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Nameless Detective #2
The Vanished
When Master Sergeant Roy Sands disappears after arriving in San Francisco from Germany, his fiancee seeks the help of a private investigator
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
9 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Bill Pronzini
625 books235 followersMystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 22, 2019
This second book—like the first—in Pronzini’s Nameless Detective series is not extraordinarily memorable. And yet...there is something about it that makes you respect it and keep on reading, even through the slow spots. I think that is because Pronzini. in every line he writes, shows how much he respects the genre itself, knows the pleasures it is supposed to deliver, and always plays fair with the reader.
In this mystery, Nameless is hired by Elaine Kavanaugh to find her fiance Roy Sands who, after being discharged from the army, seems to have immediately disappeared. All Nameless has to start his search are the names of three army buddies and a pencil sketch which—Elaine says—is a very good likeness of Roy. Soon the sketch disappears under suspicious circumstances, and Nameless knows he has a real puzzle on his hands.
Read it. It’s a good mystery, will keep you entertained. Besides, there is something about Pronzini that tells me Nameless’ adventures will keep getting better and better.
May 18, 2023
01/2023
1973
I enjoyed this more than the first in the Nameless Detective series, though I enjoyed that one too. This takes him all around, to Germany, to Oregon.
There is a lot of physical fighting, and like the Lew Archer series, I have to skim over it. Is this because I'm a girl, I mean, a middle-aged woman? Do males hormonally and culturally like to see or read about people getting beaten up?
1973
I enjoyed this more than the first in the Nameless Detective series, though I enjoyed that one too. This takes him all around, to Germany, to Oregon.
There is a lot of physical fighting, and like the Lew Archer series, I have to skim over it. Is this because I'm a girl, I mean, a middle-aged woman? Do males hormonally and culturally like to see or read about people getting beaten up?
November 3, 2022
Picking up a couple of months after the events of The Snatch (the first book in the series) The Vanished reintroduces us to the Nameless Detective. His health is still causing him concern and his insistence on pursuing his career as a private detective has cost him a relationship but he remains dedicated to his job.
For the sake of simplicity, from this point on I will be referring to the detective simply as Nameless.
The case that presents itself here is a missing person, Roy Sands, a retired soldier who was heading home to marry his fiancé when he fell off the radar. Nameless is hired to try to find out what happened to Sands between the time he left his base in Germany and the last time he contacted someone while he was on his way home in California.
The result is an investigation that gradually grows in complexity as the detective worries away at the scant threads of clues that he starts with. The search takes Nameless north from San Francisco to Eugene which is the last known place in which Sands was spotted. This, in turn, sends him off to Germany as he bids to try to turn up any skerrick of a clue.
Ultimately, the scant pieces of information he can find out about the man returns him Stateside. Through all of this he picks up bits and pieces of information from Sands’ three army buddies.
It is through one of these army buddies that Nameless meets Cheryl, the sister of one of them and a relationship quickly develops that is based around a certain mutual loneliness and desperation. It is this part of the story that feels the most compelling and provides an earnest fascination about the detective.
Although this is only the second book in what would become an extremely long-running series, there are signs of what is to come. Nameless is dogged and determined, tough and sincere and has a sharp mind that misses very little. All of these qualities are put to good use in this outing where clues are sifted, examined and either discarded or stowed away to be part of the overall completed picture.
This reads as a pretty standard detective story with the clues determining the direction and pace of the story. To that end, the story does tend to creep along for the first half before ramping up to a more feverish and confronting finale. Clearly the main character is a work in progress with enough intrigue to be interesting and likable.
For the sake of simplicity, from this point on I will be referring to the detective simply as Nameless.
The case that presents itself here is a missing person, Roy Sands, a retired soldier who was heading home to marry his fiancé when he fell off the radar. Nameless is hired to try to find out what happened to Sands between the time he left his base in Germany and the last time he contacted someone while he was on his way home in California.
The result is an investigation that gradually grows in complexity as the detective worries away at the scant threads of clues that he starts with. The search takes Nameless north from San Francisco to Eugene which is the last known place in which Sands was spotted. This, in turn, sends him off to Germany as he bids to try to turn up any skerrick of a clue.
