Losing Austin
Michael J. Bowler
Independently Published (2025)
ISBN: 979-8988611066
Reviewed by Terri Stepek for Reader Views (05/2025)
Austin was never actually labeled as autistic, although the doctors all indicated he “presented ‘autism-like’ aspects.” He had never spoken a word in his life and didn’t like… no, he hated being touched. He would usually allow his mother to touch him long enough to get through the basics of bathing, dressing, etc., without going into a screaming fit. Most of the time.
Austin’s younger brother, Colton, is a middle schooler who accepts his brother’s uniqueness well enough. Except when the kids at school pick on Austin. Colton feels that protecting his older brother is part of his responsibility, so he feels obligated to deck any kid who picks on Austin. This would be all well and good, except it lands him in trouble all the time with the teachers and administration at school, along with his parents. He’s now known as a “troubled kid.” But as Colton puts it:
Defending my brother turned me into an angry, lonely kid. Page 6
This is Michael J. Bowler’s latest middle-grade page-turner, Losing Austin, and it’s unforgettable.
Both brothers have their charm, and as the story unfolds, we may wonder what goes on in Austin’s unreadable mind, but Colton is pretty easy to understand. And appreciate. Colton has a deep love for his brother (except maybe during screaming fits) and just wishes he had a way to reach him sometimes. But Colton is always happy to spend time with him doing things Austin enjoys, like coloring.
Among Austin’s strange habits are his uber-fascination with rainbows and mirrors. He’ll spend hours looking at either one and can always be found at the window when it’s raining because he doesn’t want to miss the rainbow. The mirrors—well, that one’s hard to explain. He doesn’t look at himself in the mirror; he looks at the room behind him through the mirror. No one has offered a good explanation for that one. The family just shrugs and accepts it.
But one rainy afternoon, everything changes when Austin and Colton are left home alone for a few minutes. That’s all it took. A few minutes and Austin was gone. Every parent’s nightmare has just happened on Colton’s watch, and it’s going to be bad.
Michael J. Bowler always brings intensity and action to his teen thrillers. But Losing Austin has a particular “wow” factor that makes it his most memorable tale to date. What are readers supposed to think here? The police and media lean toward a possible abduction of the 15-year-old Austin originally. But as the facts of that day come out and the police interview Colton’s teachers and fellow students, that “troubled kid” phrase starts coming back to haunt him. Now people are thinking maybe Colton got mad enough to do something unthinkable to his brother and managed to hide the body where no one has found it yet.
Colton doesn’t know what really happened, but he does know what didn’t happen and why his brother left. He thinks. The guilt he has over the things he said to Austin that day overrides any other thought or emotion for Colton. He now has one goal in his young life: to find his brother and bring him home.
Turning to the internet, Colton discovers that Austin isn’t the only child with similar symptoms to have disappeared. There are a few cases around the world, and they all happened on rainy days. In his attempt to find answers, Colton starts chatting with a girl in Hawaii whose brother was very similar to Austin and disappeared the same day. Their conversations turn into full-blown junior-detective investigations as they work to solve the riddles before them. Personally, I was fully invested in the alien abduction theory they pursued. Don’t judge me. There weren’t any more plausible theories being thrown around.
But all their theories are blown out of the water one afternoon, five years after Austin’s disappearance, when the unthinkable happens. Nothing will ever be the same.
These characters are wonderful; they have depth, charm, energy, and a genuineness that make them easily relatable. As Colton dealt so patiently (mostly) with his brother, I could relate to his desire to protect Austin, and also to his anger for the way the world seemed to treat him. Colton may be seen as a kid with issues, and to be fair, everything he went through certainly created problems for him. But he’s got a warmer, more emotional, and loving side to him that almost no one sees.
Sometimes, Colton, our darkest moments end up bringing us the most light. Page 137
As the years go by, Colton grows in more than height and intelligence. He even makes good friends, something he had great difficulty with only a few years ago. All the characters leave their marks in one way or another, from the parents who try their best, but are just flawed individuals like the rest of us, to Austin’s friends, who show us a range of school-age melodrama, logic, and angst. But it’s Colton’s reaction to the events of his life-changing day that is the most poignant and beautiful.
Bowler’s sense of timing and suspense are as superb as ever. He keeps readers buried in the pages, leaving us a bread trail to follow as we work our brains into virtual meltdown, attempting to figure out what in the world is going on.
Fans of mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and even just plain teen reads will find a story they can sink completely into. Bowler will have you coming up with your own theories as you ponder Austin’s absence. This story may be written for ages 11 to 18, but there’s enough good stuff here for adults to enjoy as well. As for the answer to that big riddle? Let’s just say the answer was not one that I anticipated at all, but it was satisfying and more plausible than my personal alien theory… I am proud to highly recommend Losing Austin by Michael J. Bowler to his current fans as well as those who have not yet discovered his amazing stories. Don’t miss this one!