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Missing Sam
From bestselling author Thrity Umrigar, a thrilling and haunting story of an Indian-American woman who becomes the prime suspect when her wife goes missing.
When Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night, Samantha goes for a run early the next morning—and doesn’t come back.
Aliya reports her wife Samantha as missing, but as a gay and Muslim daughter of immigrants, she’s immediately suspected by her neighbors in Samantha's disappearance. Scared and furious and feeling isolated as everyone around her doubts her innocence, Aliya makes one wrong choice after another. All the while, Samantha is being held captive, strategizing how to escape before things escalate even more. Meanwhile, Aliya must fight to prove her innocence in the public eye and save her wife. But is safety ever truly possible for these women even after Samantha is rescued?
A provocative examination of suburban mores, Missing Sam captures the terror manifested in today’s political climate, and the real dangers, both physical and psychological, of being Brown and queer in America.
When Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night, Samantha goes for a run early the next morning—and doesn’t come back.
Aliya reports her wife Samantha as missing, but as a gay and Muslim daughter of immigrants, she’s immediately suspected by her neighbors in Samantha's disappearance. Scared and furious and feeling isolated as everyone around her doubts her innocence, Aliya makes one wrong choice after another. All the while, Samantha is being held captive, strategizing how to escape before things escalate even more. Meanwhile, Aliya must fight to prove her innocence in the public eye and save her wife. But is safety ever truly possible for these women even after Samantha is rescued?
A provocative examination of suburban mores, Missing Sam captures the terror manifested in today’s political climate, and the real dangers, both physical and psychological, of being Brown and queer in America.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 27, 2026
88 people are currently reading
15338 people want to read
About the author
Thrity Umrigar
20 books2,945 followersA journalist for seventeen years, Thrity Umrigar has written for the Washington Post, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and other national newspapers, and contributes regularly to the Boston Globe's book pages. Thrity is the winner of the Cleveland Arts Prize, a Lambda Literary award and the Seth Rosenberg prize. She teaches creative writing and literature at Case Western Reserve University. The author of The Space Between Us, Bombay Time, and the memoir First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood, she was a winner of the Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University. She has a Ph.D. in English and lives in Cleveland, Ohio. (from the publisher's website)"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
January 30, 2026
From the very first pages, I felt that tightening in my chest that only truly powerful stories can create. What starts as a tense moment between two people who love each other slowly turns into a nightmare that no one could ever be prepared for. The way this novel unfolds feels unsettlingly real, as if you are watching a life come apart in real time.
Aliya’s experience is especially heartbreaking. You walk beside her as fear, loneliness, and suspicion close in from all sides. She is not just trying to find her wife. She is trying to survive the way the world suddenly looks at her differently, measuring her grief, questioning her love, and deciding what kind of person she must be. Being a queer Muslim woman makes her grief feel even more policed, as homophobia and racism creep into every interaction, whether openly hostile or quietly dismissive. The emotional weight of that isolation makes every page hit harder.
What kept me glued to the story was how deeply it understands the vulnerability of loving someone in a world that does not always recognize or respect that love. The relationship at the center is flawed, tender, complicated, and painfully human. You feel the history between these two women, the little wounds and the big ones, and how easily everything they built can be shaken when fear, prejudice, and doubt take over. Their LGBTQ identity is not just a label here, it shapes how they are treated, how they see themselves, and how much they have to fight just to be believed.
The tension builds in a quiet, relentless way. Instead of relying on constant shocks, the story lets dread seep into every corner. The uncertainty of what has happened to Sam hangs over everything, while the public’s rush to judge Aliya exposes how deeply bias runs beneath polite suburbia. The mystery is gripping, but the emotional journey is just as powerful, watching two women struggle with love, trauma, and survival under the weight of a society ready to misunderstand them.
By the end, I felt both wrung out and deeply moved. This is a story about more than a disappearance. It is about belonging, identity, and how fragile safety can be when love exists at the intersection of race, religion, and queerness. It stays with you long after you turn the last page, not because of a single shocking moment, but because of how honestly it portrays what it means to be afraid for someone you love in a world that may already be against you.
A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for sharing this intense, sentimentally resonating thriller’s arc copy in exchange for my honest thoughts
Aliya’s experience is especially heartbreaking. You walk beside her as fear, loneliness, and suspicion close in from all sides. She is not just trying to find her wife. She is trying to survive the way the world suddenly looks at her differently, measuring her grief, questioning her love, and deciding what kind of person she must be. Being a queer Muslim woman makes her grief feel even more policed, as homophobia and racism creep into every interaction, whether openly hostile or quietly dismissive. The emotional weight of that isolation makes every page hit harder.
What kept me glued to the story was how deeply it understands the vulnerability of loving someone in a world that does not always recognize or respect that love. The relationship at the center is flawed, tender, complicated, and painfully human. You feel the history between these two women, the little wounds and the big ones, and how easily everything they built can be shaken when fear, prejudice, and doubt take over. Their LGBTQ identity is not just a label here, it shapes how they are treated, how they see themselves, and how much they have to fight just to be believed.
The tension builds in a quiet, relentless way. Instead of relying on constant shocks, the story lets dread seep into every corner. The uncertainty of what has happened to Sam hangs over everything, while the public’s rush to judge Aliya exposes how deeply bias runs beneath polite suburbia. The mystery is gripping, but the emotional journey is just as powerful, watching two women struggle with love, trauma, and survival under the weight of a society ready to misunderstand them.
By the end, I felt both wrung out and deeply moved. This is a story about more than a disappearance. It is about belonging, identity, and how fragile safety can be when love exists at the intersection of race, religion, and queerness. It stays with you long after you turn the last page, not because of a single shocking moment, but because of how honestly it portrays what it means to be afraid for someone you love in a world that may already be against you.
A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for sharing this intense, sentimentally resonating thriller’s arc copy in exchange for my honest thoughts
February 2, 2026
5 stars ⭐️
Sam and Ali are spouses. Successful, professional and kind. Sam goes for a run one morning and disappears. As the investigation ensures, we witness first hand the difficulties they have faced as a gay, married couple. Ali is also East Indian, and people treat her cruelly based on her upbringing and religion.
They are a normal couple. They fight, they have issues.
Yet, their main issue are that they have families that don’t approve of their union. They have given up so much to be together.
“Look at we have achieved already, - out of the patchwork of our measly past, we have created this rich quilt.”
I feel everything this author writes is pure gold. I have only read a few of her other books but they are first class as well.
….. And what is amazing is how this isn’t a profound, “try too hard”, novel. This is a simple story, with strong undercurrents of what matters to us as humans. She writes beautifully and draws you in to the fullness of her characters.
“Dysfunction is as addicting as love.”
Sam and Ali are spouses. Successful, professional and kind. Sam goes for a run one morning and disappears. As the investigation ensures, we witness first hand the difficulties they have faced as a gay, married couple. Ali is also East Indian, and people treat her cruelly based on her upbringing and religion.
They are a normal couple. They fight, they have issues.
Yet, their main issue are that they have families that don’t approve of their union. They have given up so much to be together.
“Look at we have achieved already, - out of the patchwork of our measly past, we have created this rich quilt.”
I feel everything this author writes is pure gold. I have only read a few of her other books but they are first class as well.
….. And what is amazing is how this isn’t a profound, “try too hard”, novel. This is a simple story, with strong undercurrents of what matters to us as humans. She writes beautifully and draws you in to the fullness of her characters.
“Dysfunction is as addicting as love.”
September 8, 2025
At first glance, Sam and Aliya are the perfect picture of a modern American couple; the two women live in a suburban home in Ohio and have been married for several years. Ali, an Indian-American entrepreneur, runs her own successful interior design business while Sam is a college professor. Their lives are abruptly changed however, when Sam disappears the morning after a heated fight between the two, and Ali must reckon with her disappearance. In the days that follow, Ali's forced to confront her growing worry and shame, and is unprepared for the public backlash that follows. In the weeks that follow, her neighbors and clients begin to suspect her involvement in her wife's disappearance, a fact exacerbated by the fact she's a gay Muslim woman.
The novel alternates between Sam's and Ali's perspectives, giving insight into Sam's imprisonment at the hands of an unknown captor, until two months later when Sam is found. The trauma and abuse she's suffered in that time comes to light, and makes Sam and Aliya question their future together - but in that time, both women find support and solace in their estranged families.