Ultimately, the scant pieces of information he can find out about the man returns him Stateside. Through all of this he picks up bits and pieces of information from Sands’ three army buddies.
It is through one of these army buddies that Nameless meets Cheryl, the sister of one of them and a relationship quickly develops that is based around a certain mutual loneliness and desperation. It is this part of the story that feels the most compelling and provides an earnest fascination about the detective.
Although this is only the second book in what would become an extremely long-running series, there are signs of what is to come. Nameless is dogged and determined, tough and sincere and has a sharp mind that misses very little. All of these qualities are put to good use in this outing where clues are sifted, examined and either discarded or stowed away to be part of the overall completed picture.
This reads as a pretty standard detective story with the clues determining the direction and pace of the story. To that end, the story does tend to creep along for the first half before ramping up to a more feverish and confronting finale. Clearly the main character is a work in progress with enough intrigue to be interesting and likable.
January 15, 2011
I love the early titles in the Nameless Detective series. This one has a neat mystery with a gritty, hardboiled presentation. Fast read I enjoyed in two nights. In fact, this is the second time I've read this one.
August 11, 2012
Nameless embarks on his second mystery investigating the disappearance of a young woman's fiance Roy Sands, a soldier just returned home from his last tour in Germany. Coughing up his lungs, Nameless fights to cut the damned weed from his life but fights a losing battle against his addiction. His apartment is a sea of encroaching slobbishness with his neatly ordered collection of pulps the only island of order in the chaos. His first thought after a threatening phone call during the night are the stats on how often this plot event occurs in his pulps. And he's lonely. Elegantly written as always, Pronzini draws on his love of the pulp noirs which he also instills in his lead character and delivers a pleasingly melancholic mystery following Nameless's dogged investigation.
May 8, 2008
THE VANISHED (Priv. Invest-“Nameless”-San Francisco-Cont) – Ex
Pronzini, Bill – 2nd in series
Random House, 1973, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0394481704
First Sentence: January.
Elaine Kavanaugh wants to hire a private investigator. Master Sergeant Roy Sands finished his 20-years in the military and they are engaged to get married. Now he has disappeared and Elaine wants to find out where he is. She doesn’t have a photo, but does have a sketch. The investigation seems routine until the sketch is stolen and Elaine’s life is threatened.
Although I’ve read many of Pronzini’s more recent books, I’d never read the series from the beginning. From the very first, and now second, book, Pronzini’s prodigious talent is apparent. The plot is cleaver without being gimmicky; the sense of place is excellent, the dialogue crisp.
It is also fascinating to see how much our lives have changed in 35 years. There are no cell phones, of course, but what really struck me is being able to call one day and get a seat on a plane to London and Germany the next day which no problem.
Don’t think that makes the book seem dated as the story is so well structured it transcends any impact the passing of time has made.
If you’ve not yet read Pronzini’s “Nameless” series, I can only ask: Why not?
Pronzini, Bill – 2nd in series
Random House, 1973, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0394481704
First Sentence: January.
Elaine Kavanaugh wants to hire a private investigator. Master Sergeant Roy Sands finished his 20-years in the military and they are engaged to get married. Now he has disappeared and Elaine wants to find out where he is. She doesn’t have a photo, but does have a sketch. The investigation seems routine until the sketch is stolen and Elaine’s life is threatened.
Although I’ve read many of Pronzini’s more recent books, I’d never read the series from the beginning. From the very first, and now second, book, Pronzini’s prodigious talent is apparent. The plot is cleaver without being gimmicky; the sense of place is excellent, the dialogue crisp.
It is also fascinating to see how much our lives have changed in 35 years. There are no cell phones, of course, but what really struck me is being able to call one day and get a seat on a plane to London and Germany the next day which no problem.
Don’t think that makes the book seem dated as the story is so well structured it transcends any impact the passing of time has made.
If you’ve not yet read Pronzini’s “Nameless” series, I can only ask: Why not?
