Missing Pieces

Schleich (Salvation Station) delivers a chilling legal thriller in which a lawyer’s bout of amnesia proves pivotal to a major case. In 2013 Minnesota, family law attorney Maddie Cummins is living in a hotel after breaking off her engagement. One night, she vanishes after ordering a cup of coffee in the lobby, and the desk clerk calls the police. When cops find Maddie five hours later, she’s covered with bruises and has only vague memories of where she’s been. She’s hospitalized and diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a stress-induced spell of temporary memory loss. After being discharged, she resumes working on a divorce case involving auto magnate Don Koch, whose wife, Jayne, believes he’s been hiding significant marital assets. Maddie’s best friend, criminal attorney Paula Milton, is probing Jayne’s claims and trying to nail Don for a variety of other financial crimes. As Maddie recovers buried memories from the fog of amnesia—including a vivid image of human remains—she starts to wonder if Don may have kidnapped and tried to kill her. Schleich effectively mines her own experiences with TGA to draw tension from Maddie’s uncertainty. With a sharp premise and twists to spare, this delivers the goods. (Self-published)