Welcome
Chevy is the author of the novel STILL MISSING, which will be published July 2010 by St Martin’s Press. Chevy is now in the process of completing her second novel, NEVER KNOWING. If you’d like more information on both novels please visit the Books page. Please visit Chevy’s Blog to learn about her writing process and whatever else is on her mind!
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What They Think!
"A heart-pounding debut. Stevens pulls out all the stops in this cat-and-mouse battle between a brilliant psychopath and his tenacious victim. By equal turns clever and compelling, STILL MISSING is the not-to-be missed thriller of the year."
Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of The Neighbor
"An astonishingly well-crafted debut novel, Still Missing will have you spellbound from the first page until long after you close the book."
New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter
"Grim and unsettling. Still Missing is a fast-paced read that is utterly absorbing."
New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs
"Chevy Stevens’ STILL MISSING is a compelling, unputdownable thrill ride of a debut. You’ll never go to an “open house” again without wondering if the guy in khakis is a maniac. The twists are so treacherous and unexpected you’ll need a neck brace by the time you finish."
Linda Castillo, New York Times bestselling author of Sworn to Silence
"Engrossing, terrifying and ultimately full of girl-kick-ass, STILL MISSING will suck you in from page one. Realtors should not read this book if they ever want to host an open house again."
Chelsea Cain, author of HEARTSICK, SWEETHEART, and EVIL AT HEART.
“While reading Chevy Steven’s thriller Still Missing, I had to remind myself to breathe. Simply terrifying.”
New York Times bestselling author Erica Spindler
"Still Missing isn't just a gripping mystery about a woman's abduction, it's a story about her hard-fought return-to self, to independence, to life. Frank, fierce, and sometimes even funny, this is a dark tale pinpricked with light-and told by an unforgettable heroine."
New York Times bestselling author Gillian Flynn
"Still Missing runs deeper than the chills it delivers, the surprises it holds and the resilience of its main character. Ms. Stevens makes Annie a strong, smart woman who won’t stop fighting to regain her sanity and equilibrium.She can’t come back until she knows why she was taken away.”"
Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Crackling with suspense this debut thriller stars Annie O'Sullivan, a young Realtor who recounts her year-long ordeal as a captive of a rapist she calls simply "The Freak." Her imprisonment, escape, and fraught reentry into ordinary life will have you glued to the page."
People Magazine
"A dazzling debut from Vancouver Island's Chevy Stevens. STILL MISSING brilliantly captures the terror of a kidnapped woman trapped in a cabin in the woods--and the puzzling aftermath of her escape."
Chatelaine Magazine
"Chevy Stevens's novel is the most unnerving novel I've read since Thomas Harris's Silence of the Lambs....The conclusion is totally shocking and numbing. By far the best debut I've read this year and I'd be very surprised to read anything that tops it."
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
"At each turn of the page, you’ll find yourself clutching the book with white knuckles and struggling to comprehend the sickening and terror-filled moments as this realistic and horrifying tale unfolds. A book that I truly couldn’t put down, “Still Missing” is a frightening story that will leave a lasting effect."
Suspense Magazine
"Carefully and claustrophobically, Stevens crafts a double narrative of a woman's abduction and escape, and her attempts to recover and reclaim herself after the brutal ordeal....With a gutsy but very human heroine, this book will abduct your reading time late into the night."
RT Book Reviews
Stevens’s impressive debut, a thriller set on Vancouver Island, pulsates with suspense that gets a power boost from the jaw-dropping but credible closing twist. In psychiatric sessions, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor with a nice boyfriend and a demanding mother, describes her year-long ordeal as the captive of a rapist. The intense plot alternates between Annie’s creepy confinement, her escape, and her attempts to readjust to real life, from going to the bathroom when she wants to managing her own meals. Still, Annie knows that a large part of her soul is “still missing.” Her transformation from victim adds to the believability of the enthralling plot.
Publisher's Weekly Starred Review
Stevens’s blistering debut follows a kidnap victim from her abduction to her escape—and the even more horrifying nightmare that follows.One moment, Vancouver Island realtor Annie O’Sullivan is taking one last client, a quiet, well-spoken man with a nice smile, through the property where she’s holding an open house; the next moment, she’s being marched out to a van at gunpoint, unaware that it’s the last time for months that she’ll see the sky or breathe the open air. The man who’s taken her calls himself David; she calls him The Freak. And her ordeal over the next year, described in unsparing detail in a series of lacerating sessions with her psychiatrist, indicates that her name is a lot more accurate than his....A grueling, gripping demonstration of melodrama’s darker side.