May 10, 2025
The actual mystery wasn't bad. It was enough to keep me reading to see what happened. However I basically had it figured out midway through (well, who was responsible, not necessarily the reason, though figured it close enough) and I'm not someone who tries to guess the ending, it just seemed kind of obvious. The writing and pacing were fine, but the lead, the nameless detective, was such a sad sack that it was annoying. He just was so down on everything that it got almost comical. The ending wasn't bad all in all.
Can't really recommend it. I will try others in the series. I do like the westerns I've read from Pronzini.
Can't really recommend it. I will try others in the series. I do like the westerns I've read from Pronzini.
August 10, 2014
This is my first Bill Pronzini book and I'm surprised how much I liked it. The mystery was compelling, I enjoyed the case development and I liked the nameless detective. The story opens in San Francisco the early 1970s so the language was a bit hip (which was fun). The attitudes towards women were interesting....the detective is respectful of women compared to most other men in the book, but he does have to slap a hysterical dame :D I'll definitely read more of these.
July 1, 2018
"With Cheryl it was her eyes, it would always be her eyes; I could see them once more, mentally, and all the things they had contained, and the reflection in them of what she had in turn discovered in my own eyes..."
Continuing the PIE (Pronzini Immersion Experiment) I have now read The Vanished (1973), one of the earliest novels in the acclaimed "Nameless Detective" series. And I quite like the novel, similarly to Hardcase that I have reviewed a week ago. Nothing particularly memorable but a nice, solid and mostly captivating read.
A young woman, Elaine Kavanaugh, hires the detective (ND henceforth) to find her fiancé, Roy Sands. Roy is a master sergeant and his 20 years in the Army are up. He had spent the last year in Germany and came back to the Presidio Army base in San Francisco from where he has disappeared. Elaine is much in love with Roy: they have been planning the wedding and their future life together. The case takes ND to Eugene, Oregon, and then - after he finds an address of a German art gallery on a piece of paper that could be traced to Roy - to Germany. Roy's three Army buddies are helping in the investigation.
I have been impressed by a very well written passage that describes ND falling in love with Cheryl, a woman he meets while investigating the case. But while the detective's feelings are portrayed eloquently and plausibly, Cheryl's character is not drawn realistically. On the other hand, Elaine, his client, comes through as a full-bodied and compelling character. I like the plausible and logical solution of the case where the denouement is preceded by a fairly graphic but well-written scene of a brutal fight.
As I mentioned in the review of Hardcase it is only natural to draw comparisons between Bill Pronzini's ND novels and Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer series. Both authors try to "humanize" their private detectives. Of course, Macdonald succeeds to a much higher extent than Mr. Pronzini, and reading The Vanished revealed yet another reason for this difference of class. Both detectives are well-meaning, honest, and deeply decent. Yet while Pronzini's hero is just a guy, Macdonald's Archer is a Universal Human Being, embodying the common plight and pain of human existence.
Still, the novel is a true good read, and gets my recommendation. I have two more Pronzinis on my shelf.
Three stars.
Continuing the PIE (Pronzini Immersion Experiment) I have now read The Vanished (1973), one of the earliest novels in the acclaimed "Nameless Detective" series. And I quite like the novel, similarly to Hardcase that I have reviewed a week ago. Nothing particularly memorable but a nice, solid and mostly captivating read.
A young woman, Elaine Kavanaugh, hires the detective (ND henceforth) to find her fiancé, Roy Sands. Roy is a master sergeant and his 20 years in the Army are up. He had spent the last year in Germany and came back to the Presidio Army base in San Francisco from where he has disappeared. Elaine is much in love with Roy: they have been planning the wedding and their future life together. The case takes ND to Eugene, Oregon, and then - after he finds an address of a German art gallery on a piece of paper that could be traced to Roy - to Germany. Roy's three Army buddies are helping in the investigation.
I have been impressed by a very well written passage that describes ND falling in love with Cheryl, a woman he meets while investigating the case. But while the detective's feelings are portrayed eloquently and plausibly, Cheryl's character is not drawn realistically. On the other hand, Elaine, his client, comes through as a full-bodied and compelling character. I like the plausible and logical solution of the case where the denouement is preceded by a fairly graphic but well-written scene of a brutal fight.
