Member Reviews
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The plot was complex and clever and interesting. This was no formula thriller ,the plot was well researched and written. The description of the island was chilling in more than one way ! David Raker is a compassionate, clever investigator
A very clever plot with lots of characters lives ultimately linking in to Kite's story but so many characters introduced in quick succession spoiled it for me.
I absolutely loved the premise of this book, with a missing person who has no memory of himself and the plot that follows looking at who he is and where he's come from. Private Investigator David takes on Richard Kite (as the missing man has come to call himself) and leads himself on a meticulous search in trying to piece together his history and identity.
The story started off well, as I think this is a great plot idea, however I found it quickly veered off at a tangent, looking at all the other people connected to Richard as opposed to directly at Richard. Although all of these characters are relevant to Richard's background and story, I found that there was a lot of information going on, and the plot became quite complex. There was a lot to take on board, a lot to get my head round, and so many different characters introduced in quick succession that my head was a whir!
The book is very cleverly written indeed, particularly with how the individuals' stories all link together and create a bigger plot, however it is that complexity that lost me. At around 2/3 of the way into the book I just wanted it to end, as there was too much going on for me and this turned into a taxing rather than an enjoyable read. I can't fault Weaver's writing however, which is absolutely splendid.
Overally a good book. I was very intrigued for the first 50% of the book, but then it started to make feel tired and impatient. I almost lost an interest, due to the number of characters; I lost counting who did what and how was someone connected to the other. Also I expected something more traumatising and unexpected when they kept saying "what they'd done". But generally - good book with a good plot and pace.
Thank you - Netgalley - for providing me with the book.
The Lost Man cannot remember how he got beaten up, who he is, or where he lives. Nearly a year later, after extensive searches, he's none the wiser. David Raker is hired to help him. That is until the Lost Man is linked to a dead body. Raker gives us a fast paced, twisting story that occasionally borders on 'really?'. The ending is very good.
Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I absolutely love Tim Weaver and have read all his novels and this one did not disappoint again. The character of David Raker is great and he gets my imagination going.
This intriguing title kept me engrossed throughout the story. A well written mystery with a lot of twists and turns all of which make it a hard to put down story.
I really wanted to give this more than 3 stars as the concept really appealed to me.... the ideas were original and the book introduced me to new places which I found interesting. Alhough there were a few 'yeah right really' moments for me as bits of storyline just didnt make sense.
However there was just something off about the main character for - reading the rest of the reviews its obvious David Raker is a well loved main charcter however to me he lacked personality and depth. I never realised when I requested this on NetGalley that this was actually the 8th in a series so perhaps that is it... perhaps I should have started at the beginning and watch Raker develop.
When David Raker meets Richard Kite regarding a missing person he's suprised at who it is Richard wants him to find. Because the missing person is Richard Kite! Or more strictly speaking the missing person is who Richard was before he was found in a bloody battered mess. Ten months has passed since he was found but despite media attention no one has come forward to identify him. David is now Richard best hope at some answers. But as David investigates he find links to the to a Jane Doe found in London two years previously. Is Richard what he seems and in danger? Or is he a dangerous faker?
So this is my first David Raker book - yes I know I'm late to the party! Considering it's the eighth installment it was surprisingly effective as a standalone. There were times I wished I could hear more about David's past but enough was revealed to intrigue me into wanting to read more. It's a great story that makes some clever and unexpected directions. My only criticism is that sometimes David made some quite large leaps of deduction. With the very little he had to work with I found it difficult sometimes to suspend my disbelief. But sceptical or not I loved where those leaps took me. This is works well as either a standalone or an introduction to the series. I'm looking forward to more by this writer.
I received this from Netgalley for an unbiased review.
I'm afraid I didn't get on nearly as well with I Am Missing as a lot of other reviewers.
The set-up is excellent: David Raker, a specialist in missing persons, is contacted by a man with amnesia to try to find out who he is. It's an intriguing premise and I thought the opening of the book was very good. The story is narrated by Raker and I liked his voice, too, so the whole thing was promising. However, this didn't last. Raker is no fan of concision, so we get an awful lot of it-might-be-this or perhaps-it's-that which doesn’t add up to a lot, plus a great deal of over descriptive scene-setting and it gets pretty wearing. Later, too, Weaver begins to resort increasingly to clichés like "Slowly, this was heading somewhere. *Somewhere bad.*" I wholeheartedly agreed with "slowly," but really, "Somewhere bad," as an italicised sentence? It's pretty cheesy, as is the rather sentimental ending. Weaver can write well, so it's a shame to mar decent prose with this sort of stuff.
The other problem is the plot holes and absurdities, like the frankly incomprehensible failure to go to the police with vital evidence when the resulting police work would help Raker hugely. Twice (!) he deliberately puts himself alone in inescapable places which he knows are controlled by those who wish him dead. A succession of slightly implausible villains are going to kill him, but carefully explain to him everything they have done, including their motivations, before…I wouldn't dream of including spoilers, and I'm sure you can't guess. And so on and so on. I did finish the book, but 540-odd pages of this was an awful lot it was a bit of a chore and I did get very fed up with it.
This might make an OK, brain-off beach read but as a plausible, enjoyable thriller I can only give it a very lukewarm recommendation.
