It's hard to believe that Evan Hunter's literary career is on the verge of reaching the half-century mark. THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE was published in 1954 and was a groundbreaking novel; it's as relevant today as it was then. Since then he's written books like LAST SUMMER and COME WINTER, books with quietly disturbing characters who are not entirely sympathetic, books that hold paper mirrors up to their readers and make them flinch a bit. Under the name Ed McBain he's basically defined the genre of the police procedural thriller with his 87th Precinct novels, and a couple of years ago he collaborated with, well, he collaborated with himself on a novel titled CANDYLAND. Interestingly enough, as he demonstrates with THE MOMENT SHE WAS GONE, he still has tales to tell, and tell well.

One of characteristics of Hunter's books is that he more often than not breaks one of the rules of Western literature by presenting protagonists who are never really likable. He continues that tradition in THE MOMENT SHE WAS GONE with Andrew Gulliver. Gulliver is an undistinguished English teacher, a cog in the New York City school system, whose life is an interlude between crisis episodes involving his twin sister, Annie. Annie, as is immediately obvious to everyone but her family, is quite, quite ill. As THE MOMENT SHE WAS GONE unfolds, the reader is made privy to Annie's history and, along the way, the sidereal history of her family as well. And what is demonstrated here is that it isn't just Annie who has problems. Each and all of them --- brothers Andrew and Aaron, mother Helene --- are, in their own way, in need of medical attention. Their difficulties simply are not as dramatic as are Annie's. As is said so well in THE MOMENT SHE WAS GONE, madness does not run in the family; it gallops through.

Annie's illness manifests itself through her sudden absences, sometimes for periods of several months. Her reappearance usually occurs in exotic locales; her last disappearance ended with her hospitalization in a mental hospital in Italy, where she was placed after relating an apparently untrue tale of rape and abduction. THE MOMENT SHE WAS GONE begins with Annie's latest disappearance, with family being summoned together yet once again to try to find her. Her history is related in flashback form by Andrew, who in reviewing Annie's history, demonstrates that the family, in their denial of her condition, has enabled her to do without treatment for too long, and that her latest crisis may well be her last. As Andrew thinks about what has gone before, he struggles with the question of where Annie may have gone, confronting at the same time uncomfortable truths about himself. Hunter, meanwhile, very subtly demonstrates how this state of affairs came to be. Annie's situation is not all that different from others of her age and station. Lack of responsibility for actions, still relying on elderly parents for support...what does that say? And about whom? Hunter really provides no answers --- the questions are rhetorical in any event --- and perhaps, none are needed.

THE MOMENT SHE WAS GONE is darkly comedic in some places, sadly dramatic in others. Hunter, as always, surprises with the unexpected ending that leaves the reader wondering and, perhaps, worrying. What is most noteworthy about this work is that it demonstrates that Hunter's edge, and talent, remain as sharp and incisive as they were almost 50 years ago.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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