As I mentioned in the review of Hardcase it is only natural to draw comparisons between Bill Pronzini's ND novels and Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer series. Both authors try to "humanize" their private detectives. Of course, Macdonald succeeds to a much higher extent than Mr. Pronzini, and reading The Vanished revealed yet another reason for this difference of class. Both detectives are well-meaning, honest, and deeply decent. Yet while Pronzini's hero is just a guy, Macdonald's Archer is a Universal Human Being, embodying the common plight and pain of human existence.
Still, the novel is a true good read, and gets my recommendation. I have two more Pronzinis on my shelf.
Three stars.
January 14, 2020
Granted I think this about a lot of the books I read but this would make a good De Palma movie. The traumatized mantra of the ending is what made me think of him.
July 23, 2014
RATING: 4.5
This book served as my introduction to the Nameless Detective, a character who I plan on spending a lot of time with in the future. The Nameless title comes from the fact that the lead character is never identified by name. This is done very naturally. Nameless is an ordinary kind of guy who is a private investigator. He is hired by Elaine Kavanaugh to find her fiancé, Roy Sands. Roy has just been discharged from the military and has returned to San Francisco from Germany to get married. By all accounts, he was totally in love with Elaine and the fact that he has failed to get in touch with her just doesn’t add up.
While in the military, Roy had 3 good friends. They each receive a strange telegram from Roy posted from Eugene, Oregon, with a repayment of some old card playing debts. Of course, Nameless’ first course of action is to interrogate each of these men. What he finds is a group of what he calls “cocksmen” or womanizers. Roy doesn’t seem to fit that mold, so Nameless is at a loss as to what drove Roy to go to Oregon before reuniting with Elaine. As Nameless follows the clues, he goes to Germany, California and Oregon and finds many unexpected events including murder and other brutality. There’s lots of heartbreak involved as well.
What he also finds is a woman named Cheryl who wins his heart. She is the sister of one of the men, and the attraction is mutual. The budding relationship between Nameless and Cheryl is movingly portrayed, both of them terribly lonely people who flourish in each other’s company.
The Vanished is the second in the Nameless Detective series which now numbers 26 books. Even this early in his career, you can see the deft hand of a master at work. Pronzini writes in a spare, economical style. He has developed a great character in Nameless, a very well rounded creation. Based on this book, I expect Pronzini to move to my list of top authors. He’s terrific.
This book served as my introduction to the Nameless Detective, a character who I plan on spending a lot of time with in the future. The Nameless title comes from the fact that the lead character is never identified by name. This is done very naturally. Nameless is an ordinary kind of guy who is a private investigator. He is hired by Elaine Kavanaugh to find her fiancé, Roy Sands. Roy has just been discharged from the military and has returned to San Francisco from Germany to get married. By all accounts, he was totally in love with Elaine and the fact that he has failed to get in touch with her just doesn’t add up.
While in the military, Roy had 3 good friends. They each receive a strange telegram from Roy posted from Eugene, Oregon, with a repayment of some old card playing debts. Of course, Nameless’ first course of action is to interrogate each of these men. What he finds is a group of what he calls “cocksmen” or womanizers. Roy doesn’t seem to fit that mold, so Nameless is at a loss as to what drove Roy to go to Oregon before reuniting with Elaine. As Nameless follows the clues, he goes to Germany, California and Oregon and finds many unexpected events including murder and other brutality. There’s lots of heartbreak involved as well.
What he also finds is a woman named Cheryl who wins his heart. She is the sister of one of the men, and the attraction is mutual. The budding relationship between Nameless and Cheryl is movingly portrayed, both of them terribly lonely people who flourish in each other’s company.
The Vanished is the second in the Nameless Detective series which now numbers 26 books. Even this early in his career, you can see the deft hand of a master at work. Pronzini writes in a spare, economical style. He has developed a great character in Nameless, a very well rounded creation. Based on this book, I expect Pronzini to move to my list of top authors. He’s terrific.
September 12, 2013
Here is a list of all the books (in order) Happy Reading.
