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THE MISSING PIECE

by Antoine Bello & translated by Helen Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2003

Though with some longueurs, Bello’s ride is generally swift, funny, and sharp—and, speaking of sharp, a “Solution” at end...

An American-born Parisian’s debut is a high intellectual entertainment about jigsaw-puzzles: a galloping satire that’s also a murder mystery to boot.

The puzzle fad comes and goes. It was huge in the Depression (when the Society of Friends of the Puzzle was founded—later to become The Puzzology Society) and it has grown big again now, in the early 1990s, a fact looked upon with scorn by the likes of Upton Sutter, the smug and pretentious president of The Puzzology Society (with its tiny- remaining handful of members). The craze is seen very differently, though, by zillionaire Charles Wallerstein, who founds what’s called the JP Tour: a breakneck endeavor that pits one speed-puzzler against another, draws Super Bowl-size crowds, and makes buckets and buckets of money. While the Puzzology Society discusses subjects like the relation between puzzles and mystery novels, the significance of “the missing piece” (“The final piece is, by definition, the one that precedes the missing piece”), and mounts “equilibrium” experiments (one worker forms bricks into a wall while another follows behind, taking them apart), Wallerstein and associates scout for talent the world over and make the JP Tour, year by year, ever the more successful and intense. So you can imagine the shock when, in 1995, no fewer than five people are murdered in that many months, all of them connected with the puzzling world, and all killed in the same way, though with puzzling variations. Whodunit? Bello tells his tale in 47 “pieces” (the 48th is missing) consisting of interviews, obituaries, news items, Puzzology Society minutes, scholarly works, extracts from board meetings, etc. It’s not always easy keeping straight who’s who—Bello often fleshes his characters meagerly—but nothing can compromise the brilliance of his satire here of sporting events, literary theorists, academia, Bill Gates–size fortunes, overspecialized athletes, and even anthropology.

Pub Date: April 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-15-601337-1

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | SUSPENSE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER

More by Kathy Reichs

COLD, COLD BONES

BOOK REVIEW

by Kathy Reichs

THE BONE CODE

by C.J. Box ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2015

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be...

Box takes another break from his highly successful Joe Pickett series ( Stone Cold , 2014, etc.) for a stand-alone about a police detective, a developmentally delayed boy, and a package everyone in North Dakota wants to grab.

Cassandra Dewell can’t leave Montana’s Lewis and Clark County fast enough for her new job as chief investigator for Jon Kirkbride, sheriff of Bakken County. She leaves behind no memories worth keeping: her husband is dead, her boss has made no bones about disliking her, and she’s looking forward to new responsibilities and the higher salary underwritten by North Dakota’s sudden oil boom. But Bakken County has its own issues. For one thing, it’s cold—a whole lot colder than the coldest weather Cassie’s ever imagined. For another, the job she turns out to have been hired for—leading an investigation her new boss doesn’t feel he can entrust to his own force—makes her queasy. The biggest problem, though, is one she doesn’t know about until it slaps her in the face. A fatal car accident that was anything but accidental has jarred loose a stash of methamphetamines and cash that’s become the center of a battle between the Sons of Freedom, Bakken County’s traditional drug sellers, and MS-13, the Salvadorian upstarts who are muscling in on their territory. It’s a setup that leaves scant room for law enforcement officers or for Kyle Westergaard, the 12-year-old paperboy damaged since birth by fetal alcohol syndrome, who’s walked away from the wreck with a prize all too many people would kill for.

Pub Date: July 28, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-312-58321-7

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Minotaur

Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

More by C.J. Box

STORM WATCH

by C.J. Box

TREASURE STATE

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book review the missing piece

The Missing Piece by John Lescroart Book Review and Legal Review

Table of Contents

  • 1.1 The Missing Piece Continued
  • 2 Legal Review on The Missing Piece
  • 3 My Opinion

John Lescroart’s latest novel, The Missing Piece , continues the story of defense attorney Dismas Hardy & gang, this time with former DA Wes Farrell defending Doug Rush, a bereaved father, accused of killing Paul Riley, the newest released prisoner thanks to the Exoneration Project. Paul Riley was convicted of raping and killing Doug’s daughter.

Looking for a legal fiction thriller to read? Check out our recap of The Missing Piece by John Lescroart. I wrote a comprehensive book summary and legal review of this novel, with an honest review. #BookReview #TheMissingPiece #JohnLescroart #MurderMystery #LegalFiction #CrimeFiction #BookRecommendations #MysteryBooks #Bookish #DiverseVoices #ReadingCommunity #BookLovers #Books #ReadingTime #PinterestBooks #NewBooks #BookAddiction #BookNerds #BookWorms #Bookaholics #BookReviewing #BookClub

I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I mainly deduct 1.5 stars because of the overbearing white privilege. Also, this book is not a legal thriller but a murder mystery. While I appreciate a good mystery, I don’t care for the bait-and-switch copy on the Amazon page. If you mention the former DA now defending a murderer, you should deliver on your promise.

Book Synopsis of The Missing Piece by John Lescroart

[yasr_overall_rating]

The book begins with Wes Farrell, who is having an existential crisis: the former DA doesn’t much like defending people. In a classic prosecutor mindset , he thinks that even if the defendant isn’t guilty of the particular crime that he is charged with, he’s guilty of something. And deserves to go to prison because of it.

I’m going to get this right out before continuing: that’s a bunch of white man privileged bullshit. This is the reason why more people of color need to write legal fiction because old white men are perpetuating this idea that people who are charged with a crime did a crime.

I characterize the police as a “necessary evil.” Lescroart’s characterization that most cops are on the straight and narrow completely ignores the racial prejudices that happen every day, all day. I wouldn’t disagree with anyone that “more often than not” when a person is charged … they are guilty of something. My issue is that the police target people of color at a proportionally higher rate than their white counterparts. It’s easy to sit in your ergonomic chair and proclaim that people who are arrested should do the time because if they are arrested, they are bad actors.

Anyway, this isn’t supposed to be a rant about the fallacies of the police. Cops have a job that I don’t want, and I appreciate the work that they do. But they are still human, okay? That means they are still assholes, just like the rest of us.

Moving on … the reader is then introduced to Paul Riley, who goes back to his old ways of being a thief. His father isn’t too much better. Anyway, someone kills Paul. We then meet our bad cops of the day, Ken Yamashiro and Eric Waverly. Paul’s father, James Riley, gives an eyewitness ID that the murderer is Doug Rush.

Back to Wes, and we meet some douche client, who is a little too on-the-nose for my liking. All career criminals know you can’t tell your lawyer that you are going to commit a crime. We then get a bit of backstory, why Wes doesn’t like defending murderers too much. Spoiler alert: his friend was a murderer. Wes then talks to Dismas about retirement.

