Who was Harper Cunningham? Who was this girl whose rescue was so desperately important to Laurie and Jojo Ahmadi, a relentless mother-daughter duo?

Oh, hi! Today I would like to talk—without spoiling anything—about the 2019 suspense novel Stolen Things by R. H. Herron, but first, confession time: I bought this book mainly because I thought the cover was pretty… no, no, don’t judge me too hard, I promise to you I am not shallow! You see, I was at Barnes & Noble, browsing aimlessly when I saw a pair of white shoes surrounded by a sea of bright pink, so, naturally, I zeroed in on it, walked toward it, grabbed it, and said to myself, I am getting this, whatever this is. Luckily, the synopsis written on the dust jacket (excerpt below) had this amazing pull on me and I was one-hundred percent sold on it, plus, the fact that it was stated by the author, a former 911 fire/medical dispatcher, that the book was “loosely inspired by actual events” made me want to start reading it right there and then!

“Laurie Ahmadi has worked as a 911 police dispatcher in her quiet Northern California town for almost two decades, but nothing in her nearly twenty years of experience could prepare her for the worst call of her career—her teenage daughter, Jojo, is on the other end of the line. She is drugged, disoriented, and in pain, and even though the whole police department springs into action, there is nothing Laurie can do to help.
Jojo, who has been sexually assaulted, doesn’t remember how she ended up at the home of Kevin Leeds, a pro football player famous for his work with the Citizens Against Police Brutality movement, though she insists he would never hurt her. And she has no idea where her best friend, Harper, who was with her earlier in the evening, could be.”

Oh man, the book was such a page-turner thanks to the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, I mean, without exception, chapter after chapter, cliffhanger after cliffhanger, the story kept getting bigger and more complex, but without being confusing. Also, the fact that each chapter was super short allowed me to maintain a high level of interest in the developments, all of which had a nice flow together.

The story felt plausible, even if at times I found myself saying ‘As if’ or ‘Yeah right’ when it came down to Laurie’s behavior, I even cringed a handful of times because of her which I thought was fascinating. (I wonder if that was the author’s intention, to make the reader feel uncomfortable with the most mundane of human behaviors.)

The events happened in a period of four consecutive days which naturally added a sense of urgency. From Friday, when Jojo got attacked, to Monday, when, well, you would have to read the book to find out – no spoilers here, not today! The story was told from Laurie’s perspective, as well as Jojo’s, and the narrative had such a satisfying back and forth, from person to person, from experience to experience, from mother to daughter, from real world adult consequences to forgiving teenage misfortunes. There were instances when you, as the reader, had already found a piece of the puzzle thanks to one of the main characters, while the other was still in the dark and you saw her struggle and wanted to shout at them! (This was so refreshing, the author really knew what she was doing with us, making us agonize over things and stuff.)

I found it exhilarating how the tragic events played out, one after another, non-stop. It went from bad to worse to worst, and fast! From a terrifying 911 call, to a kidnapping, to a rescue, to a rape, to a murder, to an NFL player’s arrest, to a missing person, to a heart attack, to sex trafficking, to suicide, to blackmail, to corruption, to break-ins, to coming outs, to first loves, to injustices, to betrayals, to lies, to fights, to surprises, to more tragedies... this book had one suspenseful thing after another and I loved every page of it.

But wait, what about Harper Cunningham? Well, I’ve saved the best for last.

Yes, Laurie and Jojo joined forces to try to find Harper who was reported missing on the same day Jojo was raped. No, the Police Department did not try hard enough to find her and it seemed they were “better off” if she remained lost. Yes, Laurie and Jojo played dirty at times in order to get ahead. Yes, they broke into places and things and little by little realized Harper had two lives, one of which was riddled with sadness and grave consequences. No, they were not ready to face the harsh truths about this very adult sixteen-year-old woman. No, even though we were ~this~ close to the real Harper, we did not find out why she was that way – why was she that way?? Who was Harper Cunningham?

Dear R. H. Herron, I would like to politely request you give us Part 2 of Stolen Things, but now from Harper’s perspective. Please, let us know why she turned out that way. I can almost taste the robust backstory of her childhood, of her adolescence, all predictably traumatizing yet amazing in the most human way… please, tell us who Harper really was, tell us who broke her, I beg you, please, tell us!

Respectfully,

-Marath

P.S. The eerie image of Harper smiling and blowing a kiss with both hands to Jojo is going to haunt me tonight, thank you. I mean it.