I'm thoroughly impressed with how much Thrity Umrigar packed into this novel, as she focuses on the many struggles of the immigrant experience in the US, compounded with the ostracization of being gay and Muslim. it wasn't until the latter half of the novel where she highlights Sam's and Ali's backgrounds and their own struggles - Ali, still struggling to accept her father's remarriage to an Indian stepmother and the weighty traditions and expectations that frown upon her marriage; Sam, trying to move past a childhood with an abusive father who has been diagnosed with dementia, and the obligation her mother still feels to him - that I felt more invested in the novel. I appreciated as well the shift of the novel to India at onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ways that (recent) global event changed so many lives.
This is a compelling and emotional novel, and one that I'm excited to see published in January 2026!
The novel alternates between Sam's and Ali's perspectives, giving insight into Sam's imprisonment at the hands of an unknown captor, until two months later when Sam is found. The trauma and abuse she's suffered in that time comes to light, and makes Sam and Aliya question their future together - but in that time, both women find support and solace in their estranged families.
I'm thoroughly impressed with how much Thrity Umrigar packed into this novel, as she focuses on the many struggles of the immigrant experience in the US, compounded with the ostracization of being gay and Muslim. it wasn't until the latter half of the novel where she highlights Sam's and Ali's backgrounds and their own struggles - Ali, still struggling to accept her father's remarriage to an Indian stepmother and the weighty traditions and expectations that frown upon her marriage; Sam, trying to move past a childhood with an abusive father who has been diagnosed with dementia, and the obligation her mother still feels to him - that I felt more invested in the novel. I appreciated as well the shift of the novel to India at onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ways that (recent) global event changed so many lives.
This is a compelling and emotional novel, and one that I'm excited to see published in January 2026!
September 21, 2025
This story questions the limits of marital bliss and asks what we owe to one another: spouses, community members, family members, even those who have wronged us. I thought Umrigar did a great job of inhabiting both main characters' perspectives. We begin the novel with Aliya, who has woken up alone after an argument to find her wife Sam is missing. This first act of the novel is full of creeping dread as Aliya realizes the authority figures - and even some friends - see her as an object of suspicion rather than a concerned wife. I thought this part of the story was the most strong and original. An interesting shift was done, to Sam's perspective in her captivity. Some of the crime writing can lean a little more cliche, but this second act was action-packed and satisfied some of the emotional tension, even if some of the story beats felt more familiar. I thought the third act, where Aliya attends a family wedding in India and the women have to grow back into each other now that Sam has experienced horrible trauma, held the most intrigue and emotional depth. The tenderness of Aliya trying to understand Sam's pain, but the frustration too at not being able to reach her... Just devastating. It made me think so much about how we show up for one another, especially as survivors or as queer people. As we careen towards the end, the book dates start moving into March 2020 and Covid abruptly brings the women back together again, this time across continents. Overall, a (sometimes melo)dramatic crime thriller about an interracial lesbian couple with themes of found family and reunification. 4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin for the review copy!
January 29, 2026
This is the author’s first mystery novel. It takes getting used to since I’ve learned to love Thrity’s brand of writing about social injustices and poverty. Missing Sam is still packed with what’s-wrong-with-the-world kind of stuff. I love Ali’s father’s character. I wish every daughter has a dad like him. I’m bummed this book isn’t getting much publicity. Even Audible didn’t feature it in their New Releases chart. Not even when they’re supposed to notify you when you follow an author on their app and they should be auto-alerting me that one of my fave authors’ new book is out. Not that I need a reminder. Thrity Umrigar is an auto-purchase for me.
September 24, 2025
Thrity Umriger’s stories always give me an experience I will not have in this life, and I love that about her writing. This story begins with a couple Sam and her wife Ali the plot begins in the first pages with a bang of emotions that all couples experience. Jealousy, anger, loneliness sets the stage for a scary ride for Sam, and Aliya.
Sam goes missing and Ali being a gay, Muslim immigrant, her reticence about getting involved with the police seems real and relevant. I like how the story was set in a town that is accepting of mixed marriages, I grew up not far from Cleveland Hts and I could picture everyplace that Thrity put in the story. As a reader I was held in suspense about where Sam was and what was happening to her. Aliya’s father, Abba is a character that I won’t forget, resistive to his daughter’s choice of partner, but still loving and taking care of her. The addition of Covid added to the suspense, we all remember that dark time. I wish I had had Thrity as a college professor. My daughter attended CWRU Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing 2008-12, and received a wonderful education.
The resolving of the plot was very satisfying with Samantha’s voice and Ali’s voice alternating about each other, their love and respect for each other was well written. Loved this book!
Sam goes missing and Ali being a gay, Muslim immigrant, her reticence about getting involved with the police seems real and relevant. I like how the story was set in a town that is accepting of mixed marriages, I grew up not far from Cleveland Hts and I could picture everyplace that Thrity put in the story. As a reader I was held in suspense about where Sam was and what was happening to her. Aliya’s father, Abba is a character that I won’t forget, resistive to his daughter’s choice of partner, but still loving and taking care of her. The addition of Covid added to the suspense, we all remember that dark time. I wish I had had Thrity as a college professor. My daughter attended CWRU Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing 2008-12, and received a wonderful education.
The resolving of the plot was very satisfying with Samantha’s voice and Ali’s voice alternating about each other, their love and respect for each other was well written. Loved this book!
December 16, 2025
I was expecting the typical mystery/suspense/thriller I read all the time but what I found was a book that used a mystery as a springboard for something far more complex.
The story focuses on a wife's search for her missing spouse after she goes missing. However, it quickly evolves into an unflinching look at the challenges faced by the couple. The real tension comes not just from the ticking clock of the disappearance, but from compounding pressures of contemporary American life.
The author skillfully weaves important themes like homophobia, racism, and sexism into the narrative. It’s a commentary on the divisions and lack of acceptance that can complicate trauma and survival for marginalized families.
Overall I recommend for readers looking for a suspenseful novel with a powerful, timely message.
4.8 stars
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
The story focuses on a wife's search for her missing spouse after she goes missing. However, it quickly evolves into an unflinching look at the challenges faced by the couple. The real tension comes not just from the ticking clock of the disappearance, but from compounding pressures of contemporary American life.
The author skillfully weaves important themes like homophobia, racism, and sexism into the narrative. It’s a commentary on the divisions and lack of acceptance that can complicate trauma and survival for marginalized families.
Overall I recommend for readers looking for a suspenseful novel with a powerful, timely message.
4.8 stars
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
November 20, 2025
3.5 rounded up
I have been a fan of Thrity Umigar’s books for a long time and couldn’t wait to read her latest!
This one is part thriller, part novel with multiple POV. I typically love changing POV but this book did it in a way that made it feel a bit disjointed. The chapters don’t alternate and instead there was one from Sam’s POV and then the next 25% or so of the book is from Ali’s before it switches to a different perspective for just a few chapters. I felt like it could have been a stronger book if there was more of a flow or it had just stuck to one POV.
I found the story very compelling and definitely wanted to keep reading. I did find the pacing a little uneven but it kept my interest throughout. I think the author tried to tackle a few too many topics and it might have been a stronger novel if it had been edited a bit more.
Overall, I would recommend this one. I don’t think it is her best though and would recommend some of her older books over this one. I think her writing was stronger in previous books.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.
I have been a fan of Thrity Umigar’s books for a long time and couldn’t wait to read her latest!
This one is part thriller, part novel with multiple POV. I typically love changing POV but this book did it in a way that made it feel a bit disjointed. The chapters don’t alternate and instead there was one from Sam’s POV and then the next 25% or so of the book is from Ali’s before it switches to a different perspective for just a few chapters. I felt like it could have been a stronger book if there was more of a flow or it had just stuck to one POV.
I found the story very compelling and definitely wanted to keep reading. I did find the pacing a little uneven but it kept my interest throughout. I think the author tried to tackle a few too many topics and it might have been a stronger novel if it had been edited a bit more.
Overall, I would recommend this one. I don’t think it is her best though and would recommend some of her older books over this one. I think her writing was stronger in previous books.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.
January 26, 2026
Missing Sam by Thrity Umrigar. Thanks to @algonquinbooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Married couple Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night and Samantha disappears on a run the next morning. A Muslim daughter of immigrants, Samantha becomes targeted on social media and her innocence is doubted.
This was a very special story that shows the power of love, especially when we accept each other for exactly who they are. The book was a lot different than I expected. It’s quieter than I thought, for a book about a missing person, but there are certainly some moments of action and excitement. It’s more about Sam and Ali’s marriage; not only their relationship with each other but how society and the political climate affects them.
“We plant seeds in humble dirt, not in the clouds. And so, we plant ourselves, our messy, flawed selves on this mortal earth, not in the rarified air of heaven. If we’re lucky, something wild and beautiful grows out of that soil.”
Read if you like:
-Missing person or kidnapping stories
-Queer or lesbian fiction
-Multicultural marriage conflict
-Political ramifications in stories
Missing Sam comes out 1/27.
