On first look, Search for Her might look like a regular mystery, formulaic and with massive implausibilities in the plot. But Jennifer Jill Araya’s performance of the audiobook shows that the novel is better read as a dark satire of contemporary life in America. It’s a story that calls for narration over the performance, a la Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

The story starts out with a blended family of 4 driving from California to Pittsburgh. Grace is mother of 14 year old Riley. John is father of 17 year old Blake. Both adults lost their partners in accidents not long ago, and have patched together their broken lives with new starts. They are leaving their old lives because John has a new job with a Fortune-500 company. They make a stop in Nevada, and accidentally leave Riley behind. By the time they realize their mistake, she has disappeared.

As the story unfolds, we find that everyone has secrets, they have all betrayed each other, and they believe they are guilty. If you were to play a drinking game where you have to take a drink when a character says “It’s my fault” you would pass out soon. Grace is the focus of the novel, and every cherished belief she holds seems to turn out wrong. She also seems out of control most of the time. She is a sad woman who can’t live up to her own values. 

The picture we get from this book of the USA is a moral cesspool. What’s true of Grace is true of everyone she knows. The story just suggests the logical conclusion for what happens to a nation that has lost its way. It is operatic in its melodrama. In this light, Search for Her makes for gripping reading, in turns hilarious and starkly moralistic. It has one clear message: don’t trust anyone. 

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology Online

Categories: Fiction

Keywords: fiction, mystery