It was only meant to be a brief detour. But then Lauren finds herself trapped in a town called Lost on the edge of a desert, filled with things abandoned, broken and thrown away. And when she tries to escape, impassable dust storms and something unexplainable lead her back to Lost again and again. The residents she meets there tell her she's going to have to figure out just what she's missing—and what she's running from—before she can leave. So now Lauren's on a new search for a purpose and a destiny. And maybe, just maybe, she'll be found... Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, Sarah Beth Durst writes an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman's impossible journey...and her quest to find her fate.

Acclaimed author Sarah Beth Durst returns with an evocative new novel that brilliantly mixes fantasy with dark reality. In The Missing, one lost woman will confront her biggest challenge yet… Not everyone who is lost wants to be found. Nobody knows that better than Lauren. Having ended up in the town of Lost, where the residents must discover what they're missing before they're able to leave, Lauren found her happiness. But Peter—her love—has vanished into a void. In her quest to find him, Lauren ends up in the town of Despair. There she discovers a barren landscape of crumbling skyscrapers, darkened streets and empty playgrounds. It's a place without hope—and its desolation is spreading outside its walls. While Lauren fights to save Lost and rescue the residents of Despair, she searches for her missing lover. For her missing faith. And for her hope that the people who are lost may still be found...