1971 The Snatch Random House
1973 The Vanished Random House
1973 Undercurrents Random House
1977 Blowback Ramdom House
1978 Twospot Putman
1980 Laybrinth St. Martin's Press
1980 A Killing In Xanadu Waves Press
1981 Hoodwinked St. Martin's Press
1982 Scattershot St. Martin's Press
1982 Dragonfire St. Martin's Press
1983 Bindlestiff St. Martin's Press
1983 Casefile St. Martin's Press
1984 Quicksilver St. Martin's Press
1984 Nightshades St. Martin's Press
1984 Double St. Martin's Press
1985 Bones St. Martin's Press
1985 Grave Yard Plots St. Martin's Press
1886 Dreadfall St. Martin's Press
1988 Shackles St. Martin's Press
1988 Small Fellonies St. Martin's Press
1990 Jackpot Delacorte
1991 Breakdown Delacorte
1992 Quarry Delacorte
1992 Epitaths Delacorte
1993 Demons Delacorte
1995 Hardcase Delacorte
1996 Spadework Crippen & Landru
1996 Sentinels Carroll & Graf
1997 Illusions Carroll & Graf
1998 Boobytrap Carroll & Graf
1999 Sluths Five Star
1999 Duo Five Star
2000 Crazybones Carroll & Graf
2002 Bleeders Carroll & Graf
2003 Spook Carroll & Graf
2003 Scenarios Five Star
2005 Nightcrawlers Forge
2006 Mourners Forge
2007 Savages Forge
2008 Feaver Forge
2009 Schemers Forge
2010 Betrayers Forge
2011 Camouflage Forge
2012 Hellbox Forge
2012 Kinsmen Cemetery Dance
2012 Femme Cemetery Dance
2013 Nemesis Forge
1971 The Snatch Random House
1973 The Vanished Random House
1973 Undercurrents Random House
1977 Blowback Ramdom House
1978 Twospot Putman
1980 Laybrinth St. Martin's Press
1980 A Killing In Xanadu Waves Press
1981 Hoodwinked St. Martin's Press
1982 Scattershot St. Martin's Press
1982 Dragonfire St. Martin's Press
1983 Bindlestiff St. Martin's Press
1983 Casefile St. Martin's Press
1984 Quicksilver St. Martin's Press
1984 Nightshades St. Martin's Press
1984 Double St. Martin's Press
1985 Bones St. Martin's Press
1985 Grave Yard Plots St. Martin's Press
1886 Dreadfall St. Martin's Press
1988 Shackles St. Martin's Press
1988 Small Fellonies St. Martin's Press
1990 Jackpot Delacorte
1991 Breakdown Delacorte
1992 Quarry Delacorte
1992 Epitaths Delacorte
1993 Demons Delacorte
1995 Hardcase Delacorte
1996 Spadework Crippen & Landru
1996 Sentinels Carroll & Graf
1997 Illusions Carroll & Graf
1998 Boobytrap Carroll & Graf
1999 Sluths Five Star
1999 Duo Five Star
2000 Crazybones Carroll & Graf
2002 Bleeders Carroll & Graf
2003 Spook Carroll & Graf
2003 Scenarios Five Star
2005 Nightcrawlers Forge
2006 Mourners Forge
2007 Savages Forge
2008 Feaver Forge
2009 Schemers Forge
2010 Betrayers Forge
2011 Camouflage Forge
2012 Hellbox Forge
2012 Kinsmen Cemetery Dance
2012 Femme Cemetery Dance
2013 Nemesis Forge
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May 28, 2021REVIEW OF AUDIOBOOK; MAY 27, 2021
Narrator: Doug Hamilton
This is my second Nameless Detective book. I think I avoided this series because I felt vaguely uncomfortable with a protagonist (of such a long series!) not having a name. I did listen to the first one and liked it enough but remember that I would keep thinking 'Here. The guy's going to0 ask what his name is' but the author manages to move the story along without revealing his protagonist's name.
And I would be waiting to pounce on the next moment I felt The Name would be given. Nada.
That was a few years ago and today I decided to try one more. Once again, the lack of a name bugged me but the mystery of Sands' disappearance was interesting enough for me to listen to the end. For the first half I was rather bored, as I tend to be with such PI plots. I do not find such stories - the PI running from place to place, questioning everyone with the same old, same old - to be able to engage my interest. This one did more than usual so I was able to finish it and I didn't guess, correctly, what happened to Sands.
