben Follows

7 books34 followers

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5 stars
148 (31%)
4 stars
159 (34%)
3 stars
111 (23%)
2 stars
34 (7%)
1 star
14 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Dr. Simone J. Simone.
182 reviews5 followers
June 24, 2017
Great Action!

This was a complex story that had many twists to keep you wondering who and what was going to happen. I would like to have seen O'Reilly more fleshed out. I felt a bit sorry for the General. Some of the characters were a real piece of work. I want to read more from this author.
Profile Image for Joyce.
1,665 reviews9 followers
June 24, 2017
Action, suspense, terror!

Marcus was home for the weekend. Someone broke into the house, killed his wife kidnapped his daughter and shot him. He spent the next 11 years looking for his daughter.
108 reviews
January 5, 2018
👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

If you like f bombs and ridiculous circumstances this books for you. In all honesty I only got through about 10 pages before going to a different book so it may have gotten better.i don’t care for books with much profanity in them. Also the first scene has a man chasing this woman on foot down a dirt road. She ducks into a wheat field to get away and all he can see is the top of the wheat moving as she scurries through it. Really? It’s night time for one thing and as far as I know wheat only grows around 2 ft tall. What is she crawling ? Author must have been thinking about a cornfield. There’s to many books out there to put up with this.
84 reviews6 followers
August 16, 2018
The Absence of Screams: A Thriller

This could be a good story, if it had a few items that are glaringly and sadly missing: A more concise and complete story line; better spelling, grammar and punctuation; credible proofreading and editing; and more believable characters. I understand what Mr. Follows was aiming for, but the omissions and flaws made the reading painful and frustrating to deal with. Let's just say that I really appreciate that this was a free book. I'm not giving up on you, Mr. Follows... I do see some promise, and hope your next book will be a pleasant surprise. 👍👍
Profile Image for Kent.
119 reviews
June 16, 2018
First things first, the book need a good proofread especialy towards the end. The missed and extra words start to get pretty annoying making an awkward read even worse.
An interesting plot about a man who eleven years after the event finds his abducted daughter by accident. What ensues is an ever-increasing pile of violently killed antagonists. None of the characters has any empathetic values so it is hard to cheer for a hero.
I wanted to like this book but think that the story needs to be tightened around the plot and we need a character or two with whom we could empathise.
Profile Image for karen e gainer.
75 reviews1 follower
April 19, 2018
Odd

I considered not finishing this book. It had a meandering plot and never had much info on characters. Plot was strange and certainly is never quite resolved.
Profile Image for Tony Parsons.
4,156 reviews102 followers
November 8, 2017
Marcus lost everything in his life. His daughter was kidnapped & the wife was murdered.
Harper's Mill. Marino's Pub/ restaurant. Beth (bartender) took Marcus Devereaux’s (aka Paul) order.
Tatiana Shembly (mother, bar patron) introduced herself.
Marcus confronted Tatiana; Cassandra Devereaux (wife) had been killed & Danielle Devereaux (daughter, video store clerk) had disappeared or been kidnapped.
Detective Emily O’Reilly (Harper's Mill PD), & Detective Matthew Cockerton (Harper's Mill PD), were going to interrogate Todd Anderson (Danielle’s BF).

Tatiana had been murdered.
It was just a few minutes & Kenneth Jameson (Todd’s attorney) arrived at the police station.
Marcus (Afghanistan, wheelchair bound paraplegic military vet) & Angela Weber (35+, Marcus asst.) arrived at McKinley Military Base.
He was giving a speech that would generate funding for the Cassandra Devereaux Foundation for Missing Children.
General Henry Thompson was doing the introduction.
42 children had been found & returned to their loving families.
Kenneth & Todd went to see Charles Shembly (wheat farmer).
They had called the police because he didn’t answer the door.

Why did Angela call Ricky “Rick” Genaro (Angela’s ex)?
Why did Sam, Victoria & Jeff (Iraq vet) kidnaped Marcus?
Ricky Sanchez (?)

Warning: This book is for adults only & contains extreme violent or graphic adult content or profanity. It may be offensive to some readers.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. Wow, a very well written thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; EBookStage; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
Profile Image for Bonny Read.
523 reviews19 followers
November 14, 2020
Twisted Story and Characters; Excellently crafted!

This book is really twisted, and I don't just mean the story line; though there are many twists and turns. The characters themselves are just as twisted. Victims and heros who end up being villains; the going nowhere character (the kind voted least likely to succeed in high school) being suddenly insightful, courageous, even heroic; cops acting questionably or down right turning; people you thought were bad guys until you realize they had good reason for what they did.

And we can't forget the main character. He's in a class all by himself. Suffice to say you will like him, feel sympathy for him, until you don't. Then you will suddenly start to dislike him, even hate him until you don't. Because then you will start to like him again and feel sympathy again and even admire his tenacity and courage as he goes through one hell after another to the final culmination.

