Publication date: July 1st, 2025
Synopsis:
What if everything you believe about yourself was totally wrong?
For David Byrdsong, life is a series of daily obligations. An attorney, he lacks both ambition and the ability to commit to a long-term relationship with his girlfriend, Gayle. Abandoned by his family at an airport when he was eleven, he learned to blurt his feelings, despite his subsequent adoption by a loving couple.
Until one day, when David discovers his own face in a missing child ad. Suddenly driven to uncover the truth about his past, he is forced to tap into his inner strength as he encounters corporate conspiracies, murdered bystanders, and distressing suspicions about the only family he's ever really trusted. David enlists Gayle's help--and the help of an unlikely stranger with secrets of his own--as he attempts to find his true family, whoever they are.
Thrilling, exploratory, and propulsive, Have You Seen Him is a story of lost identity, dangerous secrets, and a deeply personal pursuit of the truth.
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Excerpt
Before
Any dead bank employee could tell you this simple fact--bulletproof glass only works if you're standing behind it. So if you were like Olivia, just promoted to loan officer with a lovely desk out on the floor, you were well on your way to essentially becoming a sitting duck.
Olivia's aunt brushed off her reservations as they sat in the orderly kitchen that night. Aunt Bernice was a no-nonsense woman; the shiny fixtures and appliances gleamed. "That's got to be one of the best opportunities you're gonna get without a college degree. Don't you dare tell me you're thinking about turning it down. You better accept that position like the smart girl I raised you to be."
"I know, Aunt Bernice," Olivia said, moving to the sink to rinse her teacup. "And you're right. I already accepted the spot." She wiped the sink with a yellow kitchen towel and folded it into a tight square, then placed it onto the counter.
"Well, good. You worked hard enough to get it." The dilemma resolved, Olivia's aunt returned her rhinestoned cat-eye glasses to her face, her attention back to her ledger.
Despite the increased paycheck and enviable benefits, Olivia's initial anxiety about her new position never waned. She'd watched too many movies and was highly suggestible, easily spooked by the images she'd seen. She was drawn to crime thrillers, often centering banks, a morbid pull she knew wasn't good for her. And the little measures she developed to soothe her fears--entering and exiting the establishment only in the company of other workers, fingering the panic button under her desk--didn't have much of an effect. She tried to be as thrilled as Aunt Bernice was about the new position, but she would have done better to follow the older woman's more relevant, oft-repeated advice: "Always follow your gut."
Olivia's final transaction was a simple one--to close the accounts of a nice-looking family who was moving out of state. They'd arrived at her desk with pointed looks, their identification documents at the ready, their slips filled out. She worked more efficiently than usual, wondering about their backstory. $75,000 was a lot to take in cash.
Olivia snuck long glances at the family as she handled their transaction. The mother had a soft, understated beauty. Something about her was fragile, almost sickly. The teen daughter was pretty, yet solemn. But it was the father's face, the last one Olivia was to see in this life, that would have haunted her, had she lived.
The robbers approached her desk with small guns in their outstretched arms. Some patrons gasped and others screamed, clutching the nearest stranger. The mother and daughter froze, but the father simply looked at Olivia with bemused resignation, a knowing that this was the end. As if he'd been expecting it.
The handsome man had taken a visible and audible deep breath, slowly closing his eyes than opening them as a handgun was pushed into his neck. Olivia's ears registered the shots as if they'd taken place far away, on another planet, and she felt the muscles in her own neck clench while blood spurted out of the man. Frozen, she watched the client's body lean towards her and slump over, his eyes locked on a small, worn photo in his hand. The picture slipped onto Olivia's desk and she studied the boy's face, his gleaming eyes. But then the gun turned to Olivia, commanding her attention. The barrel's diameter was smaller than the ones she'd seen on TV. But just as effective.
KIMBERLY LEE, JD, is a writer, workshop facilitator, and editor with a passion for nurturing the imaginative spirit and helping others reveal their creative gifts. She holds degrees from Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law. Kimberly lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.
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