Now we meet Doug Rush, who is visiting the grave of his baby girl Dana. Doug has a terrible encounter with Yamashiro and Waverly … the cops beat the crap outta the poor dude.

Looking for a legal fiction thriller to read? Check out our recap of The Missing Piece by John Lescroart. I wrote a comprehensive book summary and legal review of this novel, with an honest review.

We meet another cop, Nick Halsey, who was the arrest officer for Paul’s case and subsequently befriended Doug. Wes receives a call from Halsey to take Doug’s case. He’s in the middle of dinner with his wife, Sam, and she is irritated that he took a call during dinner. I agree with her … this little bit shows that Wes’s work often gets in the way of his leisure time … but the scene was unnecessary. The reader is put-off by Sam, and I don’t think that was the author’s intention. Wes then goes to meet his new client and all but tells Doug that Wes thinks Doug is a murderer.

A bit of an interlude, Dismas and Fran are wondering if Wes will actually retire.

Next scene: Doug gets arraigned. We meet Amanda Jenkins, the DA who replaced Wes. She will be trying this case herself, which apparently is unusual. We have some protestors in the courtroom, which is another added scene that does little for the overall storyline because they don’t make another appearance. Doug gets a deal for 11 years, which he rejects. Wes and Doug have an argument, mostly because Wes doesn’t believe Doug. Doug pled not guilty and has a million dollar bail.

We meet Devin Juhle, who is the supervisor of Yamashiro and Waverly. The star duo are put on administrative leave. Waverly, however, decides to do go interview James Riley again, this time getting an official statement and lineup from a “six-pack.” The eyewitness is not that great.

Next, we meet Abraham (Abe) Glitsky, who is actually the main character of this novel. (In other words, everything up until this point is … kind of off-track.) Glitsky is assigned to investigate this case because time has jumped about a month, and Doug is missing. Doug’s supposed to be at his preliminary hearing. In Pennsylvania, a defendant is not required to be at the preliminary hearing. So in whatever state that they are in, a defendant might be required to be at the prelim, or this is one of those details that is conveniently glossed over to make the book plotting work.

At any rate, they do some investigating as to Doug’s whereabouts: Glitsky, Wes, and Hardy go meet Julia Bedford, who was Doug’s friends-with-benefits and downstairs neighbor. I dislike this chapter, mainly because the author did a poor job of making sure the reader knows about the time jump. They find out that his bike is still at home, and it doesn’t look like someone forced his way into the apartment.

In the next chapter, Dismas gets a hold of the very slim pickings of the murder file, e.g. there wasn’t anything at all, with the exception of the Glock 40. Apparently, the Glock 40 is used a lot because it doesn’t leave behind good ballistics (although I could not verify that statement). Apparently, this law firm is all about everyone in each other’s business. Dismas then goes to meet James Riley to confirm the eyewitness, which wasn’t very good.

Back to Glitsky, who is Juhle’s office when a phone call comes in that a body was found .. who happened to be Doug in the Shakespeare Garden park. Back at Dismas’s office, the gang discusses this new development. Wes still doesn’t believe Doug and thinks his client off’ed himself to avoid prison. Glitsky goes to get some evidence: he makes a visit to the coroner, Amit Patel. The unofficial conclusion is that there was no way that Doug could have killed himself. Back at the Hardy firm, Glitsky convinces everyone that he needs to investigate Doug’s murder, which is eventually given the a-okay.

Glitsky begins by investigating the Exoneration Initiative (EI), which is how Paul Riley got out of prison to begin with. Someone else (Deacon Moore) confessed to the crime. Lescroart keeps saying the phrase “factually innocent,” which is quite annoying. He uses this phrase to distinguish from the actually innocent people, e.g. where DNA proved the person innocent. We meet Martin Dozier, who works for the EI. Glitsky and Martin agree to keep in touch.

Back at Julia’s apartment, Glitsky enlists her help to figure out who might have killed Doug. Then he and his wife, Treya, have a discussion about the half million that is due to Paul Riley for all the years in prison. Glitsky then goes back to Doug’s apartment and uncovers an address on a New Yorker magazine. So of course, he now has to investigate this. And we meet Bridget Fores, who is married an airline pilot named Theo. Bridget is also Doug’s lover, and she gives Doug an alibi for the time of Paul’s murder.

Glitsky decides to talk to Juhle, who refers him to Jack and Jill (Royce and Gomez), the homicide detectives who are investigating Doug’s murder. Glitsky drops that Doug was innocent by the way of Bridget. Jill tells Glitsky that the pair struck out with a search warrant, though. Glitsky then heads over to the restaurant where Paul worked, and the detective finds out that Paul was a scumbag, who probably did rape and murder Dana.

The Glitsky pair discuss whether this case will be dangerous for Abe, when he has a sudden epiphany about something Martin said about how people who get released with EI’s help die within a few months of getting out. Martin also admits that sometimes EI gets it wrong.

In the Hardy office, the gang is out of ideas. Glitsky goes to see Halsey, who thinks that Doug “absolutely” killed Paul. The detective then goes to the YBMC, a motorcycle gang that Doug was in. Glitsky then goes through some detective analysis because he has nothing. But then he goes to see Martin, who has been thinking about their last conversation. He pulls up the four people who are “factually innocent,” all who died shortly after being released.

We find out that Theo and Bridget Forbes have died, so Glitsky, Jack, and Jill huff it up to that county. A Glock 40 did them in an apparent murder/suicide after Jack and Jill went to see the pair (to question them). They go back and forth whether Theo killed Doug because the pilot knew about his wife’s affair.

Glitsky then goes to see Julia again, who throws herself at the detective. The two talk about the newest developments, and Glitsky lets on that maybe Julia is a suspect because of the jealousy between Julia and Bridget. Back at the office, Glitsky breaks open the file that Martin gave him. He studies Paul’s murder case file. He then leaves a message for the prosecuting attorneys in the other three cases.

Glitsky then goes back to the YBMC, to follow up whether one of the bikers got mad at Doug for hitting on the biker ladies. He manages to piss off the head honcho, which results in a hit over his own head. We now see Glitsky at home, but he is forced to go to the ER. After a good night’s sleep, he in inundated with telephone calls. Despite being told to stay in bed, he goes out for Martin’s file again. Speaking to Pam, he realizes that he called the wrong people for the other three EI exonerees … so he instead calls the investigating detectives.

As an interlude, Glitsky receives a rando phone call about Keating, who got caught with a gun by his parole officer. He then hears a voicemail from Julia, who is beside herself that she is a suspect (or beside herself that she needs Glitsky to come back so she can throw herself at him again). He goes off to see Jack and Jill to tell them about Keating. More phone calls from the other investigating detectives … and then he sees Shirlee Harris in HR. He’s got a hunch.

Anyway, he solves the case.

