M.I.A.

by Michael Allen Dymmoch

The accidental death of Rhiann Fahey’s second husband leaves her paralyzed by grief and her son Jimmy cutting school and drinking. The widow’s problems are compounded by the unwanted advances of her dead husband’s friend. Rhiann does her best to cope, returning to work, dealing patiently with Jimmy’s misbehavior, telling Rory Sinter she’s not interested. Then a mysterious stranger moves in next door. John Devlin offers Rhiann beer and sympathy. He gives Jimmy a job. Jimmy complicates things further by looking up his birth father’s family, from whom Rhiann has been estranged for many years. And by falling in love with a mysterious girl. When Sinter tries to discredit John, then beat him to death, Rhiann comes to John’s rescue. But she discovers her perfect neighbor isn’t what he’d seemed---which leads her to investigate and to see John in a different light altogether. A tale of violent men and violent passions, of missing friends, of loss and discovery, this beautifully written story, whose characters come to life from the first page, shows one more side of Michael Allen Dymmoch’s powerful storytelling ability.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Michael Dymmoch was born in Illinois and grew up in a suburb northwest of Kentucky. As a child she kept a large number of small vertebrates for pets and aspired to become a snake charmer, Indian chief or veterinarian. She was precluded from realizing the former ambitions by a lack of charm and Indian ancestry and from the achieving the latter by poor grades in calculus and physics. This made her angry enough to kill. Fortunately, before committing mayhem, she stumbled upon a book titled Maybe You Should Write a Book and was persuaded to sublimate her felonious fantasies. Moving to Chicago gave Michael additional incentives to harm individuals who piss her off. On paper of course.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a soap opera. Started out intriguing enough, but so many twists and turns, it was totally unbelievable by the end.

[Jennifer Adair · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a quick easy read and the characters were great and easy to connect to.
But the storyline was a little too Soap Opera-ish for me.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

M.I.A. (Novel/Susp-Rhiann Fahey-Illinois-Cont) – VG+
Dymmoch, Michael Allen – Standalone
Thomas Dunne Books, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780312373719

First sentence: My dad died the spring I was seventeen.

Rhiann Fahey’s state policeman husband was recently killed in an accident. Her 17-year-old son, Jimmy, is having a hard time dealing with his father’s death. Her new neighbor, John, seems to be helping Jimmy. Town policeman, Rory Sinter, even though married, makes Rhinna uncomfortable with his stops by and suggestive attitude which soon becomes threatening.

Dymmoch is an author who deserves a much wider readership. It is a story of friendship, survival, love and violence.

The story is told from the perspective of each of the three primary characters and Dymmoch has given each a distinctive voice, as well as identifying them by chapter heading. Each of the characters is wonderful as is the relationship between them. You see them transform as the story progresses.

It is a wonderful story; a woman recovering from the death of her husband now trying to rebuild her life, a man whose life had been surrounded by violence transforming himself and looking for love, a young man growing up, and obsessed man degrade to violence.

The book is more a novel than a mystery but there is a question as to the identity of one of the characters and the suspense is very well done right up to the very end. I highly recommend this, and all of Ms. Dymmoch’s books.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a small town in Illinois during the mid eighties, this is the story of a family that was and a family that could have been. The plot progresses as it’s seen through the eyes of each of the novels main characters. Rhiann is the single mother of a teenage boy and has recently lost her state trooper husband in an accident. Her son, Jimmy, narrates his view with the typical angst and confusion seen in many teenagers but he also feels the additional anger of personal loss compounded since his birth father, who he never knew, was killed in Vietnam when he was still a baby. As Jimmy teeters on the edge of withdrawal and potential trouble, a new neighbor moves in next door and begins to establish a relationship of trust and communication with him. The new neighbor, John, seems quite, dependable and patient but there is an element of mystery about him that both attracts and deters Rhiann. The mysterious aspects of his past are revealed as a former friend of her deceased police officer husband is thrown into the mix. This is an interesting story that’s well written and I was particularly impressed with the handling of the narrative by each of the individual characters but I did have a problem with it. I just couldn’t buy the ending. Some of the coincidental elements are just too far fetched to believe and the elements introduced to make it a happy ending were just unbelievable. The book would have worked much better without them.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I just noticed I haven't book blogged in 7 days--bad librarian! But I have a good one to talk about, so hopefully you'll forgive me. MIA is an adult suspense drama. Rhiann Fahey has just lost her second husband, a state cop. While mourning, a wonderful, beautiful, caring man moves next door and befriends her 17-year-old son. The son is what makes this a good novel for teenagers. Jimmy is getting into trouble because of his dad. He's drinking, cutting school, and getting into random mischief because he misses his dad. But Mickey Fahey isn't his real dad. So John Devlin, the neighbor, helps. He gives Jimmy a job fixing cars. And he starts courting Rhiann, even though she isn't ready yet. But something seems familiar about John Devlin. He has secrets and they start coming out. The local police follow him. And Rhiann keeps experiencing deja vu. What's going on?

[Helen-Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this book - interesting characters, nice use of the Viet Nam war as background. I liked it well enough to search out a couple of her other books to read - wainting on the library to find them for me.

[Maryann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book because of the language (using words I feel inappropriate).

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisty - turny.