~Marcella Nielsen ~
iReflect 2017
The Vanishing Season
by Joanna Schaffhausen
Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen 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.
My Rating:
First impressions before start:
The cover is what first caught my eye, as most books do. The “vanishing” part really comes across with the girl on the front being covered by mist just enough to make her unidentifiable. It also gives a mysterious lure to the book and with this book being a mystery thriller, the cover designer deserves an applause. The blurb gives nothing away but it has definitely heightened my interest. Kidnappings, disappearances, serial killers…sounds like my kind of book!
Status:
Read on 5th October 2017
Publisher:
St Martin Press
Publication Date:
5th December 2017
Pages:
288
Genre:
Mystery Thriller
Format:
Kindle Edition
About the author...
Winner 2016, Mystery Writers of America/St. Martin’s Minotaur First Crime Novel Award,
Joanna Schaffhausen is a scientific editor who spends her days immersed in research on potential new therapies for cancer, addiction, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Previously, she worked as an editorial producer for ABC News, where she advised and wrote for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America and 20/20. She holds a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain—how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter. The Vanishing Season is her first novel.
"Seasons change but the threat remains the same."
Anywhere and everywhere, but especially from true crime stories. I still go to sleep at night to the dulcet tones of Forensic Files, even though I’ve seen every episode a dozen times by now. I mine the stories for how investigators feel about their cases; how they talk and think. I also find it fascinating how initially there will be lots of avenues to follow, each with many clues, and the thrill of discovery is in learning which of these pieces of evidence turns out to be the key to solving the case.
Thoughts:
This book gave me goosebumps! It was quite the chilling tale. I will admit that I wasn’t entirely invested in the beginning but as the story went on and the mystery started to get going, I found it much more enjoyable. When all the pieces fell together…
Again, as I do with all mystery reads, I had my list of suspects and I am glad to say that my number one suspect was correct! Though fairly predictable, the way everything connected in the end and the build-up made for a thrilling ride.
Characters:
Ellery Hathaway – Once victim, now survivor, Ellery changes her life, her hair, even her name. No one knows that the only woman in the Woodbury PD is also the only survivor of an infamous serial killer. Or so she thinks. When people start disappearing every year on her birthday and she starts receiving mail from an unknown source, she can’t deny it any longer. Someone knows her secret. With no proof or evidence to support her claims, no one believes her about the pattern of the disappearances. No one but the man who saved her fourteen years ago.
Reed Markham – The world sees him as a hero for saving the girl, a girl whose kidnaping he made his career out of. The way she was brutalized, tormented, violated – it all made for an amazing story. A story he wrote that went on to be a best-seller and an on-screen movie. But one mistake costs him everything. A phone call from the once young girl now woman has him rushing to her side. He thought the story ended when he brought the girl home all those years ago. But someone else is playing the same sick game. And alongside Ellery, he’s a key player.
It took some time for me to warm up to these characters. Ellery at the start was having an affair and Reed was spiralling with an upcoming divorce. Not the best first impression at all, but as the story progressed I didn’t exactly start liking the two characters but I definitely enjoyed their dynamic with each other. It wasn’t romantic, though it had hints of that near the end, but more like two kindred spirits who understood the other.
Plot:
This story was told in third person and switched from Ellery’s point of view to Reed’s. The prologue is from the perspective of an unknown character and most of the book I’m wondering what it had to do with anything. This author planned this mystery thriller brilliantly! She left no loose ends and answered every question that confused me when reading. I feel like the book started as a mess but as it went on things started becoming clearer, characters became more prominent and the plot itself became exciting. The suspense factor definitely came into play as the story progressed.
Last Note:
The difference between a thriller and a mystery is that a thriller is a story in which the audience is waiting, most time in suspense, anticipation and anxiety, for something significant to happen. Successful thrillers give readers a vicarious thrill by identifying with the hero (or in this book heroine) and the danger he/she faces, becoming a participant in the chase. A mystery is a novel of revelation, with action more mental than physical. A significant event, such as a murder, occurs and it’s the protagonist’s job to discover who committed the crime and why (Smith, 1994).
Schaffhausen indeed delivered a well written mystery thriller. She definitely maintained the thriller side of the story, alongside the mystery. Though my interest wasn’t immediate, my overall enjoyment of this thrilling story outweighs the slow start. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good “whodunit” plotline.
References:
Schaffhausen, J. (2017). The Vanishing Season. New York: St Martin Press.
Smith, J. (1994). Mystery vs. Suspense Thriller Book Genres. Retrieved on 6 October 2017 from http://www.mysterynet.com/books/testimony/mystery-vs-thriller/