The Missing Piece Continued

He needs to get a hold of Jack and Jill again, but they aren’t answering. He then calls Juhles, who unfortunately cannot not answer. They go off to see Julia, and they ask for her help. They ask her to call … the killer … to tell him that she saw him go upstairs to talk to Doug.

Of course, the killer needs to show up at Julia’s apartment to kill her. He couldn’t have her going to the police or anything. There’s a bit of a shoot out, and Jack and Jill are hit. Glitsky is hit, too, but he manages to kill Nick Halsey, who killed the four EI exonerees, Doug, and probably Theo and Bridget.

We wrap up, including that Yamashiro and Wyverly are fired. The end is when Gina walks up to Wes, who is contrite about missing the mark on Doug.

Legal Review on The Missing Piece

As I’ve stated, this isn’t a legal thriller, so there isn’t much to review. I found Wes’s discourse about whether he should continue to be a defense attorney to be interest, albeit white washed.

I also like that he felt badly about misjudging Doug Rush, although I also found having the investigator continue investigating … because Doug paid a handsome retainer … to be disingenuous at best. I seriously doubted that any high court would be okay with using his retainer not to defend him in a criminal trial. (The high court in each state is what runs the ethics and the bar.)

Reading this book made me feel like Lescroart was really writing a catch-up book. Kind of like when television shows just do a show that made up of a bunch of scenes from previous episodes.

This book was a pretty good murder mystery. The book is predominantly about PI Abe Glitsky, and Abe is a likeable guy. I imagine that Abe is the cop that I want to be on the police force, not Yamashiro and Waverly.

Speaking of the duo, I found it distasteful that Yamashiro and Waverly were suspended following Doug’s murder and exoneration. Not that what the cops did was okay, but I can’t underscore how this would not have happened if the defendant was Black. That they were suspended because Doug was a white man (actually, I don’t know if Doug was white … Lescroart danced around the issue of race entirely) doesn’t sit too well with me.

Overall, I found the writing to be good, even though it was too much on-the-nose at times. As stated, my only other issue was the overbearing white privilege. I hope Lescroart tones it down for his next book.

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book review the missing piece

Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite

Dylan Clark has just been released after 18 months in jail for public intoxication, destruction of property and beating up the sheriff's brother. Destitute, with only his bus fare given by his loving mother, Dylan comes back to his home town of Fredonia, New York. He has loved Lorraine Crawford since she was a teenager. Dylan and Lorraine marry despite her family's disapproval, but Dylan's out of control drinking and the death of their baby girl, Amanda, cause Lorraine to leave him and go back to college for her nurses' training. Now as soon as their divorce is final, Lorraine will marry Dr. Randy Mitchell from Mercy Hospital where she works. Dylan gets a job as custodian at a local church where the pastor and the congregation welcome him with genuine warmth. Dylan keeps slipping back to drink and finally uses a church check illicitly. Pastor Jacobson invites Dylan to attend church services. Dylan goes, feels his life might turn around and he asks God for forgiveness and to guide his life. But can Dylan stay on the straight and narrow and maybe win Lorraine back into his life even though her wedding to Dr. Mitchell is on the horizon? "The Missing Piece" is a well-written story of Christian life and love. Dylan, Lorraine, and the other characters in this story are totally believable and suit the story nicely. Dylan has his backslidings until he really accepts God into his life and works at his faith. The plot line moves smoothly to the book's concluding pages as Dylan and Lorraine's reunion does not come too quickly or easily. "The Missing Piece" is a love story that readers everywhere will enjoy. It is not preachy, it is for real!

Red Wolf Press

Fun and exciting books for kids.

Book Review: The Missing Piece, by Shel Silvertein

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  • by Dena at Batch of Books

“It was missing a piece. And it was not happy. So it set off in search of its missing piece. And as it rolled it sang this song -Oh I’m lookin’ for my missin’ piece I’m lookin’ for my missin’ piece Hi-dee-ho, here I go, Lookin’ for my missin’ piece.”

What it finds on its search for the missing piece is simply and touchingly told in this fable that gently probes the nature of quest and fulfillment.

Both my children and I absolutely love this book. The story is about it looking for it’s missing piece, and the things that it experiences along the way.

Shel Silverstein’s simple black and white line drawings are very expressive and illustrate the story very well.  I think that the simplicity of the illustrations helps to convey the message of the story better.  More lavish artwork would take away from what the book is really about.  My daughter’s drawings look similar to these illustrations and I think that it helps her relate to the story and the message well.  

The thing I loved the most about this book is the way Silverstein manages to convey a message without sounding preachy.  As it rolls along looking for it’s missing piece, it can experience so many different adventures and joys.  But it keeps pining after it’s missing piece.  Once it finds it’s missing piece, it can roll very fast and it has a rush of excitement…until it realizes that it can no longer experience all those things that it loved.  

The Missing Piece encourages us to look inward and discover what is truly important.  I love the message that we all have a missing piece.  We are all looking for something or wishing we had something that we didn’t.  True happiness comes when we learn to accept ourselves the way we are, and find joy in the everyday adventures.

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Dena McMurdie is an award-winning artist and the owner of Red Wolf Press. She has written and illustrated several books for children and lives in North Carolina with her family.

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3 Comments on Book Review: The Missing Piece, by Shel Silvertein

I've only ever known of the author's Where the Sidewalk Ends book. I don't know if it's because it's the most common one around or if it's because it's the only one I have. I have never really given Silverstein's books a chance though. This book sounds really sweet. I already have Falling Up in my possession so I might try it out. Have you read Where the Sidewalk Ends? She’s Got Books on Her Mind

No I haven't read that one yet. The only other Shel Silverstein book I've read is The Giving Tree. I thought that one was sad. I plan on reading more of his work though, he has an interesting style and I love his simple illustrations.

I know right!? It's a little too sad to be a picture book or a book for young readers. The simple illustrations are probably best for kids but I've got to say the brightly colored ones are great too. I had psych class the other day and apparently babies prefer black and white colors. I forget why.

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BOOK REVIEW : THE MISSING PIECE BY CATHERINE MILLER

book review the missing piece

TITLE : The Missing Piece

AUTHOR : Catherine Miller

GENRE :  Contemporary, Romance, Women’s Fiction

FR RATING :  ⭐⭐⭐⭐(  3.5 Stars)

DATE OF PUBLISHING :   October 28th 2020

DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller is a contemporary fiction is an endearing and heart-warming story of two unique people who meet under an unusual circumstance. Keisha is a Ph.D. research student studying Broken Heart Syndrome. During a research project, she meets the seventy-nine-year-old Clive, who manages to burrow under her tough exterior and make a lasting impression. Clive’s story fascinates Keisha, and she decides to help him through a difficult time. Clive’s past is one big mystery, and as they both help each other out, the past unravels, bringing forward second chances, new-loves, and opportunities to live one’s life to the fullest. 

