The Artist of the Missing

In an unnamed city that resembles New York, a young artist from the country falls in love with a police photographer. When she goes missing, part of an epidemic of disappearances, he becomes the artist of the missing, reconstructing portraits of lost loved ones according to emotive descriptions from their friends and family.

Themes of this quiet novel include the nature of memory, storytelling, and human connection. It’s got a lot of potential and a well constructed atmosphere, but I felt something lacking in the second half, like I wasn’t quite sure what it all added up to. Inspirations clearly include Borges, Paul Auster, Kafka, and ETA Hoffmann. Good but not achieving what I think it could have.

Strange city adventures
An interesting novel which charts the adventures of a young sketch-artist in a strange city where people are mysteriously going missing at an alarming rate.
There's a love of storytelling to be found here, or should I say yarnspinning, for all is not quite as it seems.
The city (a familiar yet transfigured place) appears to be overshadowed by a kind of mythical nonchalance, and a criticism might be that there's a prevailing ambiguity to the narrative which some might find fey or quirky.
Overall, though, it's a nicely written book, and within its pages the reader will find an enchanting atmosphere of quiet intrigue.

The author does use some good descriptive imagery, but it's not my style.
I didn't finish this--gave up at p.43. It was too much like those Russian novels where the protagonist thinks a lot but not much happens...or even if it does, it comes across as pretty passive.