I plan to follow the series (depending on how many audio titles my library has) so I looked up whether the author did have a name for his character. Apparently, it's Bill, and someone in one of the books calls him by name. Hmmm. So now I'm going to be listening till I come to that book and try to catch that!
Narrator: Doug Hamilton
This is my second Nameless Detective book. I think I avoided this series because I felt vaguely uncomfortable with a protagonist (of such a long series!) not having a name. I did listen to the first one and liked it enough but remember that I would keep thinking 'Here. The guy's going to0 ask what his name is' but the author manages to move the story along without revealing his protagonist's name.
And I would be waiting to pounce on the next moment I felt The Name would be given. Nada.
That was a few years ago and today I decided to try one more. Once again, the lack of a name bugged me but the mystery of Sands' disappearance was interesting enough for me to listen to the end. For the first half I was rather bored, as I tend to be with such PI plots. I do not find such stories - the PI running from place to place, questioning everyone with the same old, same old - to be able to engage my interest. This one did more than usual so I was able to finish it and I didn't guess, correctly, what happened to Sands.
I plan to follow the series (depending on how many audio titles my library has) so I looked up whether the author did have a name for his character. Apparently, it's Bill, and someone in one of the books calls him by name. Hmmm. So now I'm going to be listening till I come to that book and try to catch that!
October 13, 2019
The mystery was decent enough, but I was really put off by all the casual misogyny that ran rampant in this book. Yes, the 70s are a bygone era, and I knew there would be some culture shock, but this was too much. All of the women in this novel are reduced to sexual objects, and most of them are dismissed with absolute contempt. Our nameless detective doesn't even consider that maybe the bad guys know of his movements because the first person he tells is a woman (sister of one of the suspects). How could she possibly have anything to do with the threatening phone calls? Give me a break. Even the whodunit basically revolves around two men chasing a piece of tail that neither of them were committed to. Absolute princes, these guys.
I'm going to continue with this series, if only out of pure curiosity of how it became 40 books long. Apparently the author was very young when he wrote this, so I'm also curious to find out if his outlook changed with the times, or if he's also a major dealer in certain kinds of male fantasy, a la Lawrence Block.
I'm going to continue with this series, if only out of pure curiosity of how it became 40 books long. Apparently the author was very young when he wrote this, so I'm also curious to find out if his outlook changed with the times, or if he's also a major dealer in certain kinds of male fantasy, a la Lawrence Block.
January 14, 2025
This is an improvement over the first Nameless Detective book so I gave it 4 instead of 3 stars. Only 180 pages and some of them are blank between chapters so an easy read.
I liked the way the detective worked, going from SF to Oregon to Germany etc, gathering meager clues and meeting dead ends until he had this whole picture.
The romance he develops is sweet and actually works into the story.
There was slightly less time spent on his battle with smoking, his terrible cough, and spitting up phlegm and blood than in book one, so that was a plus.
The author tries to write some mood seeing prose ala Chandler but drags it out too long. It’s relevant but not well written. The rest of the writing is fine.
I definitely will continue with the series.
I liked the way the detective worked, going from SF to Oregon to Germany etc, gathering meager clues and meeting dead ends until he had this whole picture.
The romance he develops is sweet and actually works into the story.
There was slightly less time spent on his battle with smoking, his terrible cough, and spitting up phlegm and blood than in book one, so that was a plus.
The author tries to write some mood seeing prose ala Chandler but drags it out too long. It’s relevant but not well written. The rest of the writing is fine.
I definitely will continue with the series.
May 25, 2023
This was a quick fairly short read, a missing persons case. It follows quick on the past book where the nameless detective's girlfriend has bailed on him and he's moping through the holidays. The case seems hopeless; there are few clues and little to go on but someone is clearly trying to get him to quit.
The mystery unfolds well, with the detective doing journeyman work step by step following everything up even if it seems empty and it finally unfolds in a dark and sad way. I get that this is noir detective and its supposed to be self reflective sadness at its core but Pronzini really piles it on.