Clive and Keisha were fascinating characters. I loved getting their dual perspectives and getting a glimpse into how they coped with their situations. They were unique, and with anxiety troubling them and their progress in life, we see their approaches to life and how different they are. I loved how quirky and cool Clive was with his love for upcycling clothes, love for farming his produce, and finding vintage items in charity shops. I loved how open and free he was in life. Despite going through terrible things, he still holds out hope in the best, and his exuberance shines out of the page, and I guarantee it will flood readers with the emotion as well.

Keisha’s character was intriguing in its way. Her need for a strict regimen and routine helps us understand her personality. Anxiety is something she struggles to get a handle on, and we see her often succumbing to it. I found her chapters and thought process to be quite enlightening. It helps us empathize with her. The circumstances that made her who she is a person is left a mystery until the end. I wanted to keep reading to figure out both her and Clive’s past.

The pacing was good, not too slow or too fast. The writing is also enjoyable. I liked getting to know the characters through their thought processes. Often, it was them ruminating over the things that have happened or their feelings regarding certain events. These helped me get to know them better. The mystery that will wrap-up the whole story is not something that we get to see until the last half of the book. This story is more of the journey these two people take in their lives and how their connected lives will help them work through the challenges that they face. I found their budding friendship and companionship to be quite sweet. It’s rare to see relationships like these happen nowadays. So it was refreshing to read about their dynamics. I loved how a group of young people came together to help Clive. The unusual companionship changes the course of each of their lives in ways they never imagined.

There were sweet moments that will make you smile. There were more quirky characters who thoroughly entertained me with their antics. I loved the charming nature of the story. It was a wholesome read, and I loved how all the characters and the setting all contributed to it.

The mystery surrounding both Keisha’s and Clive’s past takes time to unravel. The moment when the truth comes out, in the end, felt too rushed. I wished the author didn’t hasten the story and instead gave us time to get acquainted with the new reality. The romance was only a small part, and the couples got together quite quickly as well. I was hoping we would get more time with them to feel connected to their relationships. That didn’t happen, unfortunately. The ending arrived way too suddenly for my liking. Apart from this, I enjoyed the story and loved the characters as well.

Overall this novel is a sweet, wholesome story of two unique people coming together under unusual circumstances and bringing about changes in each other’s lives. I loved the tenderness and beauty this book had in it. It was refreshing and original in its storytelling. I gave the book 3.5 stars, and I would recommend readers who love contemporary fiction with endearing characters to go check this one out.

Broken Heart Syndrome: A sudden and acute form of heart failure, brought on by emotional or physical distress.

After years of studying cardiac medicine, thirty-one-year-old Keisha knows the heart inside out. She knows the average heartrate for each age group, she can name every valve, and she can tell you exactly how much blood it pumps daily.

The one thing she doesn’t know is how to fall in love. And nor does she want to. The secret her tattoo covers is a reminder that the best way to protect a heart is to never let it feel in the first place…

Seventy-nine-year-old Clive is Subject Five in Keisha’s latest research project. He’s been in love since he was seventeen, ever since he met Nancy at a tea dance. But last night, his beloved wife was killed. Suddenly, he has no one to waltz with. He has woken up in hospital, a widower diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome.

These strangers, brought together by a broken heart, must face up to the truth of their pasts. Can Clive teach his new friend that until you’ve loved, you haven’t lived? And can Keisha help him see that it’s never too late for a second chance?

For anyone who has ever felt the pang of heartbreak and feared you might never heal again, this beautiful tale teaches us how to dust ourselves off and seek happiness again. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Josie Silver and Rosie Walsh will love this moving and uplifting story.

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  • The Surreal True Story Behind the Max True Crime Doc <i>They Called Him Mostly Harmless</i>

The Surreal True Story Behind the Max True Crime Doc They Called Him Mostly Harmless

A photo of the hiker who called himself "Mostly Harmless"

F or about two years, both real detectives and amateur detectives tried to find out the real name of a Appalachian Trail hiker whose body was found in a tent in Florida. Hikers who met him along the way said he’d introduce himself as “Mostly Harmless” (though the exact origins of the nickname are unknown). Some knew him as “Denim,” like the jeans he was wearing.

A new Max documentary They Called Him Mostly Harmless, out Feb. 8, profiles the men and women on Facebook who volunteered their time to search for the mysterious man’s real identity. The documentary aggregates all of the information found about this person, and features interviews with the Internet sleuths and the hikers he socialized with on the Appalachian Trail, tracing how his real name, “Vance John Rodriguez,” was eventually identified.

Internet sleuths try to figure out the identity of “Mostly Harmless”

The hiker’s journey is believed to have started in April 2017, when he headed south on the Appalachian Trail from New York. He didn’t bring anything that would identify his real name, like a phone or credit card. Instead, hikers he met along the way identified him by the unusual belongings he carried with him: an overstuffed backpack and a notebook filled with code later discovered to be designed for the online programming game Screeps. He never gave out his real name. 

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On July 23, 2018, two hikers came across his deceased body . A medical examiner could not determine a cause of death, so exactly how he died will never be known. The Collier County Sheriff’s office couldn’t find any identifying features like tattoos, and posted a sketch of his face on its Facebook page that was shared widely. People who had seen the hiker along the way sent in the photos they had taken of him.

In 2020, a Facebook group formed of users who spent their free time outside their day jobs searching for this hiker’s identity. The Facebook users helped keep sustained attention on the case, even when local law enforcement hit a wall. For example, a big breakthrough in the search came in July 2020 when members of the Facebook group worked with the company Othram, which uses genetics to help crack cold cases , to the Mostly Harmless case. Othram needed $5,000 to run a DNA analysis on the hiker’s bone, and in about a week, the Facebook users successfully came up with the money via crowdfunding.

Who was Vance John Rodriguez?

The results of the DNA analysis suggested he had roots in southern Louisiana, so Internet sleuths spread the news on any local Facebook groups they could. Thanks to their efforts, people who knew him in Baton Rouge saw the photos and contacted the Collier County Sheriff’s office with a name. Authorities made contact with his presumed family who provided a DNA sample, and the hiker’s DNA was a match.

Journalist Nicholas Thompson, who wrote a viral 2020 feature on the case for Wired and appears in the documentary, doubled down on researching the past of Vance John Rodriguez for a follow-up 2021 story and found that people who had been close to Rodriguez described him as a deeply troubled man. Women he dated described him as abusive, and an old roommate said he suffered from mental health issues . For example, Thompson learned in his reporting that Rodriguez had a massive scar on his stomach from a suicide attempt that he ended up surviving. An already sad story became even more grim.

