Second novels, particularly sequels, run the risk of being ho-hum, contrived or just plain disappointing. Marcie Rendon’s second novel, “Girl Gone Missing,” does none of those. This further look into the life of the young Native woman, Cash Blackbear had me re-glued to my chair. Written with greater intensity and even more confidently than the excellent “Murder on the Red River,” this thriller presents a deeper, more intimate look at Cash’s strengths, sensitivities and resilience, born of an abusive system and personal history. As a somewhat reluctant college student in an educational system that neither understands nor particularly cares who she really is, Cash struggles to make sense of the setting to get what she needs from it, while maintaining her sense of identity (as well as her devastating skills with a pool cue).Helping her friend and supporter Sheriff Wheaton with a crime that has parallels to the cases of missing and murdered Native women, Cash relies on the skills she developed to survive the foster care system so destructive to Native families in the US and Canada. Marcie Rendon’s artistry allows her to write a novel that not only gives voice to the Cashes, but delineates vital issues hidden in plain sight. She accomplishes this without being “preachy,” and the result is an absorbing story that leaves me really irritated that I have to wait, again, for the next adventure of Cash Blackbear.