Married couple Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night and Samantha disappears on a run the next morning. A Muslim daughter of immigrants, Samantha becomes targeted on social media and her innocence is doubted.
This was a very special story that shows the power of love, especially when we accept each other for exactly who they are. The book was a lot different than I expected. It’s quieter than I thought, for a book about a missing person, but there are certainly some moments of action and excitement. It’s more about Sam and Ali’s marriage; not only their relationship with each other but how society and the political climate affects them.
“We plant seeds in humble dirt, not in the clouds. And so, we plant ourselves, our messy, flawed selves on this mortal earth, not in the rarified air of heaven. If we’re lucky, something wild and beautiful grows out of that soil.”
Read if you like:
-Missing person or kidnapping stories
-Queer or lesbian fiction
-Multicultural marriage conflict
-Political ramifications in stories
Missing Sam comes out 1/27.
January 17, 2026
Thanks to Algonquin Books for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions below are my own.
Wow. Just wow. I guess I should not be surprised as I’ve loved Umrigar’s last few stories but I was uncertain with this one. Gay couple domestic mystery isn’t necessarily my sweet spot, but I trusted the author. At first, I was definitely not sure where it was going. Sam goes missing and the pressure put on her wife was crazy. But it really made me examine my own biases because if it was a heterosexual couple, I’d feel like it was natural to blame the spouse, so why should this be different? But Ali was easy to like and it was easy to empathize with her as the world closed in. It was amazing to see the level of racism and homophobia which I’m sure is accurate. But about midway, I thought, I have a feel for this why is there still so much book left? I won’t give too many details on the second half because I don’t want to spoil it, but I was really amazed by it. Very satisfying. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.
Wow. Just wow. I guess I should not be surprised as I’ve loved Umrigar’s last few stories but I was uncertain with this one. Gay couple domestic mystery isn’t necessarily my sweet spot, but I trusted the author. At first, I was definitely not sure where it was going. Sam goes missing and the pressure put on her wife was crazy. But it really made me examine my own biases because if it was a heterosexual couple, I’d feel like it was natural to blame the spouse, so why should this be different? But Ali was easy to like and it was easy to empathize with her as the world closed in. It was amazing to see the level of racism and homophobia which I’m sure is accurate. But about midway, I thought, I have a feel for this why is there still so much book left? I won’t give too many details on the second half because I don’t want to spoil it, but I was really amazed by it. Very satisfying. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.
January 28, 2026
Rating 3.5
Part of this one was very strong. And if the author hadn't gone into full lecture mode at the end, I would have given this the full 4 stars. Sometimes too much is just too much. And for me, it made this one end on a very sour note.
Part of this one was very strong. And if the author hadn't gone into full lecture mode at the end, I would have given this the full 4 stars. Sometimes too much is just too much. And for me, it made this one end on a very sour note.
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January 26, 2026Missing Sam starts as a domestic suspense book but becomes a lot more: a story about what it's like to be a queer woman of color, about what it then feels like to become a suspect in a crime, about familial estrangement and reconciliation, about trauma and recovery. It's beautifully done and very moving. Highly recommended!
Content warning for sexual assault.
Thanks so much to Algonquin for providing an advance copy for review!
Content warning for sexual assault.
Thanks so much to Algonquin for providing an advance copy for review!
October 31, 2025
Ali and Sam were two unlikely women who got married after grad school. Sam, short for Samantha, was an aspiring novelist who taught college writing classes, while her wife, Ali, short for Aliya, was a high-end interior decorator, born in Ohio, daughter of Muslim immigrants with family in India. While they loved each other unreservedly, they still got into spats, which often reflected their respective upbringings. Sam was the only daughter of a physically abusive father, who made his wife's life a living hell, and hers also, until she fought back as a teenager. Ali came from a culture where behavior was monitored by the family and community, and she rebelled by doing and behaving as she wanted including flirtatious behavior with their friends, which made Sam furious.
After one such particularly nasty fight, they slept in separate bedrooms. In the morning, Sam was very contrite about last night's behavior and failed to wake Ali for their morning run to let her sleep a little later. Preoccupied with their fight, she became distracted and tripped on a broken piece of sidewalk, hitting her head and falling to the pavement. She didn't return home.
Ali, trying to give Sam space, went out to a July 4th concert with her houseguests, and didn't call the police until the next day. She was frantic with worry, especially when she started believing that Sam was so angry that she left her. One of Sam's students took it upon herself to make a social media posting about Sam's disappearance, all but blaming Ali, and it went viral. Soon newspapers were also covering the story blowing it all out of proportion and speculating on what happened. Things were getting out of control and still, Sam had not returned.
The next part of the book delves into what happened to Sam during the six weeks that she was gone, and its aftermath.
I am not going to ruin the book for you and any more information would do just that. Suffice to say, Thrity Umrigar wrote it and that should be enough of a recommendation. It is a beautifully told love story, but it is also extremely suspenseful, and it gives the reader a window into how women deal with circumstances they can't control and how it is possible to exert control in other ways. Read it.
After one such particularly nasty fight, they slept in separate bedrooms. In the morning, Sam was very contrite about last night's behavior and failed to wake Ali for their morning run to let her sleep a little later. Preoccupied with their fight, she became distracted and tripped on a broken piece of sidewalk, hitting her head and falling to the pavement. She didn't return home.
Ali, trying to give Sam space, went out to a July 4th concert with her houseguests, and didn't call the police until the next day. She was frantic with worry, especially when she started believing that Sam was so angry that she left her. One of Sam's students took it upon herself to make a social media posting about Sam's disappearance, all but blaming Ali, and it went viral. Soon newspapers were also covering the story blowing it all out of proportion and speculating on what happened. Things were getting out of control and still, Sam had not returned.
The next part of the book delves into what happened to Sam during the six weeks that she was gone, and its aftermath.
I am not going to ruin the book for you and any more information would do just that. Suffice to say, Thrity Umrigar wrote it and that should be enough of a recommendation. It is a beautifully told love story, but it is also extremely suspenseful, and it gives the reader a window into how women deal with circumstances they can't control and how it is possible to exert control in other ways. Read it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A thriller but also a book that is looks at marriage, race, the political climate and family. The writing is polished which allows for reader to become absorbed in the characters, their history and emotions. This book packs a punch.
December 18, 2025
This was my first book by this author. I really felt gripped by her writing and really enjoyed this book! It was about a lot of things - trauma, forgiveness, diversity, and acceptance.
Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the ARC to read!
Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the ARC to read!
February 2, 2026
All married couples have arguments. But what happens when your spouse disappears shortly after that spat? That's the beginning of acclaimed author Thrity Umrigar's latest novel, MISSING SAM. Aliya and Sam (short for Samantha) have been married for years and live a comfortable life in their Cleveland suburb. But after a party brings past irritations to the surface, they argue. Sam goes for a run the next morning and doesn't come back.
Ali makes mistake after mistake. She thinks that she has to wait 48 hours to report Sam missing to the police, and she deletes the nasty texts they sent each other after the party because she doesn't want the authorities to think she did anything wrong. As the days turn into weeks, the truths about friends and neighbors, and even clients, come to light. The real racism and discrimination that many feel against gay people and people of color rear its ugly face.
Both women are estranged from their families. Sam's father was abusive to her mother and to her. She's held a lot of anger because her mother always seemed to choose him over her, and she has no desire to have a relationship with him. Ali's mother died when she was young, and her father remarried someone who was very different from her mother. It's been difficult for her to feel any connection with her stepmother, Yasmin, especially when the very religious Muslim woman is unable to accept that Ali is married to another woman.
Sam is a college professor, and Ali is an interior designer. The repercussions from Sam's disappearance are both immediate and long-lasting. One of Sam's students posts a nasty comment when Ali is out with friends who insisted she accompany them to an event instead of sitting home grieving and worrying. The post goes viral. This hateful message casts doubt on Ali's innocence and her supposed lack of grief over the missing Sam. Ali's clients wish her the best as they cancel their projects. And the worst part is not knowing what happened to Sam. There are no witnesses, cameras, clues or any other information that could shed light on her whereabouts.
Umrigar creates characters who are relatable and whose lives showcase the difficulty many have with people from a different culture or religion, or who don't mirror what they consider "normal." In MISSING SAM, she takes it to an even more granular level, as we see Ali and her culture clash with her stepmother. Both are Muslim, although Ali is struggling with her father's increased interest in religion after he marries Yasmin. And when Ali visits India and sees firsthand the lengths to which gay people must go to keep their sexuality hidden, she is appalled.