The mystery unfolds well, with the detective doing journeyman work step by step following everything up even if it seems empty and it finally unfolds in a dark and sad way. I get that this is noir detective and its supposed to be self reflective sadness at its core but Pronzini really piles it on.
June 3, 2019
This came out in the early 70's, could have been written in the '40,50's. With a great sense of place of San Francisco in the '70's, with dogged determination from our un-named detective. Which I think was rather clever of Mr. Pronzini. Example, he goes to talk to a friend of the missing soldier he's looking for. The guy answers the door, and says. "you the guy that called". Has that hard-boiled feel.
November 30, 2020
The book was hard to get into, the atmosphere was oppressive and all the characters felt detached from the events around them, especially Nameless. He really only seemed to be alive and invested in the mystery in the last 30 to 40 pages. The story had a couple of interesting twists, but the characters were two dimensional at best and interchangeable at worst.
October 26, 2022
This started slow and ended dark. Always love books set in San Francisco, but this book was extra special by adding a trip to Germany and mentioning the town of Schweinfurt where I was stationed long ago. What are the odds?
June 26, 2025
More of a 3 1/2 star rating. Bronzini's detective gives off West Coast Spenser vibes and that is a good thing indeed. the seeds of his impossible crimes books to come are starting to bloom here as well.
May 11, 2017
I enjoyed the book a lot and will definitely read the other books in the series.
September 3, 2017
just read his latest book so now reading book number two...and the two tied together...really liked this one even though I had it figured as to the killer but not the reasons...
August 29, 2020
Great read. I like the way he writes.
October 11, 2020
Good fun
Love detective stories that you fall in love with the characters. This is one of those books. Read the series.
Love detective stories that you fall in love with the characters. This is one of those books. Read the series.
June 1, 2021
Ooooo, these are getting better and better. Enough character development to humanize the main character, enough casework to not make it a melodrama.
January 25, 2022
The story was engaging and was a fast read. The only criticism was there were not enough clues to solve as they were not presented and the story resolved at the very end.
December 14, 2022
Tight, no words wasted. Excellent work.
August 9, 2024
This book was surprisingly very good, I didn't even think I would like detective novels but apparently they have their charm.
March 11, 2017
The Vanished (Nameless Detectivea#2) by Bill Pronzini – Book two of The Nameless Detective series is another enjoyable read. Nameless is contacted by Elaine Kavanaugh who wants him to find out what happened to her fiancé, Roy Sands, who just ended his long military career and disappeared while on his way back to the States from Germany. Kavanaugh was willing to pay whatever he wanted for the job and Nameless accepted the challenge to find the man. Thus began what turned out to be a very complex, exhaustive and dangerous investigation that took Nameless from San Francisco to several US cities and to Germany. It’s another well-written and interesting tale from Pronzini. However, I would have liked just a little more information about Nameless’s personal life in this narrative in addition to the main storyline.
May 20, 2023
Jeff Book Review #100
The Vanished, Bill Pronzini (mystery, crime)
The second in the Nameless Detective series, "The Vanished" (1973) is a missing person who our protagonist San Francisco private eye is hired to find. It is that classic noir-style detective mystery. A quick one-evening read. You don't need to read "The Snatch" (reviewed in #39) to enjoy this one.
The detective's methods for working on his suspicions and his notes as he tries to figure out where this missing person went, what he was doing, who he was with, is a lot of fun and pays off in the end.
Verdict: Detailed without being mundane, quick-moving and smartly paced with some side investigations that seem to go nowhere but add to the puzzle. A really good one.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
The Vanished, Bill Pronzini (mystery, crime)
The second in the Nameless Detective series, "The Vanished" (1973) is a missing person who our protagonist San Francisco private eye is hired to find. It is that classic noir-style detective mystery. A quick one-evening read. You don't need to read "The Snatch" (reviewed in #39) to enjoy this one.
The detective's methods for working on his suspicions and his notes as he tries to figure out where this missing person went, what he was doing, who he was with, is a lot of fun and pays off in the end.
Verdict: Detailed without being mundane, quick-moving and smartly paced with some side investigations that seem to go nowhere but add to the puzzle. A really good one.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
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