The Missing Half: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Two women haunted by their sisters’ unsolved disappearances band together in this captivating mystery from the author of All Good People Here and host of the #1 true crime podcast Crime Junkie.
“A propulsive mystery with excellent writing . . . Simply a great read!”—Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
Nicole “Nic” Monroe is in a rut. At twenty-four, she lives alone in a dinky apartment in her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, she’s just gotten a DWI, and she works the same dead-end job she’s been working since high school, a job she only has because her boss is a family friend and feels sorry for her. Everyone has felt sorry for her for the last seven years—since the day her older sister, Kasey, vanished without a trace.
On the night Kasey went missing, her car was found over a hundred miles from home. The driver’s door was open and her purse was untouched in the seat next to it. The only real clue in her disappearance was Jules Connor, another young woman from the same area who disappeared in the same way, two weeks earlier. But with so little for the police to go on, both cases eventually went cold.
Nic wants nothing more than to move on from her sister’s disappearance and the state it’s left her in. But then one day, Jules’s sister, Jenna Connor, walks into Nic’s life and offers her something she hasn’t felt in a long time: hope. What follows is a gripping tale of two sisters who will do anything to find their missing halves, even if it means destroying everything they’ve ever known.
“A propulsive mystery with excellent writing . . . Simply a great read!”—Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
Nicole “Nic” Monroe is in a rut. At twenty-four, she lives alone in a dinky apartment in her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, she’s just gotten a DWI, and she works the same dead-end job she’s been working since high school, a job she only has because her boss is a family friend and feels sorry for her. Everyone has felt sorry for her for the last seven years—since the day her older sister, Kasey, vanished without a trace.
On the night Kasey went missing, her car was found over a hundred miles from home. The driver’s door was open and her purse was untouched in the seat next to it. The only real clue in her disappearance was Jules Connor, another young woman from the same area who disappeared in the same way, two weeks earlier. But with so little for the police to go on, both cases eventually went cold.
Nic wants nothing more than to move on from her sister’s disappearance and the state it’s left her in. But then one day, Jules’s sister, Jenna Connor, walks into Nic’s life and offers her something she hasn’t felt in a long time: hope. What follows is a gripping tale of two sisters who will do anything to find their missing halves, even if it means destroying everything they’ve ever known.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *The Missing Half* is a suspenseful mystery exploring sisterhood and loyalty, with chaotic characters adding to its unpredictable pace. Re...
This was written so well, it kept my attention so much that I finished it one day... but the ending really made it hard for me to give this anything higher than 3.5 stars.
How far is too far when you’re desperate for answers?
Nic Monroe has never stopped searching for her sister, Kasey, who vanished seven years ago. When another girl goes missing under similar circumstances, Nic teams up with the victim’s sister to dig into the past and figure out what happened to their sisters and if their disappearances are connected. As they unravel dark secrets in their small town, Nic is forced to question everything she thought she knew. The truth might bring closure or destroy what's left of her world.
I was extremely invested in this book—it was the BOTM for my book club, and I also decided to buddy read it with my Fable book club. I was so into finding out what happened to Nic, and of course, my assumption was wrong (surprise). I never would’ve guessed that ending. While we’re at it, I genuinely enjoyed this book literally up until the verrrrry end… and IYKYK.
Literally every character in this book is delulu, but honestly, that made the story even more chaotic and entertaining (and had me audibly yelling in frustration). It’s like everyone was operating in their own alternate reality—and yet, somehow, it worked. The pacing kept me hooked, and the writing made it so easy to binge in just a few sittings.
The themes of sisterhood, loyalty, and justice are so alive in this one, and it really had me thinking—what lengths would you go to for your sibling? Even if the ending didn’t hit the way I wanted, I’m glad I read it and had people to scream about it with.
Literally every character in this book is delulu, but honestly, that made the story even more chaotic and entertaining (and had me audibly yelling in frustration). It’s like everyone was operating in their own alternate reality—and yet, somehow, it worked. The pacing kept me hooked, and the writing made it so easy to binge in just a few sittings.
The themes of sisterhood, loyalty, and justice are so alive in this one, and it really had me thinking—what lengths would you go to for your sibling? Even if the ending didn’t hit the way I wanted, I’m glad I read it and had people to scream about it with.
Ah, The Missing Half—a book that promised me gripping suspense, emotional stakes, and sisterly desperation…I wanted to care, really I did. I lit a candle, I made a hot beverage, I even put my phone down. But alas, emotional investment was not found, much like Kasey, the missing sister. (Too soon?)
You know that feeling when you finish a book and just sit there blinking like, Wait… that was it? I went in expecting a twisty, edge-of-your-seat mystery and instead got a confusing goose chase full of red herrings, plot holes, and characters I cared about as much as I care about expired yogurt.
We meet Nicole “Nic” Monroe, whose life is basically held together with duct tape and bad decisions. She’s stuck in a dead-end job, fresh off a DWI, and has been living in a constant cloud of “oh no, poor Nic” for seven years. Her sister vanished, and so did, apparently, any forward momentum in the plot. Enter Jenna, another girl with a conveniently missing sister. Together, they embark on a journey of… crying, brooding, and asking zero helpful questions.
Nic is supposed to be the hot mess you root for, but I never really connected with her—probably because she spends most of the book wandering through emotional fog and questionable decisions. And the rest of the cast? About as memorable as a beige wall. I kept reading, hoping the “aha!” moment would hit, but by the time the big twist showed up, I mostly just muttered, “Okay… but how does that make sense?” Spoiler: it doesn’t. Not really.
I get that it’s supposed to be one of those jaw-dropping endings that makes you rethink everything—but the only thing I was rethinking was why I didn’t DNF it 100 pages earlier.
Now to be fair, I fully acknowledge some readers will probably love this one—especially if they enjoy thrillers with lots of detours and dramatic reveals—but it just wasn’t for me.
So, if anyone needs me, I’ll be over here reading something else and possibly adopting a new fictional sibling to care about.
You know that feeling when you finish a book and just sit there blinking like, Wait… that was it? I went in expecting a twisty, edge-of-your-seat mystery and instead got a confusing goose chase full of red herrings, plot holes, and characters I cared about as much as I care about expired yogurt.
We meet Nicole “Nic” Monroe, whose life is basically held together with duct tape and bad decisions. She’s stuck in a dead-end job, fresh off a DWI, and has been living in a constant cloud of “oh no, poor Nic” for seven years. Her sister vanished, and so did, apparently, any forward momentum in the plot. Enter Jenna, another girl with a conveniently missing sister. Together, they embark on a journey of… crying, brooding, and asking zero helpful questions.
Nic is supposed to be the hot mess you root for, but I never really connected with her—probably because she spends most of the book wandering through emotional fog and questionable decisions. And the rest of the cast? About as memorable as a beige wall. I kept reading, hoping the “aha!” moment would hit, but by the time the big twist showed up, I mostly just muttered, “Okay… but how does that make sense?” Spoiler: it doesn’t. Not really.
I get that it’s supposed to be one of those jaw-dropping endings that makes you rethink everything—but the only thing I was rethinking was why I didn’t DNF it 100 pages earlier.
Now to be fair, I fully acknowledge some readers will probably love this one—especially if they enjoy thrillers with lots of detours and dramatic reveals—but it just wasn’t for me.
So, if anyone needs me, I’ll be over here reading something else and possibly adopting a new fictional sibling to care about.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.