The case may be resolved, but many missing persons cases are not. Beyond the Mostly Harmless case, more than 600,000 people go missing in the U.S. every year, and about 4,400 unidentified bodies are found every year, according to NamUs database . They Called Him Mostly Harmless director Patricia Gillespie hopes the movie will inspire viewers to not ignore information about missing persons . As she explained to TIME, “I really hope this film gets people interested in the issue of Jane and John Does and encourages them to share that missing persons flier or composite that they see online.”

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the missing piece.

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book review the missing piece

No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison 11 years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he’s released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else. In fact, Riley soon turns up murdered, surrounded by the loot from his latest scam. But if Riley was really innocent all along, who wanted him dead? To the cops, it’s straightforward: the still-grieving father of Riley’s dead girlfriend killed the former prisoner. Farrell, now out of politics and practicing law with master attorney Dismas Hardy, agrees to represent the defendant, Doug Rush --- and is left in the dust when Rush suddenly vanishes.

The Missing Piece by John Lescroart

  • Publication Date: November 1, 2022
  • Genres: Fiction , Suspense , Thriller
  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Atria Books
  • ISBN-10: 1982170506
  • ISBN-13: 9781982170509

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The Missing Piece: A Novel (19) (Dismas Hardy)

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John Lescroart

The Missing Piece: A Novel (19) (Dismas Hardy) Hardcover – March 29, 2022

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Excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., 1 the customer cut a fine figure, an attorney in a thousand-dollar business suit. like the werewolves of london, his hair was perfect, full and speckled with just the right amount of gray, for the ever-crucial gravitas. apparently deep in thought, he was twirling his empty wineglass around on the circle of condensation that had formed in front of him at the bar. his bartender, the eponymous owner of lou the greek’s restaurant, a popular watering hole of the legal community just across the street from san francisco’s hall of justice, took the twirling as a cue and moseyed on down to his only customer. “’nother one, wes” wes farrell considered for a short moment before he shook his head. “better not, lou. i’ve got to drive home in a while. two glasses of wine at lunch is too much.” “for what” “well, driving comes to mind.” “so get an uber.” “and pay for parking overnight in the lot out there forty bucks per any portion of the day, plus the uber home and back we’re talking a hundred bills here. that’s an expensive glass of this fine wine.” lou shrugged. “okay. so. maybe not an uber. but even if you drove, so what” “what do you mean, so what” “i mean, you’re wes farrell. you get pulled over, you tell them who you are, though they’d probably already know that anyway. they tell you to have a nice day and send you on your way.” this brought a dry chuckle. “nice fantasy, lou, but i don’t think so. more likely is one of the city’s finest pulls me over and says, ‘hey, didn’t you used to be wes farrell the district attorney’ and i go, ‘yeah,’ and he says, ‘well, you’re not anymore.’ and he writes me up anyway. i get tagged with a dui and then i’m well and truly screwed.” “that’ll never happen.” “it might if i have another glass of wine.” “that’s a hell of a lot of burden to put on a six-ounce pour.” “it is. i know. it’s a bitch. but there you go.” farrell gave his glass another quarter turn, threw a glance up at the ceiling, came back to his bartender. “ah, what the hell, lou,” he said. “hit me again, would you” he didn’t get pulled over on his drive back to his office on sutter street, but he felt guilty the whole time he sat behind the wheel. after all, he was in fact the former district attorney of san francisco, the chief prosecutor in the city and county. his administration hadn’t exactly broken new ground in granting leniency to people who drove under the influence, and he wouldn’t expect any mercy if he got himself pulled over with a heat on. still, he’d gotten himself without incident into his sacred parking spot in the garage under the freeman building, where he was a partner in the law firm of freeman, farrell, hardy & roake. taking the elevator up past the ornate and even regal reception lobby, he made it to the third floor unmolested. as usual, the place was deserted. no one, it seemed, except himself, liked working in splendid isolation up here. even his efficient and intuitive secretary, treya, whom he shared with his partner gina roake, preferred working on the bustling second floor where most of the firm’s business got done. the only door on this floor opened to his outsize, well-lit office, which he’d furnished—another of his trademarks—with a man-child’s sensibility. heavy on games and sports paraphernalia, the space was nobody’s idea of a successful lawyer’s office. featuring a full-size ping-pong/billiards table, a foosball game, two nerf baskets, a dartboard, a couple of enormous television sets, a chessboard, and three soft brown leather couches with two matching chairs, the office sported exactly zero signs of files, no law books. farrell didn’t want to intimidate clients. he wanted them to feel at home. he always made it a point to show each of them one of his nearly trademark goofy/funny/rude t-shirts that he infallibly wore underneath his white button-down shirt. (today’s message: qualified to give urine samples .) okay, not really that funny; he’d admit it. but they all spoke to him in one way or another and he wasn’t about to abandon an approach that had served him so well for so long. closing the door behind him, he absently picked up one of the nerf basketballs from the ping-pong table and shot it toward the hoop across the room, missing by about three feet. it was all the encouragement he needed to cross to the nearest couch, take off his suit coat, and get horizontal, hands behind his head. his eyes hadn’t been closed even for a minute when the natural law of the universe kicked in and his telephone rang. with a deep sigh, he forced himself up. he was a slave to his landline and probably always would be (although he was getting better and better at ignoring his cell phone when it rang or buzzed or strummed or whatever the hell else it could do). but the landline was an imperative going all the way back to his childhood. ignore it at your own great peril. he picked it up before the second ring, said his name into the mouthpiece, and was rewarded by gina’s voice. “you’re there.” “i am.” “you wanted to talk to me” “i did. still do. i would have called you in a couple more minutes. i just got in from the hall. but since you called me, i intuit that this might be a good time.” “you intuit that, do you” “i do.” “if i’ve said it once, i’ve said it a thousand times—intuition rules.” she sighed. “i’ll come up. i could use the exercise.” they each took one of the comfortable brown leather chairs and rearranged them so that they faced each other. gina settled herself and spent a couple of seconds looking around the room, finally coming back to wes and making a face. “you know,” she said, “i haven’t been up here in a while and, no offense, but it could use a little freshening up. you ever think about getting an interior designer up here and turning it into a real office” wes didn’t have to consider even for a second. “never not once. this is a real office, my dear. it’s just a different kind of real. less intimidating, user-friendly and all that. my clients love it up here. besides, i don’t want them thinking that my fees are going to interior decorating. that would send the wrong message.” “which would be what” “that i’m doing it for the money, and not for love and justice.” gina chuckled. “oh yes. god forbid they think that. i know for me and my clients, it’s all about the love. i don’t think they really notice the office décor downstairs. at least in a negative way. they probably even want me to have a nice office so they know they’re dealing with a professional person.” “actually,” wes said, coming forward in his chair, “that’s kind of what i wanted to talk to you about.” “being a professional person” “well…” wes remained silent, his face closing down. he let out a heavy, perhaps angst-laden breath. gina took a quick beat at the abrupt one-word change in tone. she looked over to meet his eyes and then, reaching out, laid a hand on his knee. “hey,” she whispered, with real concern. “are you all right” wes took another deep breath, again let it out heavily. scratching at one side of his mouth, then the other, he finally shook his head. “i don’t know. not so good, i think. i feel like i’m in the middle of… maybe an existential crisis, if that’s not too fancy a term for it. i just don’t know if i’m going to be able to go on doing what i’m doing.” he broke a small smile. “sorry.” she waved off his apology. “did something happen” “not one something, i’m afraid. several of them.” he sat back and put an ankle on his knee. “i went down to the hall this morning because it was my day to take conflict cases.” these were usually cases with more than one defendant, so both of them couldn’t be represented by the same attorney (or by lawyers from the public defender’s office) because of conflict of interest rules. “lots of business, right” “bread and butter,” she said. “so i’m sitting there in the courtroom this morning and i’m listening to all these defendants coming through the pipeline and it occurs to me, not for the first time, that i’m not even slightly inclined to help protect their civil rights anymore. i mean, you know me, gina, i like to think i’ve got an open mind on this stuff. i know how the system works. but i’ve spent most of the last ten years as the da, prosecuting these people, putting them away because by and large they completely deserve it. i’ve just gotten to the point that i think these defendants who got themselves all the way to arrested, then guess what they’re guilty. they undoubtedly did something, and sometimes what it was is pretty damn bad. heinous, even. and even if it’s not exactly what they were charged with, so the fuck what undoubtedly they broke some law, so why do i want to go to work for them and try to get them off so they can just go out and do whatever it is again” gina’s face had hardened down. she had spent close to forty years as a defense attorney and she knew the job—its perils and emotional pitfalls—inside and out. “you’re not working to get them off, wes, at least primarily. you’re trying to make sure they get a fair trial and sentence. otherwise…” “i know, i know. otherwise we’re living in a police state.” gina sat back in her chair and nodded. “sadly, that is mostly true.” “and is that really the worst thing in the world” gina shook her head in sorrow. “actually,” she said, “pretty darn close. on so many levels you don’t even want me to start. you arrest people without any evidence, or you start charging them for crimes they didn’t commit, then believe me, the whole world falls apart. people who didn’t do anything start getting arrested for whatever reason, or no reason, or because somebody in power doesn’t like them.” “yeah.” wes nodded. “i know, i know.” “well, thank god you still know that. maybe there’s hope for you yet.” “why do you think i wanted to talk to you i told you it was a crisis. at least as far as the firm and me are concerned. the sad truth is that i’m not at all sure that i want to defend these people anymore. i don’t believe what they say. i’ve got no patience. i don’t want to hear it. i start believing these defendants, next thing you know i start to care too much, and i just don’t think i can do that anymore. what i really want is to put those bad people away, not help them get back on the street where they’ll just do it again, whatever it is.” gina sat back in her chair, her brow creased, her lips pursed. “now you’re mad at me,” wes said. “not really. more sad than anything else. i mean, i know you realize that the basic problem we have as a society is poverty and lack of education, and that’s what drives—” “please.” wes held up a hand. “i know. i’ve heard every variant on that before. all the bad stuff that happened in everybody’s childhood so that they’re screwed up forever and it makes them commit crimes when they grow up. my problem, though, is the crimes themselves, the victims, the people who get hurt or worse than hurt. at some point, doesn’t a person with an admittedly sad and pathetic background become responsible for what he does” “sure, and then they should be punished. but there has to be a process to make sure they’re not railroaded, that they’re charged with a crime they actually committed.” “okay. i can even buy that. but my point is that i don’t know if i can defend them anymore. that’s all. i’m thinking we at the firm… i mean, we’re basically a defense team, and i just don’t know if i’m comfortable on that team anymore. when they started assigning those conflict cases this morning… okay, i know i signed up to be on the list and it was my day to get the cases, but i almost ran to get myself out of the courtroom before the judge could assign me. i just couldn’t do it.” “yeah, well, that’s understandable. but you know, if you get yourself involved with somebody who’s legitimately innocent—” wes snorted. “that’s exactly what i’m saying, gina. there aren’t too many of those truly innocent people that i’m likely to encounter out in the real world, and pretty much none that i’d believe.” “you wait. it could happen anytime. meanwhile, you don’t want to do anything precipitous. i believe in my heart that you belong here with us on the side of the angels. you just need to find something—some important case worthy of your talents.” “talents ha.” “you’ve got ’em, wes. don’t kid yourself. we need you here.” wes broke a small smile. “well,” he said, “thank you. and in the words of the great ernest hemingway, ‘isn’t it pretty to think so’” “more than that,” she said. “just give it a little more time. take a day off. hell, take a month off. don’t go chasing any business. let it come to you.” “hah,” he said. “as if.”.

