Matthew Costello, Missing Monday

Missing Monday

Matthew Costello

Berkley, June 2004, $6.99, 352 pp.

ISBN 0425194558

When she went to sleep it was Sunday night and when she woke up it was Tuesday morning. Janna is scared that she is going crazy especially when she discovers that she did her usual work yesterday at the office. Her friend Kathy and her boyfriend David tell her she was her usual self once she confides in them. David and Kathy suggest she sees a psychiatrist to help her get past the trauma. She believes the psychiatrist is helping her until she overhears him and David talking about her, and the possibility of doing away with her.

Alex Stern is a brilliant psychiatrist who was tortured for information that he has that his killers want. He commits suicide rather than letting them know the secrets of his group and he is able to send a message to his wife Caryn who luckily is listening on her cell phone. Caryn is part of a cell that is charged with a mission that neither the authorities nor the police can perform. When her path crosses with that of Janna, their cell has more information to carry out their mission.

Readers who enjoy a dark gothic speculative fiction story will love MISSING MONDAY, a novel that deals with the future of Earth. From the very beginning of this novel, there is a feeling of foreboding that increases with each ensuing chapter. The audience will want to read Matthew Costello's latest work to find out who the true enemy is and hopefully there will be a sequel to this exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner