
Songs for the Missing
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Emily Janice Card
-
By:
-
Stewart O'Nan
About this listen
As desperate search parties give way to pleading television appearances, and private investigations yield to personal revelations, we see one town's intimate struggle to maintain hope and, finally, to live with the unknown.
Stewart O'Nan's new work begins with the suspense and pacing of a thriller and soon deepens into an affecting family drama of loss. On the heels of his critically acclaimed and nationally best-selling Last Night at the Lobster, Songs for the Missing is an honest, heartfelt account of one family's attempt to find their child. With a soulful empathy for these ordinary heroes, O'Nan draws us into the world of this small American town and allows us to feel a part of this family.
©2008 Stewart O'Nan (P)2008 Penguin AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Henry, Himself
- A Novel
- By: Stewart O'Nan
- Narrated by: Richmond Hoxie
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A member of the greatest generation looks back on the loves and losses of his past and comes to treasure the present anew in this poignant and thoughtful new novel from a modern master.
-
-
Nothing Happens If You're Okay With That 3.5*
- By Sharlotte on 03-06-20
By: Stewart O'Nan
-
How to Sell a Haunted House
- By: Grady Hendrix
- Narrated by: Jay Aaseng, Mikhaila Aaseng
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success.
-
-
Nope, nope, nope.
- By Karen Johnson on 01-24-23
By: Grady Hendrix
-
Chasing the Boogeyman
- By: Richard Chizmar
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI, are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman - and he’s playing games with them.
-
-
waited for something.. anything to happen
- By lucerobear on 08-18-21
By: Richard Chizmar
-
The Last Word
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Adams
- Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules. One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night.
-
-
Did it really start with a one star review????
- By RRLynn on 05-01-23
By: Taylor Adams
-
The Push
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Ashley Audrain
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.
-
-
Disturbing, Jaw Dropping, Unforgettable
- By Wendi on 01-16-21
By: Ashley Audrain
-
A Head Full of Ghosts
- By: Paul Tremblay
- Narrated by: Joy Osmanski
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when 14-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession.
-
-
Page turner
- By E.C. on 07-31-15
By: Paul Tremblay
-
Henry, Himself
- A Novel
- By: Stewart O'Nan
- Narrated by: Richmond Hoxie
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A member of the greatest generation looks back on the loves and losses of his past and comes to treasure the present anew in this poignant and thoughtful new novel from a modern master.
-
-
Nothing Happens If You're Okay With That 3.5*
- By Sharlotte on 03-06-20
By: Stewart O'Nan
-
How to Sell a Haunted House
- By: Grady Hendrix
- Narrated by: Jay Aaseng, Mikhaila Aaseng
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success.
-
-
Nope, nope, nope.
- By Karen Johnson on 01-24-23
By: Grady Hendrix
-
Chasing the Boogeyman
- By: Richard Chizmar
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI, are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman - and he’s playing games with them.
-
-
waited for something.. anything to happen
- By lucerobear on 08-18-21
By: Richard Chizmar
-
The Last Word
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Adams
- Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules. One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night.
-
-
Did it really start with a one star review????
- By RRLynn on 05-01-23
By: Taylor Adams
-
The Push
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Ashley Audrain
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.
-
-
Disturbing, Jaw Dropping, Unforgettable
- By Wendi on 01-16-21
By: Ashley Audrain
-
A Head Full of Ghosts
- By: Paul Tremblay
- Narrated by: Joy Osmanski
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when 14-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession.
-
-
Page turner
- By E.C. on 07-31-15
By: Paul Tremblay
-
City on Fire
- A Novel
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two criminal empires together control all of New England. Until a beautiful woman comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire. Danny Ryan yearns for a more “legit” life and a place in the sun. But as the bloody conflict stacks body on body and brother turns against brother, Danny has to rise above himself.
-
-
Gripping, vivid and extremely entertaining
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 04-26-22
By: Don Winslow
-
Mr. Mercedes
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.
-
-
King and Patton create a winning combo
- By David Shear on 06-04-14
By: Stephen King
-
Disappearance at Devil's Rock
- A Novel
- By: Paul Tremblay
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Late one summer night, Elizabeth Sanderson receives the devastating news that every mother fears: Her 13-year-old son, Tommy, has vanished without a trace in the woods of a local park. The search isn't yielding any answers, and Elizabeth and her young daughter, Kate, struggle to comprehend Tommy's disappearance. They feel helpless and alone, and their sorrow is compounded by anger and frustration: The local and state police have uncovered no leads.
-
-
Creepy, eerie, and dark.
- By Alicia on 10-16-16
By: Paul Tremblay
-
The Other Americans
- A Novel
- By: Laila Lalami
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, P.J. Ochlan, Adenrele Ojo, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Moor’s Account, here is a timely and powerful novel about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant—at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story, informed by the treacherous fault lines of American culture.
-
-
Don't bother - there are so many better stories
- By Robin Davis on 10-22-19
By: Laila Lalami
-
All the Bright Places
- Movie Tie-In Edition
- By: Jennifer Niven
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, Ariadne Meyers
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might die. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom.
-
-
Best YA Quirky Love Story of 2015
- By FanB14 on 06-09-15
By: Jennifer Niven
-
Before He Finds Her
- By: Michael Kardos
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone in the quiet Jersey Shore town of Silver Bay knows the story: on a Sunday evening in September 1991, Ramsey Miller threw a blowout block party, then murdered his beautiful wife and three-year-old daughter. But everyone is wrong. The daughter got away. Now she is nearly eighteen and tired of living in secrecy. Under the name Melanie Denison, she has spent the last fifteen years in small-town West Virginia as part of the Witness Protection Program. She has never been allowed to travel, go to a school dance, or even have internet at home. Precautions must be taken at every turn, because Ramsey Miller was never caught and might still be looking for his daughter.
-
-
Riveting Mystery Glues-2-U for Hours
- By W Perry Hall on 02-09-15
By: Michael Kardos
-
Hidden Pictures
- A Novel
- By: Jason Rekulak
- Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
-
-
a decent read, sounds like a bunch of haters in the room
- By Kyle B. on 12-24-23
By: Jason Rekulak
-
Half a Heart
- By: Karen McQuestion
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At nine years of age, Logan Weber knows the routine. Keep quiet, make the food last, and don’t ever cause trouble. He’ll do what it takes to evade the rages of his troubled, violent father. Even though he’s only a child, Logan already knows too much - has seen too much. So when the opportunity presents itself, Logan runs. He has no idea where his journey will lead, or that the grandmother he’s been told is dead is desperately searching for him. Alone with no home of his own, Logan looks for a safe place to hide.
-
-
A Grandmother's Quest
- By Elaine M. Panzeter on 05-28-18
By: Karen McQuestion
-
Fractured
- By: Catherine McKenzie
- Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden, Scott Merriman, Amy McFadden, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julie Prentice and her family move across the country to the idyllic Mount Adams district of Cincinnati, hoping to evade the stalker who's been terrorizing them ever since the publication of her bestselling novel, The Murder Game. Since Julie doesn't know anyone in her new town, when she meets her neighbor John Dunbar, their instant connection brings measured hope for a new beginning. But she never imagines that a simple, benign conversation with him could set her life spinning so far off course.
-
-
A look into the mind of a psychopath
- By Wayne on 10-24-16
-
The Last Boy and Girl in the World
- By: Siobhan Vivian
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if your town was sliding underwater, and everyone was ordered to pack up and leave? How would you and your friends spend your last days together? While the adults plan for the future, box up their possessions, and find new places to live, Keeley Hewitt and her friends decide to go out with a bang.
-
-
Narrator ruin this book for me
- By Sylvia on 12-17-20
By: Siobhan Vivian
-
The Fragile World
- A Novel
- By: Paula Treick DeBoard
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kaufmans have always considered themselves a normal, happy family. Curtis is a physics teacher at a local high school. His wife, Kathleen, restores furniture for upscale boutiques. Daniel is away at college on a prestigious music scholarship, and 12-year-old Olivia is a happy-go-lucky kid whose biggest concern is passing her next math test. And then comes the middle-of-the-night phone call that changes everything.
-
-
Inaccurate
- By CCB on 03-10-15
-
I'll Be There
- By: Holly Goldberg Sloan
- Narrated by: Laura Jennings
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily Bell believes in destiny. To her, being forced to sing a solo in the church choir - despite her average voice - is fate: because it's while she's singing that she first sees Sam. At first sight they are connected. Sam Border wishes he could escape, but there's nowhere for him to run. He and his little brother, Riddle, have spent their entire lives constantly uprooted by their unstable father. As Sam and Riddle are welcomed into the Bells' lives, they witness the warmth and protection of a family for the first time.
-
-
Needs to be a film!
- By TreasureHunter on 06-25-16
What listeners say about Songs for the Missing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Holly Helscher
- 05-04-09
A Family Forever Changed
Kim Larsen goes missing the summer before she goes away to college. What happens next is the search which does not evolve into a mystery, but rather marks time as the family adjusts and forever changes. It becomes clear that Kim may never be found and she most certainly has been murdered. The point of the novel isn't for it be a mystery. It's a psychological study on the transition of a family where one of its members goes missing. "Songs" are generated by Kim's mother, father, sister, and friends, although not always in tune. O'Nan portrays each of these characters, mostly in solitude, as they struggle with the hole left in their lives by Kim. We meet Kim at the beginning and get a solid sense of her presence and energy before she yanked out of the picture. Lindsey, Kim's sister becomes the second tragedy because her parents treat her so much differently than they would have. Both parents remark on this and yet can't help themselves from putting a protective bubble around their remaining daughter. Lindsey struggles for air but only really gets any when she's left home and achieves an age that "Kim never was" as she states at the end. Her parents lose her as well. Nina and JP, Kim's closest friends ultimately find refuge when they leave home. Coming back for the endless round of services for Kim cause them much pain, suffering, and guilt which is heaped upon them by Fran, Kim's mother. Fran is the ringmaster in all this. She can't quite let it go and actually experiences much personal growth at the cost of Kim's dignity in absentia. And yet as the book continues, the listener can't help but wonder if we'd do the same. The listener is drawn into to the drama both sickened by it but simultaneously buoyed by hope. The ending leaves you sad and almost grief stricken at all the loses generated by Kim's murder, which are legion. Be warned that this is not a mystery. But it is a good book and read quite well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lady L
- 08-05-15
Portrait of A Family
O'Nan paints a portrait of a family searching for their missing daughter. With his gift to reveal that magic in the mundane, this is a book I enjoy over and over.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lisa Daniels
- 09-28-21
True to Life
I am the mother of a missing child. She was 26 when she disappeared eight years ago. One reviewer said this book was boring. I found it to be very close to what my life has been like for the last eight years. I found myself closely identifying with the parents’ feelings. Life goes on but there is always a piece of my heart missing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Carla
- 10-26-10
Boring Boring Boring
The book itself may have been a good read but the naration on this one did not make you feel the story. I did not feel that you got to know the characters. The depth of the emotion a mother, father or sibling would feel when a child is missing did not feel authentic to me. Some books are better read and I think this may be one. I have read other O'Nan books and would try another but plan to stear clear of this narrator.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Terri L
- 03-03-09
Long...Drawn Out and Boring!
Very long ..very drawn out with zero supsense..and the bottom line very boring. Waste of time and money. Would not recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful