BLAH, BLAH, RAPTURE...

In Steele’s novel, an enigmatic young woman’s disappearance ignites a fervor in a small Pennsylvania city.

Mae Gypsum is a bright and attractive 22-year-old college student, seemingly devoted to her family and her church, who’s respected by her peers, even if she isn’t particularly close to any of them. Then she vanishes in the fall of 2012, just before the date that some theorists believe that the world will come to an apocalyptic end, according to the Mayan calendar. As the city of Seldon, Pennsylvania, mobilizes to search for her, the investigation is complicated by divorcée Mia Sanders’ testimony. She says that, although Mae was seen on camera on Oct. 2 at “ten thirty-eight, almost twenty-five minutes northeast” of town, buying gum at a convenience store, Sanders observed Mae eight minutes earlier, “gracefully hover-glid[ing] across the entire width of the street” in West Seldon before seemingly dissolving into thin air. Further muddling matters, journalist Jeffrey McKinney reprints Mae’s diaries in which she reveals her musings on reincarnation. Soon, there are rumors that Mae could perform miracles, casting her in the role of a modern-day prophet. However, as her legend captivates the people of Seldon, they seem to forget that the young woman at the center of this commotion remains missing. Steele weaves his mystery through a collage of media, including journal entries, overheard snippets of townsfolk’s conversations, police reports, text messages, snippets from conspiracy-theory blogs, and recollections from community members, ranging from a local deli owner to the charming grandmother of Mae’s childhood friend. It’s an undeniably creative storytelling method. However, the unusual structure keeps Mae from becoming fully accessible to the reader, which lessens the emotional impact of her loss. Steele’s reliance on word-of-mouth worldbuilding also ensures that the eventual reveal of the central character’s fate feels shocking but ultimately unsatisfying.

An intriguing collage-like structure detracts from this novel’s core mystery.