Now You See It: A Novel

David and Jessica have almost everything they could want: he is an accomplished journalist, she teaches at an elite private school, and they travel in a circle of alluring friends. Theirs is an enviable life -- until one night when David returns from a business trip. Jessica's wallet and keys are in their usual place, but she is gone. As months pass without her, David's certainty "that she is going to walk in that door tonight" slowly diminishes. At the heart of this unnerving story is David's search for his wife -- which takes him far from his Manhattan neighborhood and deep inside himself. At once heartbreaking and wry, Now You See It is a remarkable debut novel about the impossibility of fully knowing someone -- and what happens to the past when we have a second chance at the future. Now You See It presages a thrilling career for a fresh and gifted author.

About the Author :
Allison Lynn is the recipient of two literary awards for Now You See It: The William Faulkner Medal for Best Novel-in-Progress, awarded by the William Faulkner Society, and The Chapter One Award, awarded by The Bronx Writers' Center. Lynn graduated from Dartmouth College in 1991 and received her MFA in fiction from NYU. She has worked at Harper's Bazaar and People where she was a writer and reporter. She is a freelance writer for In Style, The New York Times Book Review, and Redbook. Last year she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Lehigh University.

Review :
Julia Glass National Book Award-Winning Author of Three Junes A tale about the mystery of appearances and disappearances, Allison Lynn's unusual debut is taut, realistic, and haunting. Brad Meltzer New York Times bestselling author of The Zero Game Mesmerizing, haunting, and deeply hypnotic -- not just for what it makes you think about the characters but for what it forces you to see in yourself. Caitlin Macy author of The Fundamentals of Play Allison Lynn holds a mirror to a marriage and draws a haunting portrait of disaffection. Deborah Schupack author of The Boy on the Bus Edgy, sophisticated, and complex, Now You See It stares down the question 'What if?' with compelling results. Kirkus Reviews Haunting debut about a husband's attempt to unravel the mystery of his wife's disappearance. Well-educated and sophisticated, David and Jessica both come from upper-middle class backgrounds and, after a period of youthful rebellion in their adolescent and college years, have drifted back into a privileged Manhattan milieu of clubs and charity benefits. David is an investigative reporter at a glossy travel magazine; Jessica teaches at an exclusive private school uptown. Although their marriage has had its share of grief (especially in their long and futile attempt to have a child), it seems solid and capable of weathering the storms of age. But one day David is shocked to come home from a business trip and find Jessica gone without a trace. A spur-of-the-moment trip? Hardly -- Jessica had classes that Monday morning and has never missed a day of school. Another man? Just as unlikely -- her keys and wallet are still in the apartment. The NYPD detective glumly tells David that missing persons who aren't found within 72 hours are usually never found at all, but David becomes more convinced with each passing day that Jessica is alive. Why? Even Jessica's mother gives up hope after a few months and holds a memorial service for her (which David refuses to attend). Perhaps David's faith has some link to the case of Derek Jhensen: An American businessman who disappeared in Peru in 1992, Jhensen is still rumored to be alive, and David made his own name as a reporter by tracking Jhensen through the wilds of South America. Now David is getting new sightings of Jhensen once more. Is this a sign that Jessica may be out there somewhere also? Or is David just unraveling altogether? Lynn's gripping and feverish tale builds momentum page by page -- right up to a surprise climax that confounds all expectations but seems obvious once it arrives.