It's almost overwhelming to try to think of all the themes and messages that emerge in this brilliant novel. At the beginning and throughout the book, both women ruefully contemplate the fight that precipitated Sam's running alone. It occurred because of each woman's insecurity and childhood trauma. That's a theme that most people can relate to --- how our personal quirks and traits can make us more susceptible to certain negative behaviors of those we love. We expect more from those to whom we are closest, and they are the only ones on whom we can take out our frustrations.
Ali finds out which neighbors are true friends and which are not. She bears the brunt of those who view her and her marriage through the warped lens of Islamophobia and homophobia, including her own stepmother, who refers to Sam as her "friend" and refuses to use the word "spouse."
Umrigar's writing is as lyrical and lovely as always in this powerful, impactful story. It's a novel that unveils the hidden biases and hatred that some people feel for those who are different in any way. But it's also about women taking back the narrative and regaining power over those who would seek to oppress. There's a lot to unpack, consider and discuss. So, in essence, MISSING SAM is a perfect book club book.
Reviewed by Pamela Kramer
Ali makes mistake after mistake. She thinks that she has to wait 48 hours to report Sam missing to the police, and she deletes the nasty texts they sent each other after the party because she doesn't want the authorities to think she did anything wrong. As the days turn into weeks, the truths about friends and neighbors, and even clients, come to light. The real racism and discrimination that many feel against gay people and people of color rear its ugly face.
Both women are estranged from their families. Sam's father was abusive to her mother and to her. She's held a lot of anger because her mother always seemed to choose him over her, and she has no desire to have a relationship with him. Ali's mother died when she was young, and her father remarried someone who was very different from her mother. It's been difficult for her to feel any connection with her stepmother, Yasmin, especially when the very religious Muslim woman is unable to accept that Ali is married to another woman.
Sam is a college professor, and Ali is an interior designer. The repercussions from Sam's disappearance are both immediate and long-lasting. One of Sam's students posts a nasty comment when Ali is out with friends who insisted she accompany them to an event instead of sitting home grieving and worrying. The post goes viral. This hateful message casts doubt on Ali's innocence and her supposed lack of grief over the missing Sam. Ali's clients wish her the best as they cancel their projects. And the worst part is not knowing what happened to Sam. There are no witnesses, cameras, clues or any other information that could shed light on her whereabouts.
Umrigar creates characters who are relatable and whose lives showcase the difficulty many have with people from a different culture or religion, or who don't mirror what they consider "normal." In MISSING SAM, she takes it to an even more granular level, as we see Ali and her culture clash with her stepmother. Both are Muslim, although Ali is struggling with her father's increased interest in religion after he marries Yasmin. And when Ali visits India and sees firsthand the lengths to which gay people must go to keep their sexuality hidden, she is appalled.
It's almost overwhelming to try to think of all the themes and messages that emerge in this brilliant novel. At the beginning and throughout the book, both women ruefully contemplate the fight that precipitated Sam's running alone. It occurred because of each woman's insecurity and childhood trauma. That's a theme that most people can relate to --- how our personal quirks and traits can make us more susceptible to certain negative behaviors of those we love. We expect more from those to whom we are closest, and they are the only ones on whom we can take out our frustrations.
Ali finds out which neighbors are true friends and which are not. She bears the brunt of those who view her and her marriage through the warped lens of Islamophobia and homophobia, including her own stepmother, who refers to Sam as her "friend" and refuses to use the word "spouse."
Umrigar's writing is as lyrical and lovely as always in this powerful, impactful story. It's a novel that unveils the hidden biases and hatred that some people feel for those who are different in any way. But it's also about women taking back the narrative and regaining power over those who would seek to oppress. There's a lot to unpack, consider and discuss. So, in essence, MISSING SAM is a perfect book club book.
Reviewed by Pamela Kramer
January 29, 2026
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: From bestselling author Thrity Umrigar, a thrilling and haunting story of an Indian-American woman who becomes the prime suspect when her wife goes missing.
When Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night, Samantha goes for a run early the next morning—and doesn’t come back.
Aliya reports her wife Samantha as missing, but as a gay and Muslim daughter of immigrants, she’s immediately suspected by her neighbors in Samantha's disappearance. Scared and furious and feeling isolated as everyone around her doubts her innocence, Aliya makes one wrong choice after another. All the while, Samantha is being held captive, strategizing how to escape before things escalate even more. Meanwhile, Aliya must fight to prove her innocence in the public eye and save her wife. But is safety ever truly possible for these women even after Samantha is rescued?
A provocative examination of suburban mores, Missing Sam captures the terror manifested in today’s political climate, and the real dangers, both physical and psychological, of being Brown and queer in America.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: I was leery of reading this expansion on the "be careful of your words, you do not which will be your last" aphorism. I took the DRC because I like stories by and about my lesbian siblings in Otherhood, and because I'm pretty damned sure we're going to see this kind of horror again in the future so I wanted to get it out there.
Sam and Ali are well-drawn, fully realized people. We see each one's PoV, so we know what Ali doesn't, that Sam is alive. It should diminish the stakes, yet Author Umrigar uses the technique well enough that it did not.
I was, for the most part, glad to keep reading the story though as parents and social media and investigators kept becoming more toxic by the page I wanted to say, "Thrity! enough already!" When piling on the trouble the story begins to feel like the artificial construct it is. Never mind that reality does this ad more to people...fiction is different, plays by different rules. When COVID hit, I hit the wall. It took some time for me to come back.
After Sam is rescued, the true horror (for me) began: How do you put yourself...your wife...you entire life...back together after the sheer awfulness of what each of you has been through? What alchemy do you need to work in order to remake bonds that have been, without either one's volition, shattered? This horror was very well, very believably, explored. The ending was the culmination of multiple strands of un/making and remodeling.
What kept me from making a bigger fuss about the book was the dropped and abandoned threads, eg Kabir's development. I loved the challenged queer marriage that had to sustain or fail the spouses...it's the way reality is when you're in a committed relationship. The resolution Author Umrigar presents is pitch-perfect. I think the story of an immigrant, a Muslim, a queer woman, interacting with the power structures that see her as enemy Other, is one we should all reckon with.
It's not like the world is waiting for us to wake up to injustice on our own. It is ringing alarm bells and sounding klaxons and stories like this one are the easy way to see why waking up to it is so important.
The Publisher Says: From bestselling author Thrity Umrigar, a thrilling and haunting story of an Indian-American woman who becomes the prime suspect when her wife goes missing.
When Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night, Samantha goes for a run early the next morning—and doesn’t come back.
Aliya reports her wife Samantha as missing, but as a gay and Muslim daughter of immigrants, she’s immediately suspected by her neighbors in Samantha's disappearance. Scared and furious and feeling isolated as everyone around her doubts her innocence, Aliya makes one wrong choice after another. All the while, Samantha is being held captive, strategizing how to escape before things escalate even more. Meanwhile, Aliya must fight to prove her innocence in the public eye and save her wife. But is safety ever truly possible for these women even after Samantha is rescued?
A provocative examination of suburban mores, Missing Sam captures the terror manifested in today’s political climate, and the real dangers, both physical and psychological, of being Brown and queer in America.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: I was leery of reading this expansion on the "be careful of your words, you do not which will be your last" aphorism. I took the DRC because I like stories by and about my lesbian siblings in Otherhood, and because I'm pretty damned sure we're going to see this kind of horror again in the future so I wanted to get it out there.
Sam and Ali are well-drawn, fully realized people. We see each one's PoV, so we know what Ali doesn't, that Sam is alive. It should diminish the stakes, yet Author Umrigar uses the technique well enough that it did not.
I was, for the most part, glad to keep reading the story though as parents and social media and investigators kept becoming more toxic by the page I wanted to say, "Thrity! enough already!" When piling on the trouble the story begins to feel like the artificial construct it is. Never mind that reality does this ad more to people...fiction is different, plays by different rules. When COVID hit, I hit the wall. It took some time for me to come back.
After Sam is rescued, the true horror (for me) began: How do you put yourself...your wife...you entire life...back together after the sheer awfulness of what each of you has been through? What alchemy do you need to work in order to remake bonds that have been, without either one's volition, shattered? This horror was very well, very believably, explored. The ending was the culmination of multiple strands of un/making and remodeling.
What kept me from making a bigger fuss about the book was the dropped and abandoned threads, eg Kabir's development. I loved the challenged queer marriage that had to sustain or fail the spouses...it's the way reality is when you're in a committed relationship. The resolution Author Umrigar presents is pitch-perfect. I think the story of an immigrant, a Muslim, a queer woman, interacting with the power structures that see her as enemy Other, is one we should all reckon with.
