Foe

by Hannah Cao

‘A girl disappears, but the world does not stop.’

When university student Sana Mercer vanishes after an ordinary night in her dorm room, the town is quick to speculate – runaway, accident, or something far darker.

A year passes, leaving detective Eden Nurain with nothing but dead ends. When she is set on a case of another missing girl, Mei Xiu, the dots start connecting.

In this haunting tale about obsession and memory, Foe expands on the fragile question of where one’s identity begins and ends.

Paperback

First published November 7, 2025

About the author

Hannah Cao is a poet and novelist based in Germany. She is the author of poetry collections, a contemporary novel, and is working on mystery and dark academia projects.
Pulling inspiration from her personal adventures growing up between different cultures and homes, falling in love, battling mental health, and dealing with loss along the way, she now fuels her writing with topics of identity, belonging and the complexity of interpersonal relationships.

Reviews

[eureka]

One word to sum it all up: haunting.

This was such a haunting read. I thought I knew what I was in for (considering I'd read Hannah's old project this was loosely based on) but I was very wrong. The other reviews are right: Hannah's writing in this was captivating. Truly. This book is dark but it pulls you into the story—even into a certain character's head—which I think is what made my reading experience worthwhile, because I could not stand being in that character's head (in all honesty!) at times and yet I also could not not know what happened next. Foe raises the question of what lengths one is willing to go to cultivate an identity of their own, even at the cost of crossing the thin line between one's humanity and morality.

Really, really enjoyed this book even with its dark themes. And I'm still reeling with thoughts, but here's my first reaction:

I need to gather my thoughts for this one but first and foremost: Hannah, genuinely (and I mean this in the nicest way possible), what the f**k.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend all mystery inclined readers pick up this book! „Foe“ manages to capture its readers with fleshed out and flawed yet deeply relateable characters. Between atmospheric descriptions of small town coffee shops and salty ocean air, this book will make you question how well you really know the people around you and resonate with everyone who has ever felt like a ghost in their own story. I was especially smitten with the various interesting perspectives driving the story forward such as poetic blog entries, pod cast episodes and newspaper articles. This book will truly make you wish for „just one more chapter“.

[Gabriela Barahona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one day!!!

I was absolutely engaged from the first page and Hannah’s writing is beautiful and captivating.

Reading this reminded me of the Idaho 4 case and how insensitive we can be when it comes to such situations. Podcasts and people on the internet giving opinions without having the full picture.

Loved, loved, loved it!

[mali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely captivating, couldn't put it down lmao Each character was so uniquely written, and the detective Eden chapters especially added to the suspense. Wish I could read it again for the first time, very excited for the next one already! :)

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew about this book and its author through Substack. I'd been following Cao for a few months, and have fallen in love with her writing. To learn that she publishes too was a wonderful discovery. Naturally, I had to give this a shot.

The first half of this book left me feeling bewildered at first. A lot of talking about the past, of characters' lives. How they met, how they knew each other, how they influenced each other's lives. The whole time I was wondering if the point of it was because one of these characters is the cause of Sana's disappearance. Little did I know... It caught me by surprise, and once it started, it kept building and left me reeling. I enjoyed it immensely, including Cao's writing. It's beautiful.

I started this book thinking it's the usual whodunnit? type, but it's not. It's more psychological than that. I ended up giving it 4 stars and not 5 because of this as I wanted something that kept me guessing. Just a preference.