  • Book 19 of 19 Dismas Hardy
  • Print length 304 pages
  • Language English
  • Publisher Atria Books
  • Publication date March 29, 2022
  • Dimensions 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
  • ISBN-10 1982170492
  • ISBN-13 978-1982170493
  • See all details

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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atria Books; First Edition (March 29, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982170492
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982170493
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
  • #718 in Legal Thrillers (Books)
  • #7,025 in Murder Thrillers
  • #23,115 in Suspense Thrillers

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About the author

book review the missing piece

John Lescroart

"John Lescroart's writing skills are a national treasure." —The Huffington Post

John Lescroart is the author of twenty-nine novels, nineteen of which have been New York Times Bestsellers. Libraries Unlimited places him among “The 100 Most Popular Thriller and Suspense Authors.” With sales of over twelve million copies, his books have been translated into twenty-two languages in more than seventy-five countries, and his short stories appear in many anthologies.

John’s first book, SUNBURN, won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award for Best Novel by a California author. DEAD IRISH, THE 13TH JUROR, and THE KEEPER were nominees for the Shamus, Anthony, and Silver Falchion Best Mystery Novel, respectively; additionally THE 13TH JUROR is included in the International Thriller Writers publication “100 Must-Read Thrillers Of All Time.” HARD EVIDENCE made “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Ultimate Reading List.” THE SUSPECT was the American Author’s Association 2007 Book of the Year. THE MOTIVE was an Audie Finalist of the Audio Publishers Association. THE MERCY RULE, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, THE SUSPECT, THE FALL and THE RULE OF LAW have been major market Book Club selections. John’s books have been Main Selections of one or more of the Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Book of the Month Club.

