The Vanishing

by John Connor

"A stolen child, a cryptic letter and a secret that will tear two lives apart."

Genres: Thriller, Crime

355 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

John Connor is the pen name of Tom Winship. John Connor recently left his job as a barrister to write full time. During the fifteen years of his legal career he prosecuted numerous homicide cases in West Yorkshire and London. He advised the police in numerous proactive drugs and organised crime operations, many involving covert activity. He now lives in Brussels with his wife and two young children.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kelly]

For a thriller I did feel that the pacing of this whole novel was wrong, and the lack of character development and emotion was too flat to encourage emotion in me.

The beginning had great speed and high tension, brought to life by the real fear that Connor created in his lead characters, especially as Sara watched her Best Friend being murdered, despite coming so close to saving her.

The tension dwindelled and I felt that the Author was trying too hard to spell things out to the reader, despite the 'Thriller' Genre. Having visited her mother's hospital and suspected the Doctor, I prefered being left guessing as to his role until later in the novel. Instead it was pointedly spelled out in later chapters regarding his nephew. I hate when authors do this, as it seems they underestimate the reader, assuming that their plots are so complex that we can't remember links and relationships or events.
Complexity was not the key word for this novel, as I pretty much knew who and what Sara was when she was first mentioned. As I assume most people did?

There were lso interruptions to the flow of the main plot with sub-plot chapters. Prime example were the chapters concerning Rachel and John. These interuppted the 'tension' of the main plot and were a major red light as to what would happen later on.

I also felt that had Sara been much closer to her Mother and Father, and therefore less accepting of their deceipts and roles in the killings etc, that I would have felt more shocked, frightened and tense. Sara's reaction to her Mother's death just didn't sit right with me, as Sara didn't care, neither did I.

Overall I thought I was okay, but I probably wouldn't hunt down another by the author.

[AdiTurbo]

Quite bad. Two good protagonists, but the pace is all wrong, most plot lines are implausible and the writing is a mess.

[Fmds]

„Cień” to kolejna część klasycznej opowieści policyjnej z detektyw Karen Sharpe w roli głównej. Moim zdaniem lepsza niż „Feniks”, chociaż rozwiązanie zagadki również w dużej mierze przewidywalne. Za to Karen to policjantka, która buduje cały klimat i jest powodem, dla którego ta opowieść jest inna. Karen za nic ma hierarchię panującą na komisariacie, nie boi się przełożonych, nie boi się podejmować trudnych decyzji. Absolutnie nie traktuje swojej pracy w kategorii wykonywania poleceń służbowych. Totalnie nie zależy jej na sympatii współpracowników, szacunku zespołu, współpracy z innymi. Jedyne, co ma dla niej znaczenie, to jej praca. Traktuje ją jak powołanie. Jest osobą w 100% oddaną ludziom, którzy zwracają się do niej po pomoc. W Cieniu świetnie to widać właśnie.
Fabuła krąży wokół gwałtu na pewnej młodej dziewczynie dokonanego przez mężczyznę ze świecznika, politycznej wierchuszki miasta. Jednocześnie toczy się w komisariacie wielkie poszukiwanie nastoletniej córki sędziego, stanowiące największe i najważniejsze przedsięwzięcie od akcji przedstawionej w Feniksie.
Bardzo podobają mi się książki Connora, bo ciekawie splata bohaterów. Tworzy postaci, które z pozoru nie dają się lubić, a jednak ich lubimy. Przyzwyczaiłam się do samczej natury Karen Sharpe, która w pierwszej części mnie raziła. Brakło tej traumy z pierwszej części i poznałam bohaterkę w innej sytuacji. Więcej rozumiem z jej zachowania, ponieważ więcej faktów autor wyciąga na światło dzienne. Ciekawie pomyślana jest też sama fabuła. Mam wrażenie, że Connor zaczyna w dwóch różnych punktach, po to, żeby zejść do jednego wspólnego końca. Obie książki mają też dobre tempo – przez książkę idzie się bez zadyszki, a jednocześnie nie ma nudy. Bardzo dobry kryminał policyjny w brytyjskim stylu.

[Adri266]

Uz som citala vela knih, kde je na zaciatku ukradnute, unesene alebo zmiznute dieta. No tato kniha pokracuje inym stylom ako tie predchadzajuce, ktore su vacsinou z pohladu matky.
Kniha zacala celkom dobre. Male dievcatko je unesene matke, ktora je zufala. A na opustenom ostrove, kde zije iba bohata zena s ochrankou, zomiera male dieta na nejaku infekciu.

O 20 rokov je byvaly policajt vtiahnuty do obrovskeho pruseru. Mlada zena, ktora ho najala na pracu, zije na opustenom ostrove, no snazi sa ju uniest banda somalskych piratov. Ked vsetkych okrem nej a Toma su zabiti, bojuju o svoj zivot a snazia sa z ostrova co najskor dostat.

