The Vanishing Season

By: Joanna Schaffhausen

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, Massachusetts, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number 17 in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived.

When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday - the day she was kidnapped so long ago - Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer's closet all those years ago.

Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he's washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can't help but wonder: Sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery's waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them...with a killer who can't let go.

©2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Good debut mystery thriller/police procedural

Really enjoyed this debut mystery suspense, police procedural novel. Good writing, good story and had a good pace up until the very end. Good character development and I really enjoyed the narrator. I look forward to reading more from this author.

GoodPage turner

I really liked this book.
The characters are excellent, it moves very quickly. I found myself
Wanting to find out what happens next

Engaging mystery debut!

What a good ride it was! Tons of viable suspects, not in a Jessica Fletcher sort of "gather all the suspects together in a room" way, but in a "hmmm, could it be him? Or her? Or him?" way. But what I really love about this book is the fact it touches way more on victimhood than on details about serial killers. Of course there is the mystery of whodunit, and some crime detail without getting too grisly about what were obviously grisly murders, but there was a lot about the people left behind in the wake of a famous serial murderer's crimes. There was one victim who lived, and the agent who solved the case; their lives were both changed immeasurably by the earlier crime and years later, they're still haunted by it, and linked by it as well. Following along as they forged a tenuous connection, a fragile possible friendship or relationship, might have been my favorite part. Both leads were imperfect and interesting, and I liked the back-and-forth POVs from Ellery and Reed.

The writing is crisp and not at all flowery, but there are some lovely turns of phrase just the same, and the descriptions of the people and their surroundings made me feel like I knew the characters and the fictional town of Woodbury. (And I love the dog, Bump, who was adorable without taking over the story, or being too precocious, or having too many human qualities, which I sometimes see and am annoyed by in literary dogs.)

The audiobook is well done and I enjoyed Lauren Fortgang's narration; she gave all the characters distinct voices without being too acty about it. ;-) I'd definitely listen to more books narrated by Fortgang.

No wonder this book won awards!

This is one of the best serial killer stories I’ve ever read. The characters are super well developed, and I can honestly say I did not guess the killer this time!

Slightly predictable but fun

Looking forward to book 2 and 3. The narrator did a great job and the Author kept it interesting.
Enjoy!

Great !

Definitely an edge of the seat read. Highly recommended! My first book by this author, but it won't be my last for certain.

Good characters

Enjoyed this book and story. Took me almost to end to figure out the killer!

Don't do it

Don't buy. Mediocre story with a terrible worthless ending. Don't waste your time. You'll thank me later