Missing by Shelley MacKenney

Missing by Shelley MacKenney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 304

Publisher - Penguin

Source - bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Missing is Shelley MacKenney's remarkable story of life as a 'missing person'. An inspirational tale of her journey through extreme personal crisis. "You can run, but you can't hide from yourself." Abandoned by her mother as a young child and with a father constantly on the run, Shelley's life was never normal. Her family's involvement with South London's criminal underworld left her isolated, vulnerable and lonely. Falling deeper and deeper into depression and despair - she snapped. Shelley got on the first coach out of London with only the clothes she stood up in and £30 in her pocket. She didn't care where she was going, as long as she could disappear completely from her oppressive life. For years, she lived anonymously in refuges, hostels and on the streets. It would take something remarkable to bring her back to the real world.



My Review

Shelley is very sheltered in a family who are constantly involved with the wrong side of the law. Shelley tends to be the exception to the family, she gets an education, she has a respectable job, she is escorted and shielded constantly by someone in the family, usually her nana. She wants to take care of them and before long finds herself getting into debt and pressuring herself to the point where she makes some decisions that have lasting impacts. With it all too much Shelley takes off and runs away. This is her story about the before, during and after, leaving behind the safety of her family and into a new life of never knowing where the next bed/meal is coming from and a constant stream of people looking to take advantage.

It is a gritty raw real telling of life on the streets, going from one help facility to another, trying to make ends meet and facing down all kinds of danger. The amount of people who look to take advantage of people down on their luck, struggling with money and or homeless is actually quite frightening. Even females coming from a place of "safety" males would hang around and threaten and or try their luck.

The thing in this one I would say is how let down Shelley was in regards to her mental health and so many opportunities for support to be provided and yet missed. As a result she ostracised herself from everything she knew, did some risky behaviours and actions and would fall into relationships/friendships that weren't healthy.

A stark look at what drives someone to going missing and a rare look at coming out the other side, a honest personal journey that examines cause and effect and trying to pick up the pieces, reconnect with family after a sudden enforced silence and X years gone by. She talked about her nana a lot, a lady who was tough as nails, in and out of trouble with the law and took no snash from anyone. She actually wrote a book too which is referenced a couple of times in this so of course I had to buy it, hopefully get to it soon, 3.5/5.

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Psychosis by Roger Bray - Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for the the book Psychosis by Roger Bray, welcome to So Many Books, So Little Time and thank you for taking the time to join us for some questions.



Hi Roger and thanks for taking time out to chat to us.


For those not familiar with yourself or your work, tell us a bit about you and the books you write?

Books tend to be, in some way, autobiographical. If not in actual events then in experiences. I served in the Royal Navy for ten years before coming to Australia and I spent seventeen years as a police officer before being seriously injured arresting a domestic violence offender. My experiences of people, and how they react to different situations, is mirrored in my writing. My books are about ordinary people who find themselves in difficult or extraordinary situations and deal with them the best way they can.


What was the inspiration for Psychosis?

A little difficult to answer without spoilers, but two things I find abhorrent are mindless violence and injustice. I don't care for the myriad excuses often used to forgive such transgressions. I believe in a just society where people can live without fear of either of those things being visited on them. The inspiration for Psychosis was two news reports exploring such events and the writer’s inevitable moment of ‘what if?’.


Do you think you will ever revisit any of the characters in the book?

No, my books are stand alone novels about ordinary characters who are faced with extraordinary circumstances. I think that having suffered the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune I have slung at them they deserves to go back to their ordinary lives.


Who are your writing inspirations?

Robert Harris, Bernard Cornwall, Tom Sharpe, Le Carré, John Birmingham and many others. I have an eclectic taste in books and movies so my inspiration comes from many sources.


If you could have written one book already published what book would you have chosen and why?

I always find this question a little pretentious. Who am I to pretend that I could write or rewrite a classic novel. Even so, in keeping with the question, I would have to say 1984. Not write it so much a rewrite, bring it up to date. I think there are things happening today that Orwell would scarcely believe. CCTV cameras everywhere, people not worried about being on camera but scared that they won’t be. I think Orwell would little believe the amount of personal freedoms we have willingly given away and the whole concept of 1984 would need to be reset. Orwell wrote a warning, we are using it as an instruction manual.


How did you get into writing?

I have always enjoyed writing for my own enjoyment but what pushed me into developing a novel was an idea. Or rather I was standing outside having a cup of coffee on an overcast day when a beam of sunlight came down into the garden. Clearly defined, exactly like a spotlight. I really didn’t think too much about it at the time but over the next days and weeks I started thinking of how to use that moment to develop a story. I had the first chapter and a lot of the rest of the novel mapped out in my mind before I actually started writing anything down


Do you have any rituals, must haves or do’s when starting, during and finishing writing a book?

No really, my only must do’s is to write. I give myself a date as a goal to get at least a first draft ready, or to finish ‘up to chapter x’ and sometimes I even stick to it


What is next for Roger?

I am working on a new novel at the moment, also set in Oregon, which I hope to finish in mid 2018. Once finished it the process of getting it ready for publication begins. Which, I have found, is harder than the writing.


Where can fans find you?

I have a website - https://rogerbraybooks.com/ through which I can be contacted and I am also on Facebook and Twitter. Please get in touch. Anything you would like to add that I have forgotten to ask?


Nothings springs to mind except to say thanks for the opportunity to chat.






I read this book in prep for the blog tour, this was my first time reading this author, I will be seeking out his other books, you can check out my non spoiler review for Psychosis here.