This is a story of a tragedy that led to another tragedy that, years later, led to an act that started an avalanche of tragedies and perilous situations. There are a lot of killings in this story, some justified, some not so justified, some just evil preying on evil. There is no real HEA in this story, but neither was it a bad ending. In truth, I don't think it could have ended any other way considering all that happened. Suffice to say the really bad guys get there just desserts.

In the end, this is a story you won't want to put down. The author does a great job of slowly revealing just enough info and creating really angst worthy situations to hold your interest. Even when I got to the part where I started really disliking the main character, part of me wanted to stop reading because I really didn't like where this story was going, but...I had to know what happened, how it all ended, so I kept reading. I finished it the same day I started and what a rollercoaster ride it was! This was a well crafted story!
Profile Image for Sara.
492 reviews
February 8, 2020
The Absence of Screams is a complex mystery thriller that will have you on the very edge of your seat. I went into this book expecting one thing and got something else, and I'm glad for it. The plot is rich, brimming with intensity, packed with many unexpected ups, downs, twists, and turns, it's impossible to predict the outcome. Ben Follows is an exceptional storyteller, cleverly concealing the truth as more and more clues are revealed through the characters.

The characters are real, far from perfect, flawed, and few are outright despicable. The intricacy of human behavior, desperation, betrayal, greed, and anger are all skillfully applied. Motives are buried in a tangled web of lies and deception. I'm amazed at the drive and the levels people can go to get what they covet the most.

One thing that I liked is as the story progresses, the characters evolve. Some turn out different than initially depicted. One of these characters is Marcus. He is an imperfect man and has made questionable choices. He is desperate to find his daughter Danial and is willing to risk everything. Despite his shortcomings, I genuinely felt for him as he paid for his mistakes tenfold.

Overall, this is a brilliantly-written story with a stellar performance by Brian Callanan. He is a talented voice actor, honing on the nuances of the various personalities and distinct temperaments of the cast, breathing life into each one. I strongly recommend the Absence of Screams to all Thriller fans.
388 reviews7 followers
September 1, 2018
A Truly Surprising Thriller With Depth

NO SPOILERS, EVER FROM MY REVIEWS!

This book was a great read. I am still shaking my head after having finished it. I loved the great attention to character development and detail, the plotting, and there is definitely a message in this book. I was immediately drawn in and the ride was quite a good one. My kudos to Ben Follows for coming up with a story that makes one sit up and pay attention.

It is a rare occasion that one finds a thriller that makes one truly ponder what one would do in various situations. This one did, for me. It was a very good idea and would have been excellent anyway. However, the effort put in to really look at what drives each character is beyond amazing. This is the work of a skilled author, and I find it unlikely that people will be anything less than pleased by the final product. I know that all five stars are well-earned, IMHO. I happily recommend this book.

As Always, I Wish Happy Reads to All from the Unapologetic Book Junkie 😉 !!!!!

402 reviews
August 27, 2025
Eleven years ago, Marcus lost everything. His daughter was kidnapped and his wife was murdered. Now, he spends his days pretending to be paralyzed and touring the country, raising money for missing children. He hopes that if he helps enough people find their missing child, someday he will find his own.

Just as he's about to give up hope, he finds one of the kidnappers. He attacks her, but she refuses to give him back his daughter. In his rage, he kills her, but not before she signals an accomplice. For the second time, Marcus watches his daughter disappear into the night.

With no one to trust and sinking in deepening quicksand of lies and deception, Marcus will need to risk everything if he's going to unravel the mystery of his daughter's disappearance.

Even if that means losing his life.

With a riveting plot that will keep you guessing until the last page, The Absence of Screams is a must-read for Thriller fans.
Profile Image for Joy.
310 reviews4 followers
October 13, 2017
Should be 5* but...
The Good:
From the start you get sucked right in. No needing time to get into it. The characters are mostly likeable of not entirely believable. There aren't any real "aha!" moments as we are seeing the story through the eyes of the good, the bad and the in-between.
I enjoyed the book. I don't put the editing issues in with the writing itself. The story is engaging, moves at a good pace, and is worth the read.
The bad:
Atrocious editing. In some cases their were words spelled incorrectly multiple times. Lots of typos. There are even instances where words are missing entirely. Vehicles change from being vans to trucks and back again.
The whole Jeff wanting to die in war was copied from Forrest Gump's character, Lieutenant Dan.
Profile Image for April Chaney.
108 reviews3 followers
June 2, 2018
Another great twist.

Wow what a ride!! I spent most of the book thinking one thing was happening but then being completely surprised by the twist. This author is very good at telling a story and building character but then surprising you with their real motivations. The best part is those twists don’t seem completely out of left field, they make sense with the story even if you never considered the possibility.