And coming in 2021: Jigsaw

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Hind Rajab

‘I’m so scared, please come’: Hind Rajab, six, found dead in Gaza 12 days after cry for help

Girl who pleaded with Red Crescent to rescue her found dead along with several relatives and two paramedics who tried to save her

  • Middle East crisis: latest news updates

“I’m so scared, please come,” were some of the last words six-year-old Hind Rajab said in a telephone call to rescuers after her family’s car came under fire in Gaza City. Trapped in the vehicle and surrounded by her dead relatives, for three hours she pleaded with the Red Crescent to save her. But the aid agency lost contact with the ambulance dispatched to her aid on 29 January and its crew and Hind remained missing.

Now Hind’s family has said that she was found dead inside the car in the Tel al-Hawa area of Gaza City on Saturday morning.

“Hind and everyone else in the car is martyred,” her grandfather, Baha Hamada, told Agence France-Presse. “[Family members] were able to reach the area because Israeli forces withdrew early at dawn today.”

Hind’s mother, Wissam Hamada, added: “I will question before God on Judgment Day those who heard my daughter’s cries for help and did not save her.” The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that it had located its bombed-out ambulance just metres away, and that its two paramedics, Yusuf Al-Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun, had also been killed.

Footage shared by the PRCS showed what it said were the mangled remains of the ambulance that was struck.

PRC releases footage of the mangled remains of what it says was an ambulance – video

Nebal Farsakh, PRCS spokesperson, said: “We have been in constant panic and fear over the last 12 days. We were unable to send anyone else to the area so we were uncertain regarding their fate. We wondered if they were dead or alive.

“Today, Hind’s family arrived at the location after the Israeli military withdrew from the area and they found her inside the car with her dead family beside her.”

Gaza City has been devastated by fighting between Israel and Hamas since the war broke out four months ago and Hind’s family had reportedly been hoping to seek shelter elsewhere.

The tragedy unfolded on 29 January, when Hind and her uncle, aunt and cousins attempted to flee approaching Israeli forces and their car came under fire. Hind’s mother and older siblings had reportedly set off on foot. The PRCS initially spoke to Hind’s 15-year-old cousin, Layan Hamadeh, who told them that her parents and siblings had been killed, adding: “They are shooting at us. The tank is next to me.” But the call was cut off by what sounded like gunfire. The PRCS released an audio recording of the call and some of Hind’s subsequent three-hour phone conversation with dispatchers in which she pleaded for help, saying: “Come take me. You will come and take me?” The dispatcher, Rana al-Faqeh, said Hind told her she was afraid of the dark and asked for someone to come and rescue her. Farsakh said the Red Crescent felt “helpless” as they waited for three hours for their ambulance to be given permission to access the location. She said: “We contacted the ministry of health and they coordinated our safe access with the Israeli authorities. We were given the green light to move the ambulance.” But she said the ambulance came under fire soon after it arrived at the location. “First [the paramedics] said the Israeli forces are putting laser lights on them … And then we heard a gunfire sound before we lost the connection. It was like a gunfire or explosion, we were not sure of what happened.”

The PRCS had been appealing for information about the paramedics and Hind for days, posting photos of the trio on their social media accounts. On Saturday, it posted photographs of the burnt-out ambulance it said its two paramedics had been travelling in. Farsakh said the ambulance was found metres away from Hind’s family’s car. “We have very clear red cross emblems on top of all of our ambulances,” she said. “This is horrible because when we have waited so many hours, leaving Hind appealing to us, crying, saying please come pick me up, and then, unfortunately, although we have waited all of these hours to guarantee our safe access, it wasn’t a safe access.”

The PRCS accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance. “The occupation deliberately targeted the Red Crescent crew despite prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the site to rescue Hind,” it said in a statement.

The Guardian has contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

  • The Observer
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • Palestinian territories
  • Middle East and north Africa

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How I write: David Nicholls

The best-selling author of One Day shares his best writing advice.

david nicholls

When, where and how do you write?

There’s something romantic about the idea of writing through the night with a glass of whisky by your side, but I’m a strict 9-to-5 writer – new material in the morning, editing and admin in the afternoon. Ideally I’d write at my desk but I’m an insomniac and often resort to a laptop on the sofa, with predictable results. I cycle to my office every day. It works for me to leave the house. At home, I’d empty the dishwasher, make endless cups of coffee or tidy up.

Do you have any routines or rituals that help you get writing?

I put on a piece of music – something short without vocals, a Bach cello suite maybe – to obscure the terrifying silence at the start of the day. The hope is that the music will stop and I won’t notice.

Are you a plotter or a freestyle pantser?

I was a TV scriptwriter before I turned to fiction, and that is all about planning, so initially I used to plot methodically. One Day was a series of charts and biographical details and diaries. These days I’m less formal, but I do always know the ending and prepare a lot – 30-40k notes before I start on the novel itself.

What do you find most challenging as a writer?

Persistence. Knowing that something will get better if you take another look, then doing that over and over again.

Do you aim for a certain number of words a day?

I’m editing at present and a good day’s work can be losing a thousand words. But at first draft stage, a good day can be anything between 500 and 2,000, though often in a very loose note form.

What do you do when you’re stuck?

Read! Every book has a series of touchstones, things that I love and hope to emulate, and I find that it helps to pause and read and remember what great writing feels like.

What would you say to someone who is struggling to get started?

Don’t start with Chapter One! First sentences are paralysing. Just put words on the page without being too precious. You have to find your voice before you can tell the story. Inevitably, for a long time, you’ll think, ‘This is terrible, this is the worst thing I’ve ever read.’ It’s rare to feel good about it. Most of the time you’re just swearing and covering your face in embarrassment, but you have to work through that. I have a document that no one ever sees, a kind of scrap paper, and that document is mortifying. Then I have another document that is the book itself, and you only put things in that when you feel like they’re not going to shame you. Eventually, that folder gets big enough to show to someone.

What is your number-one piece of writing advice?

Buy an internet blocker and use it, even if it’s just for an hour a day.

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  1. BOOK REVIEW : THE MISSING PIECE BY CATHERINE MILLER

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  2. Book Review: The Missing Piece Coping with Grief Compiled by Kate

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  3. Book Review: The Missing Piece

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  4. THE MISSING PIECE by SHEL SILVERSTEIN: Harper & Row Hardcover, 1st

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  5. Book review: The Missing Piece: the essential skills that education

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COMMENTS

  1. THE MISSING PIECE

    Reviews THRILLER & SUSPENSE shop now bookshelf THE MISSING PIECE by John Lescroart ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 2021 The current head of SFPD Homicide gets the last word: "This just in. Injustice abounds. Get used to it."

  2. The Missing Piece (Dismas Hardy #19)

    5,066 ratings425 reviews The beloved New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy series returns with this relentlessly twisty murder thriller. No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison eleven years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend.

  3. The Missing Piece: A Novel (Dismas Hardy Book 19)

    4.4 4,269 ratings

  4. Summary and reviews of The Missing Piece by John Lescroart

    Published Nov 2021 304 pages Genre: Thrillers Publication Information Rate this book Write a Review Buy This Book About this book Summary Book Summary The beloved New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy series returns with this relentlessly twisty murder thriller.