It's not like the world is waiting for us to wake up to injustice on our own. It is ringing alarm bells and sounding klaxons and stories like this one are the easy way to see why waking up to it is so important.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This novel, set between July 2019 and March 2020, focuses on Aliya (Ali) Mirza and Samantha (Sam) O’Malley, a gay couple living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
After an argument with her wife the previous night, Sam goes for a morning run and disappears. Ali reports Sam missing but as a gay and Muslim daughter of Indian immigrants, she can’t escape the suspicion of both acquaintances and strangers. As she contends with guilt and fear, Ali is isolated and vilified online.
The novel alternates between the points of view of Ali and Sam. Besides describing their current circumstances, they reveal their difficult pasts. Ali’s mother died and her father (Abba) remarried a woman who disapproves of homosexuality, so Ali and her father have been estranged. Sam’s abusive father disowned her for the same reason, and her relationship with her mother has been affected by her mother always deferring to her husband.
Pacing is uneven. The first part, focusing on the search for Sam and her fate, is fast-paced and suspenseful. The second half is much slower because it centres on whether/how it’s possible to return to “normal” life after such a trauma.
The emotional lives of both Ali and Sam are clearly described. Both are fearful, though for different reasons. Both feel guilty about their contributions to their often tempestuous relationship. Both feel alone, Sam because no one knows of her whereabouts and Ali because she has little support in face of public scrutiny and mistrust. I sometimes felt very frustrated with Ali: some of her choices seem foolish and only add to her troubles, though I admit to never having been in her situation so perhaps I’d behave similarly. I did appreciate that both undergo some personal growth; their traumatic experiences bring lessons, especially about understanding other people and their behaviours.
This is not a light read. Besides describing trauma and its effects on people, the book highlights racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The author clearly suggests that the political climate created during Trump’s first term contributed to these problems in society. The book, however, is a worthwhile read.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/).
After an argument with her wife the previous night, Sam goes for a morning run and disappears. Ali reports Sam missing but as a gay and Muslim daughter of Indian immigrants, she can’t escape the suspicion of both acquaintances and strangers. As she contends with guilt and fear, Ali is isolated and vilified online.
The novel alternates between the points of view of Ali and Sam. Besides describing their current circumstances, they reveal their difficult pasts. Ali’s mother died and her father (Abba) remarried a woman who disapproves of homosexuality, so Ali and her father have been estranged. Sam’s abusive father disowned her for the same reason, and her relationship with her mother has been affected by her mother always deferring to her husband.
Pacing is uneven. The first part, focusing on the search for Sam and her fate, is fast-paced and suspenseful. The second half is much slower because it centres on whether/how it’s possible to return to “normal” life after such a trauma.
The emotional lives of both Ali and Sam are clearly described. Both are fearful, though for different reasons. Both feel guilty about their contributions to their often tempestuous relationship. Both feel alone, Sam because no one knows of her whereabouts and Ali because she has little support in face of public scrutiny and mistrust. I sometimes felt very frustrated with Ali: some of her choices seem foolish and only add to her troubles, though I admit to never having been in her situation so perhaps I’d behave similarly. I did appreciate that both undergo some personal growth; their traumatic experiences bring lessons, especially about understanding other people and their behaviours.
This is not a light read. Besides describing trauma and its effects on people, the book highlights racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The author clearly suggests that the political climate created during Trump’s first term contributed to these problems in society. The book, however, is a worthwhile read.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/).
Review of advance copy
Really a 4.5 but deserves the roundup.
Set in Cleveland Heights in the months leading up to the COVID shutdown, this novel is part mystery and a whole lot commentary on contemporary America.
A couple of days before July 4, Sam goes for an early morning run alone; her wife remains sleeping in bed. When Sam fails to return, Ali is naturally very worried. Believing that the police won't do anything for the first 48 hours after a person goes missing, Ali delays making the call. This is the first of several decisions for which she will be judged.
As the police investigate and the community and Sam's colleagues get involved, facts and speculation about Sam and Ali's relationship become public knowledge. Ali is frantic with worry, but no matter what she does, she seems to be a target. After all, she's gay, she's a first-generation Indian American, she has brown skin, and she was raised as a Muslim. Public opinion can't seem to forgive her for who she is.
*****skip to below the next set of asterisks if you want to avoid all spoilers*********
We learn of what happened to Sam from the perspective of her abductor. When he realizes she cannot be who he wants her to be, he drops her off, drugged, in a park, where she's soon found by passers-by. From there, the novel alternates between Sam's and Ali's viewpoints as the two, who clearly love each other, try to find a way to reconnect, correct and forgive their past mistakes, and find a way forward.
************** spoilery section done ****************
Throughout the novel, Umrigar moves beyond Sam's disappearance to explore larger topics, such as reawakened hatred in America, divided families, religion, reconciliation, victimization, appropriation, and surviving trauma. When Ali travels to India with her parents to attend a wedding, we also see the contrast between who her parents are as immigrants to American and who they are in their birth country surrounded by family.
Umrigar has become one of my go-to authors and her latest novel is a winner.
The audiobook was performed by Reena Dutt. She infused her delivery with the perfect emotional oomph, respectful accents, and subtle characterizations. I was completely immersed in the story.
Thanks to Hachette Audio for the review copy.
Set in Cleveland Heights in the months leading up to the COVID shutdown, this novel is part mystery and a whole lot commentary on contemporary America.
A couple of days before July 4, Sam goes for an early morning run alone; her wife remains sleeping in bed. When Sam fails to return, Ali is naturally very worried. Believing that the police won't do anything for the first 48 hours after a person goes missing, Ali delays making the call. This is the first of several decisions for which she will be judged.
As the police investigate and the community and Sam's colleagues get involved, facts and speculation about Sam and Ali's relationship become public knowledge. Ali is frantic with worry, but no matter what she does, she seems to be a target. After all, she's gay, she's a first-generation Indian American, she has brown skin, and she was raised as a Muslim. Public opinion can't seem to forgive her for who she is.
*****skip to below the next set of asterisks if you want to avoid all spoilers*********
We learn of what happened to Sam from the perspective of her abductor. When he realizes she cannot be who he wants her to be, he drops her off, drugged, in a park, where she's soon found by passers-by. From there, the novel alternates between Sam's and Ali's viewpoints as the two, who clearly love each other, try to find a way to reconnect, correct and forgive their past mistakes, and find a way forward.
************** spoilery section done ****************
Throughout the novel, Umrigar moves beyond Sam's disappearance to explore larger topics, such as reawakened hatred in America, divided families, religion, reconciliation, victimization, appropriation, and surviving trauma. When Ali travels to India with her parents to attend a wedding, we also see the contrast between who her parents are as immigrants to American and who they are in their birth country surrounded by family.
Umrigar has become one of my go-to authors and her latest novel is a winner.
The audiobook was performed by Reena Dutt. She infused her delivery with the perfect emotional oomph, respectful accents, and subtle characterizations. I was completely immersed in the story.
Thanks to Hachette Audio for the review copy.
January 29, 2026
Missing Sam, by Thrity Umrigar, is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. Part thriller, part politically commentary, this book sweeps you up from the very first page, and will have you fully invested in the story the entire time.
Indian-American Aliya and Sam have an ugly fight one night, and in an effort to blow off steam, Sam goes running early the next morning, but she doesn’t end up coming back. Aliya waits a bit to report her wife missing, figuring Sam is just upset over their spat, but when she still doesn’t resurface, Aliya calls the police. Immediately though, her neighbors, and even the police it seem, begin to turn against Aliya, questioning her innocence and making remarks about her background and heritage. Meanwhile, Sam is being held by her captor, blindfolded, tortured and raped, unsure if she will make it out alive.
This book explores so many important subjects including the dangers of being brown and gay in America, acceptance and forgiveness, psychological illness, and even touches on the emotional effect the beginning of the pandemic had.
Divided into different sections, before the abduction, during the abduction, and after, the story unfolds through short chapters told through three POVs, Aliya’s, Sam’s, and her abductor’s. While I enjoyed both women’s chapters, the abductor’s chapters were super uncomfortable, but in the end it really helps add to the story and therefore do seem necessary.
I love a book that teaches me about other cultures, and I definitely learned a lot about Indian and Muslim culture while reading this. Umrigar’s depictions of food are so good, I was literally getting hungry. I must now try all of these new to me Indian dishes.
I think this book is perfect for fans of thrillers that are more deep and meaningful and less fast paced, and outlandish. This book does keep you flipping the pages, but it’s the kind of book you savor and read slowly, and really soak in the atmosphere, and tense mood.
I love Umrigar’s writing style, her descriptions are vivid and so realistic, I will be eagerly awaiting to see what she writes next.
Thank you to the author, Thrity Umrigar, and the publisher, Algonquin Books, for the arc in exchange for my honest review.
