Publication Date August 4, 2020

As a fan of true crime, particularly the woman-in-danger subgenre, I was happy to receive a copy of Betsy Bonner’s The Book of Atlantis Black from Tin House Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This sad story creeped me out a bit. The author’s sister disappeared, and after growing up together in an environment of abuse and mental illness, Betsy is perhaps the one person who understood her sister enough to make some sense of the rabbit hole she crawled into when she started her search. Along the way, she explored her sister’s social media accounts, testimony from DEA agents, photos and videos, and memories of conversations.

Atlantis was an artist (Bonner herself is a poet) whose short life was filled with sad events. Her apparent death from an alleged overdose in a Tijuana motel should have provided closure of a sort; but the body was quickly cremated and, since the police report stated that the ID for “Atlantis Black” found in a purse nearby doesn’t match the body, it’s not clear whether the mystery is actually solved. I can’t say I LIKED the book, because is was so unsettling – but the sisterly bond and the persistence the author has shown in her search is remarkable. Four stars.