“Some people are brighter than others.” That is a line from Have You Seen Him, and it could summarize anyone nearby, especially if casual observation leads to assumptions rather than documented facts.
A debut by Kimberly Lee, this missing person narrative features David Byrdsong/Leonard Griffin, an attorney who would take the express elevator if it meant upward mobility. Haunted by the secrets about his birth family’s disappearance, his axis is further tilted when he finds his photo on a missing child circular.
Filled with a variety of nefarious characters, including an operative named Stone and a doctor deeply involved in harvesting human blood and tissues, this work subtly documents theories related to human fetuses exhibiting signs of personal trauma by the sixth week of gestation. Set in and around the City of Angels, it offers an authentic glimpse into the disorientation ingrained in adoptees and orphans.
Billed as a thriller, it's filled with suspense and falls somewhere between a legal drama and poetic crime fiction. The story explores themes of silence as a form of self-protection, the impact of memory when the truth isn’t straightforward, and how external influences can shape a distorted identity.
Weighing in at 268 pages, with short, snappy chapters, it delivers enough action to trigger a fight-or-flight response. Readers craving blood-red herrings might not be swayed by the ongoing logical fallacies, but everyone will stay engaged.
A cultural study of child abandonment and how it isn’t necessarily the result of parental neglect, this is not a linear mystery. Structured in three parts and filled with fragmented vignettes, it is a psychological mind trip disguised as an exploration of how silence is driven by lies shaped by guilt and fertilized by longing.
“You’re either a man of action or a man in traction,” is another line from this work, and it personifies uncertainty born from threat or sadness. An attorney by profession, the author employs a mix of polite yet blunt West Coast dialogue, legal jargon, and judicial procedures to imitate the process of circling and erasing the truth. The sparse touch heightens suspicion, palpable dread, and tension, fueling the overall pace.
Suppose readers doubt the existence of an unassuming whistleblower, the impact of a child’s disappearance, or the fragmentation that occurs when an entire community chooses to be complicit. In that case, this work shows the harm, internal conflict, and slow progress caused by idle gossip, which leads to conflicting memories and eventually turns into outright lies.
Published by Butterfly Effect Press, this isn’t targeted at readers deeply involved in corporate conspiracies, couples willing to bypass traditional adoption methods, or underappreciated civil servants. With two subplots that lack stolen blood and other bodily fluids, this feels like the first part of a planned trilogy. However, seasoned paralegals, law students, and others exploring legal careers will come to see coincidence as external validation of internal instincts.
Rating: ★★★★
Similar titles:
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
About the author:
Kimberly Lee, JD, is a writer, editor, creativity coach, and facilitator passionate about nurturing the imaginative spirit and helping others discover their inner wisdom. A graduate of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, she was an editor at Literary Mama and has been part of the staff for Carve and F(r)iction magazines.
A certified facilitator through The Center for Journal Therapy, The Center for Intentional Creativity, Guided Autobiography, SoulCollage®, The Path Meditation, and Amherst Writers & Artists, where she is a board member. A member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and ACES: The Society for Editing, Kimberly also holds a copyediting certificate from UC San Diego. Her work has appeared in Minerva Rising, LA Parent, Words and Whispers, Toyon, The Ekphrastic Review, and on the Better Sleep app, among other outlets.
She lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.
Connect with Kimberly on Instagram, Substack, and the world wide web.
Wonderful review!