Indian-American Aliya and Sam have an ugly fight one night, and in an effort to blow off steam, Sam goes running early the next morning, but she doesn’t end up coming back. Aliya waits a bit to report her wife missing, figuring Sam is just upset over their spat, but when she still doesn’t resurface, Aliya calls the police. Immediately though, her neighbors, and even the police it seem, begin to turn against Aliya, questioning her innocence and making remarks about her background and heritage. Meanwhile, Sam is being held by her captor, blindfolded, tortured and raped, unsure if she will make it out alive.
This book explores so many important subjects including the dangers of being brown and gay in America, acceptance and forgiveness, psychological illness, and even touches on the emotional effect the beginning of the pandemic had.
Divided into different sections, before the abduction, during the abduction, and after, the story unfolds through short chapters told through three POVs, Aliya’s, Sam’s, and her abductor’s. While I enjoyed both women’s chapters, the abductor’s chapters were super uncomfortable, but in the end it really helps add to the story and therefore do seem necessary.
I love a book that teaches me about other cultures, and I definitely learned a lot about Indian and Muslim culture while reading this. Umrigar’s depictions of food are so good, I was literally getting hungry. I must now try all of these new to me Indian dishes.
I think this book is perfect for fans of thrillers that are more deep and meaningful and less fast paced, and outlandish. This book does keep you flipping the pages, but it’s the kind of book you savor and read slowly, and really soak in the atmosphere, and tense mood.
I love Umrigar’s writing style, her descriptions are vivid and so realistic, I will be eagerly awaiting to see what she writes next.
Thank you to the author, Thrity Umrigar, and the publisher, Algonquin Books, for the arc in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5 ⭐️
Thrity Umrigar is one of my favorite authors. Why? Even though I usually do not have much in common with her protagonists, I am always 100% invested in their plights, and I love her writing. I’ve read three of her novels before this one, and I rated all three 5 ⭐️. This one I am rating slightly lower (though still rounded to 5 ⭐️) because of one reason that I’ll explain.
In this novel, Ali and Sam are a married lesbian couple. After a fight coming home from a party, Sam goes for a run the next morning, and she disappears. The remaining wife (Indian American Ali) is under scrutiny by the police and community at large for her potential role in white Sam’s disappearance.
At first, this feels like a mystery with a whole lot of depth because the marginalized identities in suspects of crimes are explored. But then the book pivots to exploring Ali reconnecting with her estranged father and stepmother while she’s a suspect (family drama).
There is resolution to Sam’s disappearance about halfway through the novel, and then the novel explores the effects of this trauma on relationships and friendships. And then, finally, the novel pivots again to Ali traveling back to India with her father in February of 2020 for a month (I’ll leave out the C word, but you can fill it in).
The reason I’m rating this a little lower is because of the whiplash from the different stages of this novel. It reminds me a bit of a car wash. Ultimately I was expecting a slow burn mystery, but I got a whole lot more. I LOVED almost all aspects of this novel. Umrigar plays a bit with perspective in the middle of this novel that really intrigued me, and I hadn’t seen that done before. She tackled so many different aspects of relationships, and I was impressed how she handled reconnection after family estrangement. Her fabulous writing kept me invested in Sam and Ali individually and as a couple.
Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
It publishes January 27, 2026.
Thrity Umrigar is one of my favorite authors. Why? Even though I usually do not have much in common with her protagonists, I am always 100% invested in their plights, and I love her writing. I’ve read three of her novels before this one, and I rated all three 5 ⭐️. This one I am rating slightly lower (though still rounded to 5 ⭐️) because of one reason that I’ll explain.
In this novel, Ali and Sam are a married lesbian couple. After a fight coming home from a party, Sam goes for a run the next morning, and she disappears. The remaining wife (Indian American Ali) is under scrutiny by the police and community at large for her potential role in white Sam’s disappearance.
At first, this feels like a mystery with a whole lot of depth because the marginalized identities in suspects of crimes are explored. But then the book pivots to exploring Ali reconnecting with her estranged father and stepmother while she’s a suspect (family drama).
There is resolution to Sam’s disappearance about halfway through the novel, and then the novel explores the effects of this trauma on relationships and friendships. And then, finally, the novel pivots again to Ali traveling back to India with her father in February of 2020 for a month (I’ll leave out the C word, but you can fill it in).
The reason I’m rating this a little lower is because of the whiplash from the different stages of this novel. It reminds me a bit of a car wash. Ultimately I was expecting a slow burn mystery, but I got a whole lot more. I LOVED almost all aspects of this novel. Umrigar plays a bit with perspective in the middle of this novel that really intrigued me, and I hadn’t seen that done before. She tackled so many different aspects of relationships, and I was impressed how she handled reconnection after family estrangement. Her fabulous writing kept me invested in Sam and Ali individually and as a couple.
Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
It publishes January 27, 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I am certain I have read at least one book by Thrity Umrigar, but can’t remember a THING about it…which won’t be the case with her latest, Missing Sam, which I just read (thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review).
The story sounded like a good basis for a “thriller” — a young woman named Ali, living in Ohio with her wife Sam(antha) in an upper-middle class suburb of Cleveland, wakes after an evening spent partying and arguing to find that Sam has gone for their morning run alone. Expecting her return at any time, Sam finally reports Sam missing and is met with suspicion and scrutiny by first the police, then Sam’s college level students, and finally by newspeople and a ton of wackos on social media. They had always felt secure in their “bubble” and not the object of overt scorn, ridicule, whatever—but Ali is a Muslim woman of color who has grown up experiencing both covert and overt racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. At first fearful about Sam’s safety, she also experiences anger and frustration…
The first part of the book focuses on the disappearance and mystery around Sam and Ali. The second part (SPOILER ALERT!) revolves around Sam’s return, and is filled with the struggles around a lesbian couple living in suburbia. As the story goes along, the focus moves to today’s political climate, and the danger faced by same-sex couples encountering both psychological and physical danger, and for Ali there is the added issue of being brown and queer in America in the 2020s.
So as it went along it morphed from a thriller into a look at social, political, interpersonal, career, and educational issues exploding across the U.S. It can be enjoyed from a variety of perspectives, and I get the criticisms that it wasn’t what some readers expected. My response is “oh well, perhaps your expectations are the issue here, rather than the examination of the situation these women faced.” I enjoyed it, and appreciate the author’s skill.Four stars.
The story sounded like a good basis for a “thriller” — a young woman named Ali, living in Ohio with her wife Sam(antha) in an upper-middle class suburb of Cleveland, wakes after an evening spent partying and arguing to find that Sam has gone for their morning run alone. Expecting her return at any time, Sam finally reports Sam missing and is met with suspicion and scrutiny by first the police, then Sam’s college level students, and finally by newspeople and a ton of wackos on social media. They had always felt secure in their “bubble” and not the object of overt scorn, ridicule, whatever—but Ali is a Muslim woman of color who has grown up experiencing both covert and overt racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. At first fearful about Sam’s safety, she also experiences anger and frustration…
The first part of the book focuses on the disappearance and mystery around Sam and Ali. The second part (SPOILER ALERT!) revolves around Sam’s return, and is filled with the struggles around a lesbian couple living in suburbia. As the story goes along, the focus moves to today’s political climate, and the danger faced by same-sex couples encountering both psychological and physical danger, and for Ali there is the added issue of being brown and queer in America in the 2020s.
So as it went along it morphed from a thriller into a look at social, political, interpersonal, career, and educational issues exploding across the U.S. It can be enjoyed from a variety of perspectives, and I get the criticisms that it wasn’t what some readers expected. My response is “oh well, perhaps your expectations are the issue here, rather than the examination of the situation these women faced.” I enjoyed it, and appreciate the author’s skill.Four stars.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
After an explosive fight, Sam and Ali go to bed not on speaking terms. The next morning, instead of taking their usual jog together, Sam goes alone without her cell phone…and never returns. Ali questions many things: Is she hurt? Did she leave her for good? Did something terrible happen to her? Where is she?
Told in three parts, Umrigar packs this book FULL of issues - what starts out as a mystery/whodunnit quickly turns to social and political commentary. Umrigar uses Ali, a gay Muslim woman, to examine how children of immigrants are treated in America, how negative views and stereotypes of Muslims are prevalent in America, and how partners in gay relationships are still not universally recognized. Ali comes under so much scrutiny as the spouse searching for her white wife.