Kirkus Starred Review
"On a sunny August afternoon, realtor Annie O'Sullivan is just about to end an open house showing when a friendly, nicely dressed man appears. What seems to be a lucky break is really just the beginning of Annie's year-long ordeal. During sessions with her psychologist, Annie takes the reader back to her abduction and narrates how she struggled to survive during and after the horror. Since the reader is reliving the events through Annie's own retelling, the material can be tough to take. That emotional challenge is alleviated by Annie's flashes of humor and defiance. In her mind, once a victim does not mean one forever. VERDICT While there is physical danger in what Annie experiences, the suspense is in her psychological struggle. Author praise of this highly touted debut includes comparisons to Karin Slaughter and Lisa Gardner, and those authors' fans will like this thriller. While this may be a stretch, the "what would I do" aspect of the reading experience may make this a match for some Jodi Picoult readers as well. Highly recommended.
Library Journal Starred Review
This may be Stevens' debut novel, but it sure doesn't read like a first book. In fact, it's a knockout, a psychological thriller that pulls no punches and has a title that couldn't be more apt. If Annie O'Sullivan's mother isn't exactly a warm and fuzzy parent, everything else in Annie's life is great: she has a handsome, attentive boyfriend; loyal friends; and a real-estate career on the upswing. All that comes clear in the first few pages. Then, at an open house one sunny afternoon, a stranger with tousled blond hair and a pleasant manner kidnaps her, takes her to a remote cabin, and rapes and enslaves her. In an angry voice that unsuccessfully tries to mask her fear and pain, Annie gradually reveals, to her unnamed shrink, what she endured during her captivity-and how she is coping since her return home. People tell her she is lucky to be back, but fragile and stripped of her dignity, Annie makes a compelling case for the idea that she is really "still missing." Relentless and disturbing, Stevens' dark, mesmerizing character study follows a twisted path from victimhood toward self-empowerment. Sure to leave readers looking over their shoulders for a smiling stranger.
Booklist Starred Review
"I absolutely devoured it. What an amazingly gripping story. I found myself wondering, ‘What would I do?’”
Rene Kirkpatrick, Third Place Books
“Fascinating and thought-provoking. This is one of those books that will be remembered well past the first reading.”
Judi Wutzke, …And Books, Too
“A tense thriller with a fresh twist. What happened to Annie is terrifyingly told, but why she vanished is a shock to the system.”
Geoffrey Jennings, Rainy Day Books
“An incredibly emotionally complex novel. Are you sure this is a first novel? It certainly doesn’t read like one.”
Billie Bloebaum, Powell’s Books
“This thriller will grab you and not let go until the shocking conclusion.”
Holly Frakes, Schuler Books and Music
“I read this debut novel in two sleepless nights: Simply gripping from the first page and truly chilling in its verisimilitude.”
Whitney Spotts, Schuler Books & Music, Lansing
"A blast of a debut thriller! Keeps the pages turning right until the ultimate twist of an end - brutally beautiful thriller and a great new voice!"
John Hugo, Hugo Books
“I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of the book and it is one of the best thrillers I've read by new writer. The story involves a young woman real estate broker who is abducted while showing a property to a "client." What ensues is a tale of immense psychological manipulation in the first part of the book and then the last part is what happened to her after. The story has an amazing twist at the end that will really leave you amazed. I just loved the ride this book gave me though it sure scared me!”
Barbara Kelly, USM Bookstore
“It was Monday. early afternoon. I realized that I had not yet read Still Missing, but had better riffle through it because I was meeting the author later that evening. I sat down at my desk and read page one, then two, then a few more and only quit a heart-pounding few hours later with the last page. Still Missing is one of the most irresistible thrillers I have read recently. From opening when Annie says to her psychiatrist, "No, I wasn't always such a bitch," to the unexpected ending, this story of a woman's abduction and its aftermath is shocking and savage, and ultimately redemptive.”
Marilyn Dahl, Book Review Editor, Shelf Awareness
“I have to say the book blew me away! Absolutely loved it & thought it was the most original thriller I’ve read in years.”
Robin Beerbower of the Salem Public Library
“Wasn’t able to stop reading this book although it made me very uncomfortable. I loved it! A roller coaster of emotions and creepiness that you want to get off but can’t."
Alie Hess, Brookline Booksmith
“I thought ‘Still Missing’ managed to be a thriller, a mystery, and a family drama all rolled into one that kept me riveted until the very end. Fans of Stieg Larsson will find much to like in Chevy Stevens’ novel about a kidnapped real estate agent determined to escape from her abductor – and find out who is behind the crime.”
David Menard, Watermark Book Company
“Still Missing by Chevy Stevens tells the story of Annie O’Sullivan, a woman held against her will for nearly a year by a man she calls “The Freak”. It has debilitating terror, the courage to rise above the impossible, and an unforgettable final plot twist. Chevy Stevens has a real winner in this first novel.”
Rita Moran, Apple Valley Books
“I thought I knew what I was getting into with STILL MISSING, and was a bit smug about it through the first third of the book. Yet as the story began to build in its complexities, and the main character gained dimension, I became surprised at how quickly I was turning the pages, how addictive the storytelling was, and ultimately, how effective the final twist was!”
Beth Simpson, Cornerstone Books
