Disappearance

In this tautly paced psychological drama, a drug-addicted pharmacist, Adam Druit, summons up what's left of his wits to search for his kidnapped nine-year-old daughter, Sherry. Druit had been a top-notch pharmacologist, but the death of a patient he'd supplied with experimental medicine ruined his career. Now dispensing prescriptions at a rural Rhode Island pharmacy, he has been taking increasing amounts of drugs to block out the past. But when Sherry is abducted, Druit gathers his strength and will, along with his uppers, downers and hallucinogens, and throws himself into action, displaying the power of his brilliant, if altered, mind. He also tries to throw himself into the mind of his quarry, but ends up in perilous situations that leave him on the edge of mind-bending exhaustion. While the fruit of the anguished pursuit is bittersweet, Cohen's tale yields irony that is satisfying as well as cruel. (Aug.)