At first I was irritated with Umrigar throwing the kitchen sink at us. I felt like she was trying to do too much - discuss every single issue a couple in these particular circumstances would face. But then I slowly realized - this is exactly how real life is. Even though your wife goes missing, life around you still goes on. There are still jobs to be attended to, bills to pay, and trying to find a sense of “normalcy” when the days of searching turn into weeks and months. There were choices made by Ali that drove me crazy and I felt like she wasn’t doing herself any favors, but who’s to say how one would truly act under such a stressful, scary, and trying situation?
This is my second book by Umrigar and I will always appreciate how she is able to help me see a new perspective through her characters more deeply and empathetically. What started off as kind of a slow burn turned more propulsive as I turned the pages, faster and faster the further I went. Reminiscent of THE DEATH OF US, Umrigar showed me how hard it is to return to life once it’s forever changed by another person’s actions.
Told in three parts, Umrigar packs this book FULL of issues - what starts out as a mystery/whodunnit quickly turns to social and political commentary. Umrigar uses Ali, a gay Muslim woman, to examine how children of immigrants are treated in America, how negative views and stereotypes of Muslims are prevalent in America, and how partners in gay relationships are still not universally recognized. Ali comes under so much scrutiny as the spouse searching for her white wife.
At first I was irritated with Umrigar throwing the kitchen sink at us. I felt like she was trying to do too much - discuss every single issue a couple in these particular circumstances would face. But then I slowly realized - this is exactly how real life is. Even though your wife goes missing, life around you still goes on. There are still jobs to be attended to, bills to pay, and trying to find a sense of “normalcy” when the days of searching turn into weeks and months. There were choices made by Ali that drove me crazy and I felt like she wasn’t doing herself any favors, but who’s to say how one would truly act under such a stressful, scary, and trying situation?
This is my second book by Umrigar and I will always appreciate how she is able to help me see a new perspective through her characters more deeply and empathetically. What started off as kind of a slow burn turned more propulsive as I turned the pages, faster and faster the further I went. Reminiscent of THE DEATH OF US, Umrigar showed me how hard it is to return to life once it’s forever changed by another person’s actions.
October 25, 2025
4 stars
This book packs a PUNCH. It's a great read, and it's a genre bending suspenseful, dramatic, sweet, hopeful book that reveals some real complexities in personalities, relationships, and circumstances.
Ali and Sam have an imperfect marriage, and after a particularly painful fight, things take an absolutely wild turn. When Sam goes on her run the next morning, she just...doesn't come back. Ali is sure there is foul play involved, and unfortunately, the community agrees but thinks that Ali must be the responsible party. Your spouse goes missing and you are the number one suspect? Ugh.
When the book begins, it's giving suspenseful thriller. And while Umrigar accomplishes this element expertly, there's a lot more coming. How does one process a trauma like this? What happens to the relationships in your life - with friends, family, acquaintances, and even strangers - when you are at the center of a high profile nightmare? Who do YOU become in the shadow of a catastrophic event? These are all questions that Umrigar explores through these characters. I love the way this unfolds from the central marriage to connections between family members, extended family members, and more. Is anyone what they seem? Ugh.
This is my second book by Umrigar, and I will be thinking about this one for a long time. There is a lot of typical content that would end up on a TW or CW list: rape, sexual assault, all kinds of abuse, racism, homophobia, and more. Readers who can manage this content will find something special here.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for this arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This book packs a PUNCH. It's a great read, and it's a genre bending suspenseful, dramatic, sweet, hopeful book that reveals some real complexities in personalities, relationships, and circumstances.
Ali and Sam have an imperfect marriage, and after a particularly painful fight, things take an absolutely wild turn. When Sam goes on her run the next morning, she just...doesn't come back. Ali is sure there is foul play involved, and unfortunately, the community agrees but thinks that Ali must be the responsible party. Your spouse goes missing and you are the number one suspect? Ugh.
When the book begins, it's giving suspenseful thriller. And while Umrigar accomplishes this element expertly, there's a lot more coming. How does one process a trauma like this? What happens to the relationships in your life - with friends, family, acquaintances, and even strangers - when you are at the center of a high profile nightmare? Who do YOU become in the shadow of a catastrophic event? These are all questions that Umrigar explores through these characters. I love the way this unfolds from the central marriage to connections between family members, extended family members, and more. Is anyone what they seem? Ugh.
This is my second book by Umrigar, and I will be thinking about this one for a long time. There is a lot of typical content that would end up on a TW or CW list: rape, sexual assault, all kinds of abuse, racism, homophobia, and more. Readers who can manage this content will find something special here.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for this arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
January 20, 2026
Wow. From the very first page, this book had me. Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of its release date. I’ve spent some time trying to think about how to review this story without giving too much away because the less the less the reader knows, the more page-turning this book will be for them.
Here’s what I will share: After an argument the night before, Sam goes for a run. When she does not return later that morning, her Muslim-American wife Ali becomes concerned. After reporting Sam’s disappearance however, she quickly learns that being both gay and Muslim in America (citizen or not), casts a shadow of suspicion over her head. What happens over the course of this novel has Ali searching for answers about her religion, her family, her relationship with Sam, and her place in this country. Simultaneously, Sam grapples with her own trauma, her own family history, her perspective, and her relationship with Ali.
The characters in this story are deep and well thought out. I loved the inner dialogs of both Sam and Ali, and will forever have a special place in my bookish heart for Abba, Ali's father. The character arcs are real and heavy, sentimental, and strong. I was grateful for the different perspectives and character types.
This book is a thrilling, sad, gripping, and heart wrenching story about love, relationships, self, country, grief, forgiveness, and acceptance. It captures the challenges of race, gender, and sexuality of today’s America, and the Umrigar does a fabulous job of sharing this perspective through storytelling and awareness. I could not put this book down.
I can’t wait to add a hard copy of this book to my home library. A must-read. Five huge stars for this incredible novel.
Here’s what I will share: After an argument the night before, Sam goes for a run. When she does not return later that morning, her Muslim-American wife Ali becomes concerned. After reporting Sam’s disappearance however, she quickly learns that being both gay and Muslim in America (citizen or not), casts a shadow of suspicion over her head. What happens over the course of this novel has Ali searching for answers about her religion, her family, her relationship with Sam, and her place in this country. Simultaneously, Sam grapples with her own trauma, her own family history, her perspective, and her relationship with Ali.
The characters in this story are deep and well thought out. I loved the inner dialogs of both Sam and Ali, and will forever have a special place in my bookish heart for Abba, Ali's father. The character arcs are real and heavy, sentimental, and strong. I was grateful for the different perspectives and character types.
This book is a thrilling, sad, gripping, and heart wrenching story about love, relationships, self, country, grief, forgiveness, and acceptance. It captures the challenges of race, gender, and sexuality of today’s America, and the Umrigar does a fabulous job of sharing this perspective through storytelling and awareness. I could not put this book down.
I can’t wait to add a hard copy of this book to my home library. A must-read. Five huge stars for this incredible novel.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Tw: kidnapping of spouse, rape, racism, homophobia
Rating: 3.5 (4 stars rounded up)
Thank you to netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review
Missing Sam is a compelling novel that follows Aliya and Sam through a kidnapping that brings out pain, tragedy, trauma, and healing. After an argument, Aliya wakes up to find her wife, Samanta, missing. As a lesbian daughter of immigrants, Aliya is forced to face her terror over Sam’s disappearance, but also the racist backlash she receives from neighbors and local residents. As Aliya becomes the prime suspect, Samantha is forced to survive captivity while strategically interacting with her captor. Both women fight for freedom in their own ways all while driven by their hope to be reunited.
This story portrays the psychological terror and long lasting response to deep trauma experienced by both victims of kidnapping and their loved ones left behind. As I read Missing Sam, I was repeatedly left speechless on how each character pushes forward in their struggles. One aspect I liked was the real world connections. References to COVID-19 helped me connect with the fear of separation and the dread of not being able to reach/return to the people you love. These moments, along with Aliya’s family trip to India that highlights American privilege made the emotional weight more personal and everlasting.
While Sam’s disappearance being the main focus of the plot, I found it refreshing to also showcase the after effects of when a victim of kidnapping gets reunited with their loved ones. Thrity Umrigar does a fantastic job at showing how healing is no simple task and comes without immediate resolution. Instead the novel focuses on healing as a process that puts an emotional toll on both victims and their families after the initial trauma has passed.
Haunting with an everlasting effect!!
Rating: 3.5 (4 stars rounded up)
Thank you to netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review
Missing Sam is a compelling novel that follows Aliya and Sam through a kidnapping that brings out pain, tragedy, trauma, and healing. After an argument, Aliya wakes up to find her wife, Samanta, missing. As a lesbian daughter of immigrants, Aliya is forced to face her terror over Sam’s disappearance, but also the racist backlash she receives from neighbors and local residents. As Aliya becomes the prime suspect, Samantha is forced to survive captivity while strategically interacting with her captor. Both women fight for freedom in their own ways all while driven by their hope to be reunited.
