Catherine Ryan Hyde's brilliant talents include her ability to write novels that make us think about our own life experiences and what others have gone through. Her characters often face dilemmas or situations that seem impossibly difficult. But as with her latest novel, A DIFFERENT KIND OF GONE, she shows that most of us are more resilient than we might believe and that people are not black and white. All of us are shades of gray --- some are more generous with better instincts than others, but none of us are complete monsters or absolute heroes. Even the most venal politician might have been a sweet child.

Norma Gallagher lives in a tiny town, Sloot, that straddles the Arizona/Utah border. She works at the local bar and lives alone with her two hound dogs and her unbelievably wonderful horse, Fred. He's also known as Saint Fred, and when you read the story you'll understand why. Her house is fairly remote and simple with only one bedroom, and she keeps others at a distance. She volunteers in the local search and rescue and rides Fred to help look for lost people. That's what she's doing when the event at the heart of this novel occurs.

A young lady goes missing from the local campground. Nineteen-year-old Jill Moss is beautiful, with blond hair and blue eyes. Her boyfriend, Jake, reported her missing, but other campers said they saw her running away from her tent and that Jake caught her. She walked back into their tent with one arm twisted behind her back. Later she sent a text message to her parents that she was going to leave Jake for good, and if they didn't hear from her in 24 hours, they should call the police. So the searchers aren't sure if they're looking for a live woman or a dead body.

"Catherine Ryan Hyde writes books about ordinary people in situations that many might face. But in her gripping novels, ordinary people become extraordinary because of their determination to do the right thing."

When Norma finds Jill, she begs her not to tell anyone where she is. She is terrified that Jake will find her and kill her. Norma explains that Jill can get an order of protection against him, but Jill points out that Jake is a patient man. Police will only protect her for a while, and an order of protection is just a piece of paper; it isn't helpful when a man is intent on harming a woman.

So Norma reluctantly agrees to help Jill. But she knows (and warns Jill) that there will be unintended consequences to their deception. People will not know that Jill is alive, and the searchers will keep on searching. Norma isn't just a woman who works in a bar. Thoughtful and intelligent, she knows more about life than most of us, and she has an uncanny ability to think ahead and understand complications. She has seen and experienced a lot, and she has plenty of time to think while she's living her fairly solitary life. But when she decides to help someone, she's all in. And to Jill, Norma becomes almost a superhuman, wise woman.

Five years later, on the anniversary of the date that Jill was reported missing, Jake is accused of attempted murder. He had tried to strangle his wife, Wanda, and was only thwarted when a passerby saw what was happening and used a tire iron to break the window in Jake's car to save the woman. Norma knows Wanda from the time Jill disappeared. Wanda was one of the people drawn to the campground by the story, and she met Norma in the parking lot of the bar where Norma worked. In fact, Norma gave her a ride to her motel and cautioned her not to hitchhike. Wanda then met Jake, and despite Norma's warning, she fell in love with him.

All the really important characters in A DIFFERENT KIND OF GONE are women. And in large part, this novel is about women supporting other women. But what Hyde does in all her books is to use the characters to shine a light on society --- the good and the bad. When talking about abusive men and the world, Norma says, "And if a woman tries to tell us she's in danger, and we just pass that off as a woman being emotional, or see her as an unreliable narrator, then that makes the way awful damn easy for those men."

Isn't that how people think about victims of abuse? Don't we say --- or perhaps just think --- about women who stay with abusive men that we don't understand why they didn't leave immediately? Hyde also takes issue with the reporters who show up to expound on the missing woman, because when there is a missing white woman everyone wants to read or hear about it. The journalists want to know what people believe happened. Is Jill alive or dead? And Norma excoriates them.

She tells them that they are to blame for everything that is wrong with the media these days: "You need twenty-four hours of content every day so you fill it up with nonsense, and all for ratings." She says Walter Cronkite gave the facts, and just the facts. Sure, he wanted ratings, but he got them by being trusted, not by asking people what they believe. She tells the reporters, "Thanks to you, nobody knows the difference anymore between what's true and what they think is true."

We come to find out that Norma is a very wise woman. But some of her wisdom comes from life's harsh experiences. She truly is a magnificent character because of her ability to forgive and not judge, and her unconditional support of those who seek her help.

Jake is charged with the attempted murder of Wanda in Southern California, where they lived. But the local District Attorney decides to charge Jake with Jill’s murder now that she is formally declared dead. However, Norma knows that Jill is alive, which leaves her with an enigmatic ethical dilemma. Is it right to allow Jake to be charged with something he didn't do? She explains her concerns to Jill's parents by using the example of a bank robber who does everything in preparation for robbing the bank but doesn't make it there. He was ready to do it but never actually performed the criminal act. He can't be charged with the robbery. Likewise, should Jake be charged with a murder they know he didn't commit?

What they decide, what they do and how others respond takes the story in a different direction. What is justice, and what is each person's responsibility to ensure that justice is, in fact, fair? One of the beautiful twists that Hyde provides is when she takes a parable that people use to justify doing even one good deed and uses it to ostensibly justify an act of violence. Is violence ever justified, even against someone who is violent?

And what about the fact that our society so clearly values some lives over others? "Missing white woman syndrome" is a real thing, and even though thousands of women go missing, social media fixates on those who are young, beautiful and often blond. Men and boys go missing as well, but they are ignored just as much as the women of color who disappear. Just as medical professionals all too often ignore the physical complaints of women as "just in their head," law enforcement all too often doesn't take seriously reports of women who disappear --- especially those of color. In real life, young, blond missing Gabby Petito dominated the news for months.

Catherine Ryan Hyde writes books about ordinary people in situations that many might face. But in her gripping novels, ordinary people become extraordinary because of their determination to do the right thing. And while these ordinary people aren't endowed with superpowers, the effect they have on others might just be a bit magical. She shows how ordinary people doing the right thing, especially when it's really hard to do, can change the world. Or at least one person's world. And that's a powerful thought. No matter which Hyde book you read, life after that reading seems just a bit different, a bit more satisfying and a bit more hopeful.