The Night She Went Missing

At the start of Bird’s gripping debut, Emily Callahan, a senior at elite Callahan Preparatory Academy, is pulled out of the water off Texas’s Galveston Island, a tight-knit community of socialites, including Emily’s grandmother, who manages the school. Emily, who’s been missing for weeks, is alive but can’t remember what happened to her. Catherine, Emily’s mother, believes football player Alex Frasier is responsible for her daughter’s disappearance. Alex, who had previously been accused of rape, was seen leaving a party with Emily the night she went missing. A public altercation reveals Leslie Steele’s daughter, Anna, has a secret about Emily she’s been keeping. Meanwhile, the police make no progress. When Catherine discovers Emily has a mysterious lighthouse tattoo and is pregnant, she determines to uncover the truth, even enlisting the help of Morgan, Alex’s mother, to do so. Bird does a good job dramatizing the extraordinary lengths mothers will go to protect their children. This twisty if a bit over-the-top tale of misdeeds among the privileged shows real promise. Agent: Hayley Steed, Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency. (Feb.)