This story portrays the psychological terror and long lasting response to deep trauma experienced by both victims of kidnapping and their loved ones left behind. As I read Missing Sam, I was repeatedly left speechless on how each character pushes forward in their struggles. One aspect I liked was the real world connections. References to COVID-19 helped me connect with the fear of separation and the dread of not being able to reach/return to the people you love. These moments, along with Aliya’s family trip to India that highlights American privilege made the emotional weight more personal and everlasting.
While Sam’s disappearance being the main focus of the plot, I found it refreshing to also showcase the after effects of when a victim of kidnapping gets reunited with their loved ones. Thrity Umrigar does a fantastic job at showing how healing is no simple task and comes without immediate resolution. Instead the novel focuses on healing as a process that puts an emotional toll on both victims and their families after the initial trauma has passed.
Haunting with an everlasting effect!!
November 16, 2025
I requested and received an eARC of
Missing Sam
by Thrity Umrigar via NetGalley. One night after a party, married couple Aliya and Sam have an argument. Sam stays in the guest room and goes on an early morning run alone the next morning. She doesn't come back. Aliya reports her wife missing, but as a brown, queer woman she cannot escape the suspicion of those around her. After a series of wrong choices, she must fight to prove her innocence even as she fears that Sam may be dead.
Oh man, what a wild ride. First of all, from the start of the novel I was for Sam to stay missing. The argument between Aliya and Sam really set me on edge and was a terrific opening to this novel. And once Sam was missing I was frustrated with Aliya! I understood why she made the choices that she made, but it didn’t prevent me from being annoyed with her. I wasn’t sure what direction this book would take, and it made me eagerly speed through the first half of this book.
Missing Sam is much more than a thriller. Umrigar uses the narrative to make several important points about race and crime in the United States. It’s difficult not to feel angry on Aliya’s behalf and I love a story that a strong political point of view, especially if it features queer characters. As a thriller it loses steam during the second half, but it broadens and enriches the story in many ways and allows the reader to develop a much better understanding of both Sam and Aliya. The suspense and the mystery of the first half make for very exciting reading, but the second half is also quite rewarding and erased any of the earlier frustration I felt with the protagonists.
Oh man, what a wild ride. First of all, from the start of the novel I was for Sam to stay missing. The argument between Aliya and Sam really set me on edge and was a terrific opening to this novel. And once Sam was missing I was frustrated with Aliya! I understood why she made the choices that she made, but it didn’t prevent me from being annoyed with her. I wasn’t sure what direction this book would take, and it made me eagerly speed through the first half of this book.
Missing Sam is much more than a thriller. Umrigar uses the narrative to make several important points about race and crime in the United States. It’s difficult not to feel angry on Aliya’s behalf and I love a story that a strong political point of view, especially if it features queer characters. As a thriller it loses steam during the second half, but it broadens and enriches the story in many ways and allows the reader to develop a much better understanding of both Sam and Aliya. The suspense and the mystery of the first half make for very exciting reading, but the second half is also quite rewarding and erased any of the earlier frustration I felt with the protagonists.
January 28, 2026
There are at least 4 books in Missing Sam: 1. a coronavirus book, 2. a book about 2 sets of parents and their adult children after childhood trauma, death of a parent, spousal abuse, and homophobia, 3. a harrowing book about spoilers and, many trigger warnings follow... and, six weeks of horrific, repeated along with the acts mentioned earlier. Sam, who 3. is about, blames herself for all that happens, at least a couple of times, and it's not really contradicted until the very end of the book when she 4. A book about Sam and Ali's marriage.
Switching POVs sometimes was confusing. Homophobia directed toward Sam and Ali's friend by Sam and Ali was confusing. Ali's father was beautifully depicted as a man with such sweetness and warmth, I couldn't understand why anyone would stop communicating with him. I would have liked a POV from him. The part of the book about the parents and children was so well-done, but it seemed to belong in a different book. Ali in India became more interesting and maybe slightly more likable. This book had some lovely writing but it had too many storylines and too many POVs, and the violence was gratuitous. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't like it.
Switching POVs sometimes was confusing. Homophobia directed toward Sam and Ali's friend by Sam and Ali was confusing. Ali's father was beautifully depicted as a man with such sweetness and warmth, I couldn't understand why anyone would stop communicating with him. I would have liked a POV from him. The part of the book about the parents and children was so well-done, but it seemed to belong in a different book. Ali in India became more interesting and maybe slightly more likable. This book had some lovely writing but it had too many storylines and too many POVs, and the violence was gratuitous. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't like it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Sam is missing. She went out for a run and never came home. Sam's wife, Aliyah, is almost immediately vilified by her community as they wonder, did Aliyah have something to do with Sam's disappearance? Aliyah has never felt quite so brown, Muslim, or gay. If her wife being missing weren't hard enough, being the victim of viral hate on social media and losing business clients left and right make it harder.
The first portion of this book centers on Aliyah's experience. How much Aliyah misses Sam. How wrongly Aliyah is treated by the world. How Aliyah, in a moment of deep fear and pain calls her father, from whom she has been estranged since coming out as gay.
The second part of this book tells us what happened to Sam when she went missing.
To avoid spoilers, I won't say what the third part of the book is about.
Overall, this is a gripping, fast-paced read, in spite of how heavy it is. It's sad and scary because someone is missing, but also because of the reality of racism in America. The characters are human and flawed, yet easy to care about (particularly the parents). I felt the first portion of Aliyah's experience could have been shortened a bit--I kept wondering if the book was going to only be about Aliyah's experience of being villainized, or if the story was going to go elsewhere. It did, but it took a while. Recommended.
I have read other Thrity Umrigar books and will continue to do so!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The first portion of this book centers on Aliyah's experience. How much Aliyah misses Sam. How wrongly Aliyah is treated by the world. How Aliyah, in a moment of deep fear and pain calls her father, from whom she has been estranged since coming out as gay.
The second part of this book tells us what happened to Sam when she went missing.
To avoid spoilers, I won't say what the third part of the book is about.
Overall, this is a gripping, fast-paced read, in spite of how heavy it is. It's sad and scary because someone is missing, but also because of the reality of racism in America. The characters are human and flawed, yet easy to care about (particularly the parents). I felt the first portion of Aliyah's experience could have been shortened a bit--I kept wondering if the book was going to only be about Aliyah's experience of being villainized, or if the story was going to go elsewhere. It did, but it took a while. Recommended.
I have read other Thrity Umrigar books and will continue to do so!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thrity Umrigar’s Missing Sam is a tense, emotionally charged thriller with profound depth, using the disappearance of a wife to illuminate the fractures in marriage, community, and society at large. What begins as a gripping mystery evolves into a deeply resonant story about race, belonging, prejudice, trauma, and the bonds that tie us together as human beings.
We first meet Aliya, a Muslim American interior designer, and her wife Samantha, an English professor after an explosive argument. The next morning, Sam goes for a routine run and never returns.
Aliya’s desperate search for Sam becomes the heart of the narrative, but Umrigar quickly expands the scope by also showing Sam's side of the event, as she's held captive by an unknown person. As days pass with no sign of Sam, suspicions swirl Aliya finds herself vilified and isolated, not just as a suspect but as a visibly brown, queer woman in a supposedly liberal suburb.
The first half of the book is more about the mystery of what happened to Sam, while the second half focuses on the underlying racism in the neighborhood that reveals to Aliya who you can really trust, and who is your friend. The novel touches on racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, trauma, and PTSD, topics that add depth but can also be emotionally heavy.
The author's ability to probe deeper into questions about how we judge one another, how identity shapes experience, and how love endures through chaos and fear, makes this a compelling, unique read.
We first meet Aliya, a Muslim American interior designer, and her wife Samantha, an English professor after an explosive argument. The next morning, Sam goes for a routine run and never returns.
Aliya’s desperate search for Sam becomes the heart of the narrative, but Umrigar quickly expands the scope by also showing Sam's side of the event, as she's held captive by an unknown person. As days pass with no sign of Sam, suspicions swirl Aliya finds herself vilified and isolated, not just as a suspect but as a visibly brown, queer woman in a supposedly liberal suburb.
The first half of the book is more about the mystery of what happened to Sam, while the second half focuses on the underlying racism in the neighborhood that reveals to Aliya who you can really trust, and who is your friend. The novel touches on racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, trauma, and PTSD, topics that add depth but can also be emotionally heavy.
The author's ability to probe deeper into questions about how we judge one another, how identity shapes experience, and how love endures through chaos and fear, makes this a compelling, unique read.
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