A potom sa to nejako zosypalo. Namiesto dialogov autor casto pouzival opis deja a tym padom sa mi to nejako tahalo, plus, preskakovala som cele paragrafy.

TAkisto, zdalo sa mi nemozne, aby bohata zena, ktora by mohla prist do hociktorej adopcnej kancelarie, si vyberie taky sposob zabezpecenia si dietata...🙄

Skoda, od autora som citala dve knihy, obom som dala 5*, ale tato kniha je ovela ovela slabsia. 😖

[Suzi]

3.5! Wish they did half stars on the review this was better than a 3 but not quite a 4.

Seems an unpopular opinion but I actually quite enjoyed this book it was different from the other thrillers/crime books that can sometimes follow a similar narrative but I would say it’s more of an action/crime than a thriller.

Some bits were a bit unbelievable and seemed far fetched but then that’s the point of a made up story isn’t it?

There was a twist although it didn’t shock me it was more of a “oh yeah that makes sense”

Annoyingly though it ended with unanswered questions! And characters that seem to have been forgotten and have no real ending to their part of the story.

[Madeleine]

Loved it. Although the basic plot was clear from the start, there were so many other twists and turns I didn't quite know how it was going to turn out. Also I liked the fact that she wasn't really a damsel in distress. At the beginning she was the one who saved his life, who could shoot a gun, find her way through the jungle and fly a plane. Although the plot was a bit ludicrous if you pretended you lived in a world where crazy movie action actually happens it was really good. I was so absorbed that I read it in one sitting.

[Hannah]

3.5⭐️
- fast pace at the beginning/ high tension
- predictable plot twist
- wanted an epilogue of what happened after -> half the characters seem to be forgotten and they have no ending to their stories

[Stuart Haining]

Very easy reading, enjoyable plot, no great complications, easy to read in small chunks so ideal holiday fodder. May read more of his.

[Ru P]

I loved this book !! Such a rich and fun story, not a big twist but compelling throughout - made me cry and gasp :p

[Helen Bernadette]

Lots of twists. Very good.

[Rachel Steele]

Overall, a good whodunnit story with a decent pace & amount of twists and turns. Personally, I was hooked from start to finish. Although, the plot is very far-fetched & the writing is a bit confusing/all over the place. Furthermore, I have to say I was rolling my eyes at the account of the young female protagonist from the perspective of the male main character & male author.

[The Bookish Wombat]

Two decades ago a one-year-old girl was snatched from a nursery school and hasn't been seen since. Now the son of the man leading the investigation into her disappearance is contacted by a mystery millionairess and flown to an isolated island for a meeting. He doesn't know why he's wanted and what he'll be doing, but events soon take a violent turn and he must use all his wits to survive.

This is a thriller, but I'd hoped that, given the plot elements relating to a child's disappearance and the effect on her paretns, it would have a bit more emotion and heart to it than most books of its genre. Sadly I didn't find this to be the case and felt that emotion, characterisation and realism were sacrificed to keep the plot going through its one dangerous event after another track.

I didn't really believe in any of the characters and am a bit fed up with Russian gangsters in crime and thriller novels. It seems a bit of bandwagon that many authors have jumped on, but it's now happening more often and is getting dull.

I prefer crime novels rather than thrillers, but those who like thrillers may well enjoy this one.

[Robin]

Tom Lomax, the 'hero' of John Connor's stolen child thriller, is NOT Jack Reacher. He makes mistakes, is not a great judge of character, gets sea sick and can't fight.

Yet this ex-detective still engages as a decent guy faced with huge foes in a page-turner than ends on a highly emotional note.

I liked this story a lot. It's got pace and fine characters – and the sort of wickedness you need to keep any thrill-ride of intrigue ticking over. The story begins decades before Lomax's entrance, when the daughter of a doctor, Rachel, is stolen. Tom later finds himself mysteriously summoned to the remote Island of Black Monkeys in the Seychelles by a rich young woman called Sara. During the night horror is unleashed as a band of Somali murderers and kidnappers led by a Russian attacks her home and begins killing her staff. So begins Tom's journey into a conspiracy of wealthy corruption and cruelty, chases and betrayal.

There is a slight conceit in the narrative that tricks the reader, but that sets up a highly charged ending. A really enthralling read.

[Maggie James]

An absorbing, fast-paced thriller.

[Janeiva]

i was kinda confused withall the back and fourth

[Sarah Woods]

An exciting pacey read with countless twists. I've not been so gripped by a book in a long time.

[Karen Hutchinson]

Good plot but became far fetched, good characters but abrupt ending led to too many loose ends

[Wilde Sky]

This book contains a tale of betrayal, kidnap and money.

Great idea for a story, but the writing, characters and dialogue were all a bit clunky.

[Zoe Obstkuchen]

A real page turner!

[Kim Bojko]

Loved it read it in a day

[Leslie]

Okay read. Uneven story.