(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)
When a man wakes up battered and bruised by a lifeboat station he has totally lost his memory and doesn't have any idea who he is or where he comes from. Not knowing where to start he decides to call himself Richard Kite and then starts trying to discover himself. After the failure of the police and the media he contacts a private investigator, David Raker, but will the discoveries be what he wants to hear?
The investigation throws up more questions than answers - is he a murderer or should he have been a victim, is his life now in danger - and who are the two sisters are they related to him in any way?
A great book full of intrigue - I haven't read any of the others in the series but will be looking for them now
I have read many Tim Weaver books and this is another great read. From him A very interesting read and grabbed me from the start.
I Am Missing (David Raker #8) by Tim Weaver
3 stars!!!
I Am Missing is the first book in this series that I have read and my urge to pick this up was fuelled by my current love for thrillers. I have read so many recently and the more I read the more I love this genre. I love a book that makes me think and this one had the grey matter running a mile a minute. From what I understand in past book David Raker is an investigator who excels in finding the “missing person.” In I Am Missing, we have the missing person, it is he who wants to be found.
Richard Kite is a man who was found washed up on a beach, or was he dumped? With a severe head injury when he wakes he remembers absolutely nothing. Not his name, where he is from, what he likes and dislikes…his brain is an empty vessel, one that he was desperate to fill. Richard Kite is desperate, desperate for information, desperate to belong, to someone, to somewhere…but sometimes the past is better left forgotten.
“He was a man without an anchor to his history. He was a story that couldn’t be finished because his story hadn’t even been started. He was five incomplete lines on a page – and maybe not even that much. In the end, the press had been right about something. This was a man that was lost.”
I Am Missing follows David Raker on his quest to answer Richard’s questions. Questions where the answers put his own life in danger…who is Richard Kite and why does somebody want him dead?
This was a long book and at times it felt like it, but none the less, I couldn’t put it down. Tim Weaver does a great job in building the suspense as answers seem to be in reach and then get pulled away on the next page. The build-up was fantastic and with every clue there was another red herring, leaving the reader at a loss for how the past and the present actually marry up. When that eureka moment happened, I thought I had it solved, but alas…no. Tim Weaver still had many a trick up his sleeve.
“It started with me boarding a ship. It finished with me lost in a labyrinth.”
I will be honest and say at the end I felt it was all a little anti-climactic, my brain had run a mile a minute, I had many theories, but maybe I have read too many books where off the wall tangents are the norm. This just gave me that feeling of “is that it?” However, the road to get there was well thought out, well written and held me captive.
I loved the setting and the way the plot had been put together was meticulous. While at times is was confusing it wasn’t long before answers were given and I could go back and associate what confused to what now made sense.
Overall, I really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more of this series.
www.theromancecover.com
Richard has one of those problems that it is impossible to understand what it is like to experience. He has lost all his memory and only has little fragments to use to try and remember. Not getting anywhere he calls David Raker to help him, Raker is an experienced missing person detective but this is something completely new to him. He quickly gets one or two small leads to work on which eventually start to bear fruit. For some reason it took me ages to read this book which mystifies me and can only assume it did not capture my imagination the way some quick reads do. It is an easy story to read and an interesting subject, but I think just moves a little to slowly for me to rate it more than three stars. Perhaps if on beach holiday it would be more appealing where there is a smaller choice of activities on offer. It does offer all the normal elements of a good crime thriller.
I have never read a Tim Weaver book before, but judging by the other reviews, he is a talented writer, who grabs the readers attention, unfortunately for me, this did not happen with this book.
The premise is of an investigation into a missing person, but the missing person is not "missing" as such, he has no memory and that sparked my attention, but I just could not get into this book.
The writing style was not for me with numerous descriptions of mundane places, then lots of contradictory sentences, (think-describing something as "a vast microscopic hole"? that makes no sense!). Words are written which just seemed to build up the word count "I looked at this face, I looked at the contours of his face". So I felt I was reading the same thing over and over again!
The storyline is ok, a man with no memory hires an investigator (Raker) to "Find" him as he has no memory, which leads to the discovery of the body of a women-not reported missing.
The whole story is seen from Rakers point of view except for small snippets of 2 girls which eventually intertwine into the storyline (which I would have liked more of). Maybe it could have been broken up a bit more by telling the story from other points of view and that might have worked better for me.
I am afraid I just did not enjoy much of this book which was a shame as I liked the idea of swapping the missing person around!
I would like to thank NetGalley for a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first Tim Weaver book I have read. Although Goodreads mention its book 8 I found it a good book and easy a stand alone read unlike other series I have tried to join several books in.
I enjoyed I am Missing it is an interesting idea for a novel. Richard Kite has Dissociative Amnesia and has no idea who he is of where he comes from this book follows David Raker as he uncovers Richards past. The twists and turns were great and I had no idea where this book was going to lead but I was not disappointed with any of it a great fast paced read!
A really interesting story with a good plot and intriguing setting. Some unexpected plot twists. I found the story stalled a little once he arrived on the island but it all wrapped up satisfactorily.
I enjoyed this book and didn't realise it was 8th in a series. I now need to read all of them from the beginning I think. Thank you for introducing me to a new series
I didn't release this was part of a series. I felt I needed to read the others as I felt a bit lost in some parts. I didn't finish the book, sorry.
A well written, very unusual book, describing what happens when a man who has lost his whole memory, asks a detective for help. What follows is unexpected and horrific.
A must read.