The Absence of Screams is a story about a man looking for his daughter, and another man looking for his girlfriend. While both find exactly what they’re looking for it’s not what they are expecting. With the opening scene things aren’t what you expect and you’re kept on the edge for the rest of the book.
Profile Image for Cindy Hulsopple.
53 reviews
October 23, 2019
A good story with lots of characters, as well as a lot of twists and turns. It was interesting to see how all the plots wove together towards the end, and that some of the characters turned out to be different than originally portrayed. Everyone had a motive, be it greed, or revenge, for the things they did throughout the story.

I would have given this a four-star rating if not for all the editing and grammatical errors. I would be more apt to forgive the errors or lack of editing if this was the author's first book, but it isn't. The story is the main thing and I understand that, but proofreading is a must before publishing the story.

I have a few of the author's other books in my kindle library and I look forward to reading them.
Profile Image for Sandra Knapp.
530 reviews14 followers
April 7, 2019
This was an interesting kidnapping story, but I think it was too long drawn out to fit in a lot of changes that seemed to be tossed in there at the last moment, like an afterthought. "Gee, let's see where we can slip this twist in." I say that because some of the "twists and turns" in this story seemed a bit contrived as though the author was required to write so many pages, and needed a few "fill in" scenes. It wasn't bad, but it was less than what it could have been. Just my opinion, but I was a little disappointed.
Profile Image for Scott.
291 reviews1 follower
March 20, 2018
Whew! This was a twisted, fast paced, thriller! This story jumps around to different people but is not hard to follow. Good plot and follow through on the story! This is a good read. The chapters are short and action packed. This is my second book from Ben Follows and I like his writing. I did notice some errors on the editing with a sentence or two that had extra words and some misspellings-but it wasn't over the top.
275 reviews1 follower
January 2, 2018
Good

This book is a story of child abduction and a father's search. There are many layers in this book. How the dad searches and the kids that are perpetrated as a means to the end.
The girl, her abductors and her boyfriend all try to survive but always more lies and heartbreak.
The end is shocking but eventually nice.
182 reviews
January 13, 2018
The only positive thing I can say about this book is that I was able to finish it. It wasn't so bad that I stopped before I was done. But I am surely glad it's over.

The only positive thing I can say about this book is that I was able to finish it. It wasn't so bad that I stopped before I was done. But I am surely glad it's over.
Profile Image for Marbea Logan.
1,301 reviews17 followers
September 30, 2019
Wow this book has everything! Mystery,Suspense,Drama and Thrills! I couldn't stop reading wanting to know the next twist and turns. Each character had a story within the story put in different parts of the storyline to give the reader an on the edge of your seat intensity. I cried some so it must've been a great book!
Profile Image for Di.
172 reviews11 followers
October 16, 2020
Giving this book a 3 stars.

It’s not my favourite but i think some people might like it. Those who enjoy action packed stories.

Though i’m into thrillers, i’m leaning towards the psychological than action ones. This does not mean the story is bad.

If you’re looking for thrills right from the first few pages til the end, this is for you.
250 reviews2 followers
August 23, 2017
Good Detective and Murder Book.

Good characters and plot. Fast paced lots of semi plots in novel. Some Confusion when you start getting into the individual personalities of the police personnel. Overall a good book.
65 reviews
February 11, 2018
The Absence of Screams

This was an excellent book. The characters were well written and interesting. I hated to put it down. If you like stories with both good police and bad guys, you’ll love this story. Some surprising occasions keeps your interest up. Highly recommend.
Profile Image for Julie R.
472 reviews5 followers
August 20, 2018
grabs you by the throat and takes you on a thrill ride from start to finish

Wow what a great read! Riveting plot, faced paced action with twists and turns you won't see coming. Couldn't put it down. Another fabulous adventure by my new favorite author
Profile Image for Mrs Crossley .
180 reviews4 followers
January 6, 2019
This was by far the best book I've read in a very long time. It had suspense, great twists and turns and such a great story line. Would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller to sink their teeth into!!
Profile Image for Brenda Hymes.
90 reviews6 followers
October 6, 2019
What a story

I think I felt sorry for everyone in this book at one point or another. This is the story of one man's search for the daughter who was kidnapped when she was 9 and the lengths he would go to in order to get her back. Very good book and storyline.
4 reviews
December 25, 2019
Was hard to get through. There was not a single character to like. Everyone was corrupt or stupid. Phrases were repeated, words missing or wrong and the sentences short and choppy with no flow. Like a teenager tried hard. The plot was good.
20 reviews1 follower
November 29, 2020
Another good book by Ben Follows

My only complaint about this book would be the series i found in some of the sentences. Overall this has a great storyline which held my interest from beginning to end. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
Profile Image for Cindy Lea.
390 reviews2 followers
October 12, 2017
Superb writing!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I never knew where it was going but when it turned, it turned so good and kept me thinking!
Profile Image for carol Blacklidge.
12 reviews
October 19, 2017
I couldn't go to sleep until I finished the book.

I couldn't go to sleep until I finished this book. A different story then I usually read. I did enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews

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