The Missing by Chris Mooney

Darby McCormick is a typical teenage girl, at least until that day in the woods.  Darby and her friends, Stacy and Melanie, are headed for their party place when they come across a man killing a woman.  They escape, but somehow the killer tracks them and before everything is over, Stacy is killed and Melanie is kidnapped.  Somehow, Darby manages to escape her friends' fate.

Twenty-five years later, Darby is now a criminologist with a doctorate in forensic investigation.  Her work gives her a way to silence the fears left behind from the trauma in her past.  That is, until another girl is kidnapped the way Melanie was.  Determined to find this girl, Darby, her partner Coop and the FBI soon determine that the case is bigger than one girl.  In fact, this is a serial killer the FBI has long called The Traveller, and he is responsible for murders going back thirty years.  In fact, it becomes apparent that he was the man from Darby's past, although another man was held responsible for those crimes.  Can Darby find the killer and put her past behind her?

This is the first in a series of eight thrillers starring Darby McCormick.  Although the formula is now common, with shows like Criminal Minds and podcasts and documentaries about true crime, its commonness does not take away its power to terrify.  This is a chilling book about a diabolical killer and the reader will be compelled to turn the pages until the resolution is complete.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.