  5. The Missing Piece (The Missing Piece, #1) by Shel Silverstein

    4.27 30,174 ratings1,128 reviews From Shel Silverstein, the celebrated author of The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends, comes The Missing Piece, a charming fable that gently probes the nature of quest and fulfillment. "It was missing a piece. And it was not happy."

  6. Tom Buck's review of The Missing Piece

    Nov 28, 2023 really liked it I'm a big fan of Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, so I was eager to dive into his latest stand-alone thriller. This book centers around Fina Gardner, a 40-something investigator specializing in missing persons cases.

  7. THE MISSING PIECE

    BOOK REVIEW RUNNY BABBIT by Shel Silverstein & illustrated by Shel Silverstein Reviews CHILDREN'S CINDERELLA From the Once Upon a World series by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016 A nice but not requisite purchase. bookshelf shop now

  8. The Missing Piece

    Reviews The Missing Piece Review The Missing Piece by John Lescroart A group calling themselves the Exoneration Initiative are the champions of wrongly convicted prisoners all across the country. Their goal is to see that justice is restored. Even with the best of intentions, though, nothing will ever be a hundred percent right.

  9. THE MISSING PIECE

    Pre-publication book reviews and features keeping readers and industry influencers in the know since 1933. ... the significance of "the missing piece" ("The final piece is, by definition, the one that precedes the missing piece"), and mounts "equilibrium" experiments (one worker forms bricks into a wall while another follows behind ...

  10. The Missing Piece by John Lescroart

    John Lescroart, author of The Missing Piece. No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison 11 years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he's released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else.

  11. The Missing Piece

    The Missing Piece is clever, sly, and delightfully twisty." —Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire "Another perfect piece of entertainment from a master storyteller." —Steve Berry, New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of the Cotton Malone series

  12. The Missing Piece: A Novel (Dismas Hardy)

    Underneath the engaging characters, brilliant dialogue and riveting timely plot—there's an undercurrent of humanity, heartbreaking honesty, emotional depth, and the passionate search for justice. Bottom line: John Lescroart is the true master. And his books get better and better. The Missing Piece is terrific."

  13. The Missing Piece by John Lescroart Book Review and Legal Review

    3 My Opinion John Lescroart's latest novel, The Missing Piece, continues the story of defense attorney Dismas Hardy & gang, this time with former DA Wes Farrell defending Doug Rush, a bereaved father, accused of killing Paul Riley, the newest released prisoner thanks to the Exoneration Project.

  14. Book review of The Missing Piece

    "The Missing Piece" is a well-written story of Christian life and love. Dylan, Lorraine, and the other characters in this story are totally believable and suit the story nicely. Dylan has his backslidings until he really accepts God into his life and works at his faith.

  15. Book Review: The Missing Piece, by Shel Silvertein

    Book Review: The Missing Piece, by Shel Silvertein. "It was missing a piece. And it was not happy. of its missing piece. Lookin' for my missin' piece.". fulfillment. Both my children and I absolutely love this book. The story is about it looking for it's missing piece, and the things that it experiences along the way. Shel Silverstein ...

  16. The Missing Piece by John Lescroart

    The beloved New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy series returns with this "perfect piece of entertainment from a master storyteller" (Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author) about a relentlessly twisty murder mystery.. No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison 11 years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend.

  17. Book Review : the Missing Piece by Catherine Miller

    The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller is a contemporary fiction is an endearing and heart-warming story of two unique people who meet under an unusual circumstance. Keisha is a Ph.D. research student studying Broken Heart Syndrome. During a research project, she meets the seventy-nine-year-old Clive, who manages to burrow under her tough exterior and make a lasting impression. Clive's story ...

  18. The True Story Behind Max's They Called Him Mostly Harmless

    The case may be resolved, but many missing persons cases are not. Beyond the Mostly Harmless case, more than 600,000 people go missing in the U.S. every year, ...

  19. The Missing Piece

    The Missing Piece. by John Lescroart. Publication Date: November 1, 2022. Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller. Paperback: 304 pages. Publisher: Atria Books. ISBN-10: 1982170506. ISBN-13: 9781982170509. No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison 11 years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend.

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    Whether or not Ms. Swift herself is a poet has long been a subject of debate. Ms. Burt posited that she was "not a great page-based poet but a major songwriter.

  21. The Missing Piece Hardcover

    Hardcover - January 24, 2006. From Shel Silverstein, the celebrated author of The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends, comes The Missing Piece, a charming fable that gently probes the nature of quest and fulfillment. It was missing a piece. And it was not happy. What it finds on its search for the missing piece is simply and touchingly told.

  22. The Missing Piece (The Jigsaw Files #1) by Sharon Sala

    1,478 ratings150 reviews Solving the puzzle could be the last thing he does… PI Charlie Dodge knows what it's like to have something important disappear. His wife, Annie, suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's, causing her to remember little of the life she shared with her husband.

  23. Book Review: 'One Nation Under Guns,' by Dominic Erdozain; 'What We've

    Part of what makes the book so powerful is that Erdozain gives historical context to every major shift in interpretation of the Second Amendment over the past 200 or so years.

  24. The Missing Piece: A Novel (19) (Dismas Hardy)

    Bottom line: John Lescroart is the true master. And his books get better and better. The Missing Piece is terrific." —Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life "Hypnotic and powerful, The Missing Piece is both a nail-biting cops-and-lawyers puzzler and a fascinating intellectual thriller. From San Francisco's ...

  25. What the border bill would and wouldn't do

    The deal offers a rare list of proposed solutions with a bipartisan bent. Immigrant rights advocates slam the bill as "draconian" Groups pushing for more restrictions say it doesn't go far enough

  26. 'I'm so scared, please come': Hind Rajab, six, found dead in Gaza 12

    "I'm so scared, please come," were some of the last words six-year-old Hind Rajab said in a telephone call to rescuers after her family's car came under fire in Gaza City. Trapped in the ...

  27. How I write: David Nicholls

    I put on a piece of music - something short without vocals, a Bach cello suite maybe - to obscure the terrifying silence at the start of the day. The hope is that the music will stop and I won ...

  28. The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller

    The Missing Piece Catherine Miller 4.17 265 ratings55 reviews It doesn't matter how hard you fall, the right person can catch you. Sometimes a broken heart can actually break you. Keisha Grant learnt that the hard way. Fifteen years ago, when she was a teenager being raised by her single dad, something happened on an ordinary Wednesday.

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    CF Industries: Better Pricing Is The Missing Puzzle Piece For Elevated Returns Feb. 15, 2024 6:44 PM ET CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF) Stock 1 Comment 3 Likes Leo Nelissen