Missing 411: North America and Beyond by David Paulides: A Book Review
Genre: Nonfiction
I don’t typically plan books to be read together – rather I try to let the reading selection be either more organic (as in I REALLY want to read this book now) or completely random (TBR jar: pull and pick) – lately though its been more of a “Crap I need to get this book read” kind of deal, but hey, that’s my own fault right? However, I did completely planned to read Paulides’s Missing 411: North America and Beyond after reading Vitelli’s True Crime Stories You Won’t Believe though, simply because of the similar nature of the books. I thought that they would go good together and I was right. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this book, I can’t really review it like other novels (and perhaps not even like Vitelli’s [see last week’s post]) – but I really felt that I should do something to get more awareness out on his research.
Paulides founded the CanAm Missing Project to research into the unsolved disappearances of different people in remote areas – seemingly without any evidence of what happened to them. It is like the people just vanished off the face of the earth. Sometimes they are found (dead or alive) in places that searchers have already searched multiple times OR in areas where it makes no sense that for them to arrive at. Other times – they are simply not found. Paulides brings to issue that there is no database for missing people at this level and encourages people to think about the strange occurrences and would otherwise be pushed under the carpet. All in all, it is a fascinating subject and one that I, personally, would encourage people to look into for themselves.
While I did not finish North America and Beyond, I do feel as if I have enough of a basis to complete this half review, half shout out.
The first thing I want to talk about is, Paulides’s writing. These stories are case files. The name (or pseudonym) is given along with the date and time missing, age, sex, and location that they went missing. Paulides writes about what the research says happened such as what the person was doing, who claimed they were missing, etc. Paulides than writes a summary to connect it to other files where the same aspects occurred. For example, most of the cases where people have been found dead – they have been found face down, no shoes, missing some kind of clothing, and said to have died from exposure – only a little ways from where searchers would have been.
He asks: 1. Why did no searchers see the missing even if they were almost right on them? 2. Why didn’t the missing call out seeing as time of death puts them still alive at the time of searching? 3. What is the condition of their feet/ what happened to their shoes? 4. Why are they face down?
The best thing about Paulides’s writing is how much his voice comes through. He has an incredible voice and I would also highly recommend checking out his YouTube channel, Canam Missing Project. If anyone was to read this, I would recommend pairing it with his videos just because of his voice. I will say it again: his voice is incredible.
The only part I was a little torn over was the editing of the story. There were multiple typos and grammar errors. It didn’t take away from the stories, but it did take some of the sanction away from the subject. While this was neither a good thing (it made it seem more on the level of regular laypeople) or a bad thing (are people going to take poorly editing reports seriously?), Paulides does write about a subject that needs public attention in order to change how these cases – as well as future cases – are documented, publicized, and understood to help future searchers find missing people quickly, safely, and, of course, alive.
Other books like the one reviewed:
True Crime Stories You Won’t Believe by Romeo Vitelli
| Writing: | 10 / 10 |
| Editor: | 8 / 10 |
| Total | 18 / 20 |
Title: Missing 411: North America and Beyond: Stories of people who have disappeared in remote locations of North America and five other countries
Author: David Paulides
Edition: paperback
Published: 2012
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781480237629
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble (Amazon will try to price gouge you; check out his website to order books through there: https://www.canammissing.com/page/page/8396197.htm
Rosey Reviews 